Designing and Proportioning

Normal Concrete Mixtures

ACI 211

ACI 211
A Properly Proportioned Concrete Mix
Should Posses These Qualities.
Acceptable Workability of Freshly Mixed
Concrete
Durability, Strength and Uniform Appearance
of the Hardened Concrete
Economy

SLUMP
Normally specified
Choice based type of construction shown on
Table 9-6

Slump

WATER CONTENT
Approximation based on slump, maximum
size of the coarse aggregate, and type of
concrete (air-entrained, or non airentrained)- see Table 9-5
Air contents for AE concrete are normally
specified but can also be determined by
exposure conditions based on Table 9-5

WATER-TO-CEMENT RATIO
Concrete strength is specified by the design
engineer.
Based on specified concrete strength and type of
concrete (AE or non AE) see Table 9-3.
W/C ratio may be modified due to certain
environmental conditionssee Tables 9-1 and 9-2.
Concrete strength may also be modified due to
special conditions-see Table 9-11

Water/Cement
Ratio

Cementitious Content
Cement Content = Recommended water
content (Table 9-5) / the recommended
water-to-cement ratio (Table 9-3 or 9-1 or
9-2)
Cementitious Material = Portland cement,
fly ash, blast furnace slag, and silica fume.

Coarse and Fine Aggregate Contents

How much does 1 cy of portland cement
concrete (PCC) weigh?
What is the volume of 1 cy of PCC?

COARSE AGGREGATE
Coarse aggregate size specified
Determination of VOLUME of CA
recommended per unit volume of concrete
Volume based on maximum size of CA and
fineness modulus of sand Table 9-4
Weight of CA = volume of CA x dry rodded
unit weight of CA x 27 cf.

Volume Formulas
Vol. of water = wt. of water/62.4 pcf
Volume of portland cement = wt. of PC/
(3.15 x 62.4)
Vol. of CA = wt. of CA/(SG(ca) x 62.4)
Volume of Air = (%Air content x 100)/27

FINE AGGREGATE
Fine Aggregate Content = 27 cu. ft. Volume of water - Volume of Cement Volume of Coarse Aggregate Volume of
Air
Weight of FA = volume of FA x specific
gravity of FA x 62.4

Dry Weights vs. Actual Weights

Batch weights calculated from volumes
assume dry CA and dry FA.
Actual weight of CA and FA are NOT dry
Adjustment based on moisture contents for
both CA and FA.
Dont forget about correcting for water
content also.

Trial Batch
Slump should be within -inch of
maximum design value.
Air content should be within 0.5% of
maximum design value.
Avg. required compressive strength (psi)
@ 28 days must be equal to or greater than:
f(cr) = f(c) + 1.34S
f(cr) = f(c) + 2.33S -500

Mix
Proportioning
Absolute
Volume Method

Moisture

Additions