Properties of Concrete

Prof. Anura Nanayakkara

University of Moratuwa

Types of concrete

Normal Concrete

High strength Concrete

High Performance Concrete

CONCRETE Self compacting concrete

Roller Compacted concrete

No fines Concrete

Anti-washout Concrete

Lightweight concrete 2
 Self Compacting Concrete

Anti washout
concrete

4
 Roller Compacted
Concrete Pavement
(RCCP) 5

Ingredients of concrete

OPC ,
Blended Cement
Cements

Coarse agg.
Fine agg. Aggregate
CONCRETE
water
Plasticizers
Accelerators
Retarders Admixture
Air Entrainers

6
 Types of cements

Ordinary Portland cement Blended cements

Ordinary Portland cement

Ordinary Portland cement is

intended for use in most
Portland cement clinker forms of concrete construction
and should be specified where
+ the special properties of the
other types, such as low heat
Calcium sulphate
of hydration, are not required.
As the raw materials used to
+ produce Portland cements
Minor mineral additions (5%) vary widely from location to
location, Type OPC may have
a range of chemical
compositions.
fly ash, slag,
limestone containing
more than 80%
calcium carbonate, or
combinations of
these materials

8
 Chemical Composition of Cement

Main compounds in OPC

Oxide Abbreviation compound Abbreviation

CaO C 3CaO.SiO2 C3S

SiO2 S 2CaO.SiO2 C2S
Al2O3 A 3CaO.Al2O3 C3A
Fe2O3 F 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 C4AF

10
 Heat of hydration of cement

The hydration reactions of OPC compounds are exothermic.

Excessive temperature rise in concrete structures due to

heat of hydration can leads to cracking.

11

Types of cements

Ordinary Portland cement Blended cements

Portland cement + Materials with cementitious OR pozzolanic properties

ground granulated blast

furnace slag (ggbs)

12
 they react with lime in the
presence of water to form
cementitious compounds

fly ash Natural silica fume

Pozzolans

known as pulverized fuel ash It is a by-product of the

–pfa is the ash precipitated manufacture of silicon and
electrostatically or ferrosilicon alloys from high
Volcanic ash purity quartz and coal in a
mechanically from the
exhaust gases of coal fired submerged arc electric
power station plant furnace

13

Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (ggbs)

ƒ Slag does not set when mixed with water alone, or does so
only slowly, but will behave as an hydraulic cement in the
presence of activators.
ƒ Portland cement is an effective activator as it releases
sufficient calcium hydroxide during hydration to activate the slag
and enable it to form hydration products similar to those produced
by Portland cement.
ƒ Slag may be blended with Portland cement to form a blended
cement or it may be added to the ingredients of a concrete
batch as a replacement for cement.

14
 natural pozzolans

Pozzolans fly ash

Silica fume

¾ Pozzolans are defined as siliceous, or siliceous and

aluminous, materials which in themselves possess little or no
cementitious value but which will, in finely divided form and in
the presence of moisture, react chemically with calcium
hydroxide to form compounds possessing cementitious
properties.
¾ Pozzolanic materials include natural pozzolans, some fly ashes,
paddy husk ash and silica fume (microsilica).

15

Natural pozzolans occur as siliceous, or as siliceous and aluminous rocks or minerals

such as volcanic ashes.

Fly ash is finely-divided residue from the combustion of pulverised coal in power
stations. It is removed from the flue gases by electrostatic precipitators. It consists mainly
of aluminosilicate glassy material with inclusions of small amounts of sodium, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, titanium and iron.
Fly ash is used as a component of blended cement or as a separate material added to the
concrete batch.

16
 Silica fume

z Silica fume is a by-product from the production of elemental silicon and ferro-
silicon alloys.

z Although sometimes referred to as silica dust, silica powder, silica flour or

microsilica, the name most commonly used in most of the countries is silica
fume.
z It consists of extremely fine spherical particles of amorphous silicon dioxide and
possesses an exceedingly high specific surface area which gives it an active
pozzolanic characteristic.
z Silica fume is used as a component of blended cement or as a separate material
added to the concrete batch.
z The high surface area of silica fume can increase the water demand of the
concrete mix and to optimise the benefits of silica fume, high range water
reducers (superplasticisers) are used to maintain mixing water requirements at an
acceptable level.
17

Sri Lanka Standards for Cement

SLS 107 – Specifications for Ordinary Portland Cement

SLS 1247 – Specifications for Blended Hydraulic Cements

SLS 1253 – Specifications for Portland Limestone cements

SLS 515 - Specifications for Masonry Cement

18
 Classification of Blended cements in SL Standards

Minor
Cement type constituent
Main constituent (% by mass)
(% by
mass)

Clinker Pozzolanic Blast Limestone

materials furnace
slag

Portland Pozzolanic 65 to 6 to 35 - - 0 to 5
cement (Type 1) 94
SLS 1247
Portland slag cement 65 to - 6 to 35 - 0 to 5
(Type 2) 94
SLS 1247
Portland limestone
cement 85 to - - 6 to 15 0 to 5
SLS1253 94
19

Masonry Cement

It is a finely ground mixture of Portland cement clinker (minimum of

40%), gypsum (calcium sulfate) and suitable inorganic materials such
as hydrated lime, limestone and pozzolans. Air-entraining agents,
water-reducers (plasticisers) and water-repellent substances, etc may
also be incorporated.

It is used to produce mortars of high workability and high water

retentivity, but which have lower strength and a lower rate of
strength development than Portland cement mortar. These
characteristics make masonry cement especially suitable for masonry
work.

It is unsuitable for any form of structural concrete (plain,

reinforced or prestressed). 20
 Properties of Cement

Strength

Setting time

Soundness

Chemical
Composition

21

Strength of cement
The mechanical strength of hardened cement is the property of the material that is
most important for structural use. Therefore strength tests are prescribed by all
specifications for cement ( such as SLS, BS, ASTM, AS etc).

Most of the Standards prescribe a compressive strength test on

mortar specimens.

EN 197-1 Method SLS 107 Method

Specimen size – 40 mm
equivalent cube derives Specimen size – 70.7 mm
from 40X40X160 mm cube
prisms Mix proportion – 1:3 cement
to sand
Mix proportion – 1:3 cement to sand
Sand : Leighton Buzzard
Sand : CEN standard sand sand (single size)
(natural sand graded
between 80µm to 1.6mm) w/c – 0.4
w/c – 0.5 22
 SLS 107:2002: Specification for OPC

3 days 28 days

Compressive
≥ 20 ≥ 40 <62.5
strength (MPa)

BS EN 197:2000

Table 4 Strength class of normal cement given in BS 197

Strength Standard 28-day compressive strength

class MPa

32.5N ≥ 32.5 ≤ 52.5

42.5N ≥ 42.5 ≤ 62.5
-
52.5N ≥ 52.5

23

Initial and final Setting times

The initial and final setting times are determined by the Vicat apparatus
which measures the resistance of a cement paste of standard consistency to
penetration of a standard needle.
According to SLS 107:Part I: 2001 setting time times shall be as follows
1. Initial setting time , not less than 45 min
2. Final setting time, not more than 10 h.

BS EN 197-1 :2000 requirements

24
 Physical aspects of setting and hardening process

loss of water in a cement paste due to early

Cement Paste
hydration reactions, physical adsorption at the
surface of poorly crystalline hydrated products such
as ettringite and C-S-H, and evaporation causes the
paste to stiffen

Stiffening
The beginning of
solidification solidification, called the
of the plastic initial set, marks the
cement Initial setting point in time when the
paste paste has become
Setting unworkable

Final setting
The time taken to
solidify completely
marks the final set,
Hardening
In concrete technology the
phenomenon of strength gain with
time is called hardening 25

Soundness of cement

It is essential that cement paste, once it has set, does not undergo a
large change in volume. There shall be no appreciable expansion which
could result in disruptions of hardened cement paste.
This can take place due to the presence of some compound like free
lime, magnesia (MgO) and calcium sulphate (in excess of amount that
can react with C3A during setting) in cement paste.
Because unsoundness of cement is not apparent until after a period of
months or years, it is essential to test the soundness of cement in an
accelerated manner. The Le Chaterlier test method is used to measure
the soundness of cement.

For OPC expansion

< 10mm

26
 Cement

Aggregate

CONCRETE
water

Admixture

27

The Effect of Aggregate Properties on Concrete

Inert filler

Occupies 60 to 80 percent of the

volume of concrete

Although aggregates are most commonly known to be

inert filler in concrete, the different properties of
aggregate have a large impact on the
strength, durability, workability, and economy of
concrete.
28
 Aggregates

Coarse Aggregates Fine Aggregates

> 5mm < 5mm

The natural sand is generally considered to

have a lower size limit of 70µm or 60 µm.
The material between 60µm and 2µm is
classified as silt.

29

Strength,
shape and texture,
size gradation,

Properties moisture content,

Aggregates
specific gravity,
reactivity,
soundness and
bulk unit weight

Strength, workability and durability

concrete 30
 Strength of aggregate

The compressive strength of aggregate is an

important factor in the selection of aggregate.

When determining the strength of normal concrete,

most concrete aggregates are several times stronger
than the other components in concrete and therefore
not a factor in the strength of normal strength
concrete.

31

Tests specified for determination of

strength of aggregate.

ƒaggregate crushing value, Compressive

ƒ ten per cent fines value strength

ƒaggregate impact value Toughness

ƒAggregate abrasion value. Hardness

32
 Aggregate crushing value test (BS 812 : Part 110)

400kN

For crushing values over 25

Particles to 30 the test is rather
passing insensitive to the variation
through of strength in weaker
aggregates. Therefore ten
14mm per cent fines value test is
sieve and included in BS 812:Part
retain on 111
10mm
sieve

33

Ten per cent fines value test BS 812 : Part 111

20
mm

Particles
passing
through
14mm
sieve and
retain on
10mm
sieve

34
 The mechanical properties of aggregate which are important
especially when aggregate is subjected to high wear are

toughness hardness

The toughness of aggregate The hardness of the aggregate defined as its

which is measured as the
resistance of aggregate to
failure by impact determine by
the impact value test described
in BS 812:Part 112.
resistance to wear obtained in terms of
aggregate abrasion value determined by using
the Los Angeles test described in ASTM C
131-89.
A satisfactory aggregate should have an
abrasion value of not more than 30% for
aggregate used for wearing surfaces and 50%
for aggregate used for non wearing surfaces.

35

Aggregate impact value test : BS 812 : Part 112

15 blows

Particles
passing
through
14mm sieve
and retain on
10mm sieve
36
 Limiting values on mechanical properties given in BS 882:1992

Type of concrete 10 % fines Alternatively, aggregate

value (min.) impact value (max.) %
kN
Heavy duty concrete 150 25
floor finishes

Pavement wearing 100 30

surfaces
Others 50 45

37

Properties of
Particle shape and texture fresh concrete

Properties of
hardened
natural sands and gravel from concrete
riverbeds

High
smooth and rounded aggregate workability

higher surface-to-volume ratio,

better bond characteristics but
Crushed stone
require more cement paste to
produce a workable mixture.

Low
rough angular or elongated aggregate
workability
38
 Particle shape and texture

39

Flakiness Index
Undesirable shapes

Rounde Angular Elongated Elongated & flaky

d
The mass of flaky particles
expressed as a percentage of
the mass of the sample is
called the flakiness index BS
812: section 105.1
shall not exceed 60 for uncrushed
gravel and 40 for crushed rock or
Thickness gauge gravel. 40
Grading of aggregate particle size
distribution

Size

Packing characteristics Voids

41

GRADING WORKABILITY

Minimum Void
content

Minimum cement ECONOMICAL

content CONCRETE

Low Shrinkage DURABLE

Low Permeability CONCRETE

42
Appropriate grading limits of coarse aggregate given in BS 812

43

44
 Appropriate grading limits of fine aggregate given in BS 812

45

Moisture States
Since aggregates contain some porosity, water can be absorbed into the body of
the particles or retained on the surface of the particle as a film of moisture. The
following four moisture states are defined:
¾Oven-dry (OD): All moisture is removed from the aggregate by heating in an
oven at 105 C to constant weight (overnight heating usually is sufficient). All pores
are empty.
¾Air-dry (AD): All moisture removed from surface, but internal pores partially full.
¾Saturated-surface-dry (SSD): All pores filled with water, but no film of water on
the surface.
¾Wet: All pores completely filled with water with a film on the surface.

46
 Cement

Aggregate

CONCRETE
water

Admixture

47

Water
“ Water suitable for drinking” is suitable for concrete ?

If it contains small amount of sugar or citrates, the water would be

suitable for drinking but not for mixing concrete. Conversely, not all
water unsuitable for drinking is unsatisfactory for use in concrete.

ƒ Any water with pH of 6.0 to 8.0 which does not taste saline or brackish is
suitable for use.
ƒ Water considered acceptable if variation of initial setting time is within
± 0.5 hr and 28 day strength is not reduced below 80% when distilled
water is replaced by the water in question.
ƒ When the chloride ion content does not exceed 500 ppm or SO3 ion content
does not exceed 1000 ppm , the water is harmless as recommended in
BS 3148:1980.
ƒ It also recommends that alkali carbonates and bicarbonates should not
exceed 1000 ppm.
48
 Cement

Aggregate

CONCRETE
water

Plasticizers
Accelerators
Admixture
Retarders
Air Entrainers

49

Admixtures

ƒ Admixtures are used to modify/improve the properties of fresh and

hardened concrete.
ƒ Admixtures may be chemical or mineral products.
ƒ They are commonly classified by their function in concrete.

The classification of ASTM is as follows

Type A : Water-reducing
Type B: Retarding
Type C: Accelerating
Type D: Water reducing and retarding
Type E : Water reducing and accelerating
Type F : High range water-reducing or superplasticizing
Type G : High range water-reducing and retarding or superplasticizing
and retarding 50
Application of water
reducing admixtures
(plasticizers)

51

Water content

Superplasticizers : 25 to 30 % water reduction for a given consistency

normal plasticizer : 5 to 10 % water reduction

52
 Advantages of Water –Reducing Admixtures

ƒ Increase the workability

ƒ Achieve higher compressive strength

ƒ Cement saving

Important : not all three benefits can be obtained at the same time

53

Effect of water reducing

admixture Cement

Water

Water reducing Admixture

- -
- -
- - - -
Dispersion Admixture
of Cement
- - - - molecules
particles
- - -
54
 Retarders

ƒ These are admixtures which delay the setting of concrete, as

measured by the penetration test. Such admixtures are
prescribed in ASTM C 494-92 and in BS 5075: Part 1: 1982.

ƒ Retarders are useful when concreting in hot weather, when the

normal setting time is shortened by the higher temperature,
and in preventing the formation of cold joints between
successive lifts.

ƒ In practice, retarders which are also water-reducing are

commonly used in ready-mixed concrete.

55

Accelerators

™ An accelerating admixture is a material that is added to concrete

for reducing the time of setting and accelerating early strength
development.

™ Accelerating admixtures are used in precast industry and also are

components of shotcreting mixes.

™ The advantages include: efficient start and finishing operations,

reducing the period of curing and protection, earlier removal of
forms so that the construction is ready for early service,
plugging of leaks, and quick setting when used in shotcreting
operations.

56
 Air-Entraining Admixtures

Air entrainment is the process whereby many small air bubbles are
incorporated into concrete and become part of the matrix that binds the
aggregate together into the hardened concrete.

This effect is accomplished by the use of an air-entraining agent

Air bubbles formed between

concrete particles by chemical
air entraining agent act as
“shock absorbers for dynamic
stresses of expansion and
contraction due to changes in
environmental temperature.

Air entrainment is regarded as essential for the durability of concrete that

will become wetted and then exposed to freeze-thaw conditions.

Other benefits of the air entraining admixtures include improvement of

workability, and reduction in bleeding and seggregation.
57

Disadvantages of Air-entraining admixtures

ƒ Loss in strength (for each 1% of air causes

5% loss in strength)

ƒ Increase permeability

ƒ In case of overdose, they cause delay in

setting and hardening

58
 Cement

Aggregate

CONCRETE
water

Admixture

59

Discussion

60
 Properties of Concrete

Fresh Concrete Hardened Concrete

Early age Concrete

61

Onset of
Early age Development
concrete of strength
No stiffness No strength
Time
Fresh
concret
e
Slump loss Stiffening Hardening

Hardened
Onset of
concrete
solidification
of fresh
concrete

62
 Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

„ Strength of concrete
Hardened concrete
„ Durability of Concrete

63

Workability

Consistency + Cohesiveness

Mobility
Compactability SEGREGATION
Deformability RESISTANCE
Finishability

64
 Types of Segregation

Coarse Aggregate
Concrete
Sand
Cement Mortar

Cement paste

Over vibration Cement

Water

Crazing
Bleeding
65

Measurement of Workability

Consistency Cohesiveness

Qualitative test for

segregation
resistance
66
Improvement of segregation resistance / prevention of
segregation
Mix design stage

„ increase the fine aggregate fraction with

ultra fine particles,
„ use well graded coarse aggregate,
„ use a cement with higher fineness,
„ use chemical and mineral admixtures.

Construction stage
„ avoid dropping concrete from excessive
heights (more than 1.5m)
„ avoid over vibration
67

Placing concrete
 Compaction

First layer

69

Factors Affecting Workability

and Their Control

„ In general, through their influence on

consistency and/or cohesiveness, the workability
of concrete mixtures is controlled by

water content,
cement content,
aggregate grading and other physical
characteristics,
admixtures

70
 Water content
„ The main factor affecting the workability is the
water content.
„ In all Standard Practice for Proportioning Concrete
Mixtures assumes that, for a given maximum size of
coarse aggregate, the slump or consistency of
concrete is a direct function of the water content;
„ Concrete mixtures with very high consistency tend
to segregate and bleed, therefore adversely
affecting the finishability; mixtures with too low
consistency may be difficult to place and compact,
and the coarse aggregate may segregate on
placement

71

Cement content

„ In normal concrete, at a given water content, a

considerable lowering of the cement content
tends to produce harsh mixtures, with poor
finishability.

„ Concretes containing a very high proportion of

cement or a very fine cement show excellent
cohesiveness but tend to be sticky.
72
 Effect of Aggregate properties

Strength of aggregate Strength of Concrete

GRADING WORKABILITY

Minimum Void
content

Minimum cement ECONOMICAL

content CONCRETE

Low Shrinkage DURABLE

Low Permeability CONCRETE
73

Water reducing
Admixture Cement

Water

Water reducing Admixture

- -
- -
- - - -
Dispersion Admixture
of Cement
- - - - molecules
particles
- - -
74
 reduce bleeding
and segregation
Air entraining
admixture
Improvement in
consistency and
cohesiveness

Reduce strength
Average loss of strength – 5.5% per
each 1% of air content

75

Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

„ Strength of concrete
Hardened concrete
„ Durability of Concrete

76
 Slump loss
Time

Due to loss of free
water from concrete
„ hydration reactions,
„ by adsorption on the
surfaces of hydration
products, and
„ by evaporation

● elapsed time after-hydration,

● temperature,
● cement composition,
● admixtures present

Normal phenomenon 77

The primary causes of

excessive slump-loss

„ the use of an abnormal-setting

cement;
Loss of water
„ unusually long time for mixing, due to
conveying and placement evaporation
„ high temperature of concrete

due to excessive heat of

hydration and/or the use
of concrete making
materials that are stored
at a high ambient
temperature.
78
 Slump
How to overcome the
problems caused by
Target Target slump =
slump required slump +
expected slump loss

slump loss
Required
slump at
„ starting with a higher initial the site
Time
slump
„ Lowering fresh concrete temp. • aggregate be stored in
„ Lowering evaporation during shaded areas and be cooled
by sprinkling water.
transporting • Use of chipped ice as a partial
„ retempering. or complete replacement for
mixing water

adding extra water (within

the permissible water/cement
ratio) just before placement
Not a good practice
and remixing the concrete
79

Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

Hardened concrete „ Durability of Concrete

80
 Setting of concrete
Onset of
Development
of strength
No stiffness No strength
Time
Fresh
concrete

Stiffening Setting Hardening

Slump loss
Onset of
solidification Initial setting time of
of fresh concrete
concrete

Prevention of formation of Planning of transporting

Cold joint and placing concrete
81

Cold Joints

A primary 2st Layer

consideration in Possible
avoiding the source of
likelihood of cold leakage
joints is the 1st Layer
stiffening time of
the concrete

82
 Stiffening of concrete

Measured by
Stiffening of concrete penetration
resistance

mortar sieved from

Due to evaporation concrete
ASTM C 403

Set-retarding
admixtures may be
used to delay the
stiffening of concrete.
Rate of hydration
rate of hydration in fresh concrete is
approximately doubled for every 10 C
increase in its temperature
83

Time limits for placing for concrete

BS 5075 limitations

The extreme
limit for placing
Time to reach Penetration
and compacting
resistance – 0.5 MPa
concrete

Time available
Time to reach Penetration for the
resistance – 3.5 MPa avoidance of
cold joint

84
 Progress of penetration resistance
9
Penetration resistance (MPa)
8
7
6
Cold joint
Cold Joint
5
4 3.5 MPa
3.5MPa

3
2 Initial setting
Initial setting time–
time – 0.5
MPa (BS 5075)
0.5MPa (BS 5075)
1
0
200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500
Time (min.)
According to SLS 1144 ( Specifications for ready-mixed
concrete) delivery of concrete shall be completed within
1½ hours
Fig. while BS
1 Progress 5328:Part resistance
of penetration 3 : 1990 allows 2 concrete
of fresh hours. 85

Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

„ Strength of concrete
Hardened concrete
„ Durability of Concrete

86
 Early age cracking of concrete

„ Plastic settlement cracking

„ Plastic shrinkage cracking
„ Cracking due to early age thermal contraction

87

Plastic settlement cracks

Excess bleeding

Elevation

r/f bar

Time of appearance –
Plan 10 minutes to 3 hrs.

Prevention

Arching •Reduce bleeding by air

of agg. entraining admixture
•Addition of ultra fine
particles
•Revibration
88
 Revibration

„ Revibration of concrete an hour or two after initial

consolidation, but before setting, is sometimes
needed in order remove any cracks created by
settlement, particularly around reinforcing steel or
other embedded materials.
„ Revibration at 1 to 2 hours after was found to result
in an increase in the 28-day compressive strength.

89

„ Revibration should not be applied too soon as the

second phase of bleeding can still cause settlement
cracks to form.

„ The correct time can be easily determined by a

simple site trial; it will be latest time that a
vibrating poker can be inserted into the concrete
and removed without leaving a significant trace.

90
 Plastic Shrinkage cracking

Evaporation of water

Plastic State

Loss of water due to Reduction in

suction by dry concrete
below volume
By preventing
evaporation Tensile
immediately after CRACKING stress
casting reduces plastic
shrinkage

91

92
 Plastic
settlement
cracks
A, B, C

Type of Most common location Causes Remedy Time of

cracking appearance
Plastic ◦ Roads and slabs Rapid early Improve early 30 minutes to 6
shrinkage (Diagonal cracks) drying curing hrs
D, E, F ◦ Reinforced slabs
(random cracks and over r/f) 93

94
 95

Cracking due to early age thermal contraction

Cement + water Generation of Heat

Exothermic reaction Temperature rise in

concrete
45

40
Temperature (C)

35
Thermal
contraction 30
cracks
25

20
0 1 2 3 4
Time (days)
96
 Cracking due External restraint

Hardened at an elevated temp.

Cooled with end restrained Development of tensile stresses

wall

Tensile stress > tensile strength Cracks

Base

Cracking due to Internal restraint

Reinforcement
Internal
restraint
Original length

Heating restrained
Temperature expansion
Compression in steel
gradient Shrinkage
restrained by
reinforcement
Tension in concrete

Cracking due to heat of hydration under

Internal restraint

Temp. distribution Stress distribution

98
Prevention/ Control of cracking due to thermal contraction

Providing
Reinforcement
™ Reduce maximum temp. rise
™ Reduce temp gradient
™ Reduce external restraint
Control of crack
width ™ Adopt proper construction
sequence

99

Factors affecting the max. temperature rise

‰ Thickness of the section

‰ Size of the member
‰ Cement content

T1 ‰ Chemical composition
of cement
‰ Type of formwork
‰ Formwork striking time
‰ Placing temperature
‰ Mean daily temperature

100
 Temperature of fresh concrete

„ Lowering the temperature of fresh concrete

below 30 C has insignificant effect on reducing
the max. temp. rise
„ According to the latest BS standard for
specifying concrete (BS 8500:2002), the
temperature of fresh concrete should not be
greater than 35˚C.

101

Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

„ Strength of concrete
Hardened concrete
„ Durability of Concrete

102
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

• w/c
• Properties of cement
„ Characteristics and • Properties of agg.
proportions of
• Mixing water
materials
• admixture

• Humidity
„ Curing conditions • Temperature

„ Testing parameters •Specimen shape ,size

•Loading rate
103

Cement / water ratio is

approximately linear in the
range of cement/water
ratios between about 1.2
and 2.5. This linear
relationship is clearly more
convenient to water/cement
ratio curve, particularly
when interpolation is
required.

104
 Maximum Agg. Size & w/c

105

Curing of Concrete

Object of curing is to keep To achieve complete

concrete saturated hydration

water lost internally by hydration of cement can take

self-desiccation has to be place only in water-filled
replaced by water from capillaries.
outside,

106
 ICTAD – Mini. of 7 days

A minimum period of 7 days of

moist curing is generally
recommended for concrete
containing normal portland
cement; obviously, for concretes
containing either a blended
portland cement or a mineral
admixture, a longer curing period
would be desirable to ensure the
strength contribution from the
pozzolanic reaction.

107

„ When the ambient

temperature is sufficiently
high, the curing of
pavements and slabs can be
accomplished by ponding or
immersion;
„ other structures can be cured
by spraying or fogging, or
moisture-retaining coverings
saturated with water, such as
gunny bags. These methods
afford some cooling through
evaporation, which is
beneficial in hot-weather
concreting.
„ Another group of methods
are based on prevention of
moisture loss from concrete
by sealing the surface
through the application of
polyethylene sheets, or
membrane-forming curing
compounds.
For mixes with low w/c ?
108
 Properties of concrete

„ Workability of concrete
Fresh concrete „ Slump loss
„ Setting of concrete

Early age concrete „ Early age cracking of

concrete

„ Strength of concrete
Hardened concrete
„ Durability of Concrete

109

DURABILITY

Causes for lack of DURABILITY

Shrinkage
PHYSICAL Thermal movement

MECHANICAL Abrasion Concrete roads

Carbonation
Sulphate attack
CHEMICAL Chloride attack
Alkali-Silica reaction

Corrosion of r/f
110
Lack of Durability due to Chemical attack
H2O
O2
Corrosion of r/f
Cl-
SO--4
CO2

111

H2O
O2
Corrosion of r/f
Cl-
SO--4
CO2
Depends on PERMEABILITY
of Cover concrete

POROSOTY

Capillary pores Entrapped air

112
 Porosity distribution in concrete

Capillary pores Entrapped

Air
Gel Pores Entrained
air

10-10 10-8 10-6 10-4 10-2

Pore radius (m)
Compaction

Independent of w/c Depends on w/c

• Low w/c
Capillary pores can be • Reduce cement paste
reduced by
• Better curing 113

Degree of Hydration at
w/c which capillaries become Curing period
segmented
0.4 50 3 days

0.5 70 14 days

0.6 92 6 months

0.7 100 1 year

>0.7 100 Impossible

Low w/c
+
Adequate curing

Durable concrete
114
Discussion

115