Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction:
i. This topic introduces the students to the
preparation, transportation, casting, placing,
compaction and treatment of concrete at the
construction site.
ii. To understand the standard testing for trial
mixture for ready mix concrete.
2.1.1 SEGREGATION IN CONCRETE
1. SEGREGATION is when the coarse and fine aggregate, and cement paste,
become separated.
2. Segregation may happen when the concrete is mixed, transported, placed or
compacted.
3. Segregation makes the concrete weaker, less durable and will leave a poor
surface finish.
4. Concrete will segregate for the following reasons:
a) If the mix is very dry, the coarse aggregate tend to separate.
b) If the mix is very wet, the grout i.e. Cement and water tend to separate.
c) If specific gravity of coarse and fine aggregate differs segregation
increases.
d) Over vibration is prone to segregation.
5. To avoid segregation:
a) Check the concrete is not 'too wet' or 'too dry'.
b) Make sure the concrete is properly mixed.
c) It is important that the concrete is mixed at the correct speed in a transit
mixer for at least two minutes immediately prior to discharge.
d) The concrete should be placed as soon as possible.
e) When transporting the mix, load carefully.
f) If placing concrete straight from a truck, pour vertically and never let the
concrete fall more than one-and-a-half metres.
g) Always pour new concrete into the face of concrete already in place.
h) When compacting with a poker vibrator, make sure to use it carefully.
i) Never spread concrete sideways with a poker vibrator as this may cause
segregation of the mix.
j) Always be sure to vibrate concrete evenly.
2.1.2 BLEEDING IN CONCRETE
1. BLEEDING is a form of segregation where water rise to surface of
freshly placed concrete.
2. During compacting and until the cement-paste has harden it is
natural tendency for the solid particles to move downward and
displace water.
3. It is expressed as total settlement per unit weight of concrete and
cause plastic shrinkage cracking.
4. Bleeding can be reduced by finer cement, high alkali, high C3A and
addition of calcium chloride.
5. It can also be reduce for high temperature and with the use of
pozzolans, aluminum powder and air entraining agent.
2.2 WET CONCRETE
2.2.1 DEFINITION OF WET CONCRETE:
Is a mixture of water, cement, aggregate and admixture.
The constituents materials should be uniformly distributed after mixing
within the concrete mass during handling and placing.
2.2.2 CONCRETE MIX IN WET CONCRETE:
A CONCRETE MIX is designed to produce concrete that can be easily
placed at the lowest cost.
The concrete must be workable and cohesive when plastic, then set and
harden to give strong and durable concrete.
The mix design must consider the environment that the concrete will be
in; i.e. exposure to sea water, trucks, cars, forklifts, foot traffic or extremes
of hot and cold.
2.2.3 WORKABILITY IN WET CONCRETE:
1) Workability means how easy it is to:
a) PLACE,
b) HANDLE,
c) COMPACT and
d) FINISH a concrete mix.
2) Concrete that is stiff or dry may be difficult to Handle, Place, Compact, and
Finish and, if not constructed properly, will not be as strong or durable
when finally hardened.
3) A SLUMP AND VEBE Test can be used to measure the workability of
concrete.
4) Workability is affected by:
a) THE AMOUNT OF CEMENT PASTE
The cement paste is the soft or liquid part of the concrete mix. The
more paste mixed with the coarse and fine aggregates, the more
workable a mix.
b) THE AGGREGATE GRADING
Well-graded, smooth, rounded aggregates improve the workability of a mix.
5) To make a more workable mix:
a) Add more CEMENT PASTE.
b) Use WELL GRADED aggregates.
c) Use an ADMIXTURE.
6) THE WATER TO CEMENT RATIO: Too much water and not enough cement means concrete will be
weaker and less durable. The water to cement ratio (W/C) is the weight of the water divided by the
weight of cement. The lower the ratio, the stronger concrete is.
2.2.4 TEST ON WORKABILITY OF CONCRETE:
1) There are two main types of workability test:
a) SLUMP TEST.
b) VEBE TEST.
2.3 HARDENED CONCRETE
2.3.1 CONCRETE STATES:
a) Have three (3) different states in concrete:
Plastic (knowingly as wet concrete)
Setting. (knowingly as
Hardening hardened concrete)
b) Plastic State:
When the concrete is first mixed it is like 'bread dough'.
It is soft and can be worked or molded into different shapes.
In this state concrete is called PLASTIC.
Concrete is plastic during placing and compaction.
The most important properties of plastic concrete are workability and
cohesiveness.
A worker will sink into plastic concrete.
c) Setting State:
Concrete then begins to stiffen.
The stiffening of concrete, when it is no longer soft, is called SETTING.
Setting takes place after compaction and during finishing.
Concrete that is sloppy or wet may be easy to place but will be more
difficult to finish.
A worker leaves footprints in setting concrete.
d) Hardening State:
After concrete has set it begins to gain strength and harden.
The properties of hardened concrete are strength and durability.
Hardened concrete will have no footprints on it if walked on.
D
2.3.2 CRITERIA OF HARDENED CONCRETE
a) COMPRESSION STRENGTH
Definition: The values of concrete strength where the results of number
cube test that failure not exceed 5%.
Characteristic strength of concrete is determined only at the age of 28
days & consisted of ordinary Portland Cement.
For controlled purposes, the cube test will be held on fresh concrete
mix to determine whether it will achieve the required strength of
concrete at the age of 28 days.
b) TENSILE/BENDING STRENGTH
The tensile strength of concrete is usually taken into account 1 / 10 of
compressive strength but different aggregates cause large variations.
Compression Test is used to determine tensile strength.
c) DURABILITY STRENGTH
The ability of concrete to resist weathering action, chemical attack, fire
resistant and abrasion while maintaining its desired engineering properties.
In reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete, the steel protection from
corrosion is influenced by the thickness of concrete cover and permeability of
concrete.
In certain circumstances, the durability can be obtained by using high quality
concrete and used of specific cement.
d) PERMEABILITY (KEBOLEHTELAPAN)
The low permeability of concrete is essential for increase the resistance of
cooled, chemical attack and protects steel from corrosion.
To obtain a low permeability, the concrete should be fully compressed and
make a good preservation.
Permeability can also be reduced by using water content or add cement
content.
e) RESISTENT TO WEATHER AND CHEMICAL REACTION
Portland cement concrete is often attacked by acids such as organic acids and others
especially when food processing is carried out. Example: vinegar, water chemical and
water fruits.
Normally, chemical elements that attack concrete is salt sulfate.
The resistance of concrete from sulfate attack depends on the type of cement used,
cement content and water-cement ratio.
f) CHANGING OF SHAPE/REFORMATION OF SHAPE
As other materials, the concrete will also experience expansion and shrinkage due to
temperature change.
The main component for changing of hardened concrete are as follows:
Elastic deformation that occurs at that time and depending on the value of applied
stress.
Drying shrinkage that occurs in a long time and does not depend on the stresses in
the concrete.
Creeping occurred in the long run, but depending on the value of the concrete
stresses.
g) SHRINKAGE
Shrinkage of concrete depends on the amount of drying that occurs.
Thus, it is affected by humidity and air temperature, air flow rate on the surface and the rate
of surface area and volume of concrete.
In normal conditions, shrinkage is influenced by the amount of water in the concrete during
the mixing and the cement content.
For a small concrete, usually assumed that half of the drying occurs in one of the first month
and the balance within six months after.
h) CREEPING
Creep of concrete depends on the value of the stresses in it.
For stresses up to 1/3 of the cube strength by assuming creep is proportional to the stress.
Creep is affected by temperature and humidity, the cement content in concrete, water
cement ratio, cement type and nature of aggregates.
The mass of concrete also has some influence on the creep, but much less than its effect on
shrinkage.
The parameters used to evaluate the creep is the ratio of applied stress on the strength of
concrete cubes at one time point.
i) FIRE RESISTANT
Functionally, concrete exhibits good fire resistance characteristic and thermal
properties.
Its surface patterns can be easily varied to take on the surface features of the
enclosing formwork.
Its structural properties can be varied to match required compressive strength
design level, density, early strength gain to allow quick removal of forms and low
heat characteristic during curing to reduce shrinkage and cracking.
2.3.3 STANDARD TESTING IN TERMS TO DETERMINE THE STRENGTH
AND WORKABILITY OF CONCRETE MIXTURES
a) SLUMP TEST
TOOLS: Standard slump cone (100 mm top diameter x 200 mm bottom diameter x
300 mm high), Small scoop, Bullet-nosed rod (600 mm long x 16 mm diameter),
Ruler and slump plate (500 mm x 500 mm).
METHODS:
2.4 PREPARATION OF CONCRETE AT SITE
5
4
6
2.4.2.2 HAND MIXING:
1. There are many occasions when the concrete has to be mixed with
hand, and because of this case uniformity is more difficult to
achieve, therefore particular care and effort are necessary.
2. The aggregate should be separated in a uniform layer on a hard,
clean and non-porous base.
3. Cement is then should be spread over the aggregate and the dry
material are mixed turning over from one end of the heap to another
and cutting with a shovel until the mix appear uniform.
4. The water is gradually added to trough formed by the uniform dry
mix and the mix is turned over until a homogeneous mixture of
uniform colour and consistency is obtained.
2.5 TRANSPORTING OF CONCRETE
2.5.1 METHOD OF TRANSPORTING CONCRETE:
1. The method used to transport concrete depends on which one is the
lowest cost and easiest for the job size.
2. On small jobs, a wheelbarrow is the easiest way to transport concrete.
3. However, concrete can be handled and transported by many methods,
including use of chutes, a concrete truck, a concrete pump and a
crane.
4. The main consideration is selecting the type of equipment to be used
is an economic one, however, certain jobs require specialized
equipment and thus the cost is a secondary consideration.
5. The other considerations are; the segregation of aggregate, loss of
entrained air, loss of cement paste, change in slump and accumulation
of harmful materials.
WHEELBARROW CHUTE (PELONGSOR)
CONCRETE
TRUCK CONCRETE PUMP
CRANE
A) CHUTE (Pelongsor):
1. Chute used to transport concrete from top to bottom without a part separation.
2. It made from PVC pipes or sometimes made of wood and metal.
3. The length of chute is limited to only 3m long.
4. It diameter approximately 300mm.
B) CONCRETE PUMP:
1. The use of pumps is one method that is quick, clean and economical, if carefully
planned.
2. Using the pipes 6” which is pumped from the concrete mix. Used for a large
quantity of concrete.
3. Can carry as far as 30m to 50m vertically and 300m to 500m horizontal
direction.
4. Consists of two types either in plunger pump or squeeze pump.
5. The concrete pump is usually used if there is problems like this:
a) The location of construction sites in urban areas is crowded, difficult to
use the truck and transportation equipment.
b) Limited road facilities.
c) Construction site near the existing building, difficulty entering the area or the
storage problem of raw materials.
d) The site location is not suitable for heavy machinery.
e) Lack of labor. The use of machinery tends for maximized productivity.
f) The contingency of project and need of permanent construction.
g) The construction of structures that is too high.
C) CRANE:
1. There are two types of crane namely as Tower Crane Bucket and Mobile Crane
Bucket.
2. Mobile Crane Bucket – Used for large projects and the construction of structures that
are very high. Where concrete is included in a large container equipped with a trap
door (pintu kolong) in the bottom and covered directly through the skip (langkau).
3. Tower Crane Bucket – Tower cranes used for building higher than 30 meters. Mobile
cranes are only limited to buildings with a height of 20 meters. Using skip depends on
the size of the load. Skip size is limited to a maximum size of 0:57m³ or 1394kg.
2.5.2 READY MIX CONCRETE:
1. If instead of being batched and mixed on site, concrete is delivered for placing from a central
plant. It is referred to as ready-mixed or pre-mixed concrete.
2. This type of concrete is used extensively abroad as it offers numerous advantages in comparison
with other methods of manufacture:
a) Close quality control of batching which reduces the variability of the desired properties of
hardened concrete.
b) Use on congested sites or in highway construction where there is little space for a mixing
plant and aggregate stockpiles;
c) Use of agitator trucks to ensure care in transportation, thus prevention segregation and
maintaining workability
d) Convenience when small quantities of concrete or intermittent placing is required.
4. There are two categories of ready-mixed concrete: central-mixed and transit mixed or truck
mixed.
5. In the first category, mixing is done in a central plant and then concrete is transported in an
agitator truck.
6. In the second category, the materials are batched at a central plant but are mixed in a truck.
2.6 PLACING OF CONCRETE