FUNDAMENTALS OF CONCRETE

• Basic Ingredients by volume.

o Cement: 7% to 15%
o Water: 14% to 21%
o Air: 1% to 8%
o Fine Aggregate 24% to 30%
o Coarse Aggregate 31% to 51%
• Quality of concrete depends on the quality of paste and aggregates, and the bond
between them. In properly made concrete, each and every particle of aggregate is
completely coated with paste and all of the spaces between aggregates are
completely filled with paste.
• Quality of hardened concrete is strongly influenced by water to cement ratio.
Reducing the water content creates the following advantages:
o Increased compressive and flexural strength.
o Lower permeability, thus lower absorption and increased watertightness.
o Increased resistance to weathering.
o Better bond between concrete and reinforcement.
o Reduced drying shrinkage and cracking.
o Less volume change from wetting and drying.
• In general, the less water used, the better the quality of the concrete, provided that
the mixture can be consolidated properly.
• Chemical admixtures can change both the freshly mixed (plastic) and hardened
properties of concrete.
• Chemical admixtures are commonly used to:
o Adjust the setting time or hardening.
o Reduce the water demand.
o Increase workability.
o Intentionally entrain air.
o Adjust other fresh or hardened concrete properties.

FRESHLY MIXED CONCRETE

• Freshly mixed concrete should be plastic or semi-fluid and generally capable of
being molded by hand.
• In a plastic concrete mixture all grains of sand and pieces of gravel or stone are
encased and held in suspension. The ingredients are not apt to segregate during
transport. When the concrete hardens it becomes a homogeneous mixture of all
the components.

Mixing
• The sequence of charging ingredients into a concrete mixer can play an important
part in uniformity of the finished product.
 • The sequence, however, can vary and still produce a quality concrete.
• Different sequences require adjustments in the time of water addition, the total
number of revolutions of the mixer drum, and the speed of revolution.
• The size of the batch in relation to the size of the mixer drum is important.
• The elapsed time between batching and mixing, and the design configuration , and
condition of the mixer drum and blades are also important.

Workability
• Workability expresses the ease of placing, consolidating, and finishing freshly
mixed concrete as well as the degree to which it resists segregation.
• Concrete should be workable but the ingredients must not separate during
transport and handling.
• Different types of placement require different levels of workability.
• Workability is affected by:
o The method and duration of transportation.
o Quantity and characteristics of cementitious materials.
o Concrete consistency (slump).
o Grading, shape, and surface texture of fine and coarse aggregates.
o Entrained air.
o Water content.
o Concrete and ambient air temperature.
o Admixtures.
• A uniform distribution of aggregate particles and the presence of entrained air
significantly help control segregation and improve workability.
• Figure 1-6 illustrates the effect of casting temperature on the consistency, or
slump, and potential workability of concrete mixtures.
• Properties related to workability include:
o consistency
o segregation
o mobility (the ability of freshly mixed concrete to flow)
o pumpability
o bleeding
o finishability.

Bleeding and Settlement

• Bleed water: Small amounts of water from the concrete mix that sometimes flow
to the surface of concrete because of the settling of solid materials (cement and
aggregate) in concrete and the simultaneous upward migration of water.
• Bleeding is normal and should not diminish the quality of properly placed,
finished and cured concrete. Some bleeding helps control plastic shrinkage
cracking.
 • Plastic Shrinkage Cracking: When
water evaporates from the surface of
freshly placed concrete faster than it is
replaced by bleed water, the surface
concrete shrinks. Due to the restraint
provided by the concrete below the drying
surface layer, tensile stresses develop in
the weak, stiffening plastic concrete,
resulting in shallow cracks of varying depth. These cracks are often fairly wide at
the surface.
• Excessive bleeding increases the w/c ratio near the top surface; a weak top layer
with poor durability may result, particularly if finishing operation take place while
bleed water is present.
• After evaporation of all bleed water, the hardened surface will be slightly lower
than the freshly placed surface. This decrease in height from the time of
placement to initial set is called settlement shrinkage.
• Properly graded aggregate, certain chemical admixtures, air entrainment,
supplementary cementitious materials, and finer cements, reduce bleeding.

Consolidation
• The purpose of consolidation (also known compaction – especially in Europe) is
to achieve the highest possible density of
concrete. The usual method of
compaction is by vibration.
• When concrete is freshly placed in the
form, air bubbles can occupy between 5%
(in a mix of high workability) and 20% (in
a low-slump concrete) of the total volume.
• Vibration sets into motion the particles in
freshly mixed concrete, reducing friction
between them, and giving the mixture the
mobile qualities of a thick fluid.
• The vibratory action permits use of a
stiffer mixture containing a larger
proportion of coarse aggregate and a
smaller proportion of fine aggregate. The
effects of poor consolidation are
demonstrated in Figure 1-9.
Hydration, Setting Time, and Hardening
• Hydration is the chemical interaction between cement and water that creates the
binding quality of the cement paste.
• Setting refers to the change from the fluid to the rigid stage. Although during
setting the paste acquires some strength, it is important to distinguish setting from
hardening.
• Hardening refers to the gain of strength of a set cement paste.
• The terms initial set and final set are used to describe two arbitrarily chosen stages
of setting. These are determined using a penetrometer
• Gillmore Apparatus (ASTM C 266) - The Gillmore Apparatus is a tool used to
determine the initial and final
set-times of portland cement
paste. The tool is comprised
of horizontal arms that guide
two weighted cylindrical
needles with flat-end stainless
steel tips. The initial setting-
time needle has a weight of
113 g (0.25 lb) and a tip
diameter of 2.12 mm (0.084
in.). The final setting-time
needle has a weight of 453.6 g (1 lb) and a tip diameter of 1.06 mm (0.042 in.).
Initial set is achieved when a part of cement paste will bear, without appreciable
indentation, the initial setting-time Gillmore needle. Final set is reached when the
cement paste will bear, without appreciable indentation, the final setting-time
Gillmore needle.
• Portland cement is a complex chemical compound. However, at least 90% of
cement consists of four compounds:
o Tricalcium silicate. 3CaO.SiO2 (C3S)
o Dicalcium silicate. 2CaO.SiO2 (C2S)
o Tricalcium aluminate. 3CaO.Al2O3 (C3A)
o Tetracalcium aluminoferrite. 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 (C4AF)
• A common composition of Portland cement is as follows:
Oxide Content %
CaO (lime) 60-67
SiO2 17-25
Al2O3 3-8
Fe2O3 0.5–6.0
MgO 0.5-4.0
Alkalis (as Na2O) 0.3-1.2
SO3 2.0-3.5

• The less porous the cement, the stronger it is. When mixing concrete, therefore,
no more water should be used than is absolutely necessary to make the concrete
plastic and workable. Even then, the water used is typically more than is required
 for complete hydration of the cement. Approximately 0.4 grams of water per
gram of cement are needed to completely hydrate cement. However, complete
hydration is rare in field concrete du tot lack of moisture and the long time
(decades) that is required to achieve complete hydration.

HARDENED CONCRETE

Curing
• Concrete strength continues to increase with age provided:
o Unhydrated cement is still present.
o Concrete remains moist or relative humidity exceeds 80%.
o Concrete temperature remains favorable.
o Sufficient space is available for hydration products to form.
• When relative humidity drops below 80%, hydrations stops.
• When the temperature drops below freezing, hydration stops.
• Figures 1.12 and 1.13 demonstrate effects of humidity and temperature.

Drying Rate of Concrete

• When concrete dries out, it ceases to gain strength.
• For example, many concrete floors that have not had sufficient moist curing due
to quick drying, have weak concrete at their surface. As a result, traffic creates
dust.
• Moisture content of concrete depends on concrete constituents, original water
content, drying conditions, and the size of the concrete element.
• Size and shape of a concrete member have and important bearing on the rate of
drying. Concrete elements with large surface area in relation to their volume (e.g.
floor slabs) dry faster than voluminous members with relatively small surface
areas (e.g. bridge piers).
• Other properties of hardened concrete that are affected by moisture content
include:
o Elasticity.
o Creep.
o Insulating value.
o Fire resistance.
o Abrasion resistance.
o Electrical conductivity.
o Frost resistance.
o Scaling resistance.
o Alkali-aggregate reactivity resistance.
Strength
• Commonly strength is defined as the resistance to compression at an age of 28
days. Common measurements of strength are MPa (international), psi (ACI) or
ksi (AASHTO).
• Other ages are important as well. 7 day strength is typically 75% of the 28 day
strength, while 56 and 90 day strengths are about 10% to 15% higher than those
of 28 days.
• The specified compression strength is defined as f c′ while the actual strength
(which must be greater than f c′ ) is defined as f c .
• The actual strength of a
concrete depends on the
w/c (or w/cm) ratio, the
extend of hydration, the
curing and environmental
conditions, and the age
of the concrete.