CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

CEC 313
LECT NOTE. FOR HND1.

• Concrete Technology is the study and application of the technicalities, expertise of

producing and using good concrete in construction works. Good concrete provides the

bonding properties required to transfer load from one reinforcement to the order, thereby

providing the desired resistance of the member against the applied loads, dead and

imposed loads.

• Concrete is a combination of different material (fine and coarse aggregates) held together

to form a rocklike mass with a paste of cement / water and sometimes one or more

admixtures are added to change certain properties of the concrete such as its workability,

durability, and time of hardening. Concrete as a component of a structure is weak in

tension, but quite good in compression. Its weakness in tension mostly call for the

introduction of steel to make it composite called reinforced concrete, very widely used in

construction of reinforced concrete structures. Concrete, is one of the most important

construction material in the construction industry, because of it frequently used, but the

cost of production has negative environmental effects, from the extraction of raw materials

to the finishing point, with its high embodied energy, this has led specialists to search new

solutions of recipes and technologies for the manufacture of concrete.

• Classification of Concrete.

Concrete can be classify into different types, depending on the followings: Type of

material used in making the concrete, (Cement concrete, Polymer concrete and Asphaltic

concrete) Nature of stress conditions and Density of the concrete. But our interest is on

cement concrete.
 • Types of Concrete

Plain Concrete

The plain concrete will have no iron bar in it. The main ingredients are the cement, fine and coarse

aggregates, with water. Most commonly used mix design 1:3:6 which is the normal mix design.

The density of the plain concrete will vary between 2200 and 2500Kg/m3. The compressive

strength is 7-15KN/mm2 .These types of concrete are mainly used in the construction of the

pavement and buildings, especially in areas where there is less demand of high tensile strength.

The durability given by these type of concrete is satisfactory to high extent.

Reinforced Concrete

The reinforced cement concrete is defined as the concrete to which reinforcement is introduced to

bear the tensile strength. Plain concrete is weak in tension and good in compression. Hence the

placement of reinforcement will take up the responsibility of bearing the tensile stresses. R.C.C

works with the combined action of the plain concrete and the reinforcement. The steel

reinforcement used in the concrete can be in the form of rods, bars or in the form of meshes. Now

fibers are also developed as reinforcement. Fiber reinforced concrete are concrete that use fibers

(steel fibers) as reinforcement for the concrete. Whatever be the type of reinforcement used in

concrete, it is very necessary to ensure proper bond between the concrete and the reinforcement.

This bond will control the strength and the durability factors of the concrete.
Pre stressed Concrete

Mega concrete projects are carried out through prestressed concrete units. This is a special

technique in which the concrete is subjected to external forces which produces a beneficial initial

stress distribution before working loads are brought into operation. The reinforcement or the

tendons used in the concrete is stressed before the actual service load application. During the

mixing and the placing of the concrete, these tensioned bars placed firmly and held from each end

of the structural unit. Once the concrete set sand harden, the structural unit will be put in

compression. This phenomenon of prestressing will make the lower section of the concrete

member to be stronger against the tension. The process of prestressing will require heavy

equipment and labor skill (jacks and equipment for tensioning). Hence the prestressing units are

made at site and assembled at site. These are used in the application of bridges, heavy loaded

structures, and roof with longer spans.

Light Weight Concrete

The term lightweight concrete which is preferred by the American Concrete Institute (ACI, 213)

as being concrete produce with lightweight coarse aggregates and normal weight fine aggregates.

Also density lesser than 1920kg/m3 will be categorized as lightweight concrete. The use of

lightweight aggregates in concrete design will give us lightweight aggregates. Aggregates are the

important element that contributes to the density of the concrete. The examples of lightweight

aggregates are the pumice, perlites, and scoria.

High-Density Concrete

Density of normal concrete is the order of about 2400kg/m3. To call the concrete, as high density

concrete, it must have unit weight ranging from 3360 to 3840 kg/m3 can be called as the heavy

weight concrete. Here heavyweight aggregates are used. The crushed rocks are used as the coarse

aggregates. The most commonly used heavyweight aggregates is Barytes. These types of

aggregates are most commonly used in the construction of atomic power plants and for similar

projects. The heavy weight aggregate will help the structure to resist all possible type of radiations.

Air Entrained Concrete

These are concrete types into which air is intentionally entrained for an amount of 3 to 6% of the

concrete. The air entrainment in the concrete is achieved by the addition of foams or gas–foaming

agents. Some examples of air entraining agents are resins, alcohols, and fatty acids.

High-Strength Concrete

Concretes that have strength greater than 40MPa can be termed as high strength concrete. This

increased strength is achieved by decreasing the water-cement ratio even lower than 0.35. The

calcium hydroxide crystals that are the major concern product during hydration for the strength

properties is reduced by the incorporation of silica fume. In terms of performance, the high strength

concrete ought to be less performing in terms of workability which is an issue. (Marsh, 2003).
Properties of Concrete

The knowledge on properties of concrete is essential for designers before he or she begins to

design structures, this properties of concrete can be classify into the following:

Setting of Concrete: The time it take to change from plastic state to hardened state is known as

setting time of concrete or the time it take before hydration will take place. Setting of concrete is

based or related to the setting of cement paste. Thus one of the compounds that made up of concrete

is cement which can greatly affect the setting time of concrete and other factor that affect these

properties are: Water Cement ratio; Suitable Temperature; Cement content; Type of Cement;

Fineness of Cement; Relative Humidity; Admixtures; Type and amount of Aggregate

Workability of Concrete: The term workability is broadly defined and no single method is

capable of measuring all aspects of workability. The American concrete institute (ACI) (2000)

defined workability as the property of freshly mixed concrete or mortar which determines the ease

and homogeneity with which it can be mixed, placed, consolidated and finished. Workability is

also amount of useful internal work necessary to produce full compaction. A description of

workability is based not just on the properties of the concrete, but also on the nature of the

application. The strength and durability of hardened concrete, in addition to labour costs, depend

on the concrete having appropriate workability. Determining workability is based on two methods,

i. Slump method: is where the degree of consistency of the concrete is measured in order

to determine workability. Slump can be classified to be true slump, shear slump and

collapse slump (BS 1881: 102, ASTM C 143).

ii. Compacting factor test: is defined as the weight ratio of the concrete in the cylinder to

the same concrete fully compacted in the cylinder (filled in four layers and tempered or

vibrated). The ease way of transporting, placing and consolidating without excessive bleeding
 or segregation is known as workability of concrete. Because the strength of concrete is

adversely and significantly affected by the presence of voids in the compacted mass, it is vital

to achieve a maximum possible density. Also Slump Test can be used to find the workability

of concrete. The same factors that affect setting time affect the workability too.

Durability. Durability of concrete is one of the engineering properties of concrete in terms of its

ability to resist weathering action, chemical attack, and abrasion while subjected to the service

loads. The design service life of most buildings is often 30 years, although buildings often last 50

to 100 years or longer. Also, Concrete durability has been defined by the American Concrete

Institute (ACI) as its resistance to weathering action, chemical attack, abrasion and other

degradation processes .The durability of the concrete can be affected by chemical attack through

the actions of aggressive ions such as chlorides, sulphates and many other natural or industrial

liquids and gases. Physical factors such as high temperatures and thermal expansion of the

aggregates in the hardened concrete can also lead to extensive deterioration of the concrete. Much

emphasis is placed on the strength properties of concrete than any other property as durability.

This may be because the strength properties usually provide a better picture on the quality of the

concrete. However, there may be some situations when durability and other considerations may be

of greater importance. Durable concrete is dense, water tight and able to resist, to a reasonable

extent, changes resulting from adverse effects of the elements and mechanical damage. In his own

view, proposed that the definition and concept of durability should be based on three key

parameters, namely: intended function of the material, the standardized conditions of its use and

the time the material is required to fulfill its functions. Also the bulk properties identified as likely

to have direct bearing with the investigation of the durability include: Concrete dry density
(CDD),Total water absorption (TWA),Wet compressive strength (WCS) and Dry Compressive

strength (DCS).

High-Compressive Strength

The compressive strength of concrete, known as ( fcu) is obtained by testing to failure of casted

concrete cubes in their different days of curing such as 7,14,21,28-day-old etc, the cubes are

usually submerged in water or in a room with constant temperature and 100% humidity, although

concretes are available with 28-day ultimate strengths, values obtained for the compressive

strength of concretes, as determined by testing, are to a considerable degree dependent on the sizes

and shapes of the test units and the manner in which they are loaded. In many countries, the test

specimens are cubes, 150 mm on each side. For the same batches of concrete, the testing of 6-in.

by 12-in. cylinders provides compressive strengths only equal to about 80% of the values in psi

determined with the cubes. Most codes and standards normally take compressive strength of

concrete as the ultimate axial load divided by its cross sectional area of the concrete cube. Thus,

actual ultimate strength in concrete is then much higher than the nominal compressive strength

and depends on the ratio of cross sectional area to the concrete (BS 2028:1985, BS 6073: 1981 as

amended in 2004,

Fire Resistance

The most highly fire-resistive structural compound used in construction industry in the world today

is concrete. Nonetheless, the properties of concrete and reinforcing steel change significantly at

high temperatures, strength and the modulus of elasticity are reduced, the coefficient of expansion

increases, and creep and stress relaxations are considerably higher. Other properties of concrete

are: Resistance to Abrasion, Chemical Resistance etc.

 • Economic Important of Using Concrete in Construction Industry

Concrete is the most economical used compound material for construction of different structures

due to its structural durability, stability and strength compare to other materials such as steel,

timber, rubber etc. The cost and skill required to production quality concrete material, is more

economical compare to other construction materials. The tremendous economy advantages of this

universal construction material can be understood easily by consider its numerous advantages

which include the following:

1. Its compressive strength per unit cost compared with other materials is considerable.

2. Concrete has great resistance to the actions of fire and water, which make it best structural

material available for situations where water is present. During fires of average intensity, members

with a satisfactory cover of concrete over the reinforcing bars suffer only surface damage without

failure.

3. Concrete structures are very rigid in nature.

4. It is a low-maintenance material.

5. As compared with other materials, it has a very long service life span. Under proper conditions,

concrete structures can be used indefinitely without reduction of their load carrying abilities. This

can be explained by the fact that the strength of concrete does not decrease with time but actually

increases over a very long period, measured in years, because of the lengthy process of the

solidification of the cement paste.

6. Concrete is the only economical material available for footings, floor slabs, and basement walls,

piers, and similar applications.

7. A special feature of concrete is its ability to be cast into an extraordinary variety of shapes from

simple slabs, beams, and columns to great arches and shells

• Processes of producing concrete

Concrete which is solid mass of mixture of Cement, Aggregate and water involves the following

processes. This include Concrete mix design which consists process of selecting, proportioning,

Mixing, Transportation, Placement, Compaction and Curing

Proportioning: This is the processes of measuring out by volume or weight of the various

constituent material for the concrete. The standard ratio of batching by weight is giving by 1:2:4

of cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate respectively for the normal concrete

Mixing: Concrete can be manually or with help of the machine (mixer). For but manual and

machine method, hard and clean surface should be used and proper mixing ensured until uniformly

of the mix attained. During mixing processes certain properties should ascertain such as

workability, homogeneity and cohesiveness.

Transportation: After mixing has been taken place, the concrete is move from mixing point to

the point where it is going to be used, transportation can either be with wheel barrow, head pan, or

mechanically using Lorie’s dumpers e.t.c

Placing: All formwork should be checked ceased and oiled before lying of concrete mix, the

placing of the concrete should not fall freely more than (1m) to prevent a peaked forming

segregation of the material.

Compaction: The concrete most be well compacted after placement to secure maximum density.

This can be done by hand or using vibratos. The used of vibratos is more deferent and can be used

driers. They are three types of vibratos named. The external, internal, and surface vibratos

Curing: According to BS 8110 (1997) curing is “the process of preventing the loss of moisture

from the concrete whilst maintaining a satisfactory temperature regime.” This definition adds that

the curing should prevent the development of high temperature gradients within concrete. Other

definitions exist that make reference to hydration, durability and cost. Thus the objective of curing

is to keep the concrete saturated, or as near saturated as possible for sufficient time for the original

water-filled space to become filled to the desired extent by cement hydration products. Curing is

carried out in any of the following forms

i. Formwork retention,

ii. Suspension of covering above the surface before the concrete sets (horizontal surface),

iii. Spraying with water,

iv. Pounding with water,

v. Covering with wet sand, earth, sawdust, straw

vi. Waterproof reinforced paper or plastic sheeting

vii. Tenting or other shelter against drying winds

viii. Sunshields

ix. Covering with an insulating layer or heated enclosure.