CONCRETE GRADE

- In concrete grade, ‘M’ means mix and the number after ‘M’ represents MPa or N/mm2
compressive strength of concrete. For example; M10, M15, M20, M25 concrete mix
grade.
- M10 means concrete mix which can bear 10 MPa or 10 N/mm2
- Some of them are standard and pre designed and calculated but sometimes in special
project, need based concrete grades are used. Their use depend upon their strength.

Example

- 5 N/mm2 means that one mm2 area of concrete cube of 150 mm can bear 5 N or 5
MPa compressive load after curing the 28 days. It can be converted into PSI by
multiplying with 145
- C10, C15, C20, C25, etc are British/European standard of ‘Concrete Strength Class’.
Where ‘C’ refers class and numerical values next to ‘C’ represents the compressive
strength of cylinder of ( 150 mm x 300 mm ) after curing 28 days.
- Cylinder compressive strength = 0.80 x cube compressive strength
CONCRETE MIX RATIO

- The ratio of ingredients used in concrete composition. For example; 1:5:10, 1:4:8,
1:3:6, 1:2:4 and more. If there is mentioned to use M15 grade of concrete, you may
know the strength of M15 but you need to know how many parts of cement, sand and
aggregates going to be use in M15 grade
- M15 which has concrete mix ratio of 1:2:4 is mostly used concrete grade for beams,
floor and slabs. It means 1 part of cement, 2 parts of sand and 4 parts of aggregate is
used in M15 grade composition. On the other hand, you can calculate concrete mix
ratio using ballast by 1:6, which means 1 part of cement and 6 parts of ballast ( sand
& aggregate mixture )
- M20 which has mix ratio of 1:1.5:3
- Concrete mix ratio is divided into 2 categories which are:
1. Nominal Concrete Mix
2. Designed Concrete Mix

NOMINAL CONCRETE MIX:

- The ratios of ingredients are predefined

- Widely used in most of the construction projects so the ratio are already calculated
- Concrete grades M5 to M25 are counted as Nominal Concrete Mix

Compressive
Concrete Grade Mix Ratio Strength PSI
(Cement:Sand:Aggregate (MPa@N/mm2)
)
M5 1:5:10 5 725
M7.5 1:4:8 7.5 1087
M10 1:3:6 10 1450
M15 1:2:4 15 2175
M20 1:1.5:3 20 2900
M25 1:1:2 25 3625
 Nominal concrete grade table

Links: https://civilmanage.com/concrete-mix-grades/