BY THE END OF THIS SESSION, THE STUDENTS

SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

Explain basic science and engineering

fundamentals pertaining to properties of
hardened concrete, concreting in different
environmental and the testing of hardened
concrete.
• Mixing cement with water produces a plastic workable
paste.
• “Dormant period”  stage of mixing of cement and water
remains at plastic workable paste.

• “Initial set”  when paste begins to stiffer to such a degree

that although still soft and becomes unworkable.

• Time required to reach this stage is called “initial setting

time”.

• “Final set”  where the paste continues to stiffen until a

stage is reached when it may be regarded as a rigid solid.
• And the resulting solid is known as the “hardened cement
paste” or “cement paste”

• “Hardening”  where the hardening paste continues to

harden and gain strength.

• The initial setting time determines the length of time in

which cement mixes remain plastic and workable.

• Final setting time should not be too long in order to allow

construction work to continue within a reasonable time
after casting the concrete.
 Addition of water

Initial setting
Dormant Plastic & workable Paste time min
Period 45min

Initial Set

Final setting
Setting time max 10 h
Stiff & Unworkable Paste

Final Set

Rigid solid, gaining strength

Hardening with time
• Properties of hardened concrete can be
categorized into :

Strength,
Deformation under load,
Durability,
Permeability,
Shrinkage.
• Most valuable property, strength of concrete is
defined as the max stress it can resist or the max
it can carry.
• Cubes, cylinders and prisms are the 3 type of
compression test specimens.
• Flexural tensile test is used to estimate the load
at which the concrete members may crack.
o Strength of concrete increase with age
• Factors influencing the strength of concrete : as time passes
by, with proper curing the concrete strength should increase.
• Factors (depending on testing method) influencing the
strength of concrete:
• size of test specimen,
• size of specimen in relation to the size of aggregate,
• support conditions of specimen,
• moisture conditions of the specimen,
• type of testing machine,
• the assumption in the analysis relating stress to failure
load.
 Independent factors:
 the type of cement, age & type of aggregate and
admixture,
 degree of compaction,
 concrete mix proportions (cement content, aggregate-
cement ratio, amount of voids and water-cement
ratio),
 type of curing and temperature of curing,
 nature of loading to which the specimen is subjected
(static, sustained, dynamic),
 type of stress situation that may exist.
1) Type of cement:

 RHPC  gains strength more quickly but after several

months there is almost the same;
 SRPC  have low tricalcium aluminate which can react
with sulphates. SRPC is normally satisfactory in
conditions which arise with below ground concreting;
 LHPC  the gains in strength and heat evolves are more
slowly than normal concrete of similar composition,
through ultimately the strength and the heat of
hydration are virtually the same, usually for use in large
mass .
 cement content:
- the higher the cement content the higher is the concrete
strength
2) Age of concrete
 Development of strength depends on: cement
type, w/c ratio, and curing condition.
 Development of continuous system of gel
depends on type of cement and w/c ratios.
 Usually 28 days strength maybe assumed to be
1.5 times the 7 day strength.
 CP114 (1969) accepts a days strength equal to
not less than 2/3 of the required 28 days
strength.
3) Type of aggregate

 The surface characteristic of the aggregate will affect bond

strength and that a rougher surface would result in higher
strength.

 For certain type of aggregate, the shrinkage and moisture

movement would be decreased when amount of water
decreased. Unless full compaction being carried out.

 When w/c ratio within 0.40, crushed aggregate can produce

stronger concrete than gravel. But the effect will disappears
when w/c ration at 0.65
3) Type of aggregate (cont)
 Aggregate surface roughness has a considerable affect on
bond strength (greater the roughness, higher is the bond
strength) due to improvement in mechanical interlocking.

 The compressive strength of concrete tends to increase with

the decrease in the size of coarse aggregate. This due to the
facts that smaller size aggregates provide larger surface area
for bonding with the mortar matrix.

 Concrete with higher w/c, required bigger size of the coarse

aggregate.
3) Type of aggregate (cont)

 Strength up to 20 N/mm2, aggregate up to 40 mm may

be used; strength up to 30 N/mm2, aggregate up to 20
mm may be used.

 The bond is characterized by the presence of a thin layer

which bridges between the aggregate and the paste.

 The aggregate which exhibit moisture movement

themselves and have low elastic modulus cause large
shrinkage.
 Aggregate–Cement Ratio
- When the agg-cement ratio increases,
compressive strength reduces
- Normal concrete has a cement ratio between
0.82 - 0.92
Water-Cement Ratio
- The lower is the water-cement ratio,
the greater is compressive strength
4) Admixture

 Adding accelerating admixture (calcium

chloride) in the fresh concrete mix will speed
up the initial set of the concrete.
5) Degree of compaction

 When the cement compacts, it have a very low porosity, thus

result in a very high strength.

 The increase in the strength of concrete is probably influenced

by the volume of voids in concrete i.e. entrapped air, capillary
pores, gel pores, or entrained air.
6) Concrete mix design:
 Gives the characteristic compressive strength requirements
of the concrete and depends the following 3 main factors:
i) cement content:
important on the rate of development of compressive strength of
concrete;
depends upon the requirements of performance like rapid-hardening or
low-heat is required.

ii) aggregate-cement ratio:

the max. nominal size of aggregate to be used in concrete is governed by
the size of the section and the spacing of the reinforcement.
6) Concrete mix design (cont)
 Normally, max. nominal size of aggregate < ¼ of the min
thickness of the member @ 5 mm less than the min clear
distance of main reinforcement @ 5 mm less than the min
cover to the reinforcement.

 Size of aggregate should as large as possible in order to

reduce the cement requirement.

 The workability also increase with the increase in max. size of

aggregate.
6) Concrete mix design (cont)

 An increase in the compacting factor would increase the

workability of fresh concrete and the normal range of
concrete usually having compacting factor of 0.82 – 0.92.
iii) water-cement ratio:
the compressive of strength of concrete at a given age and under
normal temperature, depends primarily on the w/c ratio.

 The lower the water-cement ratio, the greater is the

compressive strength.
7) Type and temperature of curing:

 The early-age strength of paste is improved with the rise in

curing temperature but its later-age strength is adversely
affected.

 Early-age: ages less than 7 days

 Later-age: ages exceeding 28 days.

 The concrete strength is determined by the properties of

the cement, therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the
cement composition and probably its specific surface area
will influence the temperature effect on strength.
7) Type and temperature of curing (cont)

 The effect of temperature on concrete strength may be

minimized by the use of a cement low in C3A and high in C2S,
i.e. by use of sulphate-resisting cement.

 Maturity is mentioned as the product of the curing period and

temperature.

 The effect of increased curing temperature would depend on

the length of the curing period.

 In generally, the strength of concrete is found to increase

linearly with its maturity.
• air cured concrete developed less compressive strength to the
moist cured concrete
 A stress strain relationship under normal
loading and under sustained loading.

 Under normal loading: the first effect of

applying a load to concrete is to produce an
elastic deformation i.e. as the load increases
deformation increases.

 Under sustained loading, prolong application

of stress causes a slow deformation: creep
 The increase of deformation is not proportional, as the time passes the
deformation is lesser.
 If the load removed, the concrete undergoes an immediate elastic recovery,
but the creep recovery is a very slow process and the concrete is not fully
regain its original dimensions.
 Defined as the ability to withstand the damaging effects of the
environment over a long period of time.

 The absence of durability maybe caused either by the

environment to which the concrete is exposed i.e. external or
internal causes.

 External causes:
 physical, chemical and mechanical
 weathering, occurrence of extreme temperature, abrasion, electrolytic
action.
 The common forms of chemical attack : leaching out of
cement and action of sulphates.

 The resistance to sulphate attack can be improved by: adding

or partial replacement of cement by pozzolana, using high
pressure steam curing and increase permeability.

 Internal causes:
 The alkali- aggregate reaction, volume changes due to the differences
in thermal properties of aggregate and cement paste and the
permeability of the concrete.
 Recommended ways to have durable concrete are:
 use of low water-cement ratio
 Well compacted concrete
 Good workmanship, reduced porosity
 Sufficient cover over reinforcement, and
 The use of aluminious sulphate resisting cement, Portland blastfurnace
or Portland pozzolana cement
 Concrete has a tendency to be porous due to the
presence of voids formed during or after placing.

 To produce concrete of low permeability, full

compaction and proper curing is essential.

 Low permeability is important in increasing resistant

to frost action and chemical attack and in protecting
embedded steel against corrosion.
 Reasons to study the permeability of concrete:
a) the penetration by material in solution may be adversely
affect the durability of concrete e.g. Ca(OH)2 leaches
out, and the aggressive liquids attack the concrete.
b) in case of reinforced concrete, ingress of moisture and
air will result in corrosion of steel in which leads to an
increase in the volume of steel, and to cracking and
spalling of concrete cover.
 c) the moisture penetration depends on permeability and if
the concrete can become saturated with water it is ore
vulnerable to frost.
d) the permeability is also interest in connection with water-
tightness of liquid retaining structures and the problem
of hydrostatic pressure in the interior of the dams.

 Factors influencing permeability are:

 water-cement ratio,
 workability,
 type of structure,
 method of compaction,
 soundness and porosity of the aggregate,
 age (permeability decrease with age),
 grading of aggregate,
 curing
 The permeability of cement paste varies with the age of
concrete or with progress of hydration

 With age, the permeability decreases because gel gradually fill

the original water filled space.

 For the same w/c ratio, the permeability of paste with coarser
cement particles is higher than those with finer cement.

 In general, the higher the strength of cement paste, the lower

will the permeability.
 Is a contraction deformation suffered by concrete
even under no load.

 The shrinkage is dependent on the amount of

drying that can take place.

 Influenced by the humidity and temperature of the

surrounding air, the rate of air flow over the surface
and the proportion of the surface area to volume of
concrete

 The two types of shrinkage:

1) plastic shrinkage:
 due to hydration of cement which results in volume
reduction
 It is aggravated due to loss of water by evaporation
from the surface of concrete, particularly under hot
climates and high winds

2) drying shrinkage:
 Take places after the concrete has set and hardened
 Due to withdrawal of water from concrete stored in
unsaturated air voids.
Rate of shrinkage is affected by:
 Water-cement ratio: increase with the increase in the w/c
ratio

 Cement content: increase with cement ratio

 Type of aggregate: the aggregate which exhibit moisture

movement themselves and which have low elastic modulus
will cause large shrinkage. An increase in max. size of
aggregate will decrease the shrinkage.

 Size and shape of specimen: decrease with surface-volume

ratio of the specimen.
 Type of cement: RHPC shrinks more than the others

 Admixtures: the shrinkage increase with the

addition of calcium chloride and reduces the lime
replacement

 Ambient humidity: shrinkage with the decrease in

humidity and the immersion in water cause
expansion
a) Concrete in sea water
 Maybe damaged by crystallization of salts
inside the mass in zones where the concrete
is subjected to alternate wetting and drying.
 The durability is dependent mainly on its
density. The required density can be attained
by using a maximum w/c ratio of 0.45-0.50
provided the concrete is properly placed
and compacted.
 RC is much more open to damage due to corrosion of
reinforcement.
 The corrosion would result in increase in volume of
reinforcement, thus the concrete will crack.
 A dense concrete cover prevents sea water from penetrating
into the concrete and thereby protects the steel against
corrosion
 The use of granulated blast furnace slag as a cement
replacement material can increased the chloride resistance in
sea water structures.
b) Concrete in acidic environment

 Concrete in acidic conditions with pH=6 or less must be

protected by a suitable coating.

 In any case, the attack of naturally occurring acidic solution

which result from the presence of organic acids or carbon
dioxide is only normally limited to the surface of the concrete
and causes limited damage.

 Appreciable damage may occur when the aggressive water in

under pressure and the concrete is permeable or thin sections
is involved (i.e. concrete pipe)