Faculty of Architecture and Planning

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
RAR - 403, ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES
Er. EKTA SINHA

Presented by:
ANANYA AGARWAL

Report Topic : Properties of Concrete and Steel

4th Semester (2022-23)

B.Arch 2nd Year (Section-A)

 CONCRETE

INTRODUCTION:
Concrete can be defined as any solid mass made with the use of a cementing medium. It is composed
principally of aggregate, cement, and water and may also contain other cementitious materials or
chemical admixtures. These admixtures are used to accelerate, retard, improve workability, reduce
mixing water requirements, increase strength or alter other properties of the concrete.
Concrete is composed principally of aggregate, a Portland or blended
cement, and water, and may contain other cementitious materials and/or
chemical admixtures. Chemical admixtures used to accelerate, retard, improve
workability, reduce mixing water requirements, increase strength, or alter other
properties of the concrete.
It has been in use as a building material for more than hundred and fifty years. Its popularity can be
largely attributed to:
a. Durability under hostile environments (including resistance to water)
b. Ease with which it can be cast into a variety of shapes and sizes
c. Easy availability and economical nature
The main strength of concrete lies in its compression- bearing ability which is considerably better
than the traditional materials like brick and stone masonry. Although concrete is remarkably strong in
compression, but it is equally remarkably weak in tension. Its tensile-strength is approximately one
-tenth of its compressive strength.

COMPONENTS OF CONCRETE:
 Cement- It may be described as a material with adhesive and cohesive properties that make
it capable of bonding mineral fragments (aggregates) into a compact whole. It imparts
strength and durability to the hardened mass called concrete.

The cement used shall be any of the following and the type selected should be appropriate for
the intended use:
o 33 Grade ordinary Portland cement conforming to IS 269
o 43 Grade ordinary Portland cement conforming to IS 8112
o S3 Grade ordinary Portland cement conforming to IS 12269
o Rapid hardening Portland cement conforming to IS 8041
o Portland slag cement conforming to IS 4;5

 Water- Water has a significant role to play in the making of concrete- in mixing of fresh
concrete and in curing of concrete while hardening.

 Aggregate- it is formed from natural sources by the process of weathering and abrasion.

PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE:
 Characteristic Strength of Concrete (fck)- It is defined a s the strength of material below
which not more than 5 percent of the test results are expected to fall.
 Modulus Of Elasticity of Concrete- Ec=5000√ fck , where Ec is the short term static modulus
of elasticity in N/mm2.

 Increase of strength with Age- There is normally a gain of strength beyond 28 days. The
quantum of increase depends upon the grade and type of cement, curing and environmental
conditions, etc. The design should be based on 28 days characteristic strength of concrete

 Durability of Concrete- A durable concrete is one that performs satisfactorily in the working
environment during its anticipated exposure conditions during service.
The materials and mix proportions specified and used should be such as to maintain its
integrity and, if applicable, to protect embedded metal from corrosion. One of the main
characteristics influencing the durability of concrete is its permeability to the ingress of
water, oxygen, carbon dioxide. chloride, sulphate and other potentially deleterious
substances. Impermeability is governed by the constituents and workmanship used in making
the concrete.
The factors influencing durability include:
a. the environment;
b. the cover to embedded steel
c. the type and quality of constituent materials
d. the cement content and water/cement ratio of the concrete
e. workmanship, to obtain full compaction and efficient curing
f. the shape and size of the member.

 Creep Of Shrinkage- When concrete is subjected to sustained compressive loading, its

deformation keeps increasing with time, even though the stress level is not altered. The time-
dependent component of the total strain is termed as Creep. As long as the stress in concrete
does not exceed one-third of its characteristic compressive strength, creep may be assumed to
be proportional to the stress.

Age at Creep
loading Coefficient
7 days 2.2
28 days 1.6
1 year 1.1
  Thermal Expansion – Concrete expands with a temperature rise and contracts with as the
temperature drops. As a consequence, internal stresses are induced in structures, thus for the
purpose of design, the coefficient of thermal expansion is required. The value of coefficient of

thermal expansion for concrete with different aggregates may be taken as below:

 Workability of Concrete- It may be defined as that property of the freshly mixed concrete
which determines the ease and homogeneity with which it can be mixed, placed , compacted
and finished. Workability of concrete can be tested by the slump test. The slump (Vertical
settlement) measured shall be recorded in terms of millimetres of subsidence of the specimen
during the test.
According to IS-456-2000, the slump value ( in mm) of the concrete used in Ordinary RCC
work for beams and slabs is 50-100mm. For concrete work, low workable concrete is
preferred, slump value for concrete roads is 20 – 30 mm, normal RCC work 80-150mm, mass
concrete 20-50mm .

 Shrinkage- The phenomena of shrinking of concrete in the hardened state due to loss of
moisture by evaporation and consequent reduction in volume. Shrinkage introduces time-
dependent strain in concrete. The total shrinkage of concrete depends upon the constituents of
concrete, size of the member and environmental conditions. The approximate value of the
total shrinkage strain for design may be taken as 0.0003.

 Grade of Concrete- the quality or grade of concrete is designated in terms of a number,

which denotes its characteristic strength( of 150 mm cubes at 28-days), expressed in MPa.
The number is usually preceded by the letter ‘M’ which refers to as ‘mix’. Thus, for example,
M 20 grade concrete denotes a concrete whose mix is so designed as to generate a
characteristic strength of 20 MPa.

CONCRETE MIX DESIGN:

The design of a concrete mix for a specified grade involves the economical selection of the relative
proportions of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water.
The mix proportions shall be selected to ensure the workability of the fresh concrete and when
concrete is hardened, it shall have the required strength, durability and surface finish. The
determination of the proportions of cement, aggregates and water to attain the required strengths shall
be made as follows:
a) By designing the concrete mix; such concrete shall becalled 'Design mix concrete', or
b) By adopting nominal concrete mix: such concrete shall be called 'Nominal mix concrete'.
Design mix concrete is preferred to nominal mix. If design mix concrete cannot be used for any
reason on the work for grades of M 20 or lower) nominal mixes may be used with the permission of
engineer-in-charge. which, however. is likely to involve a higher cement content.

REINFORCED CEMENT CONCRETE-

Concrete with steel bars embedded in it. It has the ability to resist significant tensile stresses as well.
The bond between steel and the surrounding concrete ensures strain compatibility i.e., the strain at any
point in the steel is equal to that in the adjoining concrete.
Reinforcing steel also imparts ductility to a material that is otherwise brittle. Furthermore, steel is
stronger than concrete in compression also. Reinforcing steel is generally provided in the form of
bars, wires or welded wire fabric.
Reinforcing bars also called as rebars have diameter ranging from 5 to 50 mm and may be plain or
deformed. The bars that are most commonly used are High Strength Deformed Bars ( generally cold
twisted) , conforming to IS 1786: 2008, and having a specified yield strength of 415 MPa.
Plain mild steel bars are less commonly used in reinforced concrete, because they possess less
strength (250 Pa yield strength) and cost approximately the same as high-strength deformed bars.
In IS 456:2000 , only three grades have been specified , Fe 250, Fe 415 and Fe 500, conforming to
specified yield strengths of 250 MPa, 415 MPa and 500 MPa respectively. The code specifies that the
‘specified yield strength’ may be treated as the characteristic strength of reinforcing steel.
Hard-drawn steel wire fabrics conforming to IS 1566:1982, are sometimes used in thin slabs and in
some precast products( such as pipes).
Rolled Steel Sections , conforming to Grade A of IS 2062:1999, are also permitted by the code in
composite construction.

REFERNCES:
o IS CODE 456:2000
o Reinforced Concrete Design by S.Unnkrishna Pillai and Devdas Menon