SIMPLIFIED CONCEPTS What is Concrete?

ABOUT In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and

CONCRETE aggregates. The paste, composed of portland cement and

water, coats the surface of the fine and coarse aggregates.
Through a chemical reaction called hydration, the paste
hardens and gains strength to form the rock-like mass known
as concrete.
Within this process lies the key to a remarkable trait of
concrete: it's plastic and malleable when newly mixed, strong
DJ CONCRETE and durable when hardened.

Concrete’s durability, strength and relatively low cost make it

KNOWLEDGE BASE the backbone of buildings and infrastructure worldwide—
houses, schools and hospitals as well as airports, bridges,
highways and rail systems. The most-produced material on
Earth will only be more in demand as, for example, developing
nations become increasingly urban, extreme weather events
necessitate more durable building materials and the price of
other infrastructure materials continues to rise.

Even construction professionals sometimes incorrectly use the

terms cement and concrete interchangeably. Cement is
actually an ingredient of concrete. It is the fine powder that,
when mixed with water, sand, and gravel or crushed stone
(fine and coarse aggregate), forms the rock-like mass known
as concrete.
 The Forms of Concrete Factors that Affect the Strength of
Concrete?
Concrete is produced in four basic forms, each with 1. Water Cement Ratio
unique applications and properties.
The ratio of the weight of water to the weight of cement is
1. Ready-mixed concrete, far the most common form,
accounts for nearly three-fourths of all concrete. It's called Water/Cement ratio. It is the most important factor
batched at local plants for delivery in the familiar trucks for gaining the strength of concrete. The lower w/c ratio
with revolving drums. leads the higher strength of concrete. Generally, the
2. Precast concrete products are cast in a factory setting. water/cement ratio of 0.45 to 0.60 is used. Too much water
These products benefit from tight quality control
achievable at a production plant. Precast products leads to segregation and voids in concrete. Water/Cement
range from concrete bricks and paving stones to bridge ratio is inversely proportional to the strength of concrete.
girders, structural components, and wall As shown in the chart below when the w/c ratio is increased
panels. Concrete masonry another type of the strength of concrete gets decreased and when w/c ratio
manufactured concrete, may be best known for its
conventional 8-by-8-by-16-inch block. Today's masonry is decreased then the strength of concrete increases.
units can be molded into a wealth of shapes,
configurations, colors, and textures to serve an infinite
spectrum of building applications and architectural
needs.
3. Cement-based materials represent products that defy
the label of "concrete," yet share many of its qualities.
Conventional materials in this category include mortar,
grout, and terrazzo. soil-cement and roller-compacted
concrete —"cousins" of concrete—are used for
pavements and dams. Other products in this category
include flowable fill and cement-treated bases.
4. A new generation of advanced products incorporates
fibers and special aggregate to create roofing tiles,
shake shingles, lap siding, and count.
 2. Compaction of Concrete 3. Ingredients of Concrete

Compaction  of concrete increases the density of the

The main ingredients of concrete  are cement, sand,
concrete because it is the process in which air voids are
aggregate and Water. Quality of each material affects
removed from freshly placed concrete which makes the
concrete compact and dense. The presence of air voids in the strength of the concrete. All materials, therefore,
concrete greatly reduces its strength .Approximately 5 % of should fulfil the standard criteria for use in concrete like,
air voids can reduce the strength by 30 to 40 %. As we can
see in the above chart, even at the same water/cement ratio
strength is different with different compaction accuracies. In
the fully compacted concrete, strength is higher than the
insufficiently compacted concrete.

4.

How Cement is Made?
Portland cement is the basic ingredient of concrete.
Concrete is formed when portland cement creates a paste with
water that binds with sand and rock to harden.
Cement is manufactured through a closely controlled chemical
combination of calcium, silicon, aluminum, iron and other
ingredients.
Common materials used to manufacture cement include
limestone, shells, and chalk or marl combined with shale, clay,
slate, blast furnace slag, silica sand, and iron ore. These
ingredients, when heated at high temperatures form a rock-like
substance that is ground into the fine powder that we
commonly think of as cement.
Bricklayer Joseph Aspdin of Leeds, England first made
portland cement early in the 19th century by burning powdered
limestone and clay in his kitchen stove. With this crude
method, he laid the foundation for an industry that annually
processes literally mountains of limestone, clay, cement rock,
and other materials into a powder so fine it will pass through a
sieve capable of holding water.  Clinker is discharged red-hot from the lower end of the kiln and
Cement plant laboratories check each step in the manufacture
of portland cement by frequent chemical and physical tests.
The labs also analyze and test the finished product to ensure
that it complies with all industry specifications.
The most common way to manufacture portland cement is
through a dry method. The first step is to quarry the principal
raw materials, mainly limestone, clay, and other materials.
After quarrying the rock is crushed. This involves several
stages. The first crushing reduces the rock to a maximum size
of about 6 inches. The rock then goes to secondary crushers
or hammer mills for reduction to about 3 inches or smaller.
The crushed rock is combined with other ingredients such as
iron ore or fly ash and ground, mixed, and fed to a cement kiln.
The cement kiln heats all the ingredients to about 2,700
degrees Fahrenheit in huge cylindrical steel rotary kilns lined
with special firebrick. Kilns are frequently as much as 12 feet
in diameter—large enough to accommodate an automobile
and longer in many instances than the height of a 40-story
building. The large kilns are mounted with the axis inclined
slightly from the horizontal.
The finely ground raw material or the slurry is fed into the
higher end. At the lower end is a roaring blast of flame,
produced by precisely controlled burning of powdered coal, oil,
alternative fuels, or gas under forced draft.
As the material moves through the kiln, certain elements are
driven off in the form of gases. The remaining elements unite
to form a new substance called clinker. Clinker comes out of
the kiln as grey balls, about the size of marbles.
generally is brought down to handling temperature in various
types of coolers. The heated air from the coolers is returned to
the kilns, a process that saves fuel and increases burning
efficiency.
After the clinker is cooled, cement plants grind it and mix it
with small amounts of gypsum and limestone. Cement is so
fine that 1 pound of cement contains 150 billion grains.  The
cement is now ready for transport to ready-mix concrete
companies to be used in a variety of construction projects.
Although the dry process is the most modern and popular way
to manufacture cement, some kilns in the United States use a
wet process. The two processes are essentially alike except in
the wet process, the raw materials are ground with water
before being fed into the kiln.
Cement Specific Materials?
Portland cement is the fundamental ingredient in concrete,
which is why when you think of cement, it may be automatic to
think of concrete. But cement can also be the fundamental
ingredient in numerous cement-specific materials used to
construct safe, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure
projects. Whether your application is pavements, water
resources, or geotechnical, you will find here the resources
you need to understand the different types of materials
available and best practices for design and construction to
maximize both economic and environmental sustainability.
Many of these cement-specific materials have been used on
projects in the U.S. for over 100 years, and their long-term
performance and durability is well-documented and
understood.
As the figure above illustrates, cement-specific
materials come in a wide variety of forms, are comprised of
several different constituents, and can be mixed and placed
using methods that range from pumping a fluid mixture
through a hose to casting inside formwork to placement and
compaction in lifts using earthwork equipment. What these
materials have in common is they use hydraulic cement
binders like portland and blended cements to improve the
physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the hardened
matrix that results when mixed with other constituents. The
figure is not intended to be used for mix design determination,
but rather to show how these materials compare to each other
in terms of cementitious content, water content, and method of
consolidation. General definitions for each of these cement-
specific materials are provided below.
DEFINITIONS
Soil-Cement (SC)
A mixture of soil, portland or blended cement, and water.
When first mixed, SC looks like native soil, and it is then
placed and compacted in lifts using typical earthmoving
equipment. However, the cement acts as a binder between the
soil particles and, like cement-treated base (CTB), the SC
gains strength and durability as the cement hydrates.
Cement-Modified Soil (CMS)
A compacted mixture of pulverized in situ soil, water, and
small proportions of portland or blended cement that results in
an unbound or slightly bound material. The treated material is
similar to a soil but has reduced plasticity and a lower
susceptibility to moisture, resulting in a more workable
material.
Cement-Stabilized Subgrade (CSS) Soil
A compacted, engineered mixture of pulverized in situ soil,
water, and moderate proportions of portland or blended
cement (slightly more than CMS) that results in a semi-bound
to bound material. The treated material has structural
engineering properties similar to or better than those of a
granular material.
Cement-Treated Base (CTB)
A fully bound, compacted, engineered mixture of aggregate,
water, and sufficient portland or blended cement to meet the
project-specified minimum durability and strength
requirements. Because of the better aggregate selection
available for CTB, it typically uses about the same quantity of
cement as CSS; however, CTB results in a stronger, more
durable, more frost-resistant layer.
Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR)
A type of CTB, FDR is a process that involves pulverizing and
blending an existing distressed asphalt roadway surface and
its underlying base and/or subgrade materials. Portland or
blended cement is mixed with the pulverized material,
compacted, and cured, resulting in a new homogenous and
stabilized base. This process compares favorably to the
complete removal and replacement of a distressed asphalt
pavement and underlying granular base material.
Roller-Compacted Concrete (RCC)
A mixture of aggregates, portland or blended cement, water,
and sometimes supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs)
and/or chemical admixtures. Fresh RCC is stiff and has zero
slump, and it is usually placed in horizontal lifts using
conventional earthmoving or paving equipment and
compacted using a vibratory drum roller.
Cast-In-Place (CIP) Concrete
A mixture of aggregates, portland or blended cement, water,
and sometimes SCMs, fibers, and/or chemical admixtures.
When freshly mixed it is plastic enough to be placed and
consolidated within formwork where it hardens and gains
strength. Whether reinforced or unreinforced, CIP concrete
(commonly referred to as conventional concrete) is the most
widely used building material in the world.
Pervious Concrete
A near-zero-slump, open-graded material consisting of
portland or blended cement, coarse aggregate, little or no fine
aggregate, admixtures, and water. The combination of these
ingredients produces a hardened material with 15 to 25
percent voids or connected pores that allow water to pass
through easily as part of a hydrologically designed system.
Precast Concrete 
A construction product produced by casting concrete in a
reusable mold which is then cured in a controlled environment,
transported to the construction site, and maneuvered into
place. The precast concrete elements can be produced from
either dry mixes (vibrated or hydraulically pressed to
consolidate/compact the material in molds) or from more fluid
mixes to create shapes or panels.
For more information about precast concrete, refer to the
National Precast Concrete Association, the
Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, and the Interlocking
Concrete Pavement Institute.
Also referred to as controlled low-strength material (CLSM),
controlled density fill (CDF), flowable mortar, plastic soil-
cement, and soil-cement slurry, it is a self-leveling and self-
consolidating concrete material. Traditional flowable fills are
mixtures of portland or blended cement, water, fly ash, fine
aggregate, and air, and are primarily used as a backfill
material. 

Lean Concrete Base (LCB) 

A base or subbase material that is composed of aggregate

and portland or blended cement (sometimes includes fly ash,
slag, or chemical admixtures) that is uniformly blended and
mixed with water, then spread, shaped, and consolidated
using conventional concrete paving equipment. LCB contains
more cement than CTB but much less than conventional CIP
concrete, with design strengths much higher than CTB but
much less than CIP. 

For more information about LCB, refer to the National Ready

Mixed Concrete Association and the American Concrete
Pavement Association.

Lightweight Cellular Concrete (LCC)

A mixture of portland or blended cement, water, and air

(created through a preformed foam) to produce a low density
hardened concrete material. LCC can function as a
lightweight, strong, durable, and inexpensive soil or fill
replacement, can be produced at a plant or on site, and is self-
leveling and self-consolidating.

Flowable Fill