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Manufacturing and Mixing

1. What Australian Standard covers the Specification and supply of
concrete?
2. In a pre-mixed concrete plant, are materials batched by volume
or weight?
3. List two types of mixers used for mixing concrete.
4. For transit mixers, is mixing achieved at agitating speed?
5. How do you know the mixing time required by a particular
mixer?
 Transporting and Handling
1. When planning concrete placement, list two factors to consider.
2. List two methods of transporting concrete to a work site.
3. List three methods of handling concrete on site.
4. List two advantages of using concrete pumps.
 Placing concrete
1. What is the fundamental consideration when placing concrete?
2. List two common methods used to place concrete on site.
3. List two ways of avoiding segregation when placing concrete.
4. For sloping sites, should concrete placement commence at the lowest or highest
part of the work?
5. Why is it good practice to place concrete into existing concrete?
6. What is a ‘cold’ joint and how is it avoided?
7. When placing concrete in walls, why is it placed in layers?
8. When placing concrete underwater, what precautions must be taken?
9. List three precautions that should be taken when placing concrete in hot weather
conditions?
10. List three precautions that should be taken when placing concrete in cold weather
conditions?
 Compaction
1. What is compaction?
2. How long should compaction last?
3. List three concrete properties that are improved by compaction.
4. How much strength is lost through inadequate compaction?
5. List two types of compaction equipment.
6. Why should immersion vibrators be used systematically?
7. What volume of concrete can a typical vibrator compact per hour?
8. When placing concrete in layers, why is it important for the vibrator to penetrate
into the lower layer?
9. List two types of surface vibrators.
10. When using surface vibration, where should immersion vibrators also be used?
11. How does the rate of movement of surface vibrators affect the compaction of the
concrete?
12. Is hand trowelling or machine trowelling more effective in compacting the surface
of concrete slabs and why?
 Finishing concrete
1. What is the purpose of finishing concrete?
2. List the six stages in finishing a concrete slab.
3. Why should initial floating be completed prior to bleeding?
4. What is the purpose of initial floating?
5. Can machine floating be used for initial floating and why?
6. Why should final floating be delayed until after bleeding?
7. What is the purpose of final floating?
8. Why are the angle of trowel blades gradually increased during the trowelling
operation?
9. List three surface finishes that can be applied after trowelling.
 Curing concrete
1. Explain what is meant by the term curing.
2. Why is curing important?
3. List two hardened state concrete properties that can be improved by curing.
4. What are the three conditions required for curing?
5. Why do more severe exposure environments require longer curing?
6. List two methods of retaining moisture in concrete for curing.
7. List two methods of adding water to concrete for curing.
8. What precautions should be taken when specifying water curing in hot-weather
conditions?
9. List two requirements for effective curing with polyethylene (plastic) sheeting.
10. What are two things to look for when selecting a curing compound?
11. What is the efficiency rating of a curing compound?
12. Explain why there is not one method of curing that can be used for every concrete
application.
13. How does steam curing differ from autoclaving?
14. List two methods of curing a vertical element.
 Corrosion of Steel in Concrete
1. What is meant by passivation of steel?
2. What are two key elements required for corrosion?
3. What is the main use of a Pourbaix Diagram?
4. How can a Pourbaix Diagram be useful for designing a cathodic
protection system?
5. Describe the two main mechanisms of chemical attack.
6. List two factors that determine the rate of carbonation.
7. What role does cracking play in durability?
8. Does the passivating oxide film around steel reinforcement protect it
against chloride ion attack?
9. List two sources of chloride ions.
10. If a structure has a design life of 50 years, would you expect to carry
out any maintenance work within this period?
11. Can stainless steel be used with normal carbon steel in reinforced
concrete structures?
12. How does the zinc coating on galvanised reinforcement protect the
steel?
 Properties of Concrete
Problems to determine concrete properties
Problem 1. What is the purpose of performing the flexure test on
concrete? How are the results of this test related to the compressive
strength test results?

Problem 2. Consider a standard flexural strength specimen of length L,

width a, and depth a. Assume four-point loading where the load at
failure from the test machine is P, which is distributed evenly (1/2 to
each) over the two loading points. Derive the equation for calculating
the modulus of rupture of the beam in terms of P, L, and a.
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 2 (solution). Consider a standard flexural strength specimen
of length L, width a, and depth a. Assume four-point loading where
the load at failure from the test machine is P, which is distributed
evenly (1/2 to each) over the two loading points. Derive the equation
for calculating the modulus of rupture of the beam in terms of P, L,
and a.
Solution

Bending
moment
diagram
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 3. To evaluate the effect of a certain admixture on the flexure
strength of concrete, two mixes were prepared, one without
admixture and one with admixture. Three beams were prepared of
each mix. All the beams had a cross section of 0.15 m by 0.15 m and a
span of 0.45 m. The four-point loading flexure strength test was
performed on each beam after 7 days of curing. The loads at failure of
the beams without admixture were 32.8, 34.5, and 31.7 kN, while the
loads at failure of beams with admixture were 39.4, 35.6, and 35.0 kN.
Determine:
a. The modulus of rupture of each beam in MPa.
b. The average moduli of rupture of the beams without and with
admixture.
c. The percent of increase of the average modulus of rupture due
to adding the admixture.
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 3. Solution
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 4. Three batches of concrete were prepared using the same materials
and ingredients, except that they have water–cement ratios of 0.50, 0.55, and
0.60, respectively. The following tests were performed on specimens made of
the three batches:
■ Compressive strength test on 100 mm * 200 mm cylinders
■ Four-point flexure test on 150 mm * 150 mm * 500 mm beams
■ Indirect tensile (“Brazil”, split) tension test on 150 mm * 300 mm cylinders
Three samples were tested for each test. Table below shows the average failure
loads for the three samples of each case. It is required to do the following:
a. Complete Table
b. Using an Excel, plot the relationships between water–cement ratio and
compressive strength, modulus of rupture, and tensile strength on the same
graph. Label all axes and curves.
c. Comment on the effect of water–cement ratio on the compressive strength,
modulus of rupture, and tensile strength.
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 4 (cont’d). Three batches of concrete were prepared using the same
materials and ingredients, except that they have water–cement ratios of 0.50,
0.55, and 0.60, respectively. The following tests were performed on specimens
made of the three batches:
■ Compressive strength test on 100mm (D) * 200mm (H) cylinders
■ Four-point flexure test on 150mm*150mm*500mm beams (a=150, L=450mm)
■ Indirect tensile (“Brazil”, split) tension test on 150 mm * 300 mm cylinders
Three samples were tested for each test. Table below shows the average failure
loads for the three samples of each case. Complete the following table:
 Properties of Concrete
Problem 4. Solution
The split tensile (indirect tensile) strength is computed as
T – tensile strength (MPa), P – load at failure (N), L – length of
specimen (mm), d – diameter of specimen (mm)

Compressive Strength Test Flexure Test Indirect Tension Test

Compressive Tensile
Failure Load Strength Failure Load Modulus of Failure Load Strength
w/c Ratio (kN) (MPa) (kN) Rupture (MPa) (kN) (MPa)

0.5 204.2 26.0 18.6 2.5 237.2 3.4

0.55 141.7 18.0 12.2 1.6 216.1 3.1
0.6 110.5 14.1 10 1.3 191.1 2.7

Compressive Strength Modulus of Rupture Tensile Strength

30.0
Strength (MPa)

20.0

10.0

0.0
0.48 0.5 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.6 0.62
w/c Ratio