Mix Proportioning

Dr. S. D. Bharti
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Concrete

• Concrete is an artificial conglomerate stone made

essentially of Portland cement, water, and aggregates.

• It is a Composite material that consists essentially of a

binding medium within which aggregates are embedded

• Binder is formed from a mixture of hydraulic cement and

water.
Itaipu Dam, Brazil
California aqueduct construction.

Central Arizona project pipeline.

Concrete as a Structural Material
Most widely used construction material

Last year in the U.S. 63 million tons of Portland cement

were converted into 500 million tons of concrete

Total world consumption of concrete last year is

estimated at three billion tons

Estimated present consumption of concrete in the

world is 55. billion tons every year
Stat fjord B offshore concrete platform, Norway
Why Concrete most widely used
engineering material?
Concrete possesses excellent resistance to
water

 Aqueducts and waterfront retaining walls

 Dams, canal linings, and pavements

 Structural elements exposed to moisture, such as piles,

foundations, footings, floors, beams, columns, roofs,
exterior walls, and pipes
Hoover Dam Bypass Project
Ease with which structural concrete elements can
be formed into a variety of shapes and sizes

 Freshly made concrete is of a plastic consistency

 Flow into prefabricated formwork

 Formwork can be removed for reuse

The Temple Israel was built in 1969
The cheapest and most readily available
material on the job

Aggregate, water, and Portland cement

are relatively inexpensive and are
commonly available

Cost may be as low as U.S. $60 to $70 per

cubic meter
Advantages Of Concrete
Maintenance. Concrete does not corrode, needs no
surface treatment, and its strength increases with
time; therefore, concrete structures require much
less maintenance

Fire resistance. The fire resistance of concrete is

perhaps the most important single aspect of
offshore safety

Resistance to cyclic loading

Types of Concrete
Based on unit weight,

 Normal-weight concrete - 2400 kg/m3

 Lightweight concrete - 1800 kg/m3
 Heavyweight concrete - 3200 kg/m3

Based on compressive strength,

 Low-strength concrete: less than 20 MPa

 Moderate-strength concrete: 20 to 40 MPa
 High-strength concrete: more than 40 MPa
Concrete

Concrete is an intimate mixture of

Cement
Fine Aggregate
Coarse Aggregate
Water
Admixtures
Mix Proportioning

Concrete Mix Proportioning is the science of deciding

relative proportions of ingredients of concrete, to
achieve the desired properties in the most economical
way.
Strands Of Proportioning
Absolute Volume Methods
 IS Method
 ACI Method
 Road Note No. 4 Method
 DOE Method

Weight Method
 USBR Method
 Trial and Adjustment Method
 Weight Method

(Wt. of
Unit wt. of Concrete) –
fresh concrete (tot. wt. of all
Wt. of FA
from other, viz
experience water,
cement…)

 Absolute volume Method

(Unit vol. of
concrete)-(vol Vol. of FA x
Vol. of FA
of water, air, Density
CA..)
 METHODS OF CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
1. American Concrete Institute Committee 211 Method
 Absolute Volume Method
 Reliable
 Entrapped Air Considered
 Higher w/c Ratio
 Higher Fines content hence better Workability

2. Bureau of Indian Standards Recommended Method IS 10262-2009

 Coarse Aggregate calculation sequence follows ACI Method
 Provision for Use of Chemical & Mineral Admixtures
 Lower Fines hence more voids

3. Road note No. 4 (Grading Curve) Method

 High Cement Content, Obsolete
 Cannot be used for Gap Graded Aggregates
5. Trial and Adjustment Method
6. Department Of Environment (DOE - British) Method
7. Fineness modulus Method
8. Maximum density Method
9. Indian Road Congress, IRC 44 Method
10. USBR (United States Bureau of Reclamation) Mix design practice
Significance
Its an art rather than a science
Attaining predefined requirements
 Workability of fresh concrete
Placing
Compacting
Finishing
 Strength of hardened concrete at a specified age
Durability under specific exposure conditions
 Freeze thaw cycles
 Sulphate water
 Natural agents
Satisfying the performance requirements at the
lowest possible cost

 w/c ratio
 a/c ratio
 Fa/Ca ratio
 Substitution of cement using pozzolanic or cementitious
materials
Specific Principles
Workability

Concrete

Strengt Durabilit
h y
Workability
Workability embodies consistency and
cohesiveness Maximum size

Angular & Rough texture

content
Measure of wetness of
Consistency
concrete (slump) Air Entrained

Coal Fly Ash Content

Trowelability & Visual

Judgment
Measure of compactibility &
Cohesiveness
Finishability a/c ratio & Grading

Fa/Ca ratio
General Considerations for Workability
Water content
 The higher the water content, the higher will be the fluidity
of concrete, which is one of the important factors affecting
workability.

a/c Ratio
 The higher the aggregate/cement ratio, the leaner is the
concrete
 In lean concrete, less quantity of paste is available for
lubrication, per unit surface area of aggregate and hence the
mobility reduced
 In case of rich concrete with lower aggregate/cement ratio,
more paste is available to make the mix cohesive and fatty to
give better workability.
Size of Aggregate
 The bigger the size of the aggregate, the less the surface
area hence, less water is required for wetting the surface
and paste is required for lubricating the surface to reduce
internal friction
 For a given quantity of water and paste, bigger size of
aggregates will give higher workability

Shape of Aggregates
 Angular, elongated or flaky aggregate makes the concrete
very harsh when compared to rounded aggregates or
cubical shaped aggregates
 Being round in shape, the frictional resistance is also
greatly reduced
Surface Texture
 Total surface area of rough textured aggregate is more
than the surface area of smooth rounded aggregate of
same volume
 Rough textured aggregate will show poor workability and
smooth or glassy textured aggregate will give better
workability
 Reduction of inter particle frictional resistance offered by
smooth aggregates also contributes to higher workability

 Grading of Aggregates
 Better the grading, the less is the void content and higher
the workability
 When the total voids are less, excess paste is available to
give better lubricating effect
Use of Admixtures
 Use of air-entraining agent being surface-active, reduces
the internal friction between the particles

 Air bubbles act as a sort of ball bearing between the

particles to slide past each other and give easy mobility to
the particles

 Plasticizers and super-plasticizers greatly improve the

workability many folds
Strength
Structural Safety – Minimum Required Strength to be
attained

w/c ratio

Strength

Entrained
Air
The strength of a material is defined as the ability to
resist stress without failure

Properties of concrete, such as

 Elastic modulus,
 Water tightness or impermeability, and
 Resistance to weathering agents including aggressive
waters,

are believed to be dependent on strength

Durability

Exposure Conditions
 Durability ignored for Normal Exposure

Strength- Index of general Durability

Service life of Concrete

Objectives of Mix Proportioning
Quality concrete

 Better strength
 Better imperviousness and durability
 Dense and homogeneous concrete

Economy

 Economy in cement consumption

 Best use of available materials
Grading Of Aggregates
Aggregate comprises about 85 % volume of mass concrete

Concrete contains aggregate upto a maximum size of 150

mm

Way particles of aggregate fit together in the mix, as

influenced by the gradation, shape, and surface texture

Grading effects workability and finishing characteristic of

fresh concrete, consequently the properties of hardened
concrete
Good grading implies, sample of aggregates containing
all standard fractions of aggregate in required
proportion such that the sample contains minimum
voids
Well graded aggregate containing minimum voids will
require minimum paste to fill up the voids in the
aggregates

Minimum paste means less quantity of cement and

less quantity of water, hence increased economy,
higher strength, lower-shrinkage and greater
durability
Gap Grading of Aggregates
Voids created by higher size filled up by immediate
next lower size

Lower size may not be accommodated in the available

gap due to small voids left out which can reduce
density
Voids created by a particular size can accommodate
second or third lower size only

For example voids created by 40mm can

accommodate 10mm & 4.75mm but not 20mm, this
concept is called Gap Grading
Gap-Graded Mix
 Gap graded aggregates are used
 Gap-graded mixes contain aggregate retained on a 19mm or
37.5mm sieve
 Fines passing the No. 4 sieve (4.75mm)
 Used to obtain uniform textures for exposed-aggregate concrete

 Prone to Segregation, controlled by FA %

 Rounded aggregate used, by 25%
 Air entrainment usually is required to improve the workability
Advantages
Increase strength and reduce creep and shrinkage

Requirement of sand reduced by 26 to 40%

Specific area of total aggregates will be reduced due to

less sand

Requires less cement as net volume of voids is reduced

IS Codes Used In Mix Proportioning
IS 456 : 2000
 Code of Practice for Plain & Reinforced Concrete
Exposure Conditions
Table 5 – Minimum Cement Content & Max. w/c ratio

IS 10262: 2009

 Mix Proportioning – Guidelines
Table 1 – Standard Deviation
Table 2 – Max. Water Content
Table 3 – Vol. fraction of Coarse Aggregates
IS 383 : 1970
 Specifications for coarse & fine aggregates from natural
sources for concrete
Table 2 - Nominal Maximum Size
Determining Zone of Fine Aggregates

IS 2386 (Part 3): 1963

 Methods of test for aggregates for concrete: Part 3.
Specific Gravity
Voids
Density
Absorption & Bulking
IS 3812 (Part 1) : 2003
 Specification for Pulverized fuel ash: Part 1
For use of Pozzolana in cement, cement mortar and concrete

IS 8112 : 1989

 Specification for 43 grade ordinary Portland Cement

IS 9103 : 1999

 Specification for admixtures for Concrete
Statistical Quality Control of Concrete
 Results in variation of strength from batch to batch and
also within the bat

 It impossible to have a large number of destructive tests

for evaluating the strength of the end products

 The aim of quality control is to limit the variability as

much as practicable
 By devising a proper sampling plan it is possible to ensure a
certain quality at a specified risk

 Extent of variation of strength can be ascertained by relating

the individual strength to the mean strength and
determining the variation from the mean with the help of the
properties of the normal distribution curve
Factors affecting the choice of mix
proportions
Compressive strength
Workability
Durability
Maximum nominal size of aggregate
Fineness Modulus and zone of aggregate
Quality Control
Significance of Max. w/c Ratio & Min.
Cement Content
Water Cement Ratio
Strength Criteria Disintegrati
Cracking on and
Failure
Volume
Change
Increased
Permeability

Higher
w/c
ratio

Durability Criteria
Durability decreases with increase in w/c ratio
Higher is the aggressiveness of the environment lower should be
the w/c ratio
• Strength of paste increases with cement content and decreases
with air and water content
Studies show that,
 Capillary porous start to be connected when w/c is higher
than 0.40
 When w/c is higher than 0.70, all capillary porous are
connected

Hence,
 The maximum value for w/c ratio is 0.70
 Concrete exposed to a very aggressive environment the w/c
should be lower that 0.40
Effect of Solid/Space Ratio & Permeability
On Compressive Strength
Advantages of low water-cement ratio:
o Finer microstructure

o Low chloride ion diffusion

o Corrosion resistance

o Low susceptibility to carbonation, electrochemical

attack
General Steps Involved in Mix
Proportioning
Step 1. Choice of Slump

 Stiffest possible consistency that can be easily placed

and compacted without segregation
 Pumping are typically designed for 100 mm to 150 mm
slump
 Step 2. Choice of Max. Size of Aggregate

 For given volume of coarse aggregate,

Large Max. Size Reduce mortar

Less void Space
(well graded) requirement
 Step 3. Estimation of the mixing water content and air
content

Depends on ,
 The maximum particle size of the aggregate
 Entrained air
 Step 4. Selection of water-cement ratio

Develop the relationship between strength and

water-cement ratio for the materials to be used
actually
Checked for durability criteria
Step 5: Calculation of the cement content

 Computed by dividing the mixing water content by the

water-cement ratio
 Adjustments to Min. cement content for aggregates
other than 20 mm nominal max. size, as per IS 456: 2000
• Step 6: Estimation of the coarse aggregate content

• Estimated from Maximum aggregate size & fineness

modulus of fine aggregate

• Dry weight obtained by multiplying with Dry Rodded

unit weight
Range in proportions of materials used in concrete, by
absolute volume
Step 7: Estimation of the fine aggregate content

 Weight Method

 Absolute volume Method

Step 8: Adjustments for the aggregate moisture

 Mixing water reduced depending on Free Moisture

 Amounts of aggregates increased accordingly

Step 9: Trial batch adjustments

 Mixture satisfying the desired criteria of workability and

strength is obtained
 Mixture proportions of the laboratory-size trial batch
are scaled up for producing full-size field batches
Basic factors in the process of Mix Design

Liability to chemical Method Size of section

attack or size of concrete mass Of and spacing
Compaction of Reinforcement

Quality Minimum Maximum Aggregate

Required
Control Strength Size of Shape and
Workability
Aggregate Texture

Type Age at
Mean
of which Strength Durability
Strength
Cement is required

Water/Cement
Ratio
Aggregate/Cement Overall
Ratio Grading of
Aggregate

Proportion
of each Size
Fraction

Capacity Mix Proportions

of the Mixer

Weights of Ingredients
Per Batch
Data required for Proportioning
Grade Designation
Type of Cement
Maximum Nominal size of Aggregate
Minimum Cement Content
Maximum w/c ratio
Workability in terms of Slump
Exposure conditions
Method of placing
Type of aggregate
Maximum cement content
Test data of Materials
Admixture type and condition of use if any
 Mix Proportioning

Target Strength

Check for max

Selection of w/c Ratio
w/c

Correction for
Selection of Water content
Slump

Check for Min. Admixture

Calculation Of Cement Content Correction(if any)
Cement

Correction for
Proportion Of CA & FA
w/c

Correction for
Mix Calculations
Placement Type
Comparison Basic data used in the
Old and New BIS Methods
Mix Proportioning Procedure

Target strength for mix proportioning

Selection of w/ c ratio

Selection of water content

Corrections in water content

Calculation of cement content

Proportion of volume of coarse aggregate and fine

aggregate content

Corrections

Mix calculations
Numerical Example
Design stipulations for proportioning
Grade designation : M20

Type of cement : OPC 43 grade, IS 8112

Max. nominal size of agg. : 20 mm

Minimum cement content : 320 kg/m3

Maximum water cement ratio : 0.55

Workability : 75 mm (slump)

Exposure condition : Mild

Degree of supervision : Good

Type of agg. : Crushed angular agg.

 Maximum cement content : 450 kg/m3

Chemical admixture : Not used

Test data for materials
Cement used : OPC 43 grade

Specific gravity of cement: 3.15

Specific gravity of
 Coarse aggregate : 2.68
 Fine aggregate : 2.65

Water absorption
 Coarse aggregate : 0.6 percent
 Fine aggregate :1.0 %
Free (surface) moisture
 Coarse aggregate : Nil
 Fine aggregate : Nil

Sieve analysis

Coarse aggregate : Conforming to Table 2 of IS 383

Fine aggregate : Conforming to Zone I of IS 383

1. Target strength for Mix Proportioning

Target strength =
f’ck= fck +ks

From Table 1
standard deviation, s
= 4 N/mm2

Therefore target strength

= 20+1.65 x4
= 26.60 N/mm2
2. Selection of w/ c ratio
From Table 5 of IS 456:2000,
Maximum w/c ratio = 0.55 (Mild exposure)
Based on experience adopt water cement ratio as 0.50
0.5 < 0.55, hence ok
3. Selection of water content

From Table 2, IS 10262:2009

Maximum water content = 186 litres
(for 25mm – 50 mm slump range and for 20 mm aggregates)
4.Corrections in Water content

As per IS10262:2009 Clause 4.2,

For workability other than 25-50mm the required water
content can be established by trial or increasing 3% for
every additional 25mm slump and considering
correction for admixture if any.

Estimated water content for 75 mm slump

= 186 + 3/100 x 186
= 191.6 litres
5.Calculation of cement content

Water cement ratio = 0.50

Cement content = 191.6/0.5
= 383 kg/m3 >320 kg/m3(given)
From Table 5 of IS 456,
Minimum cement content for mild exposure condition
= 300 kg/m3, Hence OK
6.Proportion of volume of Coarse aggregate and
Fine aggregate content
From Table 3, IS 10262:2009
Volume of coarse aggregate corresponding to 20 mm size
aggregate and fine aggregate (Zone I) for water-cement
ratio of 0.50
= 0.60
7.Mix calculations
The mix calculations per unit volume of concrete shall be as follows

1) Volume of concrete = 1 m3

2) Volume of cement = mass of cement/sp. gravity of cement x 1/1000

= [383.16/3.15] x [1/1000]
= 0.122 m3

3) Volume of water = [192/1] x [1/1000]

= 0.192 m3
4)Volume of all in aggregates (e) = a – (b + c)
= 1 – (0.122 + 0.192)
= 0.686 m3
5) Volume and weight of coarse aggregates
Volume = 0.686 x 0.6 = 0.412 m3
Weight = Volume of CA (0.412 m3) x sp. gravity(2.68) of CA = 1103 kg

6) Volume and weight of fine aggregates

= e x Volume of FA (0.274 m3) x sp. gravity of FA
Volume = 0.686 x 0.4 = 0.274 m3
Weight = Vol. of FA (0.274 m3) x sp. gravity(2.65) of FA x 1000
= 727 kg
8.Mix proportions for Trial Number 1

Cement = 383 kg/m3

Water = 191.6 kg/m3
Fine aggregate = 727 kg/m3
Coarse aggregates = 1103 kg/m3
Water cement ratio= 0.50
Yield = 2404.6 kg
Questions??