Construction Materials

Concrete lesson 5
Concrete Production:
 Concrete can be produced by either Batching or
Mixing on site or by purchasing ready-mix concrete.

 The choice depends on a number of factors.

– Materials properly specified and in sufficient volume

– Plant (mixer, storage, dumper, front end –loader) either
hired or depreciated and running costs
– Labour
– Whether space is limited on site
– Setting up and maintenance of plant
– Technical expertise
– Quality control, mix design and calibration
Ready-mix concrete
 There are two ways of specifying ready-mix concrete,
designed mixes and prescribed mixes.
Reinforcement:

 Reinforcement is the steel rods or bars embedded in

the concrete in specified positions.

 Two types of reinforcement:

– Mild Steel bars.

– High Yield Steel bars.

Plain Rounded Mild Steel bars:
 Are suitable for most form if reinforced concrete and can be easily
bent, cut and welded. Bar sizes range from 8mm – 40mm.

 Bars 16mm and larger, are used for foundations, retaining walls and
beams. Smaller bars are used for floors and roof slabs.

 Mild steel bars have a characteristic strength of approx. 230MPa.

High yield stress deformed bars:
 Have a characteristic strength of at least 450MPa.

 It can be identified by the ribs running around the bar, compared with
the smooth surface of the mild steel bar.

 Ribs used to increase the bond between the steel and the concrete.
Why is concrete reinforced?
 Concrete is strong in compression (ability to be squeezed together) but
weak in tension. Therefore reinforcement is used to provide tensile
strength to the concrete and to provide addition compressive strength
in columns etc.

 Factors that affect the bond between concrete and steel

– The shape of the reinforcement

– The reinforcement diameter
– The compressive strength of concrete
– The presence of rust on scale on reinforcement
– Compaction, bleeding and settlement
– Cleanliness of the reinforcement, i.e. no oil or dirt.
How reinforcement is used:
 Reinforcement in concrete is used
to control bending, shear or
compression.

 Bending:

 Structural members such as beams

and slabs are subject to bending.

 When a beam which is supported at

its ends, is loaded in the middle it
will tend to sag or bend towards the
middle. This causes compression at
the top and tension on the bottom.
If load is continued, the beam will
start cracking and will eventually fail
(Break).
 Such failure can be prevented by inserting steel bars near the bottom
face, in order to strengthen the beam to carry more loads.
How reinforcement is used:
 Shear:

– A simple supported beam does not only bend but it also has a
tendency to move downwards or shear at the supports, resulting in
cracks. This is prevented by using inclined bars or vertical stirrups
as reinforcement.

 Compression:

– Very tall buildings have high compression forces transmitted

through their structure, especially columns. To strengthen these
columns and to help carry some of these compressive forces,
reinforcement is used.
Joints:
Construction joints:

 Are joints which are placed due to the impossibility of

completing a whole long section in one day and due to
limitation in formwork. The construction jobs are usually
subdivided in convenient sizes, called bays or lifts.

 Movement Joints: Expansion Joints:

– Are designed to cater for both expansion and contraction of

adjacent parts of the structure. They require a significantly large
gap between the two elements to accommodate the total amount
of expected expansion.
Joints:
 Contraction Joints:

– Are designed to accommodate contraction, usually related to

shrinkage of adjacent concrete only. They may accommodate the
contraction of a long concrete strip laid in one operation, or the
lateral contraction of a number of concrete strips laid together.
Contraction joints are spaced more frequently than expansion
joints.
Joints, fillers and sealants:
 Where joints are exposed to the exterior environment, they must be
sealed to prevent ingress of water, dust etc.

 Joint fillers are strips of compressible material such as cork,

fibreboard, synthetic rubber or expandable polystyrene.

 Used to:

– Form, the joint during construction

– Fill, the gap during service
– Support the joint sealant
– Allow the concrete to expand freely.

 Properties of Fillers:

– Compressibility without extrusion

– Recoverability
– Durability
– Rigidity during handling and placing
Joints, fillers and sealants:
 Sealing compounds are applied to the groove at the joint face
in order to:

– Seal the joint against passages of liquid

– Prevent ingress of grit
– Protect the joint filler

Sealants are applied in a liquid or semi liquid form and assume the
shape of the groove; however it must always be applied to the
manufacturer’s recommendation.
Precast Concrete:
 Is concrete that is cast away from its final destination or position. E.g.
garages, culverts, pipes, beams, lintels and fences.

 Advantages of Precast concrete:

– Time saving
– Economy of moulds or formwork
– Economy of concrete and reinforcing DOLOS
– Ease of producing special features
– Use of mechanization in manufacturing
– Reduces space and resources
– Special finishes and textures can be achieved more easily
Pre-stressed concrete
 Pre-stressing is a technique of construction whereby initial
compressive stresses are set up in a structural member to
resist or nullify the tensile stresses produced by the load.
Pre-stressing concrete:
 Pre-tension:
– the steel is pre-tensioned prior to casting and then released once the
concrete has hardened
 Post-tension:
– before concrete is poured, a strategically placed metal sheath, or duct, is
fixed inside the confines of the member. The concrete is then poured
around this pipe which acts as a sleeve or conduit through which the
tensioning cables are passed. Once the concrete has hardened and gained
sufficient strength, the cable can then be pulled or tensioned to a required
strength. Once the strength is obtained, the ends of the cable are securely
fixed.
Concrete Roads:
 Concrete is not a popular choice for road construction, mainly due to
the cost. Concrete roads have better durability and strength.

 Concrete road differ in design as they sometimes do away with a base-

course layer instead the design is constructed merely on a subgrade
and often subbase layer.
Concrete Roads:
 The road slab may one of the following:

– Jointed unreinforced slab

– Jointed reinforced slab
– Continuously reinforced slab
– Pre-stressed slab

The design thickness of the slabs is typically between 100 and

275mm and is usually designed to 35MPa strength. The
subgrade can consist of natural ground or imported material
that is of uniform density and non swelling when compacted.

The subbase is either granular material or cement-treated material

which must be of high quality and compacted to provide the
support to the concrete slab. Cement-treated materials are
granular materials which have been stabilized by the addition of
cement.
 “This brings us to the end of
Concrete”

CONGRATULATIONS