Recent Developments in

Concrete
 Recent Developments in Concrete

• Ordinary concrete, made with natural

aggregates, has a low strength – weight
ratio compared to steel. Hence designing
concrete members for tall buildings, long
span bridges and floating structures become
costly
• Three ways to address this problem
 First approach
• The density or the unit weight of concrete
can be reduced by substituting lightweight
aggregate in place of conventional
aggregate. Lightweight aggregate made by
calcination of clay or shale is commonly
used to produce structural lightweight
concrete that has about one-third less unit
weight than conventional concrete.
 Second Approach
• Strength of concrete can be raised. High –
strength concrete with compressive
strengths ranging from 60 to 120 Mpa is
now available with the advent of
superplasticizers or high-range water
reducing admixtures.
 Third Approach
• Combination of first two approaches
• Use of high strength lightweight aggregate
particles in superplasticized mixtures to
produce high-strength, lightweight concrete.
 Recent Developments in Concrete

• Superplasticized concrete mixtures perform

well on exposure to some aggressive
environmental conditions on account of
their low water-cementitious ratio.
• Durable concrete are now being used in the
construction of marine structures for a
service life of 100 to 150 years, compared
to 40 to 50 years with conventional concrete
 Recent Developments in Concrete

• The use of superplasticizing admixtures are

applied to
i) high-strength
ii) high durability
iii)Fabrication of heavily reinforced
structural membranes(Workability)
 Recent Developments in Concrete
• Superplasricized concrete mixtures in combination
with large proportion of fine mineral particles and
viscosity modifying chemical admixtures have been
developed to produce self-consolidating concrete
• Restrained shrinkage on drying is frequently the
cause of concrete cracking as experienced in the
construction of thin structural elements such as floor
and pavement slabs. Shrinkage-compensating
concrete containing expansive cements or cement
additives are developed to counteract this problem
 Recent Developments in Concrete

• The concept of microlevel reinforcement is

developed to counteract the deficiency of
poor impact resistance of concrete. Fiber-
reinforced concrete mixtures containing
steel, glass, or polypropylene fibers are
being employed to increase impact
resistance.
 Recent Developments in Concrete

• Concrete mixtures containing polymers

have shown higher imperviousness and
excellent chemical resistance. Used to
protect reinforcing steel from corrosion in
industrial floors and bridge decks
 Recent Developments in Concrete
• Heavyweight concrete made with high density
material used for radiation shielding in nuclear
power plants.
• Pre-cooling of concrete materials eliminated the
need for expensive post-cooling operations &
made faster construction schedules possible.
• Dams are now built with roller-compacted
concrete at high speed and with less cost.
 Structural Lightweight Concrete
• The concrete is made with a cellular
lightweight aggregate so that its unit weight
is approximately two-third of the unit
weight of concrete with unit weight of
concrete made with typical natural
aggregate.
 Structural Lightweight Concrete
• Structural lightweight aggregate concrete
having a 28 day compressive strength in
excess of 17MPa and a 28 day air-dried unit
weight not exceeding 1850 kg/m3.
• The concrete may consist entirely of
lightweight aggregate or a combination of
lightweight and normal weight aggregates
 Special concreting methods
Effect of cold weather in concreting

• Delay in setting and hardening-Delay in setting

makes concrete vulnerable to frost attack. Delay in
hardening does not facilitate removal of
formwork.
• Freezing of concrete at early age – Prevents
hydration of cement and also makes the concrete
to expand which causes disruption of concrete.
• Freezing and thawing – The durability of concrete
gets hampered.
The precautions to be taken are
• Utilization of heat developed by the hydration of
cement and practical methods of insulation
• Selection of suitable type of cement
• Economical heating of materials of concrete
• Admixtures of anti freezing materials
• Electrical heating of concrete mass
• Use of air entraining agents
 Hot weather concreting

Temperature above 40 deg c may be considered

as hot weather concreting. At this temperature
certain problems may occur
• Rapid rate of hydration, quick setting
• Rapid evaporation of mixing water
• Less time fro finishing
• Difficulty in continuous curing
Precautions taken
• Aggregates should be stockpiled in shade
• Sprinkling of water over the stock pile
• Use of ice may be made as part of mixing water
• It should be ensured that ice crystals should be
completely melted by the time mixing is completed
• The concrete mixer must be positioned as close to the
final place of deposition
• Reinforcement ,formwork and subgrade should be
sprinkled with cooled water
• More number of masons are required to finish
the concrete at the same rate
• Concrete on finishing must be covered
effectively to prevent the loss of moisture
curing must be commenced at the earliest
possible time.
• When the dry temperature is very high it is
better to do the concreting operation in the
evening