CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

Concrete
Is a structural material composed of a binder (cement), fine aggregates(sand), course aggregates, water,
chemical admixtures and supplementary cementitious materials and in its fresh state can be molded
into different shapes.

All components are bound together by cement and other cementitious materials. In order to understand
the behavior of concrete, we need to understand the properties of these constituents.

Main Constituents of concrete

 Cement
 Aggregates
 Water

FRESH CONCRETE

Is a mixture of water, cement, aggregate and admixtures which may be used in certain cases to control
rheology, rate of constituent materials to produce uniform blend, operations such as transporting,
placing, compacting and finishing of fresh concrete can all considerably affect the properties of
hardened concrete. It’s important that the constituent materials remain uniformly distributed with in
concrete mass during various stages of handling and the full compaction is achieved.

Properties of fresh concrete

1. Workability.
Workability is the ease with which a concrete mix can be handled from mixer to its finally
compacted shape.
There are three main characteristics of workability. They include;
 Consistency. Is the measure of wetness or fluidity
 Mobility is the ease with which a mix can flow in to and completely fill the formwork or
mold
 Compactability is the ease with which a given mix can be fully compacted to remove all
trapped air.
.

Factors affecting workability

Workability of a mix depends not only on the characteristics and relative proportions of the
constituent materials but also;
 Size, shape and surface roughness of the formwork or molds
 Methods employed for conveyance and compaction.
  Reinforcement and spacing of reinforcements.
 Aggregate type and grading
 Aggregate cement ratio
 Fineness of cement
 Water content
 Presence of admixtures
 Mix proportioning
 Humidity
 Wind velocity

Determination of workability of concrete

Workability is a composite property that comprises of consistency and cohesiveness. It is difficult to

quantify workability of a concrete mix. Researchers have attempted to define different suitable
measures for workability. Some of the important tests to estimate workability of concrete mix are
outline below.

1. Slump test
Slump test is the most commonly used method to obtain a measure of workability. The test
measures consistency alone. Cohesiveness of the mix cannot be assessed from slump test. It’s
not suitable for very dry mixes or wet mixes which are prone to segregation and bleeding
respectively.
PROCESS
The mould is a frustum of a cone, 300mm high. The base of 200mm diameter is placed on a
smooth surface with the smaller opening of 100mm diameter top, and the container is filled
with concrete in three layers. Each layer is tamped 25 times with standard 16mm diameter steel
rod, rounded at end, and the top surface is struck off by means of a screeding and rolling motion
of the tamping rod. The mould must be firmly held against its base during the entire operation.
This is facilitated by handles or foot-rests brazed to the mould.
Immediately after filling, the cone is slowly lifted, and the unsupported concrete will now slump.
Hence, names slump test. The decrease in the height of the center of the slump concrete is
called slump, and is measured to the nearest 5mm.
In order to reduce influence on slump of the variation in the surface friction, the inside of the
mould and its base should be moistened at the beginning of every test and prior to lifting the
mould, the area immediately around the base of the cone should be cleaned from concrete
which may have dropped accidentally.
Instead of slumping evenly all round, as in a true slump, one half of the cone slides down on
inclined plane, a shear slump is said to have taken place, and the test is repeated. If shear slump
persists, as may be the case with harsh mixes, this is an indication of lack of cohesion of the mix.
Mixes of stiff consistence have zero slumps, so that in the rather dry range no variation can be
detected between mixes of different workability.
Slump test is unreliable for lean mixes.

COMPACTING FACTOR TEST

The degree of compaction, called compacting factor is measured by the density ratio i.e. the
ratio of density actually achieved in test to the density of the same concrete fully compacted.
The test, known as compacting factor test was developed in the UK and is described in BS 1881-
103:1993 and is appropriate for up to 40mm maximum aggregate size.
The apparatus consists of essentially two hoppers, each in the shape of a frustum of a cone and
one cylinder, the three being above one on another. The hoppers hinged doors at the bottom.
All inside surfaces are polished to reduce friction.

PROCEDURE
The upper hopper is filled with concrete, this being placed gently so that at this stage no work is
done on the concrete to produce compaction. The bottom door of the hopper is the released
 and the concrete falls in to the lower hopper. This hopper is smaller than the upper one and is
therefore filled to over flowing and thus always contains approximately the same amount of
concrete in a standard state, this reduces the influence of the personal factor in filling the top
hopper. The bottom door of the lower hopper is releases and the concrete falls in to the
cylinder. Excess concrete is cut by two floats slid across the top of the mould, and the wet mass
of concrete in the known volume of the cylinder is determined.
The density of the concrete in the cylinder is now calculated and the ratio of this density to the
density of the fully compacted concrete is defined as compacting factor.

2. Density
It is common to determine density of compacted fresh concrete when measuring workability or
the air content. Density is easily obtained by weighing the compacted fresh concrete in a
standard container of known volume and mass.
3. Bleeding
4. segregation

PROPERTIES OF HARDENED CONCRETE

The important properties of hardened concrete include;
1. Strength
Concrete is extremely good in compression, fairly good in shear and poor in tension. Concrete is
primarily employed to resist compressive stresses. Compressive strength of concrete is the most
important property of hardened concrete. Compressive strength of concrete is measured by
testing cubes or cylinders using compression testing machine. (CTM)
Factors affecting strength of concrete
1. Water-Cement ratio
The most prominent factor influencing compressive strength is water-cement ratio.
Compressive strength of concrete generally decreases with increasing water-cement ratio.
2. Type of cement
Type of cement influences the rate of strength development in concrete more than final
compressive strength. Using blended cements like Portland pozzolana cement and Portland slag
cement leads to slow strength development. However, final strength is slightly lower than of
concrete using OPC.
3. Maximum size of aggregates
Larger aggregates with lower surface area per unit mass tend to reduce the water demand, and
therefore higher strength on account of reduced water-cement ratio. Therefore, aggregate size
has an effect on compressive strength of concrete.
4. Shape and Textures
Angular and rough aggregates have higher surface area per unit mass, leading to better bond
between cement matrix and aggregate particles. Further, due to increased surface pores, rough
angular aggregates absorb more water reducing the effective water-cement ratio. This leads to
further increase in compressive strength of concrete.
5. Course aggregate-cement ratio
Coarse aggregate form skeleton of concrete and therefore an increase in aggregate-cement
ratio usually results into an increase in compressive strength of concrete.
6. Porosity of concrete
Porosity refers to the quality of voids present in concrete. Increased porosity leads to a
reduction in compressive strength of concrete. In order to achieve the desired strength, one
needs to limit porosity of concrete. This is possible by using well-graded aggregates and proper
compaction of concrete. Use of blended cement may be further helpful as they contain finer
particles like fly ash, silica fume and slag which lead to enhanced packing in the matrix.
7. Curing
Curing is very important for development of compressive strength in concrete. Loss of moisture
from concrete due to evaporation particularly in hot and arid climate can lead to insufficient
water available for hydration and occupying gel pores.

BATCHING, MIXING, TRANSPORTATION, COMPACTION AND CURING

Batching
Is the process of measuring desired quantity of various constituents of concrete to obtain the
desired mix for concrete. Batching can be done by volume or weight.
Batching by volume
In this method an open top box called a gauge box is used to measure the quantity of the
various materials. Cement sometimes is supplied for use in a unit 50kg bag and has a volume of
about 0.035m3. for a 1:2:4 mix ratio, the gauge box is filled with 1 part of cement, 2parts of fine
aggregates and 4 parts of coarse aggregates. At all times the top of the gauge box is struck off
level each time. This method is mostly used for small size jobs.
Batching by weight
This method entails measuring out the exact quantities of the various materials using a suitable
weighing method depending on the quantity of the materials to be batched. This is the better
method since it has a greater accuracy and the weighing balance can be attached to the mixing
machine. Its water is usually measured by volume and specified as to the number of litres per
bag of cement to be mixed.
Mixing
Mixing of concrete is done by two methods. These are hand mixing and machine mixing
Hand mixing
Hand mixing should be carried out on a clean hard surface. The materials should be thoroughly
mixed in the dry state twice before water is added. The water should be added slowly and mixed
at least 3 times.
Machine mixing
Machine mixing is done in stationery or transit mixers. The mixing operation consists essentially
of rotation or stirring, the objective being to coat surface of all aggregate particles with cement
paste, and to blend all the ingredients of concrete into uniform mass. Thus uniformity must not
be disturbed by the process of discharging from the mixer.
Types of mixers
 A tilting drum mixer.
Is one whose drum in which mixing takes place is tilted for discharging. The drum is
conical or bowl-shaped with internal vanes, and the discharge is rapid and unsegregated
so that these mixers are suitable for mixes of low workability and for those containing
large size aggregates.
 A non-tilting drum mixer.
Is one in which the axis of the mixer is always horizontal and discharges take place by
inserting a chute into the drum or by reversing the direction of rotation of the drum.
Because of slow rate of discharge, some segregation may occur apart of the coarse
aggregate being discharged last. This type of mixer is charged by means of a loading
skip, which also is used with larger tilting drum mixers and it’s important that the whole
charge be transferred from the skip in to the mixer every time.
 A pan-type mixer
Is a forced-action mixer, as distinct from drum mixers which may rely on free fall of
concrete inside the drum. The pan mixer consists essentially of a circular pan rotating
about its axis with one or two stars of peddles rotating about the vertical axis not
coincident with the axis of the pan. Sometimes the pan is static and the axis of the star
travels along a circular path about the axis of the pan
In either case, the concrete in every part of the pan is thoroughly mixed, the scrapper
blades ensure that mortar doesn’t stick to the sides of the pan. The height of the
paddles can be adjusted to prevent the formation of a coating of mortar on the bottom
of the pan. Pan mixers are particularly efficient with stiff and cohesive mixes and are
therefore often used for pre-cast concrete, as well as for mixing small quantities of
concrete or mortar in the laboratory.
 A dual drum mixer
It’s sometimes used in highway construction. Here, there are two drums in series,
concrete being mixed part of the time in one and then transferred to the other for
remainder of the mixing time before discharging. In the meantime, the first drum is
recharged so that initial mixing takes place without inter-mixing of the batches. In this
manner, the yield of concrete can be doubled which is a considerable advantage in the
case of highway construction where space or access is often limited. Triple drum mixers
are also used
Buttering
 Continuous mixers.
Are mixers fed automatically by a continuous weight-batching system. The mixer itself
may be of drum-type or may be in the form of a screw moving in a stationary housing.
Specialized mixers are used in short-creting and for mortar for preplaced concrete

CHARGING THE MIXER

There are no general rules on the order of feeding the ingredients into the mixer as this
depends on the properties of the mixer and of the mix. Usually a small amount of water
is fed first, followed by all the solid materials, preferably feeding uniformly and
simultaneously into the mixer. If possible greater part of water should also be fed during
sometime, the remainder being added after the solids.
If water or cement is fed too or is too hot, there is danger of forming cement balls.
Note: define head pack
Mixing Time
On site there is often a tendency to mix concrete as rapidly as possible and hence it is
important to know the minimum mixing time necessary to produce concrete of uniform
composition and consequently reliable strength. Generally a mixing time less than 1 to
1.25 minutes produces appreciable non-uniformity in composition and significantly
lowers strength. Mixing beyond two minutes causes no significant improvement in these
properties.

Ready-mixed concrete
 If instead of being batched and mixed on site, concrete is delivered for placing from a
central plant, its referred to as a ready-mix concrete or pre-mixed concrete.

Advantages

 Close quality control of batching which reduces variability of the desired properties of hardened
concrete
 Use of congested sites or in highway construction where there is limited space for a mixing plant
and aggregate stock piles.
 Use of agitator trucks to ensure care in transportation thus preventing segregation and
maintaining workability.
 Convenience when a small quantity of concrete or intermediate placing is required.

There are two principle categories of ready-mixed concrete

 Central-mixed concrete
 Truck-mixed concrete

Handling

There are many methods of transporting concrete from the mixer to the site. The choice of method
obviously depends on economic considerations and on the quantity of concrete to be transported.

There are many possibilities ranging from wheelbarrows, buckets, skips, and belt conveyers, to special
trucks and to pumping but in all cases, the important requirement is that, the mix should be suitable for
the particular method chosen i.e. it should be cohesive and not segregate. Bad handling methods which
promote segregation must obviously be avoided.
Pumped concrete

Nowadays, large quantities of concrete can be transported by means of pumping through pipelines over
quite large distances to locations which are not accessible by other means. This system consists
essentially of a hopper into which concrete is discharged from a mixer, a concrete pump and the pipes
through which the concrete is pumped. The types of concrete pumps are direct-acting and squeeze-type
concrete pumps.
Placing and compacting of concrete

The operations of placing and compacting are interdependent and are carried out almost
simultaneously. They are most important for the purpose of ensuring the requirements of strength,
durability and impermeability of hardened concrete in the actual structure. As far as placing is
concerned, the main objective is to deposit concrete as close as possible to its final position so that
segregation is avoided.

The following rules should be borne in mind while placing and compacting concrete

 Hand shoveling and moving concrete by immersion or poker vibrators should be

avoided.
 The concrete should be placed in uniform layers not in large heaps or sloping layers.
  The thickness of a layer should be compatible with the method of vibration so that
entrapped air can be removed from the bottom of each layer.
 The rates of placing and compaction should be equal where a good finish and uniform
color is required on columns and walls. The forms should be filled at a rate of at least
2m per hour, avoiding delays(all delays can result in the formation of cold joints)
 Each layer should be fully compacted before placing the next one and each subsequent
layer should be placed whilst the underlying layer is still plastic so that monolithic
construction is achieved.
 Collision between concrete and formwork or reinforcements should be avoided. For
deep sections along pipe or tremie ensures accuracy of location of the concrete and
minimum segregation.
 Concrete should be placed in a vertical plane. When placing concrete in horizontal or
sloping forms, the concrete should be placed vertically against and not away from the
previously placed concrete.

Vibration of concrete

The process of compacting concrete by vibration consists essentially of elimination of entrapped air and
forcing particles into a closer configuration. Extremely dry and stiff mixes can be vibrated satisfactorily
so that compared with compaction by hand, a given desired strength can be achieved with lower
cement content.

Both compaction by hand and vibration can provide good quality concrete with right mix and
workmanship. Likewise, both methods can produce poor concrete, in case of hand-rammed concrete,
inadequate compaction is most common fault whilst in case of vibration, non-uniform compaction can
occur due to inadequate vibration or over vibration which causes segregation, the latter can be
prevented by use of a stiff well-graded mix.

Types of vibrators

1. Internal Vibrators

It consists of a poker, housing an eccentric shaft driven through a flexible drive from a motor. The poker
is immersed in concrete and thus applies approximately harmonic forces to it, hence the alternative
names poker vibrator or immersion vibrator.

The frequency of vibration usually varies between 70 and 200Hz with acceleration greater than 4g. The
poker should be easily moved from place to place so that the concrete is vibrated every 2 to 3ft for
5secs to 2mins depending on the consistence of the concrete.

2. External Vibrators

This type of vibrator is rigidly clamped to the formwork which rests on an elastic support, so that both
the formwork and concrete are vibrated. As a result, a considerable proportion of the work done is used
in vibrating the formwork, which has to be strong and tight so as to prevent distortion and leakage of
grout.

The principle of the external vibrator is the same as that of an internal vibrator but frequency is between
50 and 150Hz. Sometimes manufacturers quote the number of impulses i.e. half cycles. External
vibrators are used in pre-cast or thin in-situ sections having a shape or thickness which is unsuitable for
internal vibrators.

The concrete has to be placed in layers of suitable depth as air cannot be expelled through too great a
depth of concrete and the position of the vibrator may have to be changed as concreting progresses.

Portable non-clamped external vibrators may be used at sections not otherwise accessible, but their
range of compaction is very limited. One such vibrator is an electric harmer sometimes used for
compacting concrete test specimens.
CURING

Curing is a name given to the process used for promoting hydration of cement, and thus, the
development of strength of concrete, the curing procedures being control of temperatures and of the
moisture movement from and into the concrete. The latter affects not only strength but also durability.

Normal Curing

The objective of curing at normal temperature is to keep concrete saturated or as nearly saturated as
possible until the original water filled spaces in fresh concrete paste has been occupied to the desired
extent by the products of hydration of cement. In case of site concrete, active curing nearly always
ceases long before the maximum possible hydration has taken place.

The necessity for curing arises from the fact that hydration of cement can take place only in water filled
capillaries. This is why loss of water by evaporation from capillaries must be prevented

Methods of curing

Different methods of curing are used depending on the concrete member and scale of project and they
include:

1. Water curing

It is the most economical curing method, and is suitable for most applications. It is done in different
ways, ponding and immersion, spraying and wet covering. In case of slabs in buildings and rigid
pavements, small ponds are made using sand barriers and these ponds are filled with water. This
process of curing is called ponding. Pre-cast concrete members and pre-tensioned elements are
immersed in curing tanks filled with water e.g. concrete test cubes.

2. Membrane curing.

Water curing requires large quantities of water, making it not feasible in regions with acute water
scarcity. In such areas curing compounds are sprayed on the concrete surface.

The liquid substances form surface coating/membrane which does not allow water to evaporate and
thereby ensure conditions conducive for hydration of cement. These compounds are usually sprayed
after brief spell of water curing say a day or two. Compounds include bituminous and rubber
compounds, impermeable membranes such as polythene and polyester films can also be used.

3. Steam Curing

It comprises of exposing concrete members to steam. This provides high temperature leading to rapid
hydration and therefore quick strength development. At the same time steam also ensures ample
moisture content in concrete. It should be understood that application of dry heat will accelerate
hydration as well as evaporation, which will hinder hydration and promote shrinkage. Steam curing is
more suitable for pre-cast and pre-fabricated concrete members as it usually involves placing concrete
member in a steam chamber.

4. High pressure steam curing

Steam curing may adversely affect the compressive strength of concrete. High pressure (typically 8 times
the ambient atmospheric pressure) steam curing is applied to overcome this problem. This is done in
cylindrical steel chambers called auto-claves.

5. Electrical curing

Concrete is cured by passing alternating current of low voltage (30-60V) and high ampere through
electrodes in the form of plates. These plates are fixed on the two opposite faces of the concrete
members covering entire concrete surfaces. An impermeable rubber membrane is used to prevent
water evaporation from the concrete during the electrical curing process.

6. Infra-red Curing

It has been used in Russia mainly although, it’s rarely practiced. The rapid increase in temperature does
not affect the final strength of the concrete. This method is particularly used in curing hollow concrete
sections.

Qualities of good concrete

 Strength
 Durability
 Density
 Water tightness
 Workability
 Resistance to wear and tear.

Admixtures

Admixtures are materials that are added to concrete to improve the properties of concrete in fresh
stage.

Admixtures are broadly classified into two classes

 Mineral admixtures
 Chemical admixtures

Commonly used mineral admixtures include fly ash, silica fume, and slag and rice husk ash. While fly ash,
silica fume and slag are industrial by-products, rice husk ash is obtained by burning rice husk which
comes from de-husking paddy grains.

Chemical admixtures are chemical compounds added to impart desired properties to fresh Concrete.
Commonly used chemical admixtures are water reducing, accelerating, set retarding, and air entraining
admixtures.

Properties of cement are changed by incorporating a suitable additive or admixture.

 Additive refers to a substance which is added to cement at manufacturing stage to improve on

its properties.
 Admixtures refer to substances which are added to concrete or mortar at mixing stage to
improve on their properties.

Types of Admixtures

1. Accelerators

These are admixtures which accelerate the hardening or development of early strength in concrete. The
admixtures need not have any specified effect on the setting time. It should be noted that there exists
also set-accelerating (quick setting) admixtures, which specifically reduce the stetting time.

2. Set-Retarders

These are admixtures which delay the setting of concrete, as measured by the penetration test.
Retarders are useful when concreting in hot weather, where normal setting time is shortened by high
temperatures and in preventing the formation of cold joints between successive lifts.

3. Water reducers (plasticizers)

These admixtures are used for three purposes

 To achieve a higher strength by decreasing the water-cement ratio at same workability as an

admixture free mix.
 To achieve the same workability by decreasing the cement content so as to reduce the heat of
hydration in mass concrete.
 To increase the workability so as to ease placing in inaccessible locations.
4. Super-Plasticizers

These are more recent and effect type of water reducing admixtures. The dosage levels are usually
higher than with conventional water reducers, and the possible undesirable side effects are considerably
reduced. For example, because they do not markedly lower the surface tension of water, super-
plasticizers do not entrain a significant amount of air.

Super-plasticizers are used to produce flooring concrete in situations where placing in accessible
locations, in floors or pavement slabs or where very rapid placing is required.
 5. Bond Admixtures

These are polymer emulsions (latex) which improve the adherence of fresh concrete to hardened
concrete, and thus are particularly suited for repair work. The emulsion is a colloidal suspension of a
polymer in water and when the emulsion is used to combine concrete with polymer, a latex-modified
concrete or polymer Portland cement concrete is produced. It improves on the tensile, flexural strength
and also durability as well as bonding properties.

6. Water Proofing and Anti-Bacterial admixtures

Concrete absorbs water because surface tension in capillary pores in the hydrated cement pulls in water
by capillary suction, and water proofing admixtures aim at preventing this penetration. Their
performance is very much dependent on whether the applied water pressure is low, as in the case of
rain (not wind driven), or capillary rise, or whether a hydrostatic pressure is applied as in the case of
water-retaining structures.

7. Additives And Fillers

Pozzolans and blast furnace slag can be regarded as additives and admixtures with cementitious
properties since they react mainly with cement; hydroxide is liberated by hydration of silicates in
cement.

A filler or additive is a fairly ground material of about the same fineness as Portland cement which owing
to its physical properties has a beneficial effect on some properties of concrete such as workability,
density, permeability, capillary bleeding of cracking tendency.