CE 1213

Building and Construction Materials

Slide 07
Hardened Properties

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Md. Kawsarul Islam Kabbo
Dept. of BECM, KUET
 Hardened Properties of
Concrete
• Hardened properties
– Strength
– Density
– Curing
– Durability
– Elastic properties
– Fatique
– Creep and Shrinkage
– Water tightness (Impermeability)
 Strength of Concrete

• Strength is the most valuable property in

the concrete because it is directly related to
the structure of cement paste.
• The most important factor in the strength of
concrete is water/cement ratio. The other
mix proportions are of secondary
importance.
 Strength of Concrete

• Concrete strength:
- Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension
-Compressive strength of concrete is the maximum
compressive load(stress) it can carry per unit area
and it is measured in N/mm²or Mpa. It gives the
general view of the concrete quality. When strength
improves other properties (density, durability,
impermeability. Volume stability etc.) improves as
well.
- Tensile strength of concrete is usually considered
about one-tenth of its compressive strength.
 Strength of Concrete

• Concrete cylinders or cubes are taken from

batches and tested for 7 days and 28 days.
• The seven-day tests are guide to the degree
of hardening. The strength at this age for
concrete should not be less than two-third of
the strength required at twenty eight days.
• With ordinary Portland cement concrete,
about 60% of the strength is reached at
twenty-eight days, 70% in two months, and
95 % in six months.
 Strength of Concrete
Influencing factors on strength of concrete:
1. Water / cement ratio.(Abram’s Law)
2. Degree of compaction: If full compaction is not achieved,
porous and honey-combed concrete will be produced
resulting in loss of strength.
3. Age. With increase in age, the strength increases because
degree of hydration increases.
4. Temperature: High temperature increases early strength
of concrete but affect negatively on long term strength.
5. Aggregate/cement ratio: Increase in A/C ratio lead to
higher strength( lower volume of voids)
6. Quality of the aggregate( grading, surface texture,
shape, strength, size and cleanliness.)
7. Curing: Concrete will be fully developed only if its cured.
Since the hydration of cement proceeds only in the
presence of an adequate amount of water, moisture must
be maintained in the concrete during the curing period.
8. Cement content: the increase in cement content and
fineness of cement particles increases the concrete
strength, whereas the strength decreases as the cement
content is decreased.
9. Admixture: Admixtures effect concrete strength by
modifying certain properties like rate of hydration or setting
time and workability.
10. Steps of concrete preparation: Proper mixing, handling,
transporting, placing.
11. Microcracking : It is very fine cracks exist at the interface
between coarse aggregate and hydrated cement paste.
Effect of W/C ratio on strength of concrete
 Strength of Concrete

• “Abrams’ Law”: Strength of concrete is inversely

proportional to the water/cement ratio
• Sources of weakness in strength of
concrete:
- pores and voids
- micro cracking
-High water/cement ratio
- improper compaction
- Poor curing
 Strength of Concrete

• Strength depends on the effective water/cement

ratio.
• Effective water/cement ratio is the mix water
less the water absorbed by the aggregate.
• Total water in concrete mix consists of the
water absorbed by the aggregate to bring it to a
saturated surface –dry condition and the free
water available for the hydration of the cement
and for the workability of the fresh concrete.
• Durability :Durability of concrete is one which
can withstand the conditions for which it has
been designed. Durability is affected by external
factors like environment, freezing and thawing,
wetting and drying, abrasion , chemical attack
and by internal factors like volume change,
corrosion and alkali aggregate reaction.
• Permeability and porosity:
- permeability is one of the main
characteristics influencing the durability and
strength of concrete. It is the property of
concrete which permits liquids to pass through
it.
 Porosity of concrete

- Porosity is the property in which liquids

can penetrate into it by capillary action. And
it depends on the total volume of the
spaces occupied by air or water between
solid matter in hardened concrete.
- A higher permeability or porosity leads to
deterioration of concrete.
 Porosity of concrete
• Causes of voids in concrete:
1. High Water/cement ratio: excess water
leaves voids and cavities after evaporation.
2. Poor compaction results in accumulation of
air voids.
3. Porous aggregate.
4. Poor curing increase permeability.
Effect of age on strength of concrete
Effect of age on strength gain of concrete
Effect of age on strength of concrete
 Strength of Concrete

• Aggregate/Cement ratio: High

aggregate/cement ratio lead to higher strength.
Why: Since the paste represents a smaller
portion of the volume of concrete then the total
porosity of the concrete is lower which means
lower volume of voids, hence high concrete
strength.
• Angular crushed aggregate has better bond
and less microcracking than smooth
aggregate.
Effect of curing on strength of concrete
Influence of curing temperature on strength of
concrete
 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
Compressive Strength is determined by loading
properly prepared and cured cubic, cylindrical or
prismatic specimens under compression.
Cylinder : ASTM C470

• Cubes : British standard 150x150x150 mm3

• Other sizes:
Cylinder: 100 × 200 or 150 × 300 mm
Cubes: 100 × 100 × 100 mm3 or
 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

• Cubic: 15x15x15 cm
Cubic specimens are crushed after rotating
them 90° to decrease the amount of friction
caused by the rough finishing.
• Cylinder: h/D=2 with h=15
To decrease the amount of friction, capping
of the rough casting surface is performed.
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Bonded sulphur capping Unbonded neoprene pads

• For 150 mm cubes fill in 3 layers compact
each layer 35 times.
• For 100 mm cubes fill in 3 layers compact
each layer 25 times.
• No need for capping.
• For 150 x 300 mm cylinder, fill in 3 layers
compact each layer 25 times.
• Capping to obtain a plane and smooth

Stiff Portland cement paste on freshly cast

concrete, or mixture of sulphur and
granular material, or high-strength gypsum
plaster on hardened concrete.
 Compressive Strength

• Compressive Strength of
Cylindrical Concrete
Specimens (ASTM C39)

• Apparatus: Forney Hydraulic

Universal Testing Machine
200,000 lbs Tension,
400,000 lbs Compression
• Accuracy is approximately
10% of the maximum load.
 Testing Procedure (cont)
• Carefully align the axis of the specimen with the center
of thrust of the spherically seated upper platen.

•Bring the upper platen to bear

on the specimen, adjusting the
load to obtain uniform
seating of the specimen, no more
than 50% of the ultimate load.

•Center the specimen on the lower

platen of the testing machine.
 Testing Procedure (cont)

• Apply the load at a loading rate of 35 psi/s (within a

range of 28 to 42 psi/s). Maintain this loading rate at
least for the last half of the anticipated loading phase.

• Make no adjustment in the rate of movement till the end

of the test

• Apply the compressive load until the load indicator

shows that the load is decreasing steadily and the
specimen displays a well-defined cracking pattern.
Record the maximum load (lb)
Types of Concrete Fracture (ASTM C 39)
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Cubic specimens Cylindrical specimens

without capping with capping
 Factors Affecting Measured Compressive Strength

1. Stress Distribution in Specimens.

2. Effect of L/d ratio.

3. Specimen Geometry.

4. Rate of Loading.

5. Moisture Content.

6. Temperature at Testing.
Typical Failure Modes for Test Cubes:
(a) Non-explosive; (b) explosive
Typical Failure Modes for Test Standard Cylinders:
a) Splitting; (b) Shear; (c) Splitting and
shear
(cone).
 3. Specimen Geometry

• Different geometries for a concrete specimen can be used:

Prisms, Cubes, and cylinders.
• As stated before, cube are more confined by the platens
thus have higher strength than cylinder made of the same
concrete. It has been found that c=1.25 cyl .
• As specimen size increases, strength decreases.
• 4. Rate of Loading
• Higher rate of loading higher strength.

5. Moisture Content

• Standards require testing of concrete in SSD conditions (ASTM

C39).

• 6. Temperature at Testing
Higher Temperature lower strength
 TENSILE STRENGTH
• Concrete is not nearly as strong in tension as it is in compression
The tensile strength of concrete is important to resist cracking
from shrinkage and temperature changes.

a) Direct Tensile Strength:

• Difficult to measure and is not usually done.
b) Splitting Tensile Strength:
• The cylindrical specimens (on cube) (placed with its axis horizontal
is subjected to a line load (uniform) along the length of the
specimen
b) Flexural Strength:
• The flexural tensile strength at failure or the modulus of rupture is
determined by loading a prismatic concrete beam specimen.
Tensile strength testing
 SPLIT TENSILE STRENGTH
The standard split tension test is:
AASHTO T198 and ASTM C496: Splitting Tensile Strength of
Cylindrical Concrete Specimens

Due to applied compression load a fairly uniform tensile stress

is induced over nearly 2/3 of the diameter of the cylinder
perpendicular to the direction of load application.
 2P
sp
LD
 2P P: applied compressive load
st =
Dl
D: diameter of specimen
Splitting Tensile
Strength l: length of specimen

• The advantage of the splitting test over the

direct tensile test is the same molds are
used for compressive & tensile strength
determination.

• The test is simple to perform and gives

uniform results than other tension tests.
 FLEXURAL STRENGTH
The standard flexural strength test is:

AASHTO T97 and ASTM C78: Flexural Strength of Concrete

(Using Simple Beam with Third-Point Loading)
The flexural tensile strength at failure or the modulus of
rupture is determined by loading a prismatic concrete
beam specimen.
The results obtained
are useful because
concrete is subjected
to flexural loads more
often than it is
subjected to tensile
loads.
 P

d
bd3
I=
c 12
b
M=Pl/4
(Pl/4) (d/2) 3 Pl
= =
bd3/12 2 bd2

P/2 P/2

(Pl/6) (d/2) Pl
= =
bd3/12 bd2

M=Pl/6
 Compressive to Tensile Strength
Relationships
The tensile strength of concrete is approximately equal to
10% of its compressive strength.

In absence of flexural or tensile testing,

the ACI Concrete Code gives some rough rules-of-thumb
for converting compressive strength:
Compressive testing and curve
 Modulus of Elasticity of Concrete
• Modulus of elasticity value varies with different concrete
strengths, concrete age, type of loading, and the
characteristics and proportions of the cement and aggregates.
-The initial modulus is the slope of the stress–strain diagram at
the origin of the curve.
-The tangent modulus is the slope of a tangent to the curve at
some point along the curve—for instance, at 50% of the
ultimate strength of the concrete.
-The slope of a line drawn from the origin to a point on the curve
somewhere between 25% and 50% of its ultimate
compressive strength is referred to as a secant modulus.

'
Ec 57000 fc
Thank you