INTRODUCTION

Modern concrete mix designs can be complex. The choice of a

concrete mix depends on the need of the project both in terms of strength and appearance and
in relation to local legislation and building codes.
The design begins by determining the requirements of the concrete. These
requirements take into consideration the weather conditions that the concrete will be exposed
to in service, and the required design strength. The compressive strength of a concrete is
determined by taking standard molded, standard-cured cylinder samples.
Many factors need to be taken into account, from the cost of the various additives and
aggregates, to the trade offs between, the "slump" for easy mixing and placement and ultimate
performance.
A mix is then designed using cement (Portland or other cementitious material), coarse
and fine aggregates, water and chemical admixtures. The method of mixing will also be
specified, as well as conditions that it may be used in.This allows a user of the concrete to be
confident that the structure will perform properly.
Various types of concrete have been developed for specialist application and have
become known by these names. Concrete mixes can also be designed using software
programs. Such software provides the user an opportunity to select their preferred method of
mix design and enter the material data to arrive at proper mix designs.

THEORY

Concrete mix design is the process of choosing suitable ingredient of concrete and
determining their relative quantities with the object of producing as economically as possible
concrete of certain minimum properties, notable workability, strength and durability. It should
be explained that an exact determination of mix proportions by means of table or computer
data is generally not possible. The materials used are essentially variable and many of their
properties cannot be assessed truly quantitatively. A laboratory trial mix does not provide the
final answer even when the moisture condition of aggregates are taken into account. Only a
mix made and used on the site can guarantee that all properties of the concrete are satisfactory
in every detail for the particular job in hand.. In fact mix selection requires a knowledge of the
properties of concrete and experimental data, and above all the experience of the expert who
conduct the mix design. The selection of mix proportions is an art as much as a science. It is
not enough to select a suitable concrete mix; it is also necessary to ensure a proper execution
of all the operation involved in concreting. It cannot be stated too strongly that, competently
used, concrete is a very successful construction material but in the literal service of the word,
concrete is not fool proof. The mix proportions once chosen, cannot expected to remain
entirely immutable because the properties of the ingredients which are cement, sand,
aggregate, water and admixture may vary from time to time.

OBJECTIVE

The process of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete and determining their relative
amounts with the objective of producing a concrete of the required, strength, durability, and
workability as economically as possible, is termed the concrete mix design.The main
objectives for concrete mix design includes :
1) To determine the proportions of concrete mix constituents of Cement, Fine Aggregate,
Coarse Aggregate and Water.
2) To produce concrete of the specified properties.

APPARATUS

There are some apparatus that has been used during this experiment. The appratus
includes :
1) Balance
2) Wheelbarrows
3) Scoop
4) Flat base plate
5) Ordinary Portland Cement, Fine Aggregate, Coarse Aggregate, Water
6) Empty Container

PROCEDURE

1) Take the weight of the empty container before placing the ingredients of the concrete.
2) Determine the mix design quantity of ingredients for the concrete.
3) Weight the cement, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates and water separately before
mixing it up all together.
4) Record the weight for each of the ingredients.
5) Place the cement, fine aggregates and coarse aggregates on the flat base plate and start
mixing it all up together by using the scoop.
6) After mixing the above ingredients, make a hole in the middle of the misture and start
pouring the water gradually so that the water can applies the hydration process
between the mixture and water.
7) After that, use the scoop to mix all the ingredients together, working around the heap
turning over each part three or four times until the mixture evenly and equally mixed
up.

8) As all the water absorbed by the mixture, reform the heap and add some more water
into the mixture and start mixing it up together all over again. Be more extra caution
each time while adding the water into the mixture because if the water is overly added
into the mixture, the mixture will becomes wetted and this may affects the quality of
the concrete.
9) A mixture which has the right amount of water is smooth and plastic, not over wet and
runny nor dry and crumbly. If the depression between the chops fill with cement
slurry, the mixture is good. If it looks a watery slurry or the ridges dont stand up, the
mixture is too wet. If the depression remain dry, the mixture is too dry.

DATA COLLECTION AND RECORDING

DATA ANALYSIS

CALCULATION
Hence from the attached data collection and recording, we get the quantities for
cement, water, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate.
QUANTITIES

CEMENT(kg)

WATER(kg)

FINE
AGGREGATE(kg)

COARSE
AGGREGATE,
20mm(kg)

Per m3(to nearest

5kg)

7.24

4.20

13.71

21.45

Per trial mix of

0.02m3

0.14

0.08

0.27

0.43

RESULT

The result of our concrete mix are not good enough to create a high quality concrete.
These are due to our mixture design materials were not in a good condition as it should be,
because not to mention our materials were consists of unwanted particles such as tree leaves
or branches, our material also exposed with high humidity since it is located in an open air
space location which make them imposed to rain and other weather condition. Due to these,
the quality of our concrete mix design is not consistence. Far from the result that we get
throughout this experiment, the quality of our concrete mix design were not in a high quality
but yet the workability of our concrete mix design considered acceptable.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the condition of the materials play a big role in order to create a high quality
concrete. We may get a better result if not due to the factors that affect the consistency of the
concrete mix design. Besides, we also have to make sure that every step that we take during
making this concrete design have to be taken seriously. This is because on of the common
errors made by students when hand mixing the concrete is adding too much water in it. The
correct way is to add the water gradually each time. By following the right method, we will
get the right consistency of our concrete mixture which all at once it will produce a high
quality concrete.

REFERENCE AND APPENDIX

REFERENCE
1. http://www.engineeringcivil.com/theory/concrete-engineering/mix-design
2. http://www.muhuchina.com/english/Mix_design.aspx
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete
4. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/75460380/Concrete-Lab-Report
5. Construction Materials (Second Edition) Kartini Kamaruddin, B.Eng(Hons)(Civil),
MSc. Construction

APPENDIX

Flate base plate

Cement

Fine Aggregate

Coarse Aggregate

Water