Concrete

concrete is a mixture of cement, coarse aggregate (metal or

crushed stone) , fine aggregate (sand of size < 4.75mm)and
water .
The prepared concrete is in semi-liquid stage this is as called
fresh concrete or green concrete or plastic concrete.
Cement initial setting time not less than 30 min
Cement Final setting time not more than 10 hours
After 28 day concrete fully hardened

Various tests can be carried out on fresh concrete . All these
test are used to determine the workability of concrete .
Some important test carried out on fresh concrete are
Slump cone test
Flow Test and
Compaction factor test.

Slump cone test
Slump cone test is used to determine the
workability of concrete.
This test can be conducted in the field (or) in
laboratory .
This test is not suitable for very wet (or) very dry
concrete .
APPARATUS
Cone is about 20cm@ bottom gradually reduced to
10cm at top. With a height of 30mm.
Steel tamping rod 16mm dia , 60mm long

The vessel is placed on a flat non-absorbent surface
Then specimen is filled with concrete mix in four
different layers of equal thickness.
Compact each layer with 25 blows
Then cone is lifted up wards from the concrete
immediately


10mm
30mm


20mm
Slump commonly adopted for
various concrete mixes
Sl.no Type of concrete work Slump adopted in mm
1
2
3

4
5
6
Concrete for road work
Beam and slabs
Columns, retaining walls and thin
vertical members etc.
Impermeable work
Vibrated concrete
Mass concrete
20 to 30
50 to 100
75 to 150

75 to 150
12 to 25
25 to 50
Compaction factor test
In the compaction factor test the degree of workability
of concrete is measured in terms of internal energy
required to compact the concrete thoroughly .
Apparatus
Upper hopper
Lower hopper
Cylinder

Procedure involved in compaction factor test
A standard amount of concrete is allowed to fall from a
standard height
procedure
The concrete sample to be tested is first placed in the
top hopper.
The trap door is opened and concrete is allowed to fall
to the lower hopper.
Similarly from the lower hopper concrete is allowed to
fall in the cylinder kept below.


Now the cylinder is weighed and the weight is called as
weight of partially compacted concrete .
Now the cylinder is emptied and refilled with concrete
by the same sample .it is vibrated heavily and weighted.

Compaction factor=weight of partially compacted concrete
weight of fully compacted concrete








Workability

compaction factor corresponding
slump
Very low
Low
Medium
high

0.80
0.85
0.92
0.95
0 to 25mm
25 to 50mm
50 to 100mm
100 to 180mm
FLOW TEST

The spread or the flow of the concrete is measured and
this flow is related to workability

Procedure
The mould is kept on the center of the table and is filled
with concrete in two layer.
Each layer is rammed 25 times with a tamping rod 1.6 cm
in dia and 61cm long rounded at lower tamping end.
The mould lifted vertically upward and concrete stands on
its own without support.
The table is then raised and dropped 12.5mm height for 15 times
(or)for 15 seconds.
The diameter of the spread concrete is measured in about 6
directions to the nearest 5mm and the average spread is noted .







Flow , percent =(spread diameter in cm-25)*100/25

The value could range anything from 0 to 150 percent


Testing for hardened concrete
Compressive strength test.
Flexural strength test.
Split-tension test .

Compressive strength test.
The Compression test is used to determine the hardness of
cubical (or) cylindrical specimens of concrete.
The strength of a concrete specimen depends upon concrete ,
aggregate bond, w/c ratio ,curing temperature ,and age and
size of specimen .


procedure
The largest nominal size of the aggregates does not
exceed 20mm
Each layer of the concrete is compacted by 25 to 35
blows .
Then remolded the concrete after 24 hours.
Submerged the specimen in clean water.
Then the specimen is tested after 7days and 28days .
Normally strength of cylindrical specimen is taken as
0.8 times of the strength of cubical.
Compressive strength= maximum load
cross-sectional area of cube



Flexural strength test
The concrete is strong in compression & weak in tension.
Stress develop in concrete due to drying shrinkage.
In this test load is applied.

central .
Two-point
central Two-point

LOAD LOAD




L/2 L/2 L/2 L/2 L/2

L L


Size of specimen = 15x15x70cm
Beam size = 10x10x50cm

Split- tension test
This is an indirect tension test. In this test cylindrical
specimen is placed horizontal.

The load is applied until failure of the cylinder along
the vertical diameter .

But a larger portion about 5/6
th
of the depth is
subjected to tension stress.
Quality of concrete
In order to make concrete a quality one there division are
used
Engineering division
Manufacturing division
Piecing division

Engineering division
look after all forms reinforcement details and
installation of all embedded parts.

Manufacturing
This division takes care of the control of
materials , batching and mixing of concrete.
Placing division
This division take care of placing other
subsequent works.
Following are the General requirements for quality of
concrete
Air bubbles should be completely removed from the
concrete .
Compaction of concrete should be minimize the voids
presented in the concrete.
A adequate curing for 28 days is done.

To attain high quality of concrete
Proper ingredients
Proper batching & mixing
Proper transportation
Careful placing
Adequate curing
Careful removal of form work
Necessary finishing
Admixture


Admixture
These are substances other than cement , aggregate and
water , those are used to modify the properties of
concrete .

Admixture are two type
Mineral and
Chemical admixture
Mineral admixture
Silica fume
Rice husk ash
Ground granulated blast furnace slag
Fly ash

Chemical admixture
Accelerators(decreases the setting time)
Retarders(increase the setting time)
Plasticizer
Super plasticizer
Dpc and water proof material





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