TYPES OF CONCRETE

AGGREGATES AND CONCRETE

 Lightweight Aggregates-Aerated Concrete-No fines
concrete- Polymer Concrete, RCC
 Prestressed Concrete
 Fibre-reinforced concrete
 Ready Mix concrete(RMC)
Natural Light weight
Light weight Aggregates
Aggregates •Artificial cinder
 Pumice •Coke Breeze
 Diatomite •Foamed slag
•Bloated clay
 Scoria
•Expanded shale and slate
 Volcanic cinders •Sintered fly ash
 Saw dust •Exfoliated vermiculite
 Rice Husk Expanded perlite
•Thermocole Beads
 Conventional cement concrete is a heavy building
material.
 For structures such as multistory buildings it is
desirable to reduce the dead loads.
 Light weight concrete (LWC) is most suitable for such
construction works.
 Lightweight aggregate concrete is particularly suitable
for use where low density, good thermal insulation or
fire protection are required but not all of the available
aggregate are equally suitable for any particular
application.
 can be obtained by anyone of the following methods:
 By making concrete with cement and coarse aggregate
only. Sometimes such a concrete is referred to as no-
fines concrete. Suitable aggregates are—natural
aggregate, blast furnace slag, clinker, foamed slag, etc.
Since fine aggregates are not used, voids will be
created and the concrete produced will be light weight
 It is obtained by mixing cement paste or mortar with
stabilized foam.
 After hardening, the foam cells form concrete of a
cellular structure.
 The foam is obtained by stirring a mixture of resin
soap and animal glue.
 The best foaming agents are alumino sulpho napthene
compounds and hydrolysed slaughter blood.
 This concrete is very suitable for heat insulation
purposes.
 It is manufactured by expanding the binding material
paste, which may or may not include aggregates.
 It is also known as aerated concrete.
 The approximate relative proportions of gas concrete
ingredients are as follows: 90% Portland cement, 9.75%
powdered lime, 0.25% aluminium power (for a water to
cement ratio of 0.55– 0.65).
Foam concrete
 density of LWC varies from 300–1200 kg/m2
 placing compacting, and finishing lightweight
aggregate concrete requires relatively less effort
 The air-dried unit weight of concrete is limited to a
maximum of 18.40 kN/m3.
 Design strengths of 20 to 35 Mpa
 Lightweight aggregates with controlled micro porosity
have been developed to produce 70 to 75 MPa
 Thermal insulation is about 3–4 times more than
that of bricks and about 10 times than that of concrete
 Durability Aerated concrete is slightly alkaline. Due to
its porosity and low alkalinity the reinforcement may
be subjected to corrosion and as such, require special
treatments.
 Reparability Light weight cellular element can be
easily sawn, drilled or nailed which makes for easy
construction and repairs.
 Economy Due to light weight and high strength to
mass ratio, the cellular products are quite economical.
 Fire resistance is excellent.
 Sound insulation is poor.
Advantages
 The basic economy of LWC is low.
 LWC has superior resistance of shear elements to
earthquake loading since seismic forces are largely a
direct function of deal weight of a structure, is also one
among the other advantages of LWC.
 Due to lower handling transportation, the construction
cost, the light weight concrete is ideally suited for the
production of precast concrete elements and
prefabricated elements.
Application
 Low density cellular concrete is used for precast floor and
roofing units.
 As load bearing walls using cellular concrete blocks.
 As insulation cladding to exterior walls of structures
 Ready mixed concrete (RMC) is a concrete, delivered at
site or into the purchaser’s vehicle, in plastic condition
and requires no further treatment before being placed
in a position in which it is to set and harden.
 The concrete can be mixed either dry at the batching
plant, loaded into agitator truck mixers and water
added during transportation; or it can be mixed wet at
the batching plant, discharged into the agitator truck
mixers and transported to site.
 RMC is extremely useful on congested sites or in road
construction where limited space is available for
aggregate stock piling and mixing plant
 Generally RMC is transported to sites which are located
at long distances from the batching plants.
 At the delivery point, concrete should be workable and
plastic.
 The transit period is sometimes four to five hours
 The ordinary concrete will suffer slump loss due to the
time lost in transit and evaporation of water due to
atmospheric conditions such as high temperature.
 Therefore, admixtures will be required to extend the
setting time and, retention of specified slump of
concrete.
 Two types of admixtures are in use—the high
performance water reducing admixtures and a high
range water-reducing super-plasticizers.
 High performance water reducing admixtures have been specially
designed to retain workability even in high ambient temperature.
 The examples are conplast RMC P 333 and conplast RMC P 505.
 The advantages of using high performance water reducing
admixtures are:
 Improved cohesion and reduced bleeding and segregation.
 Makes the mix cohesive even if the aggregates are of slightly poor
grading.
 Since chloride free it is safe for use in reinforced and prestressed
concrete.
 Improved workability and workability retention with controlled
extended setting time and hence ideal for use in hot weather
condition.
 Workability increases without extra water addition.
 Assists in producing dense, close textured, low permeability
concrete thus enhancing durability.
 Water reduction helps in improvement of compressive strength at
all ages.
 The high range water-reducing superplasticizers are
designed to impart high workability and slump
retention for low and medium grades of concrete.
 Some of the high range water reducing
superplasticizers are conplast RMC SP 444, conplast
RMC SP 555.
 Another admixture, the high early strength
superplasticizer, e.g., Zentrament FBV is used to impart
high early strength to RMC.
 The concrete produced with this admixture is
homogeneous and free from segregation and bleeding.
 Also a saving of 20% of cement is achieved for the same
slump and strength.
 The advantages of using high range water-reducing
super plasticizers are
 Speedy construction.
 Increased workability and reduced segregation.
 Longer placing time.
 Improved pumpability.
 Chloride free.
 Safe for use in prestressed and marine structures.
 Safe for use with sulphate resisting cement and marine
aggregate.
 Higher ultimate strength.
 Improved workability
 Enhanced quality and durability resulting in lower maintenance costs
and increased speed of construction.
 Ready mix concrete is consistently of the same quality and provides a
high quality of construction material; construction time is also reduced.
 It reduces congestion at the site and prevents traffic jams.
 It hastens infrastructure development and thus provides more
employment opportunities.
 It is an environmentally safer alternative.
 With ready mixed concrete, modern construction techniques can be
followed.
 Convenience—Ready Mix Concrete is delivered at the site with minimum
logistical hassles.
 Different types of concretes can be made for different applications.
 Use of RMC obviates the need to set up the infrastructure required for
site manufactures of concrete. This also reduces the working capital to
be invested by the customers, as they will not be required to maintain
stock of aggregates, cement, plant and machinery etc
 Reinforced cement concrete is a composite material
made up of cement concrete and reinforcement in
which the concrete resists compression with
reinforcement resisting the tension and shear.
 It is the most versatile building material available and
is extensively used in the construction industry ranging
from small structural elements such as beams and
columns to massive structures like dams and bridges.
 The idea of reinforcing concrete with steel has resulted
in a composite material, having the potential of
resisting significant tensile stresses.
 The steel bars are embedded in the tensile zone of
concrete to compensate the poor tensile resistance of
concrete
 The bond between steel and the surrounding concrete
ensures strain compatability.
 Moreover, the reinforcing steel imparts ductility to this
composite material.
 The reinforcing steel also supplements concrete in
bearing compressive forces, as in the case of columns.
 Here the bars are confined with lateral ties, in order to
maintain their positions and to prevent their local
buckling.
 Aerated concrete
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a precast structural product made with all-
natural raw materials. In 1914, the Swedes discovered a mixture of cement, lime,
water and sand that expands by adding aluminum powder. The material was
further developed to what we know today as autoclaved aerated concrete (also
called autoclaved cellular concrete).
• It is an economical, sustainable, solid block that provides
thermal and acoustic insulation as well as fire and termite
resistance.
• AAC is available in a variety of forms, ranging from wall and
roof panels to blocks and lintels.
•AAC units are available in numerous shapes and sizes.
Panels are available in thicknesses of between 8 inches to 12
A magnified view
inches, 24-inches in width, and lengths up to 20 feet. Blocks shows the pores of
come 24”, 32”, and 48” inches long, between four to 16 inches autoclaved aerated
thick, and eight inches high. concrete

•AAC features include structural capacity, thermal, fire, and

acoustical resistance properties.
Advantages:

•AAC has been produced for more than 70 years, and it offers advantages over
other cementitious construction materials, one of the most important being its
lower environmental impact.
•AAC’s improved thermal efficiency reduces the heating and cooling load in
buildings.
•AAC’s workability allows accurate cutting, which minimizes the generation of
solid waste during use.
•AAC’s resource efficiency gives it lower environmental impact in all phases of its
life cycle, from processing of raw materials to the disposal of AAC waste.
•AAC’s light weight also saves cost & energy in transportation.
•AAC's light weight saves labour
 Autoclaved aerated concrete block Detailed view of cellular pore
with a sawn surface to show the structure in an aircrete block.
cellular pore structure
• Autoclaved aerated concrete blocks are excellent thermal insulators and are typically
used to form the inner leaf of a cavity wall. They are also used in the outer leaf, when they
are usually rendered, and in foundations. It is possible to construct virtually an entire
house from autoclaved aerated concrete, including walls, floors - using reinforced
aircrete beams, ceilings and the roof.

• Aircrete also has good acoustic properties and it is durable, with good resistance to
sulfate attack and to damage by fire and frost.
 No-fines concrete

No-fines concrete (NFC) consists of coarse aggregate and

cement paste. In the hardened state, aggregate particles are
covered by a thin layer of cement paste and are in point-to-
point contact with each other. At each contact point the
paste forms a small fillet; these fillets hold the particles
together and give strength to the concrete.

NFC therefore has large interconnected voids and a much

lower density than conventional dense concrete. The
structure of NFC makes it ideal for use as a drainage layer
under reservoir and basement floors. It can also serve as an
insulating layer and as a damp-proofing material.

NFC is NOT suitable for drainage purposes where the

water is soft or aggressive to concrete.
 It is made up of only single sized coarse aggregate, cement
 It generally made of Aggregate to the cement ration from 6:1 to 10:1
 Aggregates used normally are passing through 20mm sieve and
retained in 10mm sieve
 Strength is mainly depended on water cement ratio, aggregate cement
ratio and unit weight of concrete.
 The water cement ratio may generally vary in the range of 0.38 to 0.52
 The Bond strength of no fines concrete is very low and therefore
reinforcement is not used in conjunction with it.
 The drying shrinkage of the concrete is considerably lower than that of
the conventional concrete
 Thermal conductivity of this kind of concrete is much less than that of
the conventional concrete.
Applications :

Roadways constructions
Pavements
Swimming pool decks
Tennis courts
Landscaping
 Polymer Concrete is a mixture of graded aggregates,
sands and powders the same as used in a conventional
Portland Cement Concrete.
 The difference is that Polymer Concrete uses a
synthetic resin as the wetting agent.
 Portland Cement and Water are not used in the
manufacturing of Polymer Concrete.
 The synthetic resin once cured binds the aggregate together. Giving
Polymer Concrete a strength three to four times greater than
conventional Portland Concrete.
 Polymer Concrete can be cast into shape making it ideal for producing
prefabricated structures normally produced in Reinforced Concrete
particularly where the high strength of Polymer Concrete can be used
in the design resulting in much thinner wall sections.
 Manufacturing using Polymer Concrete is far more complex than
conventional Reinforced Concrete the synthetic resin used is both
flammable and toxic as the curing of this synthetic resin depends on a
organic chemical reaction the selection of both the base resin and the
curing agents is critical.
 As the percentage of synthetic resin is kept below 10% by weight of the
Polymer Concrete the selection and design of the moulds or formwork
used is critical. None of the resin, powders or fine sand can be allowed
to leak out.
 Polymer Concrete cures within two hours and can be extracted at this
time. Depending on the ambient temperature it may be necessary to
post cure the finished Polymer Concrete to reach ultimate strength.
 Once cured Polymer Concrete is very strong and has very good
corrosion resistance.
 Polymer impregnated concrete (PIC) is a conventional
concrete, cured and dried in oven. A low viscosity monomer is
then diffused and polymerised by using radiation, heat or by
chemical initiation. The monomers used are, methylmethacrylate
(MMA), styrene, acrylonitrile, t-butyl styrene, etc.
 Polymer cement concrete (PCC) is made by mixing cement,
aggregates, water and monomers, such as polyester-styrene,
epoxy styrene, furans, venylidene chloride. The plastic mix is
moulded, cured, dried and polymerised.
 Polymer concrete (PC) In this type of concrete cement is not
used and the aggregates are bound with a polymer binder. It is
most suitable for structures with a high ratio of live load to dead
load and composite construction.
 Partially impregnated and surface coated polymer concrete
is made by initially soaking the dried specimens in liquid
monomer like methyl methacrylate and then sealing them by
keeping under hot water at 70°C to prevent loss due to
evaporation. The polymerisation is achieved by adding 3 per cent
by weight of benzoyl peroxide to the manomer as catalyst. It finds
its application in improving durability of bridge decks.
 Polymer concrete finds its application in the
production of prefabricated elements, prestressed
concrete, ferrocement products, marine works, nuclear
power plants and industrial applications.
 Because of its high sulphate and acid resistance
properties it is most suitable for sewage disposal works.
Advantages:
Advantages of polymer concrete
include:
•Rapid curing at ambient
temperatures
•High tensile, flexural,
and compressive strengths
•Good adhesion to most surfaces
•Good long-term durability with
respect to freeze and thaw cycles
•Low permeability to water and
aggressive solutions
•Good chemical resistance
•Good resistance against
corrosion
•Lightweight
Disadvantages
• Some safety issues arise out of the use
of polymer concrete.
The monomers can be volatile,
combustible, and toxic. Initiators, which
are used as catalysts, are combustible and
harmful to human skin. The promoters
and accelerators are also dangerous.
• Polymer concretes also cost
significantly more than conventional
concrete.
 PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

Prestressed concrete is basically concrete in which internal stresses of a suitable

magnitude and distribution are introduced so that the stresses resulting from the
external loads are counteracted to a desired degree.

• Pre-stressing is a method in which compression force is applied to the reinforced

concrete section.
• The effect of pre stressing is to reduce the tensile stress in the section to the point
till the tensile stress is below the cracking stress. Thus the concrete does not crack.
• It is then possible to treat concrete as a elastic material.
• The concrete can be visualized to have two compressive force
i . Internal pre-stressing force
ii . External forces
• These two forces must counteract each other
Terminology

1. Tendon: A stretched element used in a

concrete member of structure to impart
prestress to the concrete.

2. Anchorage: A device generally used to

enable the tendon to impart and maintain
prestress in concrete.

3. Pretensioning: A method of prestressing

concrete in which the tendons are tensioned
before the concrete is placed. In this
method, the concrete is introduced by bond
between steel & concrete.

4. Post-tensioning: A method of prestressing

concrete by tensioning the tendons against
hardened concrete. In this method, the
prestress is imparted to concrete by bearing.
Fig. 1 shows a concrete beam which is
supported on both ends, acting as a bridge. If
a heavy load such as a truck were to move
over it, the beam would bend. This would
cause the bottom part of it to crack, as the
concrete there would be pulled apart by
lateral tensile forces, as shown in Fig. 2. To
remedy this, a steel cable is passed through
the concrete, reinforcing it against the tensile
force acting upon it. Fig. 3 shows this
reinforced concrete at work.

Now, to increase the concrete's strength

further, the steel cable is first stretched by
applying external pulling forces to it at both
the ends. Then, liquid concrete is poured
over it and allowed to set, with the stretched
steel cable in the middle of the structure.
Once the concrete hardens to a certain level,
the external pulling forces on the steel rod
are removed. The steel cable immediately
tries to regain its original size and in the
process, compresses the surrounding
concrete, making it harder, resulting in the
formation of prestressed concrete. This is
shown in Fig. 4.

Prestressing makes concrete exceptionally

strong as far as tensile strength is concerned,
allowing it to bear large loads without
bending or cracking.
 Pre-stressed Concrete: Methods

• There are two basic methods of applying pre-stress to a concrete

member

– PRE-TENSIONING – most often used in factory situations

– POST-TENSIONING – site use

 PRE-TENSIONING
This is the most basic method employed for prestressing
concrete, and is similar to the one described in the above
illustrative example. As the name itself indicates, in this
method, STEEL IS TENSIONED BEFORE THE
PLACEMENT OF THE CONCRETE.

High strength steel strands, also known as tendons, are

first brought under tension by pulling them at both ends.
Concrete is casted around them and allowed to cure
(harden). During the curing process, concrete bonds
with the steel, and so when later the pulling forces are
removed, as the steel tendons return to their original
shape, the bonded concrete too gets pulled together,
resulting in its compression and hardening.

Pretensioning requires strong anchor points on which

the steel tendons can be tied and stretched. Such points
are not always available on-site, and therefore, most
pretensioned concrete parts are manufactured in
factories and transported to construction sites.
This imposes a limit on the size and weight of the
prestressed concrete parts. This technique is used for the
construction of balconies, floor slabs, piles, and even
some bridges.
 POST-TENSIONING
In Post tension, the tendons are tensioned after the
concrete has hardened. Commonly, metal or plastic ducts
ARE PLACED INSIDE THE CONCRETE BEFORE
CASTING.
After the concrete is placed, the tendons placed inside the
duct are stressed, and anchored against concrete.

There are two methods of Post – Tensioning :

a. Bonded Post-tensioned Concrete

b. Unbonded Post-tensioned Concrete
BONDED POST-TENSIONED CONCRETE

In bonded post-tensioning, concrete

forms a bond with the steel cable before it
is tensioned.
High strength steel cables (tendons) are
passed through ducts made in the slabs of
concrete. The concrete is first allowed to
cure, and after it hardens sufficiently, a
stressing jack is used to tension the steel
tendons.
As the tensioning process continues, the
steel tendon gets elongated while the
concrete is compressed.
When sufficient tension is attained, the
prestressed steel is anchored firmly in
place. The anchors are so designed that
they are able to permanently maintain the
steel cable in tension, which keeps the
concrete in a state of compression.
UNBONDED POST-TENSIONED CONCRETE

In unbonded post-tensioning of concrete,

the concrete is prevented from bonding
with the steel cables.
To achieve this, each individual steel
tendon is coated with a layer of grease and
wrapped in a plastic sheathing.
Once the concrete hardens, tension is
transferred to it via the force created by
the steel cables acting against the anchors
embedded in the perimeter of the
concrete slab.
In unbonded post-tensioned concrete,
each steel cable retains freedom of
movement relative to the concrete itself.
This allows for greater layout flexibility as
compared to other forms.
ADVANTAGES

1) Prestressed concrete significantly increases the strength of concrete.

Therefore, the structures made using this process have a very low failure rate.
They perform well under stress, and are much less prone to getting cracked.

2) Being stronger than normal concrete, prestressed concrete structures can

be made much more compact while still retaining their strength. Floor slabs
and beams can be designed to be much thinner as compared to those made
using reinforced concrete. This proves to be very advantageous in multi-storey
building construction, where the space saved in designing each level can add
up to form extra usable floor space.

3) Usually, in any construction, the joints between slabs are the most high
maintenance area, since they are the weakest links in the structure. Using the
prestressing technique, concrete slabs can be made larger, which results in
lesser number of required joints.

4) Large building and bridges can be built reliably using this technique.
5. allows longer clear spans, thinner slabs, fewer beams and more slender, dramatic
elements.

6. Reduces occurrence of cracks . Freezing & thawing durability is higher than non
prestressed concrete.

7. Post-tensioning allows bridges to be built to very demanding geometry

requirements, including complex curves, and significant grade changes.

8. Smaller and lighter structure

9. No cracks

10. Use the entire section to resist the load

11. Better corrosion resistance

12. Good for water tanks and nuclear plant

13. Very effective for deflection control

14. Better shear resistance