Cement Concrete Mix Design and Quality Control By Dr. Sunil Kumar Professor Department of Civil Engineering Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Kanpur-208002

Major Advantages of Concrete Roads Long life (30-40 yrs.) Low maintenance cost Fuel saving @ 14% for load carriers Utilise up to 30% of fly ash – disposal of which is a great problem Economical when life cycle cost is compared Pollution free construction Inconvenience to users due to less frequent repair Good riding quality throughout life No effect of spillage of oil

Conti….. Roads can withstand extremes of weather Better performance over poor soil sub grade Better light reflectivity Safer night driving due to visibility Fuel saving in road construction Skid resistance Good noise record Conservation of material

Roads Through Villages A common feature of village roads in the absence of any drainage arrangement In most cases, the road level is low & water accumulate on them during rains, the road itself acting as a longitudinal drain Such roads are frequently damaged after rains If they are concreted, the damage can be minimise

What is concrete? In very simple terms concrete can be looked upon as a conglomerate rock consisting of large aggregate particles embedded in the matrix of “paste”. Paste is the mixture of water and cement.

Ingredients Cement Aggregates Water Admixtures

Basic Concrete Engineering Good concrete Proportioning of concrete mixes Permeability and porosity of concrete

Good Concrete Method exist to determine only workability and strength How do we work with other properties such as segregation resistance, durability etc ?

Expectation from Good Concrete fresh state Homogeneity Workability Segregation resistance hardened state Strength Durability

Workability of Concrete

Strength of Concrete Ultimate Strength Strength of aggregates Strength of mortar Ultimate Strength Inversely proportional to water cement ratio Curing condition Compaction Quality of binder ( including use of admixture)

Durability of Concrete Concrete is not a maintenance free material and required periodic inspection Durability of concrete is determined through a complex interaction between parameters related to Design of structures, such as permissible crack width, grade of concrete used and design cover to the reinforcement Choice of appropriate material in construction Quality control during construction maintaining good construction materials such as curing etc. Environment in which structure is placed

Principles of Concrete Mix Design Design involves proportion of the given constituents which would produce concrete possessing specifies properties on both in fresh and hardened state with the maximum overall economy.

Factors in the choice of mix designing Grade designation Type of cement Maximum nominal size of aggregates Minimum water cement ratio Workability Minimum cement content

Concrete Mix Proportion proportion of nominal mix concrete grade Total quantity of dry agg. per 50 kg of cement Proportion of fine agg. To coarse agg. (by mass) Quantity of water per bag of cement (max) M 5 800 Generally 1:2 But subjected to an upper limit of 1:1.5 and lower limit 1:2.5 60 M 7.5 625 45 M 10 480 34 M 15 330 32 M 20 250 30

Variability of Concrete Strength Variation in the quality of constituent materials Variation in mixed proportion Quality of supervision and workmanship Variation due to sampling and testing of concrete specimen.

Target mean strength Considering the inherent variability of concrete strength during production, it is necessary to design the mix to have a target mean strength which is greater than the characteristic strength by a suitable margin. f¹ = fck + k*s f¹ = target mean strength fck = characteristic strength s = standard deviation k = 1.65 Not more than 5% of the test results are expected to fall below fck.

Procedure for proportioning design concrete mixes Step 1 Arrive at the mean target strength from characteristic compressive strength and level of quality control

Suggested values of standard deviation Grade of concrete s.d. for diff. degree of control (N/mm²) Very good Good fair M 10 2.0 2.3 3.3 M 15 2.5 3.5 4.5 M 20 3.6 4.6 5.6 M 25 4.3 5.3 6.3 M 30 5.0 6.0 7.0

Degree of quality control Very good – Fresh cement from single source and regular test weigh batching Aggregates in single sizes, controlled grading and moisture content Controlled water addition Frequent supervision Regular workability and strength tests Field lab facility

Step 2 Nominal maximum size of aggregate (mm) Assume an air content depends on size of aggregate Nominal maximum size of aggregate (mm) Entrapped air as % of volume of concrete 10 3.0 20 2.0 40 1.0

Step 3 Choose a water cement ratio for mean target strength from Fig. 46 given in SP: 23-1982. Water cement ratio satisfy maximum value prescribed for exposure condition in IS: 456

Step 4 Calculate approximate sand and water content per cubic meter of concrete water cement ratio=0.35 Max. size of agg. (mm) Water content per cubic meter of concrete Sand as % of total agg. by absolute volume 10 208 62 20 186 45 40 165

water cement ratio=0.35 Max. size of agg. (mm) Water content per cubic meter of concrete Sand as % of total agg. by absolute volume 10 200 26 20 190 23

Adjustment of values in water content & sand % for other conditions Change in conditions stipulated Adjustment required in water content Adjustment required in % sand in total agg. Sand conforming to zone I, III, IV +1.5 for zone I -1.5 for zone III -3.0 for zone IV Increase or decrease in c.f. by 0.1 ± 3% Each 0.05 increase or decrease in water cement ratio ± 1% For rounded agg. -15 kg/m³ -7%

Step 5 Determination of cement content On the basis of water cement ratio which in turn is determined from the water cement ratio v/s strength relationship

Step 6 Aggregate determination V = [W+C/Sc+1/P*Fa/Sfa]*1/1000 V= gross volume in m³ - volume of entrapped air Sc= specific gravity of cement (3.15) W= mass of water in kg/m³ of concrete C= mass of cement in kg/m³ of concrete P= ratio of fine agg. to total agg. by absolute volume

Step 7 Adjustment in proportions of concrete mixes Arrive at the concrete mix proportions for the first trial Conduct trial mixes with suitable adjustments till the final mix composition is arrived at.

Relationship with flexural strength fcr = 0.7 (fck)½ N/mm² fcr = flexural strength fck= characteristic compressive strength of concrete in N/mm²

IS:456 specifications on workability Placing condition Degree of workability Slump/c.f. Pavement using pavers Very low c.f.= .75 to .80 Hand placed pavements low Slump = 25 to 75 mm

IS: 456 specifications on minimum cement content and maximum free water cement ratio For PCC Min. cement content kg/m³ Max. free water cement ratio M 15 240 0.60 M 20 250 0.50 M 25 260 0.45 M 30 280 0.40

IS: 383-1970 specification for coarse and fine aggregates Grading zone of fine aggregate % passing for single sized aggregate of nominal size Percentage passing for graded aggregate of nominal size

Aggregates Crushing value- should not greater than 30% for concrete for bearing surface Los angeles abrasion value- should not greater than 30% for aggregate used for bearing surfaces Agggregate impact value- should not greater than 30% for aggregate used for bearing surfaces Flakiness index- should not greater than 25%

IRC specification on cc pavements Semi rigid pavements Proportion of dry lean concrete- design by trial & error method Compaction is done by rolling, hence keep slump 0-10 mm. Cement concrete should not less than 150 kg/m³ Average compaction strength of 5 cubes at 28 days should not be less than 10.0 MPa. Average compaction strength of individual cube at 28 days should not be less than 7.5 MPa.

Rigid Pavement CC Pavement Strength requirements of coarse aggregate for concrete used in pavements Aggregate impact value- should not be greater than 30% Los angeles abrasion value- should not be greater than 30% Roller compacted concrete pavement (RCCP) Water content may range 4-7% by weight of dry materials including cement.

Concrete Pavements Rigid pavement using pavement quality concrete (PQC) IRC: 44- tentative guidelines for cc mix design for pavements. for minimum flexural strength of 40 kg/mm² in the field assuming good degree of quality in the field. Cement content lies between 350 to 425 kg/m³ Approx mix proportion = 1:1.5:3 Water cement ratio = 0.38 Workability to be considered in lab for test should be preferably 10 mm slump.

Concrete compacted by needle vibrators, hand tampers and plate compactors A slump of 2.5 to 4.5 cm at paving site is acceptable for compaction by hand operated machines

Testing of hardened concrete Core test Non destructive test

Stage Wise Control of Quality Pre Construction: Quality of materials During Construction: (Freshly mixed concrete) Batching Mixing Workability Compaction Surface finishing Post Construction: (Quality of hardened concrete) Check for riding quality Check for strength Check for concrete thickness

Concluding Remarks Do not over or under design the pavement Do not use outdated formulae or other parameters when designing the pavement Do not try to economies by using poorly trained or unqualified supervisors and operators Do not use sub-standard tools and equipment Do not use sub-standard material Do not use dirty water for making concrete Do not try to economies on testing of materials Do not allow any traffic till the joints are permanently sealed

Continue……… Do not allow drains to get block or choked Do not cut joints too early or too late Do not place on the sub grade that is not thoroughly compacted and dampened Do not drop concrete into place freely from a height exceeding 1.5 m Do not vibrate concrete excessively to prevent flow of mortar to the top Do not allow volume batching of concrete Do not allow concrete to dry Do not allow any vehicle on the road till it is fully cured

Thanks