Tena, Marie Angelika A.

November 14, 2019

CIVP23

1. What is concrete?
Concrete is a building material made by mixing cement paste (Portland cement
and water) and aggregate (sand and stone). The cement-paste is the "glue" which
binds the particles in the aggregate together. The strength of the cement-paste
depends on the relative proportions of water and cement; a more diluted paste being
weaker. Also, the relative proportions of cement-paste and aggregate affects the
strength; a higher proportion of the paste making stronger concrete. The concrete
hardens through the chemical reaction between water and cement without the need
for air. Once the initial set has taken place concrete cures well under water. Strength
is gained gradually, depending on the speed of the chemical reaction. Admixtures are
sometimes included in the concrete mix to achieve certain properties. Reinforcement
steel is used for added strength, particularly for tensile stresses. Concrete is normally
mixed at the building site and placed in forms of the desired shape in the place the unit
will occupy in the finished structure. Units can also be precast either at the building site
or at a factory.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of concrete?

Advantages of Concrete
a. Availability of concrete ingredients easily.
b. Easy handling and molding of concrete into any shape.
c. Easy transportation from the place of mixing to place of casting before initial
set takes place.
d. Ability to pump/spray to fill into cracks and lining of tunnels.
e. When reinforced, all types of the structures are made possible from an ordinary
lintel to massive fly overs
f. Monolithic character gives better appearance and much i rigidity to the
structure.
g. The property of concrete to possess high compressive strength, makes a
concrete structure more economical than that of steel structure.
Disadvantages of Concrete
a. Due to low tensile strength, concrete is required to be reinforced to avoid
cracks.
b. In long structures expansion joints are required to be provided if there is large
temperature variance in the area.
c. Construction joints are provided to avoid cracks due to drying shrinkage and
moisture-expansion.
d. Soluble salts in concrete cause efflorescence if moisture reacts with them.
e. Concrete made with ordinary Portland cement, gets integrated in the presence
of Alkalies, sulfates etc.
f. Sustained loads develop creep in structures.
3. Discuss the chemical admixtures added to plain concrete.
Chemical admixtures are the ingredients in concrete other than Portland
cement, water, and aggregate that are added to the mix immediately before or during
mixing. Producers use admixtures primarily to reduce the cost of concrete construction;
to modify the properties of hardened concrete; to ensure the quality of concrete during
mixing, transporting, placing, and curing; and to overcome certain emergencies during
concrete operations.
Successful use of admixtures depends on the use of appropriate methods of
batching and concreting. Most admixtures are supplied in ready-to-use liquid form and
are added to the concrete at the plant or at the jobsite. Certain admixtures, such as
pigments, expansive agents, and pumping aids are used only in extremely small
amounts and are usually batched by hand from premeasured containers.
The effectiveness of an admixture depends on several factors including: type
and amount of cement, water content, mixing time, slump, and temperatures of the
concrete and air. Sometimes, effects like those achieved through the addition of
admixtures can be achieved by altering the concrete mixture-reducing the water-
cement ratio, adding additional cement, using a different type of cement, or changing
the aggregate and aggregate gradation.

4. Discuss the properties of fresh concrete.

Properties of fresh concrete
a. Workability
- is the ease with which freshly prepared concrete can be transported
and placed for the job and compacted to a dense mass. The fresh
concrete which may be expected to give the best results must possess
the property of workability. This is the most important property of fresh
concrete.
b. Setting
- When concrete changes its state from fresh to hardened then this
process is called setting. And the time required to complete this process
is known as Setting Time of Cement. Setting time depends on the type
of cement, aggregates, etc., used in concrete-mix. For increasing or
decreasing the setting time Admixtures is used. The setting time for
Portland cement is about 30 – 45 minutes
c. Segregation
- The separation of concrete ingredients from each other is known as
segregation. This can be caused due to excessive vibration in concrete
mixer machine or falling concrete from more than 1-meter height.
d. Plastic Shrinkage
- This is the shrinkage that the fresh concrete undergoes until it sets
completely. It may also be called initial shrinkage. This can be due to
excessive loss of water from the concrete due to evaporation, bleeding,
and soaking by formwork. Excessive shrinkage at initial stages may
develop cracks. Therefore, all precautions should be taken to avoid
excessive loss of water.
 e. Thermal Shrinkage
- This may be due to falling in temperature of concrete-mix from the time
it laid to the time it sets completely. Due to change in temperature, some
shrinkage may be expected. Sometimes, It may be negligible on its own
account.
f. Thermal Expansion
- In massive concrete works, when the upper layers are laid before the
lower layers have completely set, there may arise a phenomenon of
thermal expansions – in the lower layers. This is because the heat of
hydration gets accumulated in those layers and may attain magnitudes
beyond acceptable limits.
g. Water Cement Ratio
- The compressive strength decreases, in general, with increasing water
cement ratio and vice versa. Hence, when minimum water is used just
to ensure complete hydration of the cement, the resulting concrete will
give maximum compressive strength on proper compaction.

5. Discuss the field test of fresh concrete.

a. Slump
- is a measure of consistency, or relative ability of the concrete to flow. If
the concrete can’t flow because the consistency or slump is too low,
there are potential problems with proper consolidation. If the concrete
won’t stop flowing because the slump is too high, there are potential
problems with mortar loss through the formwork, excessive formwork
pressure, finishing delays and segregation.
b. Air content
- measure the total air content in a sample of fresh concrete but does not
indicate what the final in-place air content will be, because a certain
amount of air is lost in transportation Consolidating, placement and
finishing. Three field tests are widely specified: the pressure meter and
volumetric method are ASTM standards and the Chace Indicator is an
AASHTO procedure.
c. Unit weight
- measures the weight of a known volume of the fresh concrete.