MODULE – IV

CONCRETE

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 1

Vacuum concrete
• The concrete from which water is extracted by a vacuum process before
the hardening takes place is known as vacuum concrete.
• Vacuum process has been found to be satisfactory up to 20 cm depth of
concrete and the water content is reduced upto 20-25%
• The chemical reaction of cement with water requires w/c ratio of less than
0.38, whereas usually adopted w/c ratio is more than 0.38, that is mainly
because of the requirement of workability. Workability is also important
for concrete, so it can be placed in the formwork easily without
honeycombing.
• After the requirement of workability is over, this excess water will
eventually evaporate leaving capillary pores in the concrete. These pores
result into high permeability and less strength in the concrete.
• In vacuum concreting, excess water after placement and compaction of
concrete is sucked out with the help of vacuum pumps about 0.08 MPa
vacuum pressure.
• This technique is effectively used in industrial floors, parking lots and
deck slabs of bridges . Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 2
Mainly, four components are required in vacuum concrete :
1.Vacuum pump- Vacuum pump is a small but strong pump of 5 to 10 HP
2.Water separator- Water is extracted and stored in the water separator
3.Filtering pad- The suction mats are placed over fine filter pads, which
prevent the removal of cement with water.
4.Rubber seal - A rubber seal is also fitted around the filtering pad

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 3

 Steps involved in Vacuum concreting
1. Concreting and surface finishing
2. Placing filter pads which prevent the removal of cement with
water
3. Placing suction mats
4. Connecting junction box with short hoes of suction mat to the
water separator
5. Suck out the air in water separator with vacuum pump
6. Vacuum will get created in water separator it may lead to suck
water from the concrete surface over which suction mat is laid.
7. Sometimes instead of vacuum pump power float or power
trowel is used for extracting water from concreting surface.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 4

 SUCTION MAT
• Large single PVC sheet
• Under surface Nylon cloth to act as very fine filter.
• Top mat is provided with junction box and short hose.

• The mat size may b m or as of the panel

size

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 5

 Advantages of Vacuum concreting
(Necessity of vacuum concrete)
1. Early setting and high strength.

2. An ideal water cement ration can be achieved

3. Increase in compressive strength of concrete by 40-70%.

4. The surface hardness of the slab increases by 130%.

5. Minimized crack formation, Shrinkage reduced by

50%.

6. Improved wear resistance.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 6
 Disadvantage of Vacuum concreting
1. High initial cost.
2. Need trained labor.
3. Need specific equipment.
4. Need power consumption.

 APPLICATIONS
1. Industrials floor sheds like cold storages, etc.
2. Workshops, Railway goods, platforms,
3. Warehouses etc.
4. Canals, Hydro power plants
5. Bridges ports and Harbour
6. Airports runways/ Hangers

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 7

Shotcrete
Def: Shotcrete means mortar conveyed through a
hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity
onto a surface

 Methods of shotcreting:
1. Dry mix shotcrete
2. Wet mix shotcrete

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 8

 DRY-MIX PROCESS SHOTCRETE
In this process, cement and moist aggregate are mixed
and then placed into a device that meters the mixed
material into a stream of compressed air. Material is
carried by the compressed air through a delivery hose to
the nozzle where water is added under pressure through
a perforated ring. The water thoroughly wets the other
ingredients as the mixture is jetted from the nozzle at
high velocity onto the surface to be shotcreted.
WET-MIX SHOTCRETE
In the wet-mix process, all ingredients are first mixed to
produce mortar or concrete. The mortar or concrete is
then placed into delivery equipment. The material is
forced through a delivery hose to the nozzle where
compressed air is injected to increase velocity

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 9

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 10
 EQUIPMENT & TOOLS FOR SHOTCRETE
1. Batching and mixing equipment
2. Delivery equipment like Shotcrete gun, nozzle, pump
3. Air supply arrangement
4. Hosepipe
5. Water supply arrangement

SHOTCRETE APPLICATIONS
1. Foundations
2. Tunnels lining
3. Dams & Spillways
4. Shear Walls
5. Repairing of superstructure
6. Cracks filling till depth
7. Lining work of canals
8. Lining work of landslides rock anchoring
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 11
 Mass concrete
• Mass concrete can be defined as any large volume of cast-in-place concrete for
large dimension structures like dams, bridges, shear wall, retaining wall, etc..
known as mass concreting.
• The one characteristic that distinguishes mass concrete from other concrete
work is thermal behaviour.
• The cement-water reaction causes the temperature to rise within a large concrete
mass with faster rate.
• Faster rate of heat development is more harmful than total heat of hydration
which develops slowly. This causes internal cracks in structure and adversely
affects to stability of structure.
• These can be avoided by placing the concrete in shorter lifts and taking gaps of
several days before the next lift. During concreting, use of cold water in the
concrete mass may also be useful.
• If possible, concreting can be done in the winter season to lower the peak
temperature in concrete. Alternatively, the aggregates may be cooled before
using in the mix.
• Therefore for mass concrete and hydraulic structures cement with low C3S,
C3A is used.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 12

 Following precautions to be taken during mass concreting
and hot weather concreting.
1.The large quantities of concrete should not be deposited at a time.
2.The concrete should be dropped vertically from a reasonable
height..
3.The concrete should be deposited in horizontal layers of about 400
mm to 500 mm height.
4.Concrete work should be suspended during excessively hot days.
5.The cooling of aggregate can be done by watering or keeping them
covered.
6.Suitable mix design should be used for particular specifications
7.See that concreting is done under skilled supervision
8.The placing of concrete should be carries out continuously.
9.Water used for concrete work should be cool, if necessary then ice
cubes can also be used in water.
10.Use low heat cement
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 13
Problems facing for Mass concrete OR Effect of mass
concrete during and after placing:
1. Mass concrete is often exposed to the air or water, the changes of air and
water temperature will cause considerable tensile stress in a massive
concrete structure.
2. In a reinforced concrete structure, tensile stresses are undertaken by steel
reinforcement and concrete only bears the compressive stresses. Due to
the immense thickness, if the tensile stresses in a massive concrete
structure are undertaken by steel reinforcement, the volume and cost of
steel reinforcement will be very big, thus generally there is no steel
reinforcement in mass concrete and the tensile stresses must be
undertaken by concrete itself.
3. Through cracks cut the structure section and may probably destroy the
stability and integrity of the structure.
4. Leakage may occur if the cracks reach to the upstream surface. They
are very dangerous.
5. Deep cracks partly cut the structure, and they are also dangerous. For
surface cracks, if they do not extend, the impact is not serious.
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 14
6. Sometimes, the thermal stress can exceed the sum of the stresses caused
by other external loads
7. The variation of thermal stress is very complicated. It is more complex to
analyse the thermal stress than the stresses caused by water, self-weight,
and other external loads.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 15

 Advance Formwork techniques (Modern forms of
concrete)
1. Slipform formwork
a) Vertical Slipform formwork
b) Horizontal Slipform formwork
2. Climbing form formwork
3. Jump form formwork
4. Cantilever form formwork
5. Egg shape slip formwork
6. Conical formwork
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 16
 SLIP FORM CONSTRUCTION

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 17

1. Slipform construction is a construction method in which concrete is poured into
a continuously moving form (formwork).
2. Slip forming is used for tall structures (such as bridges, towers, buildings, and
dams), as well as horizontal structures, such as roadways.
3. Slipforming enables continuous, non-interrupted, cast-in-place "flawless" (i.e. no
joints) concrete structures which have superior performance compared to the
piecewise construction (joints).
4. Slip forming relies on the quick-setting properties of concrete, and requires a
balance between quick-setting capacity and workability. Concrete needs to be
workable enough to be placed into the form and consolidated (via vibration), yet
quick-setting enough to emerge from the form with strength.
5. This strength is needed because the freshly set concrete must not only permit the
form to "slip" by the concrete without disturbing it, but also support the pressure of
the new concrete as well as resist collapse caused by the vibration of the
compaction machinery.
6. In vertical slip forming the concrete form may be surrounded by a platform on
which workers stand, placing steel reinforcing rods into the concrete and ensuring
a smooth pour.
7. Together, the concrete form and working platform are raised by means of hydraulic
jacks. Generally, the Slipform rises at a rate which permits the concrete to
harden from the bottom of the form.
8. In horizontal slip forming for pavement concrete is laid down, vibrated, worked,
and settled in place while the form itself slowly moves ahead.
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 18
 1-VERTICAL SLIP-FORM

In vertical slip forming, the

concrete form may be
surrounded by a platform on
which workers stand, placing
steel reinforcing rods into the
concrete and ensuring a
smooth pour. Together, the
concrete form and working
platform are raised by means
of hydraulic jacks. Generally,
the slip-form rises at a rate
which permits the concrete to
harden by the time it emerges
from the bottom of the form.

• The technique is more in use for

structures that have continuous walls like
silos , chimneys, and piers for very tall
bridges.
Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 19
2. HORIZONTAL SLIP FORM :
•Slip form methods of construction can also be adapted to horizontal structures
like paving, canals, and tunneling.
•Bitumen road pavers and concrete road pavers are widely used horizontal
slipfom techniques

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 20

 APPLICATIONS OF SLIP-FORM
CONSTRUCTION
Slip-form construction is used for tall structures,
such as towers, buildings, and dams, as well as
horizontal structures, such as roadway barriers. It
enables continuous, non-interrupted, cast-in-place
joint-less concrete structures which have superior
performance characteristics over construction
methods using discrete form elements. Slip
forming relies on the quick setting properties of
concrete, and requires a balance between quick-
Capital Gate Tower, Abu Dhabi
setting capacity and workability.

King Abdul-Aziz Airport Inn Canal, Germany

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 21

 CLIMBING FORMWORK/ CANTILEVER CLIMBING

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 22

 CLIMBING FORMWORK/ CANTILEVER CLIMBING
Climbing formwork is a special
type formwork for vertical concrete
structures that rises with the building
process. While relatively complicated
and costly, it can be an effective
solution for buildings that are very
repetitive in form (such as towers or
skyscrapers)
The formwork around the structure is
displaced upwards with the help of
one or more cranes after the
hardening of concrete.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 23

JUMP FORM:
Jump forms are fully self-climbing
systems typically used on
buildings of five storeys or more.
Generally jump form systems
comprise of the formwork and
working platforms for cleaning
and fixing the formwork, steel
fixing and concreting.

The formwork supports itself on

the concrete cast earlier so
does not rely on support or
access from other parts of the
building. Jump form systems
are suitable for construction of
vertical concrete elements in
high-rise structures

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 24

COLLAPSIBLE FORM FORMWORK:
• Collapsible formwork is a type of re-usable formwork made from steel,
plastic or other composite materials rather than from wood or plywood.
• They are modular to some extent and used for the construction of
cofferdams walls , columns etc.

Prof. IRFAN NALBAND 25