Monday, January 20, 2014

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Concrete Ingredients : A Review 2014

Concrete doesn't need any introduction. Because, whereever we go, we see many concrete structures around us. Concrete is a composite material with changeable properties. The ingredients mixing ratio of concrete is variable and depends on the properties of ingredients and mix design. Popular measuring method of concrete ingredients during mixing, is by volume. But the weight measuring method is more accurate. However, concrete is prepared by mixing three basic ingredients.

1. Binding material - cement,
2. Aggregate, and
3. Water.

Concrete ingredient, concrete basic

Binding material: Most commonly used binding material for concrete is portland cement. Other binding materials used for this purpose, are lime, fly ash, silica fume etc. The selection of cement for concrete is depend on the "cement properties".

You can Read more about cement:
Cement ingredients and their functions
Types of cement

Aggregate: Two types of aggregates are used in concrete. Coarse aggregate and Fine aggregate.

Coarse aggregate: Big sizes aggregates in concrete are coarse aggregates. The size of it varies between 1/2" to 1.5" depending on concrete mix design. Generally, crushed stone or brick chips are used as coarse aggregate.

Fine aggregate: The smaller size aggregates in concrete are Fine aggregates. The FM (Fineness Modulas) of fine aggregates can be between 1.2 to 2.5 depending on mix design. We use sand as fine aggregate in concrete.

Also Read:
Properties of aggregate

Water: The most important concrete ingredient is water. Water can decrease and increase the concrete strength depending on its using. Water just starts and continues the chemical reaction of cement. High water content in concrete mix increases the workability of concrete but decreases the strength. On the contrary, low water content increase the concrete strength but makes concrete less workable.

Other than these, there are some other ingredients are used in concrete mix such as Admixture. Those are secondary ingredients and added to give concrete a certain property.

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