Advanced concrete technology

ADVANCED CONCRETE
TECHNOLOGY
By
S.Selvaprakash

CONCRETE INGREDIENTS
Composition of OPC :
• The raw materials used for the manufacture of cement consist
mainly of lime, silica,alumina and iron oxide.
• These oxides interact with one another in the kiln at high
temperature to form more complex compounds.
• The relative proportions of these oxide compositions are
responsible for influencing the various properties of cement.

Table showing composition limits of ordinary
Portland cement.

Indian standard specification:

Bogue’s Compounds
• The identification of the major compounds is largely based on
R.H. Bogue’s work and hence it is called “Bogue’s
Compounds”.

Manufacture of Cement
• The raw materials required for manufacture of Portland
cement are calcareous materials,such as limestone or chalk,
and argillaceous material such as shale or clay.
• The process of manufacture of cement consists of grinding
the raw materials, mixing them intimately in certain
proportions depending upon their purity and composition and
burning them in a kiln at a temperature of about 1300 to
1500°C,
• At which temperature the material sinters and partially fuses
to form nodular shaped clinker. The clinker is cooled and
ground to fine powder with addition of about 3 to 5% of
gypsum. The product formed by using this procedure is
Portland cement.

• There are two processes known as “wet” and “dry” processes
depending upon whether the mixing and grinding of raw
materials is done in wet or dry conditions.
• With a little change in the above process we have the semi-
dry process also where the raw materials are ground dry and
then mixed with about 10-14 per cent of water and further
burnt to clinkering temperature.
• There are two processes known as “wet” and “dry” processes
depending upon whether the mixing and grinding of raw
materials is done in wet or dry conditions.
• With a little change in the above process we have the semi-
dry process also where the raw materials are ground dry and
then mixed with about 10-14 per cent of water and further
burnt to clinkering temperature.

• For many years the wet process remained popular because of
the possibility of more accurate control in the mixing of raw
materials.
• The techniques of intimate mixing of raw materials in powder
form was not available then.
• Later, the dry process gained momentum with the modern
development of the technique of dry mixing of powdered
materials using compressed air.
• The dry process requires much less fuel as the materials are
already in a dry state, whereas in the wet process the slurry
contains about 35 to 50 per cent water.
• To dry the slurry we thus require more fuel

WET PROCESS
• In the wet process, the limestone brought from the quarries is
first crushed to smaller fragments.
• Then it is taken to a ball or tube mill where it is mixed with
clay or shale as the case may be and ground to a fine
consistency of slurry with the addition of water.
• The slurry is a liquid of creamy consistency with water content
of about 35 to 50 per cent, wherein particles,crushed to the
fineness of Indian Standard Sieve number 9, are held in
suspension.
• The slurry is pumped to slurry tanks or basins where it is kept
in an agitated condition by means of rotating arms with chains
or blowing compressed air from the bottom to prevent
Settling of limestone and clay particles.

• The composition of the slurry is tested to give the required
chemical composition and corrected periodically in the tube
mill and also in the slurry tank by blending slurry from
different storage tanks.
• Finally, the corrected slurry is stored in the final storage tanks
and kept in a homogeneous condition by the agitation of
slurry.
• The corrected slurry is sprayed on to the upper end of a rotary
kiln against hot heavy hanging chains. The rotary kiln is an
important component of a cement factory.
• It is a thick steel cylinder of diameter anything from 3 metres
to 8 metres, lined with refractory materials,mounted on roller
bearings and capable of rotating about its own axis at a
specified speed.The length of the rotary kiln may vary
anything from 30 metres to 200 metres.

• The slurry on being sprayed against a hot surface of flexible
chain loses moisture and becomes flakes.
• These flakes peel off and fall on the floor.
• The rotation of the rotary kiln causes the flakes to move from
the upper end towards the lower end of the kiln subjecting
itself to higher and higher temperature.
• The kiln is fired from the lower end. The fuel is either
powered coal, oil or natural gass.
• By the time the material rolls down to the lower end of the
rotary kiln, the dry material undergoes a series of chemical
reactions until finally, in the hottest part of the kiln, where the
temperature is in the order of 1500°C, about 20 to 30 per cent
of the materials get fused.Lime, silica and alumina get
recombined

• The fused mass turns into nodular form of size 3 mm to 20
mm known as clinker.
• The clinker drops into a rotary cooler where it is cooled under
controlled conditions.
• The clinker is stored in silos or bins.
• The clinker weighs about 1100 to 1300 gms per litre. The litre
weight of clinker indicates the quality of clinker.
• The cooled clinker is then ground in a ball mill with the
addition of 3 to 5 per cent of gypsum in order to prevent
flash-setting of the cement.
• A ball mill consists of several compartments charged with
progressively smaller hardened steel balls.
• The particles crushed to the required fineness are separated
by currents of air and taken to storage silos from where the
cement is bagged or filled into barrels for bulk supply to dams
or other large work sites.

Dry Process
• In the dry and semi-dry process the raw materials are crushed
dry and fed in correct proportions into a grinding mill where
they are dried and reduced to a very fine powder.
• The dry powder called the raw meal is then further blended
and corrected for its right composition and mixed by means of
compressed air.
• The aerated powder tends to behave almost like liquid and in
about one hour of aeration a uniform mixture is obtained.

• The blended meal is further sieved and fed into a rotating disc
called granulator.
• A quantity of water about 12 per cent by weight is added to
make the blended meal into pellets.
• This is done to permit air flow for exchange of heat for further
chemical reactions and conversion of the same into clinker
further in the rotary kiln.
• The equipments used in the dry process kiln is comparatively
smaller. The process is quite economical.
• The total consumption of coal in this method is only about
100 kg when compared to the requirement of about 350 kg
for producing a ton of cement in the wet process.

MODIFIED PORTLAND CEMENTS
(a) Ordinary Portland Cement
(i ) Ordinary Portland Cement 33 Grade– IS 269: 1989
(ii ) Ordinary Portland Cement 43 Grade– IS 8112: 1989
(iii ) Ordinary Portland Cement 53 Grade– IS 12269: 1987
(b) Rapid Hardening Cement – IS 8041: 1990
(c) Extra Rapid Hardening Cement – –
(d) Sulphate Resisting Cement – IS 12330: 1988
(e) Portland Slag Cement – IS 455: 1989
(f ) Quick Setting Cement – –
(g) Super Sulphated Cement – IS 6909: 1990
(h) Low Heat Cement – IS 12600: 1989

(j ) Portland Pozzolana Cement – IS 1489 (Part I) 1991 (fly
ash based) – IS 1489 (Part II) 1991 (calcined clay
based)
(k) Air Entraining Cement
(l ) Coloured Cement: White Cement – IS 8042: 1989
(m) Hydrophobic Cement – IS 8043: 1991
(n) Masonry Cement – IS 3466: 1988
(o) Expansive Cement
(p) Oil Well Cement – IS 8229: 1986
(q) Rediset Cement
(r ) Concrete Sleeper grade Cement – IRS-T 40: 1985
(s) High Alumina Cement – IS 6452: 1989
(t) Very High Strength Cement

Hydration Process of Portland cements

• HYDRATION??
Anhydrous cement does not bind fine and coarse aggregate. It
acquires adhesive property only when mixed with water. The
chemical reactions that take place between cement and water is
referred as hydration of cement.
• Anhydrous cement compounds when mixed with water, react
witheach other to form hydrated compounds of very low
solubility.
• The hydration of cement can be visualised in two ways. The
first is “through solution” mechanism.
• In this the cement compounds dissolve to produce a
supersaturated solution from which different hydrated
products get precipitated.

• The second possibility is that water attacks cement
compounds in the solid state converting the compounds into
hydrated products starting from the surface and proceeding
to the interior of the compounds with time.
• It is probable that both “through solution” and “solid state”
types of mechanism may occur during the course of reactions
between cement and water.
• The former mechanism may predominate in the early stages
of hydration in view of large quantities of water being
available, and the latter mechanism may operate during the
later stages of hydration.

Hydration
• Anhydrous cement does not bind fine and coarse aggregate. It
acquires adhesive property only when mixed with water.
• The chemical reactions that take place between cement and
water is referred as hydration of cement.
• On account of hydration certain products are formed. These
products are important because they have cementing or
adhesive value.

Heat of Hydration
• The reaction of cement with
water is exothermic. The
reaction liberates a
considerable quantity of heat.
This liberation of heat is called
heat of hydration.
• On mixing cement with water,
a rapid heat evolution, lasting
a few minutes, occurs. This
heat evolution is probably due
to the reaction of solution of
aluminates and sulphates
(ascending peak A).

• This initial heat evolution ceases quickly when the solubility of
aluminate is depressed by gypsum. (decending peak A).
• Next heat evolution is on account of formation of ETTRINGITE
and also may be due to the reaction of C3S (ascending peak
B).
• Different compounds hydrate at different rates and liberate
different quantities of heat.
• Since retarders are added to control the flash setting
properties of C3A, actually the early heat of hydration is
mainly contributed from the hydration of C3S.
• Fineness of cement also influences the rate of development of
heat but not the total heat.
• The total quantity of heat generated in the complete
hydration will depend upon the relative quantities of the
major compounds present in a cement.

• Since the heat of hydration of cement is an additive property,
it can be predicted from an expression of the type
H = aA + bB + cC + dD
• Where H represents the heat of hydration, A, B, C, and D are
the percentage contents of C3S, C2S, C3A and C4AF.
• And a, b, c and d are coefficients representing the
contribution of 1 per cent of the corresponding compound to
the heat of hydration.

Calcium Silicate Hydrates
• During the course of reaction of C3S and C2S with water,
calcium silicate hydrate, abbreviated C-S-H and calcium
hydroxide, Ca(OH)2 are formed.

• It can be seen that C3S produces a comparatively lesser
quantity of calcium silicate hydrates and more quantity of
Ca(OH)2 than that formed in the hydration of C2S.
• Ca(OH)2 is not a desirable product in the concrete mass,
• it is soluble in water and gets leached out making the
concrete porous, particularly in hydraulic structures.
• Under such conditions it is useful to use cement with higher
percentage of C2S content.
• It can be seen that C3S produces a comparatively lesser
quantity of calcium silicate hydrates and more quantity of
Ca(OH)2 than that formed in the hydration of C2S.

• Ca(OH)2 is not a desirable product in the concrete mass, it is
soluble in water and gets leached out making the concrete
porous, particularly in hydraulic structures.
• Under such conditions it is useful to use cement with higher
percentage of content.
• C2S hydrates rather slowly. It is responsible for the later
strength of concrete.
• It produces less heat of hydration. The calcium silicate hydrate
formed is rather dense and its specific surface is higher.
• In general, the quality of the proudct of hydration of C2S is
better than that produced in the hydration of C3S.
C2S

Calcium Hydroxide
• In contrast to the C-S-H, the calcium hydroxide is a compound
with a distinctive hexagonal prism morphology. It constitutes
20 to 25 per cent of the volume of solids in the hydrated paste.
• The lack of durability of concrete, is on account of the
presence of calcium hydroxide.
• The calcium hydroxide also reacts with sulphates present in
soils or water to form calcium sulphate which further reacts
with C3A and cause deterioration of concrete. This is known as
sulphate attack.

• To reduce the quantity of Ca(OH)2 in concrete and to
overcome its bad effects by converting it into cementitious
product is an advancement in concrete technology.
• The use of blending materials such as fly ash, silica fume and
such other pozzolanic materials are the steps to overcome
bad effect of Ca(OH)2 in concrete.
• The only advantage is that Ca(OH)2, being alkaline in nature
maintain pH value around 13 in the concrete which resists the
corrosion of reinforcements.

Calcium Aluminate Hydrates
• Due to the hydration of C3 A , a calcium aluminate system
CaO – Al2O3 – H2O is formed.
• The cubic compound C3AH6 is probably the only stable
compound formed which remains stable upto about 225°C.
• The reaction of pure C3A with water is very fast and this may
lead to flash set.
• To prevent this flash set, gypsum is added at the time of
grinding the cement clinker.
• The quantity of gypsum added has a bearing on the quantity
of C3A present.

• The hydrated aluminates do not contribute anything to the
strength of concrete.
• On the other hand, their presence is harmful to the durability
of concrete particularly where the
• concrete is likely to be attacked by sulphates. As it hydrates
very fast it may contribute a little to the early strength.
• On hydration, C4AF is believed to form a system of the form
CaO – Fe2O3 – H2O.
• A hydrated calcium ferrite of the form C3FH6 is comparatively
more stable. This hydrated product also does not contribute
anything to the strength.
• The hydrates of C4AF show a comparatively higher resistance
to the attack of sulphates than the hydrates of calcium
aluminate.

• From the standpoint of hydration, it is convenient to discuss
C3A and C4AF together, because the products formed in the
presence of gypsum are similar.
• Gypsum and alkalies go into solution quickly and the solubility
of C3A is depressed.
• Depending upon the concentration of aluminate and sulphate
ions in solution, the pricipitating crystalline product is either
the calcium aluminate trisulphate hydrate (C6A S 3H32) or
calcium aluminate monosulhphate hydrate (C4A S H18).
• The calcium aluminate trisulphate hydrate is known as
ettringite.
• Ettringite is usually the first to hydrate and crystallise as short
prismatic needle on account of the high sulphate/aluminate
ratio in solution phase during the first hour of hydration.

• When sulphate in solution gets depleted, the aluminate
concentration goes up due to renewed hydration of C3A and
C4AF.
• At this stage ettringite becomes unstable and is gradually
converted into mono-sulphate, which is the final product of
hydration of portland cements containing more than 5
percent C3A.
• The amount of gypsum added has significant bearing on the
quantity of aluminate in the cement.
• The maintenance of aluminate-to-sulphate ratio balance the
normal setting behaviour of cement paste.
• The various setting phenomena affected by an imbalance in
the A/ S ratio is of practical significance in concrete
technology.

Structure of Hydrated Cement
• To understand the behaviour of concrete, it is necessary to
acquaint ourselves with the structure of hydrated hardened
cement paste.
• If the concrete is considered as two phase material, namely,
the paste phase and the aggregate phase,
• the understanding of the paste phase becomes more
important as it influences the behaviour of concrete to a
much greater extent.
• The aggregate phase though important, has lesser influence
on the properties of concrete than the paste phase.

• What do we mean by
“structure”? Type, amount, size,
shape, and distribution of
phases present.
• macrostructure – can be seen
unaided (200 μm or larger)
• microstructure – must been
observed with the aid of a
microscope

Structure of Concrete
• Macroscopically, concrete
may be considered to be
composed of 2 phases –
coarse aggregate and
mortar (paste + fine
aggregate) or aggregate and
paste.
• heterogeneous distribution
At the microscale, we see
that these 2 phases are not
homogenous themselves!

Aggregate
• 60-75% of the solid volume of most concretes
The aggregate is principally responsible for the
unit weight, elastic modulus, and dimensional
stability of the concrete because these properties
depend on the physical characteristics (strength,
and bulk density) of the aggregate.
• In addition, porosity, shape and texture of the
aggregate are important for workability,
durability, and strength.
• The chemical and mineralogical composition of
the aggregate is usually less important, with the
exception of some deleterious and some
advantageous reactions.
• Aggregate phase is generally stronger, than the
other 2 phases, with some exceptions.

Hydrated Cement Paste
Solids
•C-S-H
•CH
•Ettringite
•Monosulfate hydrate
•Residual unhydrated cement
Water
• Capillary water
• Adsorbed water
• Interlayer water
• Chemically combined
• water
Voids
• Entrapped air (>1mm)
• Entrained air (75-500um)
• Capillary pores (macro →
meso)
• Interlayer space
• (micropores)

Important 3rd Phase in Concrete!
• In addition to the coarse
aggregate, fine aggregate and
paste (together the “mortar
fraction”), an important 3rd
phase generally exists – the
transition zone (TZ) or
interfacial transition zone (ITZ)
• the interfacial region between
the coarse aggregate and the
hcp 10-50 um thick “the
weakest link”

Structure of Concrete
• Each of the phases may be heterogeneous in its composition
(both solids and voids)
• Relative proportions and characteristics of the phases vary
with mixture composition, time, environment, etc.
• All of these factors make predictions of concrete behavior
more challenging than predictions for other materials.

Microstructure-SOLIDS
• C-S-H
• CH
• Ettringite
• Monosulfate hydrate
• Residual unhydrated cement

Cement Hydration Reactions
• 2C3S + 11H → C3S2H8 + 3CH
• 2C2S + 9H → C3S2H8 + CH
• C3A + 26H + 3CSH2 → C6AS3H32
• 2C3A + 4H + C6AS3H32 → 3C4ASH12
• 3C3A + 12H + CH → C4AH13
• C4AF + 10H + 2CH → C6AFH12

Microstructure
• “In solids, microstructural inhomogeneities can lead to serious
effects on strength and other related mechanical properties
because these properties are controlled by the microstructural
extremes, not by the average microstructure.”
• Thus, the presence of voids, cracks, and other defects play an
important role in determining the performance of the composite
material.
• Why do these defects exist in concrete?

Why do these defects exist in
concrete?
• Some voids result from the intrinsic nature of the cement
hydration process
• Other voids are introduced intentionally or unintentionally
during mixing and/or placing.
• Microcracks and cracks can develop due to “mismatch”
between the components
• Microcracks and cracks can develop due to loading and
environment

Microstructure-VOIDS
• Entrapped air (>1mm)
• Entrained air (75-500um
• Capillary pores (macro → meso)
• Interlayer space
• (micropores)

Voids
• The presence of voids affects
• Strength
• Stress distribution (concentrations)
• permeability
• freeze/thaw resistance

Classification of Voids in the hcp
• C-S-H interlayer space - 0.5-2.5 nm in size; too small to adversely
affect strength or permeability (independent of w/c)
• Capillary pores - space not take up by the cement and hydration
products (dependent on w/c);
• 2.5-50nm in size in well-hydrated concrete - irregular in shape - size
and amount is related to w/c and degree of hydration
• Micropores < 50 nm , more important for drying shrinkage and
creep
• Macropores > 50 nm, more significant for strength, permeability
• Entrained air - spherical voids 70-500um in size; added for
freeze/thaw resistance
• Entrapped air - irregular in shape; can be large
• Pores > 2.5nm may be filled with air, water (pore solution), or a
mixture

Degree of Hydration
• Degree of hydration is defined as the fraction of cement that
has fully reacted with water relative to the total amount of
cement in the sample.
• In the total cement content is not included the part of cement
that was pre-hydrated when the cement paste was mixed.

Water in the hcp
• Ratio of mass of water to mass of cement in a mixture is the
“water-to-cement ratio” or “w/c”
• w/c or w/cm may range 0.20-0.80, but 0.40-0.60 is typical
• Water is Introduced to the concrete during mixing Necessary
for reaction of cement and Permeates the concrete during
service
• Because the water in concrete contains ions, it is usually
called “pore solution” and has a high pH

Pore Solution
• Some model pore solutions:
• High alkali (pH ~ 13.8) 0.55M
• KOH + 0.16M NaOH (Lawrence solution)
• Low alkali (pH ~ 13.5) 0.24M KOH + 0.08M NaOH
• Saturated Ca(OH)2 + 0.7M NaOH

Water in hcp
• Capillary water - water present in voids larger than 2.5nm
• - In capillaries >50nm, water exists as “free water” because its
removal does not cause volume change.
• - In capillaries 2.5-50nm, removal of water results in shrinkage
because
• new bonds can form between C-S surfaces

• Adsorbed water - water physically adsorbed to the solid
surfaces in CS-H - can be removed on drying to RH ~
30%,resulting in shrinkage.
• Interlayer water- water associated with the C-S-H structure -
can be removed only on strong drying to RH ~ 11%, resulting
in shrinkage.
• Chemically combined water – water that is an integral part of
various hydration products- lost only on decomposition during
heating.

Nature of Composite Materials
• In virtually all composite materials, defects are present in
greater density at the interface between the different
constituents
• Often, the composite properties are governed by the nature
of the interfaces

Effects of the 3rd Phase
• Interfacial Transition Zone:
• Will be dealt in unit IV

ADMIXTURES
• Admixture is defined as a material, other than cement, water
and aggregates, that is used as an ingredient of concrete and
is added to the batch immediately before or during mixing.
• Additive is a material which is added at the time of grinding
cement clinker at the cement factory.
• These days concrete is being used for wide varieties of
purposes to make it suitable in different conditions. In these
conditions ordinary concrete may fail to exhibit the required
quality performance or durability.
• In such cases, admixture is used to modify the properties of
ordinary concrete so as to make it more suitable for any
situation.

• It will be slightly difficult to predict the effect and the results
of using admixtures because, many a time, the change in the
brand of cement, aggregate grading, mix proportions and
richness of mix alter the properties of concrete.
• Sometimes many admixtures affect more than one property
of concrete. At times, they affect the desirable properties
adversely.
• Sometimes, more than one admixture is used in the same
mix. The effect of more than one admixture is difficult to
predict.
• Therefore, one must be cautious in the selection of
admixtures and in predicting the effect of the same in
concrete.

Classification of admixtures
• " Plasticizers
• " Superplasticizers
• " Retarders and Retarding Plasticizers
• " Accelerators and Accelerating Plasticizers
• " Air-entraining Admixtures
• " Pozzolanic or Mineral Admixtures
• " Waterproofing Admixtures
• “ Chemical admixtures

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
(GGBS)
• Ground granulated blast-furnace slag is a nonmetallic product
consisting essentially of silicates and aluminates of calcium
and other bases. The molten slag is rapidly chilled by
quenching in water to form a glassy sand like granulated
material. The granulated material when further ground to less
than 45 micron will have specific surface of about 400 to 600
m2/kg (Blaine).
• The chemical composition of Blast Furnace Slag (BFS) is similar
to that of cement clinker.
• Table 5.18 shows the approximate chemical composition of
cement clinker, blast-furnace slag (BFS) and fly ash.

• In India, we produce about 7.8 million tons of blast furnace
slag. All the blast furnace slags are granulated by quenching
the molten slag by high power water jet, making 100% glassy
slag granules of 0.4 m.
• The blast furnace slag is mainly used in India for
manufacturing slag cement.
• There are two methods for making Blast Furnace Slag
Cement.
• In the first method blast furnace slag is interground with
cement clinker alongwith gypsum.
• In the second method blast furnace slag is separately ground
and then mixed with the cement.

• Clinker is hydraulically more active than slag. It follows then
that slag should be ground finer than clinker, in order to fully
develop its hydraulic potential.
• However, since slag is much harder and difficult to grind
compared to clinker, it is ground relatively coarser during the
process of inter-grinding.
• This leads to waste of hydraulic potential of slag. Not only that
the inter-grinding seriously restricts the flexibility to optimise
slag level for different uses.
• The hydraulic potential of both the constituents – clinker and
slag can be fully exploited if they are ground separately. The
level of fineness can be controlled with respect to
activity,which will result in energy saving.

• The present trend is towards separate grinding of slag and
clinker to different levels.
• The clinker and gypsum are generally ground to the fineness
of less than 3000 cm2 /g and slag is ground to the level of
3000–4000 cm2/g and stored separately.
• They are blended after weigh batching, using paddle wheel
blenders, or pneumatic blenders.
• Pneumatic blenders give better homogeneity when compared
to mechanical blenders.

Performance of GGBS in Concrete
Fresh Concrete:
• The replacement of cement with GGBS will reduce the unit
water content necessary to obtain the same slump.
• This reduction of unit water content will be more pronounced
with increase in slag content and also on the fineness of slag.
• This is because of the surface configuration and particle shape
of slag being different than cement particle.
• In addition, water used for mixing is not immediately lost, as
the surface hydration of slag is slightly slower than that of
cement.
• Reduction of bleeding is not significant with slag of 4000
cm2/g fineness. But significant beneficial effect is observed
with slag fineness of 6000 cm2/g and above.

Hardened Concrete:
• Exclusive research works have shown that the use of slag
leads to the enhancement of intrinsic properties of concrete
in both fresh and hardened conditions.
• The major advantages recognised are
" Reduced heat of hydration
" Refinement of pore structures
" Reduced permeabilities to the external agencies
" Increased resistance to chemical attack.

FILLERS
• They neither exhibit the pozzolanic property nor the
cementitious properties.
• Commonly used fillers are
• Ground marble
• Quartz
• Granite powder
• Limestone powder

Pozzolanic or Mineral Admixtures
• Ancient Greeks and Romans used certain finely divided
siliceous materials which when mixed with lime produced
strong cementing material having hydraulic properties and
such cementing materials were employed in the construction
of acquaducts, arch, bridges etc.
• One such material was consolidated volcanic ash or tuff found
near Pozzuoli (Italy) near Vesuvius.
• This came to be designated as Pozzuolana, a general term
covering similar materials of volcanic origin found in other
deposits in Italy, France and Spain.
• Later, the term pozzolan was employed throughout Europe to
designate any materials irrespective of its origin which
possessed similar properties.

• as an ingredient of Portland cement concrete particularly for
marine and hydraulic structures.
• It has been amply demonstrated that the best pozzolans in
optimum proportions mixed with Portland cement improves
many qualities of concrete, such as:
(a ) Lower the heat of hydration and thermal shrinkage;
(b) Increase the watertightness;
(c ) Reduce the alkali-aggregate reaction;
(d ) Improve resistance to attack by sulphate soils and sea water;
(e) Improve extensibility;
(f ) Lower susceptibility to dissolution and leaching;
(g) Improve workability;
(h) Lower costs.

Pozzolanic Materials
• Pozzolanic materials are siliceous and aluminous materials,
which in themselves possess little or no cementitious value,
but will, in finely divided form and in the presence of
moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide liberated
on hydration, at ordinary temperature, to form compounds,
possessing cementitious properties.

• on hydration of tri-calcium silicate and di-calcium silicate,
calcium hydroxide is formed as one of the products of
hydration.
• This compound has no cementitious value and it is soluble in
water and may be leached out by the percolating water.
• The siliceous or aluminous compound in a finely divided form
react with the calcium hydroxide to form highly stable
cementitious substances of complex composition involving
water, calcium and silica.
• Generally, amorphous silicate reacts much more rapidly than
the crystalline form. It is pointed out that calcium hydroxide,
otherwise, a water soluble material is converted into insoluble
cementitious material by the reaction of pozzolanic materials.

• The reaction can be shown as
Pozzolan + Calcium Hydroxide + Water → C – S – H (Gel)
• This reaction is called pozzolanic reaction.
• The characteristic feature of pozzolanic reaction is firstly slow,
with the result that heat of hydration and strength
development will be accordingly slow.
• The reaction involves the consumption of Ca(OH)2 and not
production of Ca(OH)2.
• The reduction of Ca(OH)2 improves the durability of cement
paste by making the paste dense and impervious.

Natural Pozzolans
• " Clay and Shales
• " Opalinc Cherts
• " Diatomaceous Earth
• " Volcanic Tuffs and Pumicites.

Artificial Pozzolans
• " Fly ash
• " Blast Furnace Slag
• " Silica Fume
• " Rice Husk ash
• " Metakaoline
• " Surkhi

Chemical Admixtures
• Chemical Admixtures (1-4% by weight of cement)
• Mineral Admixtures (> 15% by weight of cement)
• Chemical admixtures are materials that are added to the
constituents of a concrete mixture, in most cases, specified as
a volume in relation to the mass of the cement or total
cementitious materials.
• The admixtures interact with the hydrating cementitious
system by physical and chemical actions, modifying one or
more of the properties of concrete in the fresh and/or
hardened states.

• Chemical admixtures are also frequently used to accelerate,
retard, improve workability, reduce mixing water
requirements, increase strength.
• Admixtures are classed according to function.
• There are five distinct classes of chemical admixtures:
• air-entraining
• water-reducing
• retarding
• accelerating
• and plasticizers (superplasticizers).

How do they act?
• Air-entraining admixtures, which are used to purposely place
microscopic air bubbles into the concrete, are discussed more
fully in "Air-Entrained Concrete."
• The chemical, physical or physico-chemical actions of
admixtures in cement concrete are quite complex. In fact,
cement itself is an extremely complex compound with major
compounds such as calcium silicates, calcium aluminates,
gypsum.

• All other varieties of admixtures fall into the specialty
category whose functions include,
• corrosion inhibition,
• shrinkage reduction,
• alkali-silica reactivity reduction,
• workability enhancement,
• bonding,
• damp proofing,
• and coloring.

• Besides it contains many alkali and other calcium salts.
• The action of admixtures can, however, be simplified for the
sake of Understanding, as:
• (i) adsorption
• (ii) De-flocculation or dispersion
• (iii)Chemical absorption or interaction

Adsorption
• The admixtured chemicals adsorb, at a molecular level, on the
compounds of cement or cement grains and on the products
of hydration of the cement compounds, notably C3A.
• Thus, they inhibit their normal rapid hydrating mechanism.
• Adsorption inhibits premature stiffening of the hydrating
compounds.
• However, it is relatively a transient phenomenon

Chemical absorption and Interaction
• Some of the admixtured chemical can also combine
chemically with the compounds of cement (notably C3A) or
with their hydrated products.
• This modifies the usual kinetics of reaction of the cement
compounds .
• This mechanism also inhibits very early stiffening (with in the
first 4 or 5 minutes of water addition).
• Though chemical absorption and interaction is relative more
stable than adsorption they do not vitiate setting and long-
term hydration.

De-flocculation / Dispersion
• Cement grains being small and hygroscopic tend to stick to
each other and flocculate.
• The flocculate trap considerable amounts of water .
• Certain admixtures adsorb on individual grains, create a sort
of repulsive forces and cause deflocculation and cement
grains are dispersed.
• Trapped water is released and becomes available for
workability and flowability.
• More sites become available for hydration

More facts……
• All chemicals do not do the same in their actions. Cement
composition, especially its compound composition, influences
a lot on the physico-chemical actions of admixtures
• We should not blindly follow the experiences of a
neighbouring contractor as his cement may differ from ours.
• We should not take that every brand of admixture will be
suitable for our job and our cement.
• We should be ready to test the admixture with our cement
and in our site before use.
• We should remember that cement itself is a highly variable
material as there are significant differences from factory to
factory and even from batch to batch from the same factory.
• Despite standardization, same variations are inevitable caused
both by raw material differences and process control
variables.

Retarders
• A retarder is an admixture that slows down the chemical
process of hydration so that concrete remains plastic and
workable for a longer time than concrete without the
retarder.
• Retarders are used to overcome the accelerating effect of high
temperature on setting properties of concrete in hot weather
concreting.
• The retarders are used in casting and consolidating large
number of pours without the formation of cold joints.
• They are also used in grouting oil wells.

• Oil wells are sometimes taken upto a depth of about 6000
meter deep where the temperature may be about 200°C.
• The annular spacing between the steel tube and the wall of
the well will have to be sealed with cement grout.
• Sometimes at that depth stratified or porous rockstrata may
also require to be grouted to prevent the entry of gas or oil
into some other strata.
• For all these works cement grout is required to be in mobile
condition for about 3 to 4 hours, even at that high
temperature without getting set. Use of retarding agent is
often used for such requirements.
• Sometimes concrete may have to be placed in difficult
conditions and delay may occur in transporting and placing,in
such cases retarders are used.

• Retarding admixtures are sometimes used to obtain exposed
aggregate look in concrete.
• The retarder sprayed to the surface of the formwork, prevents
the hardening of matrix at the interface of concrete and
formwork, whereas the rest of the concrete gets hardened.
• On removing the formwork after one day or so, the
unhardened matrix can be just washed off by a jet of water
which will expose the aggregates.
• The most commonly known retarder is calcium sulphate
• Use of gypsum for the purpose of retarding setting time is
only recommended when adequate inspection and control is
available, otherwise, addition of excess amount may cause
undesirable expansion and indefinite delay in the setting of
concrete.

• In addition to gypsum there are number of other materials
found to be suitable for this purpose. They are:
• starches,
• cellulose products,
• sugars,
• acids
• salts of acids.
Artificial retarders
• Ligno sulphonic acids and their salts,
• hydroxylated carboxylic acids and their salts
• Mucic acid,
• calcium acetate ( “Ray lig binder”)

Air-entraining Admixture
• Air entrained concrete is made by mixing a small quantity of
air entraining agent or by using air entraining cement.
• These air entraining agents incorporate millions of non-
coalescing (not to blend or come together) air bubbles, which
will act as flexible ball bearings
• and will modify the properties of plastic concrete regarding
workability, segregation, bleeding and finishing quality of
concrete.
• It also modifies the properties of hardened concrete regarding
its resistance to frost action and permeability.

The air voids present in concrete can be brought under two
groups:
>>>>Entrained air
>>>>Entrapped air.
• Entrained air is intentionally incorporated,
• minute spherical bubbles of size ranging from 5 microns to 80
microns distributed evenly in the entire mass of concrete.
• The entrapped air is the voids present in the concrete due to
insufficient compaction.
• These entrapped air voids may be of any shape and size
normally embracing the contour of aggregate surfaces.
• Their size may range from 10 to 1000 microns or more and
they are not uniformly distributed throughout the concrete
mass.

Factors affecting amount of air entrainment
• The manufacture of air entrained concrete is complicated by
the fact that the amount of air entrainment in a mix is
affected by many factors; the important ones are:
(a ) The type and quantity of air entraining agent used.
(b) Water/cement ratio of the mix.
(c ) Type and grading of aggregate.
(d) Mixing time.
(e) The temperature.
(f ) Type of cement.
(g) Influence of compaction.
(h) Admixtures other than air entraining agent used..

Air entraining agents
• The following types of air entraining agents are used for
making air entrained concrete.
( a ) Natural wood resins
( b ) Animal and vegetable fats and oils, such as tallow, olive oil
and their fatty acids such as stearic and oleic acids.
( c ) Various wetting agents such as alkali salts or sulphated and
sulphonated organic compounds.
( d ) Water soluble soaps of resin acids, and animal and
vegetable fatty acids.
( e ) Miscellaneous materials such as the sodium salts of
petroleum sulphonic acids, hydrogen peroxide and aluminium
powder, etc.

• Different air entraining agents produce different amounts of
air entrainment, depending upon the elasticity of the film of
the bubble produced, and the extent to which the surface
tension is reduced.
• Similarly, different quantities of air entraining agents will
result in different amounts of air entrainment.

• Water/cement ratio is one of the important factors affecting
the quantity of air.
• At very low water/cement ratio, water films on the cement
will be insufficient to produce adequate foaming action.
• At intermediate water/cement ratio (viz. 0.4 to 0.6) abundant
air bubbles will be produced.
• But at a higher water/cement ratio although to start with, a
large amount of air entrainment is produced, a large
proportion of the bubbles will be lost progressively with time.
• The grading of aggregate has shown good influence on the
quantity of air entrainment.
• It was established that the quantity of air increased from the
lowest fineness modulus of sand to a peak at about F.M. of
2.5

• The amount of air entrainment is found to increase with the
mixing time upto a certain time and thereafter with prolonged
mixing the air entrainment gets reduced.
• The temperature of concrete at the time of mixing was found
to have a significant effect on the amount of air entrainment.
• The amount of air entrainment decreases as the temperature
of concrete increases.
• The constituents of the cement especially the alkali content
plays an important part in the entrainment of air in concrete.
Similarly, the fineness of cement is also a factor.

• Air content is also reduced by the process of compaction, on
account of the movement of air bubbles to the surface and
destruction.
• It is estimated that as much as 50 per cent of the entrained air
may be lost after vibration for 2 ‘1/2 minutes
• and as much as 80 per cent may be lost by vibration for 9
minutes.
• The other admixtures used in conjunction with air entraining
agents will also significantly affect the amount of air
entrained.
• The use of fly ash in concrete will reduce the amount of air
entrained.
• Similarly, the use of calcium chloride also has the tendency to
reduce and limit air entrainment.

The Effect of Air Entrainment on the Properties
of Concrete
• Air entrainment will effect directly the following three properties of
concrete:
(a) Increased resistance to freezing and thawing.
(b) Improvement in workability.
(c) Reduction in strength.
Incidentally air entrainment will also effect the properties of concrete in the
following ways:
(a) Reduces the tendencies of segregation.
(b) Reduces the bleeding and laitance.
(c) Decreases the permeability.
(d ) Increases the resistance to chemical attack.

(e) Permits reduction in sand content.
(f ) Improves placeability, and early finishing.
(g) Reduces the cement content, cost, and heat of hydration.
(h) Reduces the unit weight.
(i ) Permits reduction in water content.
( j ) Reduces the alkali-aggregate reaction.
(k) Reduces the modulus of elasticity.

NEED FOR WATERPROOFING
• A successful waterproofing not only depends upon the quality and
durability of material but also the workmanship, environment and type of
structures.
Construction Chemicals for Waterproofing
• " Integral waterproofing compounds
• " Acrylic Based Polymer Coatings
• " Mineral Based Polymer Modified Coatings
• " Chemical DPC for Rising Dampness
• " Waterproofing Adhesive for tiles, Marble and Granite
• " Silicon Based Water Repellent material
• " Injection grout for cracks
• " Protective and Decorative Coatings
• " Joint Sealants

Integral Waterproofing Compounds
• The integral waterproofing compounds have been in use for
the last 4 – 5 decades.
• They were used as admixtures to make concrete waterproof.
• These conventional waterproofing admixtures are either
porefillers, or workability agents or water repellents, and as
such they are useful to a limited extent.
• For example, roof slabs undergo thermal expansion and
subsequent contraction.
• With the result concrete slabs develop minute cracks in the
body of concrete.

• Concrete slab also develop minute cracks on account of long
term drying shrinkage.
• In both the above cases, integral waterproofing compound
will not be of much use.
• Only in situations where concrete is continuously in wet or in
damp condition, integral water proofing will be of some use.
• The classical integral waterproofing compounds are
• Cico,
• Pudlo,
• Impermo,
• Accoproof etc.

• There are new brands of integral waterproofing compounds such as
• Mc-special DM,
• Dichtament DM,
• Putz-Dichtament from MC Bauchemie and
• conplast prolapin 421 IC,
• Conplast prolapin I – P
• from Fosroc chemicals are useful in making concrete more workable and
homogeneous.
• They also help in reducing w/c ratio, which properties extend better
waterproffing quality.
• The modern integral waterproofing compounds are a shade better than
the old products.
• The performance requirements of integral waterproofing of compound are
covered in IS 2645 of 1975.

Acrylic Based Polymer Coatings
• Used in situations where micro cracks are developed,
• In such situations a membrane forming waterproofing
materials are ideal.
• The membrane should be tough, water resistant, solar
reflective, elastic, elastomeric and durable.
• They allow the movement of the concrete members, but keep
the qualities of the membrane intact.

Roofex 2000,
• One such material available today and is manufactured by
MCBauchemie (Ind) Pvt. Ltd.
• The surface is cleaned, a priming coat and dust binder is
applied over which Roofex 2000 is applied by means of brush
or spray in two coats, right angles to each other.
• In applying this material manufacturers instructions should be
strictly followed.
• Any cracks in the plaster of parapet wall or vertical surface can
be treated with this material.
• Generally this material is available in white colour but it can
be made to order in any other colour for aesthetic
requirements.

Mineral Based Polymer Modified Coatings
 slurry coatings
• hydraulically setting powder component and a liquid polymer component.
• These two materials when mixed in a specified manner forms a brushable
slurry.
• Two coats of this slurry when applied on roof surface or on any other
vertical surface in basement, water tank or sunken portion of bathroom
etc. forms a long lasting waterproofing coat.
• This coating requires curing for a week or so.
• The coating so formed is elastic and abrasion resistant to some extent.
• To make it long lasting the coatings may be protected by mortar screeding
or tiles

Chemical DPC
• Often old buildings are not provided with damp-proof course. The water
from the ground rises by capillary action.
• This rising water brings with it the dissolved salts and chemicals which
result in peeling of plaster affecting the durability of structure, and also
make buildings unhygenic.
• Now we have materials that can be injected into the wall at appropriate
level to seal the capillaries and thereby to stop the upward movement of
water.
• The system involves a two component material called Samafit VK1 and
Samafit VK2 manufactured by MC Bauchemie (Ind) Pvt. Ltd.

Protective and Decorative Coatings
• This RCC members such as sunbreakers, louvers, facia, facades, sun shades
and chajjas,crack and spall off within a matter of a few years,
• particularly when the cover provided to these thin and delicate members
are inadequate.
• Water seeps into these members and corrodes the reinforcement in no
time. Corrosion is also accelerated by carbonation.
• To enhance the durability of such thin members and to make them
waterproof, acrylic based waterproof, carbonation resistant coating is
given. Incidentally it will present aesthetic and decorative look.
• A number of such protective, waterproof decorative paints, based on
acrylc polymer and selected mineral filler are available in market.
Emcecolour-Flex is one such paint.

• Above the ground level and below the plinth level, holes are drilled in a
particular system. Samafit VK1 is injected into this hole till absorption
stops.
• After another 1/2 to 1 hour’s time the other fluid namely Samafit VK2 is
similarly introduced.
• These two liquids react with each other to form a kind of jelly like
substance which block the capillary cavities in the brickwall and stops the
capillary rise of water.
• In this way rising dampness in buildings, where damp proof course is not
provided earlier,can be stopped.

" Waterproofing Adhesive for tiles, Marble and
Granite
• There are, polymer based, hydraulically setting, compounds.
• No curing of tile surface becomes necessary
• If the wall and plastered surface is done to good plumb, a screeding of
only 1 – 2 mm thickness of this modern material will be sufficient to fix the
tiles in which case, the adoption of this material will also become
economical.

Silicon Based Water Repellant
Materials
• Old heritage buildings built in stone masonry may suffer from
• minute cracks in mortar joints or plastered surface may develop craziness.
• In such situations one cannot use any other waterproofing treatment
which will spoil the intended architectural beauty of the structures. One
will have to go for transparent waterproofing treatment.
• For this purpose silicon based water repellant materials are used by
spraying or brushing.
• This silicon based material forms a thin water repellant transparent film
on the surface.
• The manufacturers slightly modify this material to make it little flexible to
accommodate minor building movements due to thermal effect.

Injection Grout for Cracks
• Injection grouting is one of the powerful methods commonly adopted for
stopping leakages in dams, basements, swimming pools, construction
joints and even in the leaking roofs.
• A few years back, cement was used for grouting purposes.
• Cement is not an ideal material for grouting, as it shrinks while setting and
hardening.
• Non-shrink or expansive cementing material is the appropriate material.
• The grouts are produced with selected water repellant, silicifying chemical
compounds and inert fillers to achieve varied characteristics like water
impermeability, non shrinkage, free flowability etc.
• They are suitable for gravity grouting as well as pressure grouting.
• Centicrete is the trade name of one of the materials manufactured by MC-
Bauchemie. Conbex 100 is the material marketed by Fosroc chemicals.

Joint Sealants
• Joints in buildings, bridges, roads and airfield pavements are inescapable.
They may be expansion joints, construction joints or dummy joints.
• Such joints must be effectively sealed to facilitate movement of structure,
to provide waterproofing quality or to improve the riding qualities.
• While providing large openings and windows in buildings there exists gap
between wall and window frames, through which water flows inside.
• Such gaps in thewindow should also be effectively sealed.

• The gaps resulting in installation of sanitary appliances are also required to
be sealed.
• There were no effective materials in Indian market hitherto.
• Now we have modern materials like
• Polysulphide sealants
• gun applied Silicone Rubber sealants,
• Sanitary sealant and
• Acrylic sealants.
• Nitoseal 215 (1) of Fosroc, Sikalastic, Sika-SII A, Sikacryl GP of Sika
Qiualcrete and sani seal of Roff are some of the materials available in the
market for the purpose of sealing the joints.

Plasticizers (Water Reducers)
• Requirement of right workability is the essence of good concrete.
• Concrete in different situations require different degree of workability.
• The conventional methods followed for obtaining high workability is by
improving the gradation, or by the use of relatively higher percentage of
fine aggregate or by increasing the cement content.
• Use of plasticizers>>>>>reduces water content>>>>>reduces cement
content>>>>thereby reducing hydration.

• The organic substances or combinations of organic and inorganic
substances, which allow a reduction in water content for the given
workability,
• or give a higher workability at the same water content, are termed as
plasticizing admixtures.
• The advantages are considerable in both cases : in the former, concretes
are stronger, and in the latter they are more workable.
• The basic products constituting plasticizers are as follows:
• (i ) Anionic surfactants such as lignosulphonates and their
modifications,and derivatives, salts of sulphonates hydrocarbons.
• (ii ) Nonionic surfactants, such as polyglycol esters, acid of hydroxylated
carboxylic acids and their modifications and derivatives.
• (iii ) Other products, such as carbohydrates etc.
• calcium, sodium and ammonium lignosulphonates are the most used.

• A good plasticizer fluidizes the mortar or concrete in a different manner
than that of theair-entraining agents.
• Some of the plasticizers, while improving the workability, entrains air also.
• As the entrainment of air reduces the mechanical strength, a good
plasticizer is one which does not cause air-entrainment in concrete more
than 1 or 2%.ount of 0.1% to 0.4% by weight of cement.

Action of Plasticizers
• " Reduction in the surface tension of water.
• " Induced electrostatic repulsion between particles of cement.
• " Lubricating film between cement particles.
• " Dispersion of cement grains, releasing water trapped within cement
flocs.
• "Inhibition of the surface hydration reaction of the cement particles,
leaving more water to fluidify the mix.
• " Change in the morphology of the hydration products.
• " Induced steric hindrance preventing particle-to-particle contact.
((Steric hindrance or steric resistance occurs when the size of groups within a
molecule prevents chemical reactions that are observed in related smaller
molecules.))

Superplasticizers (High Range Water
Reducers)
• Superplasticizers constitute a relatively new category and improved
version of plasticizer.
• They are chemically different from normal plasticiszers.
• Use of superplasticizers permit the reduction of water to the extent upto
30 per cent without reducing workability in contrast to the possible
reduction up to 15 per cent in case of plasticizers.
• The use of superplasticizer is practiced for production of flowing, self
levelling, self compacting and for the production of high strength and high
performance concrete.

• It is the use of superplasticizer which has made it possible to use w/c as
low as 0.25 or even lower and yet to make flowing concrete to obtain
strength of the order 120 Mpa or more.
• It is the use of superplasticizer which has made it possible to use fly ash,
slag and particularly silica fume to make high performance concrete.
• Superplasticizers can produce:
• " at the same w/c ratio much more workable concrete than the plain ones,
• " for the same workability, it permits the use of lower w/c ratio,
• " as a consequence of increased strength with lower w/c ratio, it also
permits a reduction of cement content.
• The superplasticizers also produce a homogeneous, cohesive concrete
generally without any tendency for segregation and bleeding.

Classification of Superplasticizer.
• " Sulphonated malanie-formaldehyde condensates (SMF)
• " Sulphonated naphthalene-formaldehyde condensates (SNF)
• " Modified lignosulphonates (MLS)
• " Other types
• " Acrylic polymer based (AP)
• " Copolymer of carboxylic acrylic acid with acrylic ester (CAE)
• " Cross linked acrylic polymer (CLAP)
• " Polycarboxylate ester (PC)
• " Multicarboxylatethers (MCE)
• " Combinations of above.
new generation superplasticizers based on carboxylic acrylic ester (CAE) and
multicarboxylatether (MCE)

Effects of Superplasticizers on Fresh
Concrete
• zero slump concrete at nominal dosages>>>>>no effects
• nominal dosages of PL & SPL can be fluidised>>>>only at 2-3cm slump
• A high dosage is required to fluidify no slump concrete.
• It is often noticed that slump increases with increase in dosage. But there
is no appreciable increase in slump beyond certain limit of dosage. As a
matter of fact, the overdosage may sometime harm the concrete.

Compatibility of Superplasticizers and
Cement
• It has been noticed that all superplasticizers are not showing the same
extent of improvement in fluidity with all types of cements.
• Some superplasticizers may show higher fluidizing effect on some type of
cement than other cement.
• There is nothing wrong with either the superplasticizer or that of cement.
• The fact is that they are just not compatible to show maximum fluidizing
effect.
• Optimum fluidizing effect at lowest dosage is an economical
consideration.
• Giving maximum fluidizing effect for a particular superplasticizer and a
cement is very complex involving many factors like composition of cement,
fineness of cement

• simple field test shows the optimum dose of the superplasticizer to the
cement,like
• Marsh cone test
• Mini slump test
• Flow table test.
• Cement slurry is made and its flowability is found out.
• Although, the quantity of aggregates, its shape and texture etc. will have
some influence, it is the paste that will have greater influence.
• The presence of aggregate will make the test more complex and often
erratic.
• Whereas the using of grout alone will make the test simple, consistent and
indicative of the fluidifying effect of superplasticizer with a cement.

Aggregate: the inert filler
materials, such as sand or
stone, used in making
concrete

Aggregates
• They give body to the concrete, reduce shrinkage and effect economy.
• Earlier, aggregates were considerd as chemically inert materials but now it
has been recognised that some of the aggregates are chemically active
and also that certain aggregates exhibit chemical bond at the interface of
aggregate and paste.
• The mere fact that the aggregates occupy 70–80 per cent of the volume
of concrete, their impact on various characteristics and properties of
concrete is undoubtedly considerable.

Classification
• Normal weight aggregates
• Light weight aggregates
• Heavy weight aggregates
Normal weight aggregates
• Natural
• Artificial

Natural
 Sand, Gravel
 Crushed
 Rock such as Granite
 Quartzite, Basalt
 Sandstone
Artificial
 Broken Brick,
 Air-cooled Slag.
 Sintered fly ash
 Bloated clay
((Clay which has expanded during firing, owing to entrapped air or the breakdown of
sulfides or other ingredients in the clay; light and porous; suitable for insulating
aggregate in lightweight concrete.))

(a) Classification
(b) Source
(c) Size
(d) Shape
(e ) Texture
(f ) Strength
(g) Specific gravity and bulk density
(h) Moisture content
(i ) Bulking factor
( j ) Cleanliness
(k ) Soundness
(l ) Chemical properties
(m) Thermal properties
(n) Durability
(o) Sieve analysis
(p) Grading

Source
• Aggregates from Igneous Rocks
• Aggregates from Sedimentary Rocks
• Aggregates from Metamorphic Rocks

SIZE
• The largest maximum size of aggregate practicable to handle is 80 mm
• Using the largest possible maximum size will result in
(i) reduction of the cement content
(ii) reduction in water requirement
(iii) (iii) reduction of drying shrinkage.
• However, the maximum size of aggregate that can be used in any given
condition may be limited by the following conditions:
(i ) Thickness of section;
(ii ) Spacing of reinforcement;
(iii ) Clear cover;
(iv ) Mixing, handling and placing techniques.

RUBBLES
• used in plain concrete
• maximum limit of 20 per cent by volume of the concrete.
CLASSIFICATION BY SIZE:
• Coarse aggregate
• Fine aggregate.
The size of aggregate bigger than 4.75 mm is considered as coarse aggregate
Aggregate whose size is 4.75 mm and less is considered as fine aggregate.

Texture
• Surface texture is the property, the measure of which depends upon the
relative degree to which particle surfaces are polished or dull, smooth or
rough.
• Surface texture depends on hardness, grain size, pore structure, structure
of the rock, and the degree to which forces acting on the particle surface
have smoothed or roughend it.

Strength
• Doesn’t relate the strength of the parent rock
• Depends on quality of the cement paste and
• the bond between the cement paste and the aggregate
When does parent rock influences the strength of aggregate?
 when cement paste of good quality is provided and its bond with the
aggregate is satisfactory, then the mechanical properties of the rock or
aggregate will influence the strength of concrete.
The test for strength of aggregate is required to be made in the following
situations:
(i ) For production of high strength and ultra high strength concrete.
(ii ) When contemplating to use aggregates manufactured from weathered
rocks.
(iii ) Aggregate manufactured by industrial process.

Physical Properties of Aggregates

Concrete =
• 25-40% cement
(absolute volume of cement = 7-15% ;
water = 14-21%)
• Up to 8% air (depending on top size of
coarse aggregate)

Therefore:
Aggregates make up
60-75% of total volume
of concrete.

Physical Properties of Aggregates:
1.Unit Weight and Voids
2. Specific Gravity
3. Particle Shape and Surface Texture
4. Shrinkage of Aggregates
5. Absorption and Surface Moisture
6. Resistance to Freezing and Thawing

Unit Weight
(unit mass or bulk density)
The weight of the aggregate required to fill a
container of a specified unit volume.
• Volume is occupied by both the
aggregates and the voids between the
aggregate particles.
• Depends on size distribution and
shape of particles and how densely the
aggregate is packed
• Loose bulk density
• Rodded or compact bulk density

Weight
Examples of
Aggregates Used
Uses for the
Concrete
ultra-lightweight vermiculite, ceramic
can be sawed or nailed,
also used for its
insulating properties
lightweight
expanded clay, shale or
slate, crushed brick
used primarily for making
lightweight concrete for
structures, also used for its
insulating properties
normal weight
crushed limestone, sand,
river gravel,
crushed recycled
concrete
used for normal concrete
projects
heavyweight
steel or iron shot; steel
or iron pellets
used for making high
density concrete for
shielding against nuclear
radiation

Voids
• Void content affects mortar requirements in mix design; water and mortar
requirement tend to increase as aggregate void content increases.
• Void content between aggregate particles increases with increasing
aggregate angularity.
• Void contents range from 30-45% for coarse aggregates to
about 40-50% for fine aggregates.
• Total volume of voids can be reduced by using a
collection of aggregate sizes.

The cement paste requirement for concrete is proportional to the void content of the combined
aggregate.

Specific Gravity (Relative density)
Absolute: the ratio of the weight of the solid to the weight of an
equal volume of water (both at a stated temperature)
• refers to volume of the material excluding all pores
Used for calculating yield of concrete or the quantity of aggregate required for
a given volume of concrete.
Apparent: ratio of the weight of the aggregate (dried in an oven at
212- 230ºF for 24 hours) to the weight of water occupying
a volume equal to that of the solid including the
impermeable pores
• volume of solid includes impermeable pores (but not
capillary pores)

Particle Shape and Surface Texture
• Aggregates should be relatively free of flat and elongated particles
(limit to 15% by weight of total aggregate).
• Important for coarse and
crushed fine aggregate -
these require an increase in
mixing water and may affect
the strength of the concrete,
if cement water ratio is not
maintained.
• Rough textured, angular, elongated particles require more water to
produce workable concrete than do smooth, rounded, compact aggregates.

Shrinkage of Aggregates:
fine grained sandstones, slate,
basalt, trap rock, clay-containing
Large Shrinkage =
Low Shrinkage = quartz, limestone, granite,
feldspar

What happens if
abnormal aggregate
shrinkage occurs?

• Excessive cracking
• Large deflection of reinforced beams and slabs
• Some spalling (chipping or crumbling)
If more than 0.08 percent shrinkage occurs, the aggregate is considered
undesirable.

Absorption and Surface Moisture
If water content of the
concrete mixture is not
kept constant, the
compressive strength,
workability, and other
properties will vary from
batch to batch.

Moisture Conditions of Aggregates:
1. Oven dry- fully absorbent
2. Air dry- dry at the particle surface but
containing some interior moisture
3. Saturated surface dry (SSD) –neither
absorbing water nor contributing water to
the concrete mixture
4. Wet or moist- containing an excess of
moisture on the surface

Absorption Capacity: maximum amount of water aggregate can absorb
• Absorption Capacity (%) = [(WSSD – WOD)/WOD] X 100
Surface Moisture: water on surface of aggregate particles
• Surface Moisture (%) = [(WWET – WSSD)/WSSD] X 100
Moisture Content: of an aggregate in any state
•Moisture Content (%) = [(WAGG – WOD)/WOD] X 100

Resistance to Freezing and Thawing
• Important for exterior concrete.
• Affected by an aggregate's high porosity, absorption,
permeability and pore structure.
• If aggregates or concrete absorbs so much water that when
the water freezes and expands the concrete cannot
accommodate the build up of internal pressure, pop–outs
may occur.

Properties of aggregate
• Strength
• Toughness
• Abrasion

Reason for studying the properties of
aggregate
The main reasons are
• Aggregates have their impact on various
characteristics and properties of the concrete.
• Aggregates have their widely varying effects and
their influence on the properties of concrete
cannot be underestimated.

strength
• Strength of the rock is found out by aggregate
crushing value.
• Aggregate crushing value gives a relative measure
of resistance of an aggregate sample to crushing
under applied compressive load.
• Different rock samples have different compressive
strength.
• Compressive strength varies from minimum 45 Mpa
to maximum of 545 Mpa.

Reason for finding strength of
the aggregate
• The compressive strength of parent rock does
not exactly indicate the strength of aggregate in
concrete.
• The crushing value test is carried out for same
sized aggregate.
• The crushing value of aggregate is restricted to
30% for concrete used for roads and pavements
and 45% for other structures.

Toughness
• Toughness of aggregate is found out by
aggregate impact value.
• Toughness generally refers to the resistance of
the material to failure by impact.
• Aggregate impact value shall not exceed 45% by
weight for aggregate used for concrete other
than wearing surface & 30% by weight ,for
wearing surface such as roads and pavements.

Abrasion
• Abrasion generally refers to wearing of the
aggregate.
• Abrasion value of aggregate is found out by
aggregate abrasion test.
• This test is important for the aggregates used in
road construction and ware house floors.
• The abrasion value should not be more than
30% for wearing surface and not more than 50%
other than wearing surface .

Bulk density
• Bulk density shows how densely the aggregate
is packed when it is filled in standard manner(ie.,
when the aggregate is filled in a container of
known volume and it is compacted in standard
manner and weighed).
• The bulk density depends on the particle size
distribution and shape of the particles.
• The bulk density or unit weight of aggregate
gives valuable information regarding shape and
grading of aggregate.

Cont.,
• The determination of bulk density also gives the
values for the determination of void content in
the aggregate.
• The higher the bulk density the lower is the void
content to be filled by cement and sand.
• The sample which give minimum voids or which
have maximum bulk density is taken as right
sample of aggregate for economical mix.

Modulus of elasticity
• Modulus of elasticity of aggregate depends upon
its composition, texture and structure.
• Modulus of aggregate will influence the
properties of concrete with respect to shrinkage
and elastic behaviour.
• ‘E’ of the aggregate has a decided effect on the
elastic property of the concrete.

Soundness of aggregate
• Soundness refers to the ability of the aggregate
to resist excessive change in volume as a result
of change in physical condition.
• The physical condition that affect the soundness
of aggregates are freezing, thawing, variation in
temperature, alternate wetting and drying

Specific gravity
• Specific gravity of aggregate is to be known for
the design of concrete mixes.
• If the specific gravity is known, from the specific
gravity the weight can be converted into solid
volume.
• Specific gravity is required, in case if we deal
with light weight and heavy weight aggregate.
• Specific gravity of rocks vary from 2.6 to 2.8.

Absorption and moisture
content
• Some of the aggregate will absorb water due to
porosity and absorptive nature.
• Due to porosity and absorption of aggregates,
water cement ratio will be affected and hence
the workability of concrete.
• The porosity of aggregate will affect the
durability of concrete, when they are subjected
to chemically aggressive liquids , freezing and
thawing.

Cont.,
• The water absorption of aggregate is determined
by measuring the increase in weight of the dry
weight of the sample when immersed in water
for 24 hours.
• Absorption of aggregate = increase in weight of
(%) sample
weight of dry sample

Cont.,
• The absorption of water by aggregate in 24
hours may not be a significance, because they
will absorb more water than the amount they are
estimated in 24 hours.
• So that extra water(more than the estimated) is
to be added to concrete mix to compensate the
loss of water due to absorption.

Cont.,
• In proportioning the materials for concrete, it is taken
that the aggregate is saturated and surface dry.
• But in general site condition we have dry coarse
aggregate(due to exposed to sun) and moist fine
aggregate(due to their presence in river bed).
• The fine aggregate collected from river contains
surface moisture. The top portion of the heap will be
dry but the bottom portion will be wet.

Cont.,
• If the surface contain surface moisture they will
contribute extra water to the mix there by
increases water content and the dry aggregates
will absorb water from mixing there by reducing
water content.
• Both above condition will affect the workability
and quality of concrete.
• So therefore for design purpose ,the corrective
measures of absorption and free moisture for
using the w/c ratio exactly.

Cont.,
• In case of weigh batching , determination of free
moisture content of the aggregate is necessary
and then correction of water/cement ratio to be
affected in this regard . But when volume
batching is adopted, the determination of
moisture content of fine aggregate does not
become necessary but the consequent bulking
of sand and correction of volume of sand to give
allowance for bulking becomes necessary.

Cont.,
• The quantity of water absorbed by aggregate will
depend on the porosity.
• Method for determining the moisture content of
aggregates are
• Drying method
• Displacement method
• Calcium carbide method
• Measurement by electrical meter
• Automatic measurement

Bulking of aggregate
• The free moisture content in fine aggregate
results in bulking of volume.
• Free moisture forms a film around each
particle . This film of moisture exerts what is
known as surface tension which keeps the
neighbouring particles away from it . Similarly,
the force exerted by surface tension keeps every
particle away from each other . Therefore, no
point contact is possible between the particles.
This causes bulking of the volume.

Cont.,
• It is interesting to note that the bulking increases
with the increase in moisture content upto a
certain limit and beyond that the further increase
in the moisture content results in the decrease in
the volume and at a moisture content
representing saturation point, the fine aggregate
shows no bulking.
• That fine sand bulks more and coarse sand
bulks less.
• Extremely fine sand and particularly the
manufactured fine aggregate bulks as much as
about 40 per cent.

Nature of aggregate
• Earlier aggregates were considered as
chemically inert materials but now it is
recognised that some of the aggregate are
chemically active and also that certain
aggregates exhibit chemical bond at the
interface of aggregate and paste.

Alkali aggregate reaction
• After 1940’s it was clear that the aggregates are
not fully chemically inert.
• Some of the aggregates containing reactive
silica, which reacts with alkalies present in
cement i.e., sodium oxide and potassium oxide.
• The reaction starts with attack on the reactive
siliceous mineral in the aggregate by alkaline
hydroxide present in cement.
• As a result alkali silicate gel gets unlimited
swelling, which leads to cracking and spreads
over the structure.

Cont.,
• Factors promoting the alkali aggregate
reaction
»Reactive type of aggregate
»availability of moisture
»High alkali content in cement
»Optimum temperature condition

Cont.,
• The alkali aggregate reaction can be controlled
by
1. Selection of non reactive aggregates
2. Use of low alkali cement
3. Use of corrective admixtures such as
pozzolanas
4. Controlling void space in concrete
5. Controlling moisture condition and
temperature

Cont.,
• The growth of silica gel is only possible if the
availability of water is continuous and if the
correct range of temperature is provided.
• If the water is not made available, their growth
can be reduced and if temperature is not
provided the extent of expansion is reduced.
• In practical for inhibiting the alkali aggregate
reaction pozzolanic mixture and air entraining
agent is used.

Thermal properties
• Aggregates possesses 3 thermal properties
»Co-efficient of expansion
»Specific heat
»Thermal conductivity
• Specific heat and thermal conductivity are
important factor to be considered where the
control of temperature is necessary.

Cont.,
The co-efficient of expansion of concrete is
9.9*10^(-6) per c but in general the range varies
from 5.8 *10^(-6) per c to 14 *10^(-6) per c
depending upon the type and quality of aggregate.
The co-efficient of expansion of aggregate is
0.9*10^(-6) per c.

Cont.,
• The thermal incompatability between aggregate
and concrete causes severe stress and the
thermal expansion affect the durability of
concrete.
• The thermal incompatability will also sometimes
result in breaking the bond between the
concrete and the aggregate at their interface.

Grading of aggregate
• Aggregate comprises about 55% of the volume
of mortar and about 85%volume of concrete.
• The strength of concrete is dependent on
water/cement ratio.
• One of the most factor for producing workable
concrete is good gradation of aggregate.
• Good grading implies that a sample of
aggregate contains all standard fractions of
aggregate in required proportion such that the
sample contains minimum voids.

Cont.,
• A sample of the well graded aggregate
containing minimum voids will require minimum
paste to fill up the voids in the aggregate.
• Minimum paste means less quantity of cement
and water, which will further mean increased
economy, higher strength, lower shrinkage and
greater durability.

Cont.,
Sieve analysis (to determine the grade of
aggregate)
The aggregates used for making concrete
are normally of the maximum size 80
mm,40mm,20mm,10mm,4.75mm,2.36mm,600
micron,300 micron and 150 micron.
The grading pattern of a sample of C.A or F.A
is assessed by sieving a sample through all
sieves mounted one over the other in order of
size, with larger sieve on the top.

Crushed sand
• In general we are using natural sand as F.A.
• But now the availability of natural sand is getting
depleted and also becoming costly. So
alternative to sand is crushed sand or
manufactured sand.
• Natural sand-cubical or rounded with smooth
surface texture. So good workability
• Crusher sand-flaky, badly graded, rough
textured.

Cleanliness
• The concrete aggregate should be free from
impurities and deletrious substances which are
likely to interfere with the process of hydration,
prevention of effective bond between the
aggregate and the cement paste.
• Impurities sometimes reduce the durability of the
aggregate.

Cont.,
• Fine aggregate contains organic impurities in the
form of silt and clay .
• Coarse aggregate contains fine crushed stone
dust in the lower level when they stored for long
time.
• Excessive silt and clay in F.A and C.A may result
in increased shrinkage or increased permeability
in addition to poor bond characteristics.

Cont.,
• The contamination of the aggregates by salt will
affect the settling properties and ultimate
strength of the concrete.
• Salt contained in the aggregates will cause
corrosion of reinforcement.
• Percentage of salt contained in F.A will not
cause corrosion if salt content is less than 3%.
• If the salt content is more 3%,it is better to wash
the sand before they are used in concrete.

Cont.,
• The quantity of organic impurities in F.A can be
determined by colorimetric test.
• The sample of sand is mixed with liquid
containing 3% solution of sodium hydroxide in
water.
• It is kept for 24 hrs and the colour developed is
compared with a standard colour card.
• If the colour is darker than the standard colour
card, then the organic impurities is more than
the permissible limit. In this case sand is
rejected or used after washing.

TESTING OF AGGREGATES
Test for Determination of Flakiness Index.
Test for Determination of Elongation Index.
Test for Determination of clay, fine silt and fine dust.
Test for Determination of Organic Impurities.
Test for Determination of Specific Gravity.
Test for Determination of Bulk Density and Voids.
Test for determination of aggregate crushing value.
Test for determination of ‘ten per cent fines value.
Test for determination of aggregate impact Value.
Test for determination of aggregate abrasion value.

IS CODE
• IS:2386-1963 Methods of test for aggregates
• Part 1 Particle size and shape
• Part 2 Estimation of deleterious materials and organic
impurities
• Part 3 Specific gravity, density, voids, absorption and
bulking
• Part 4 Mechanical properties
• Part 5 Soundness

Aggregate Gradation IS:2386-1963 Part I
The gradation and size test (Figure 1) is used to determine aggregate particle size
distribution. Size distribution is perhaps the single most important aggregate quality
associated with the control of mixtures. Aggregate gradation and size affect concrete
volumetric properties as well as mixture permeability and workability.

• In a gradation and size analysis, a sample of dry
aggregate of known weight is separated through a
series of sieves with progressively smaller
openings.
• Once separated, the weight of particles retained
on each sieve is measured and compared to the
total sample weight.
• Particle size distribution is then expressed as a
percent retained by weight on each sieve size.

• The particle size distribution, or gradation, of the
constituent aggregate is one of the most influential
characteristics in determining how an aggregate mixture
will perform as a pavement material.
• Aggregate gradation influences almost every important
property including stiffness, stability, durability,
permeability, workability, fatigue resistance, skid
resistance and resistance to moisture damage (Roberts et
al., 1996).

• Gradation is often expressed in graphical form.
Typically gradation graphs use concepts of
maximum density gradation and its expression in
equation form to plot a special graph referred to
as 0.45 power graph.
• Maximum Density Gradation
• Theoretically, there exists a particular gradation
that, for a given maximum aggregate size, will
produce the maximum density.
• This gradation would involve a particle
arrangement where successively smaller particles
are packed within the voids between larger
particles .

• If done ideally, this would result in a
minimum void space between particles and
produce a maximum density.
• Practically, an aggregate gradation of
maximum density is not desired because a
certain amount of void space is required to
provide adequate volume for the binder to
occupy.

Fuller and Thompson's Equation
(Interactive Equation)
• Regardless of its practical use, a maximum density
gradation provides a convenient reference. In 1907, Fuller
and Thompson developed a widely used equation to
describe a maximum density gradation for a given
maximum aggregate size. This equation is:
Where:
P = percent finer than an aggregate size
d = aggregate size being considered
D = maximum aggregate size
n = parameter which adjusts curve for fineness or
coarseness (for maximum particle density n ≈ 0.5 according
to Fuller and Thompson)

The 0.45 Power Maximum Density Graph
• In the early 1960s, the FHWA introduced the
standard gradation graph used in the HMA
industry today.
• This graph uses Fuller and Thompson's equation
with n = 0.45 and is convenient for determining
the maximum density line and adjusting gradation
(Roberts et al., 1996).
• This graph is slightly different than other
gradation graphs because it uses the sieve size
raised to the nth power (usually 0.45) as the x-
axis units. Thus, a plot of Fuller and Thompson's
maximum density equation with n = 0.45 appears
as a straight diagonal line.

• This straight line goes from zero to the
maximum aggregate size for the gradation
being considered. There is some debate as
to whether this line should end at
maximum aggregate size or nominal
maximum aggregate size or somewhere in
between, however the most commonly
accepted practice is to end it at the
maximum aggregate size.

Desired Gradation
• Gradation has a profound effect on material performance.
• What is the best gradation?
• The answer to which will vary depending upon the
material its desired characteristics, loading,
environmental, material, structural and mix property
inputs.
• The best gradation is one that produces the maximum
density.
• A particle arrangement where smaller particles are packed
between the larger particles, which reduces the void
space between particles.
• This creates more particle-to-particle contact, which
would increase stability and reduce water infiltration.

Desired Gradation
• Some minimum amount of void space is
necessary to:
• Provide adequate volume for the binder (asphalt
binder or portland cement) to occupy.
• Promote rapid drainage and resistance to frost
action for base and subbase courses.
• Therefore, although it may not be the "best"
aggregate gradation, a maximum density
gradation does provide a common reference.

Gap grading
The grading pattern of aggregates in which all particle size are present in
certain proportion in a sample of aggregate. Such pattern of particle size
distribution is also referred to as continuous grading.
• it was assumed that the voids present in the higher size of the aggregate
are filled up by the next lower size of aggregate, and similarly, voids
created by the lower size are filled up by one size lower than those particle
and so on.
• It was realised later that the voids created by a particular fraction are too
small to accommodate the very next lower size. The next lower size being
itself bigger than the size of the voids,
• it will create what is known as “particle size interference”, which prevents
the large aggregates compacting to their maximum density.

• It has been seen that the size of voids existing between a particular size of
aggregate is of the order of 2 or 3 size lower than that fraction.
• In other words, the void size existing between 40 mm aggregate is of the
size equal to 10 mm or possibly 4.75 mm or the size of voids occurring
when 20 mm aggregate is used will be in the order of say 1.18 mm or so.
• Therefore, along with 20 mm aggregate, only when 1.18 mm aggregate
size is used, the sample will contain least voids and concrete requires least
matrix.

Advantages of gap graded concrete:
(i ) Sand required will be of the order of about 26 per cent as against about 40
per cent in the case of continuous grading.
(ii ) Specific surface area of the gap graded aggregate will be low, because of
high percentage of C.A. and low percentage of F.A.
(iii ) Requires less cement and lower water/cement ratio.
(iv ) Because of point contact between C.A. to C.A. and also on account of
lower cement and matrix content, the drying shrinkage is reduced.

Nominal Maximum and Maximum Size
• Nominal maximum size - one size larger
than the first sieve to retain more than 10%
Maximum size - one size larger than
nominal maximum size.

Aggregate Crushing Value IS: 2386 (Part IV)
• • Metal measure
• Tamping rod
Below mentioned are its
specifications:
• Three sizes 75mm dia for
1/8 to 1/4 Size aggregate,
150mm dia for 3/8 to 3/4
Size aggregate
300mm dia for >3/8 size
aggregate
The aggregate crushing value indicates the ability of an aggregate to resist crushing.
The lower the figure the stronger the aggregate, i.e. the greater its ability to resist
crushing.

• Aggregate passing IS sieve 12.5 mm and retained on 10
mm sieve is generally used.
• Oven dried aggregates are filled in the measuring cylinder
of 11.5cm dia. & 18.0cm height in 3 equal layers, each
layer being subjected to 25 tamps with a tamping rod of
16mm dia and 45 to 60mm long.
• The crushing test apparatus consist of a 15cm dia open
ended heavy steel cylinder,plunger and a base plate.
• Compression testing machine a load of 40 tonnes is
applied in 10 min.crushed agg. Sieved through 2.36 mm
sieve.

• Agg crushing value > 35 weak for pavement.
• Agg crushing value < 10 exceptionally strong.
• For majority of aggregates the impact value and crushing value are
numerically similar.
• Rock group Crushing value Impact value
• Basalt 14 15
• Granite 20 19
• Lime stone 24 23
• Quartzite 16 21

Aggregate Impact Value IS: 2386 (Part IV)
Toughness of an aggregate is its resistance to failure by impact.
A base, which helps in supporting the columns
to form a rigid framework around the quick
release trigger mechanism for ensuring the
effective free fall of the hammer during test.
The hammer is offered with locking
arrangement and the free fall can be easily
adjusted through the 380+ 5mm.
cylindrical cup, with the metal measure 75 mm
dia x 50 mm high and tamping rod.
Satisfactory resistance to crushing under roller during construction.
Adequate resistance to surface abrasion under traffic.

Impact value.
• Due to traffic loads the road stones are subjected to the pounding action or
impact.
• IS sieves 12.5 mm,10 mm & 2.36 mm.
• Cylindrical steel cup of dia 10.2 cm & depth 5 cm.
• Metal hammer of weight 13.5 to 14 kg.Height of fall 38 cm. Cylindrical measure
with internal dia 7.5 cm & depth 5 cm.
• Metal tamping of 1 cm dia.23 cm long.
• The quantity of finer material (passing through 2.36 mm) resulting from
pounding will indicate the toughness of the sample of aggregate. The ratio of the
weight of the fines (finer than 2.36 mm size) formed, to the weight of the total
sample taken is expressed as a percentage. This is known as aggregate impact
value.
• < 10 % exceptionally strong.
• 10 - 20 % strong.
• 20 - 30 % satisfactory. > 35 % weak.

• The flakiness index of aggregate is the percentage by weight of particles in
it whose least dimension (thickness) is less than three-fifths of their mean
dimension.
• The test is not applicable to sizes smaller than 6.3 mm.
• This test is conducted by using a metal thickness gauge,
• A sufficient quantity of aggregate is taken such that a minimum number
of 200 pieces of any fraction can be tested. Each fraction is gauged in turn
for thickness on the metal gauge.
• The total amount passing in the guage is weighed to an accuracy of 0.1 per
cent of the weight of the samples taken.
• The flakiness index is taken as the total weight of the material passing the
various thickness gauges expressed as a percentage of the total weight of
the sample taken.

Aggregate Abrasion Value IS: 2386 (Part IV)
The Los Angeles (L.A.) abrasion test is a common test method used to indicate aggregate
toughness and abrasion characteristics.
Aggregate abrasion characteristics are important because the constituent aggregate in
concerete must resist crushing, degradation and disintegration in order to produce a high
quality concrete.
Aggregates must be tough and abrasion resistant
to prevent crushing, degradation, and
disintegration when stockpiled, fed through an
asphalt plant, placed with a paver, compacted
with
rollers, and subjected to sudden loadings.

• Abrasive charge shall consist of a solid, steel sphere having a mass
between 390 and 445 g. with a diameter of 46.5 ± 0.5 mm.
• For the L.A. abrasion test, the portion of an aggregate sample
retained on the 1.70 mm sieve is placed in a large rotating drum that
contains a shelf plate attached to the outer wall.
• A specified number of steel spheres are then placed in the machine
and the drum is rotated for 500 revolutions at a speed of 30 - 33
revolutions per minute (RPM).
• The material is then extracted and separated into material passing
and retained on the 1.70 mm sieve.
• The retained material is then weighed and compared to the original
sample weight. The difference in weight is reported as a percent of
the original weight and called the "percent loss".

Rock Type L.AAbrasion value
General Values
Hard, igneous rocks 10
Soft limestones and sandstones 60
Ranges for Specific Rocks
Basalt 10 - 17
Dolomite 18 – 30
Gneiss 33 – 57
Granite 27 - 49
Limestone 19 – 30
Quartzite 20 - 35

Angularity number
 Angular particles possess well defined edges and are commonly found
in aggregates prepared by crushing of rocks.
 Angularity or absence of rounding of particles in aggregate is a
property which is of importance because it affects ease of handling a
mixture of aggregate and binder.
 The degree of packing of particles of single sized aggregates depends
upon the shape and angularity of the aggregate.

 Angularity of aggregate can be estimated from properties of voids in a
sample of aggregate compacted in a particular manner.
 Rounded gravel particles possess lesser voids (mostly 33%, i.e. 67%
solids, by volume) as compared to the angular particles.
 Angularity number measures the percentage of voids in angular
particles in excess of that in the rounded gravel particles.
Angularity number
• = % of solid volume in a vessel filled with aggregate in a standard
manner - 67 (i.e. % volume of solids of the rounded gravel)
• The higher the angularity number, the more angular the aggregate.
• The range of angularity number for practical aggregates is between 0
and 11

UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT (UC)
• Ratio of sieve size at which 60% of aggregate passes against the sieve
size at which 10% passes.
• The result is expressed as a number;
• Uniformity Coefficient Cu (measure of the particle size range)
• Cu is also called Hazen Coefficient
• Cu = D60/D10
• Cu < 5 ----- Very Uniform
• Cu = 5 ----- Medium Uniform
• Cu > 5 ----- Nonuniform

• Permeability :
• The permeability characteristics of aggregate mixtures are dependent
upon :
• 1) Grain size distribution.
• 2) Type of coarse aggregate.
• 3) Type of binder.
• 4) Density.
• The coefficient of permeability is defined in the equation : v = KIA
• v = discharge velocity.
• I = hydraulic gradient (loss in head per unit of length).
• K = coefficient of permeability. 0.001 to 1.0.

Soundness :
Soundness is defined as the ability of aggregate to withstand abrasion/
crushing.This is important from the standpoint of generation of fines
under the action of impact.
Soft aggregate should not be used.
Aggregate which breakdown excessively under freezing and thawing
should not be used.
Specific gravity
If the coarse aggregate has a specific gravity considerably higher than
that of the fine fraction, gradation will result in mixtures which are too
rich. Conversely , if the specific gravity of the fine fraction is higher than
that of the coarse aggregate, the quantity of fines will be low.

Elongation & Flakiness Index IS: 2386
• When the length is more than 1.8 of the mean dimension,
then the aggregate particles are considered elongated.
The aggregate particles are to be flaky, if the thickness is
less than the 0.6 of their mean dimension.

Test for Determination of Flakiness Index

Test for Determination of Elongation Index
• The elongation index on an aggregate is the percentage by weight of
particles whose greatest dimension (length) is greater than 1.8 times their
mean dimension.
• The elongation index is not applicable to sizes smaller than 6.3 mm.
• This test is conducted by using metal length guage
• A sufficient quantity of aggregate is taken to provide a minimum number
of 200 pieces of any fraction to be tested.
• Each fraction shall be gauged individually for length on the metal guage.
• The guage length used shall be that specified as in IS code for particular
size of material.

• The total amount retained by the guage length shall be weighed to an
• accuracy of at least 0.1 per cent of the weight of the test samples taken.
• The elongation index is the total weight of the material retained on the
various length gauges expressed as a percentage of the total weight of the
sample gauged.
• The presence of elongated particles in excess of 10 to 15 per cent is
generally considered undesirable, but no recoganised limits are laid down.
• Indian standard explain only the method of calculating both Flakiness
• Index and Elongation Index.
• But the specifications do not specify the limits. British Standard BS 882 of
1992 limits the flakiness index of the coarse aggregate to 50 for natural
gravel and to 40 for crushed corase aggregate.
• However, for wearing surfaces a lower values of flakiness index are
required.

Test for Determination of clay, fine silt and fine
dust
• This is a gravimetric method for determining the clay, fine silt and fine
dust which includes particles upto 20 microns.
• The sample for test is prepared from the main sample, taking particular
care that the test sample contains a correct proportion of the finer
material. The amount of sample taken for the test is

• Sedimentation pipette of the description shown in Fig. 3.11 is used for
determination of clay and silt content.
• In the case of fine aggregate, approximately 300 gm. of samples in the
• air-dry condition, passing the 4.75 mm IS Sieve, is weighed
• and placed in the screw topped glass jar, together with 300 ml of diluted
sodium oxalate solution.
• The rubber washer and cap are fixed. Care is taken to ensure water
tightness.
• The jar is then rotated about its long axis, with this axis horizontal, at a
speed of 80 ± 20 revolutions per minute for a period of 15 minutes.
• At the end of 15 minutes the suspension is poured into 1000 ml
measuring cylinder and the residue washed by gentle swirling and
decantation of successive 150 ml portions of sodium oxalate solution, the
washings being added to the cylinder until the volume is made upto 1000
ml.

• In the case of coarse aggregate the weighed sample is placed in a suitable
container, covered with a measured volume of sodium oxalate solution
(0.8 gm per litre),
• agitated vigorously to remove all fine material adhered and the liquid
suspension transferred to the 1000 ml measuring cylinder.
• This process is repeated till all clay material has been transferred to the
cylinder. The volume is made upto 1000 ml with sodium oxalate solution.
• The suspension in the measuring cylinder is thoroughly mixed.
• The pipette A is then gently lowered until the pipette touches the surface
of the liquid, and then lowered a further 10 cm into the liquid.
• Three minutes after placing the tube in position, the pipette A and the
bore of tap B is filled by opening B and applying gentle suction at C.
• A small surplus may be drawn up into the bulb between tap B and tube C,
but this is allowed to run away and any solid matter is washed out with
distilled water from E.
• The pipette is then removed from the measuring cylinder and its contents
run into a weighed container.

• The contents of the container is dried at 100°C to 110°C to constant
weight, cooled and weighed.
• The percentage of the fine slit and clay or fine dust is calculated from the
formula
where W1 = weight in gm of the original sample.
W2 = weight in gm of the dried residue
V = volume in ml of the pipette and
0.8 = weight in gm of sodium oxalate in one litre of diluted solution.

SEMINAR
• Test for Determination of Organic Impurities.
• Test for Determination of Specific Gravity.
• Test for Determination of Bulk Density and Voids
• Combining Aggregates to Obtain Specified Gradings.
• Substitute material for aggregates .
• Recent advancements.

Advanced concrete technology

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Advanced concrete technology (20)

More from Selva Prakash (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Advanced concrete technology