Concrete - Mixing
Concrete - Mixing
Concrete - Mixing
Concrete is mixed by two methods, based on requirement as per quality and quantity of concrete required.
Normally for mass concrete, where good quality of concrete is required, mechanical mixer is used. The
main purpose of mixing the concrete is to finally obtain a uniform mixture that shows uniformity in terms
of color and consistency.
Carrying out hand mixing of concrete requires special skills and care during the process for quality
control of fresh concrete. The precautions and the correct way of performing hand mixing of concrete is
to undergo the mixing process as recommended by the standard procedures. Mixing by hand is employed
only to specific cases where quality control is not of much importance and quantity of concrete required is
less. Stone aggregate is washed with water to remove dirt, dust or any other foreign material before
mixing.
Hand mixing should be done on a smooth, clean and water tight platform of suitable size in
the following manner:
1. The Hand Mixing procedures have to be carried out only for small concrete works. Large works
will ask for large quantity of concrete at a time, for which we must use either a machine mixer or
ready mix concrete.
2. The hand mixing must be employed only for works that will give adequate interval time for
mixing between the work. This means we must not mix large quantities very earlier for a work
that is going to start later.
3. The mixing procedure have to be conducted on a water tight platform. This platform have to be
impervious. This can be either a concrete platform or a brick floor.
4. The floor must have the space to take one bag of cement at a time and their respective materials
(water + aggregate).
5. Initially, the measured quantities of cement and fine aggregate is mixed properly over the
watertight platform. The mixing is continued till a uniform mixture is obtained.
6. The coarse aggregate has to be placed over this bed of uniform mixture. An inappropriate order of
addition of material must not be followed.
7. The addition of water must be done in intervals and not in a single stretch.
8. The whole mixing must be done neatly and uniformly without a hurry.
9. A good and clean showel should be used for the mixing procedure.
10. During hand mixing, it is recommended to avoid large buckets for measurement. Use of large
buckets will end up having a large heap that is difficult to be mixed by hand. In some cases, the
large heap is divided into two large heaps and performed individually. This can be only carried
out by one will proper skill and experience.
11. Every time after the use, the worming space have to cleaned and made free from any debris.
12. The main issue faced in hand mixing is the addition of too much water that required. This must be
avoided.
13. The workers carrying out the concrete mixing are asked to use masks so as not to inhale the
powder, which can cause serious issues as time passes.
14. For inside concrete works, avoid the hand mixing procedure in the outside or direct sun. This
increase in temperature will evaporate the water content, hence making the mixture dry.
15. Over mixing of the concrete mixture have to be avoided. Once the required amount of mixing is
performed, keep it idol and mixing in small quantities during the time of placing.
1. Batch mixers
o Drum Types Mixer
Tilting drum mixers
Non-tilting drum mixer
Reversing drum mixer
o Pan Type Mixer
2. Continuous mixers
Low workable concretes which contains large sized aggregates of size greater
than 7.5cm are also mixed efficiently with this tilting type mixers.
In this case, the drum is opened at two ends and consists blades insides when
materials are poured through one end and mix is collected through another end.
Rapid discharge of concrete is not possible in this case. Due to this delay, the
concrete may be vulnerable to segregation.
The larger size aggregate is not discharged easily with the mix. So, size of
aggregate mot more than 7.5cm is preferable for this type of mixers. So, this
type of mixers are generally used for small projects.
Reversing Drum Mixers
Reversing drum mixers are similar to non-tilting type mixers but in this case
reversal of rotation takes place for different action. The drum has two openings,
one end is for pouring materials and other end is for discharge of mix. The drum
rotates about its horizontal axis. The rotation of drum takes place in one
direction for mixing and in opposite direction for discharging. Two different set
of blades are arranged for mixing and discharging. They are suitable for dry
concrete mixes.
Pan Type Concrete Mixers
Pan type mixers consists a circular pan in which concrete is mixed. The mixing
is done by blades which are arranged in star shape inside the pan.
There are two types of pan mixers are available. In one case, the circular pan is
constant and only star blades rotate about vertical axis of pan. In the other case,
circular pan rotates while the blades are at static position.
But in both cases, the mixing is efficient and concrete mixture is collected
through central hole provided in the pan. The rotating star blades contains
special blades called scrapper blades which will make concrete not to stick to
the pan.
The blades can also be adjusted in height so, there is no room for concrete to
store in the pan. We can say among the all types of batch mixers pan type mixer
are more efficient.
Continuous Concrete Mixers
Continuous mixer, the name itself telling its duty that the loading, mixing and
discharging of mix is continuously done until the work is complete or work
break occurs. The loading of materials is done continuously by screw feeders.
Continuous mixtures are used for very large projects such as dams, bridges,
construction of high rise buildings, etc.