Special concreting

techniques and Mix

design

04/15/16

Prepared By:- Prof. Anuj Chandiwala

1

Pumped concrete
A concrete which can be pushed through a pipeline is called a pumpable concrete.
The concrete mix is designed in such a manner that it does not wedge while flowing
and its friction at the inner wall of the pipe line does not become very high.
Pumpable concrete emerging from a pipe line flows in the form of a plug which is
separated from the pipe wall by a thin lubricating layer consisting of cement paste. The
water in the paste hydraulically linked with the interparticle water layer in the plug.

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Shotcrete or Guniting
Shotcrete or gunite is a mortar or a fine concrete that is pneumatically transported
through a hose and projected on to a surface at a high velocity.
This system is called by different names is different countries such as Blastcrete,
Guncrete, Jet-crete, Nucrete, spraycrete etc. though the principle is essentially the
same. This system is very well suited for construction of lightly reinforced, thin
section.
Shotcrete is more economical than conventional concrete because of less formwork
requirements, required a small portable plant for manufacture and placement.
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 The various application of shotcrete are :

Thin overhead, vertical or horizontal surface.
Swimming pools, and prestressed tanks.
Canal and tunnel lining.
Repair of damaged concrete.
Overlays on concrete roads.
Refractory lining works.

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Dry mix process

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 Several forms of equipment are available for shotcreting by this technique.

A common layout includes an air-compressor, am material hose, air and water hoses, a nozzle

gun and a pressure tank or pump for water supply.

The various stages involved in the dry-mix process are as follows:1.The cement and sand are thoroughly mixed. The mixture of cement-sand is fed into a special

air-pressurized mechanical feeder termed as cement gun.

2.The mixture is metered into the delivery hose by a feed wheel or distributor.
3.This material is carried by compressed air though the delivery hose to a special nozzle. This

nozzle is fitted with a perforated manifold through which water is introduced under pressure
and intimately mixed with other ingredients.
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4. The mortar is jetted from the nozzle at high velocity on to the surface to be
shotcreted. Any alternation in the quantity of water can be easily accomplished
by the nozzleman.

Advantages of Dry-mix process:-

The dry mix process is preferred for light weight aggregate concrete.

The lower w/c ratio obtained with the dry process probably accounts for the
lesser crep, higher strength and greater durability of concrete.

The dry process equipment can convey the material to distance of 300 m to
500m horizontally and 45 to 100 m vertically.
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Wet mix process

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 In this process, cement, sand, small sized coarse aggregate and water are mixed before
entering the chamber of delivery equipment.
The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) is received into a feeding chamber from which the
concrete is blown by compressed air at a pressure of 5.5 to 7 atmospheres through a
rubber hose.
Equipments are available which can place concrete at the rate 3 to 9 cubic meters per
hour. Additional air is injected at the nozzle to increase the velocity and improve the
gunning patterns.

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Under
water
concrete
Placing concrete under water: Special precautions should be taken whenever concrete is to be placed under water.
Such a concrete should have cement content atleast 450 Kg/m of comcrete and a slump of 10 to

17.5 cm.
The methods used for placing concrete under water are:
Bagged concrete
Bottom dump bucket.
Tremie

Concrete pump
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Bagged concrete
In some situations gunny bags are filled about two-thirds full with dry o semidry mixture of cement, fine and coarse aggregate. They are lowered into the
water and placed carefully in a header and stretcher fashion like that of brick
masonry construction with the help of divers.
This method does not give satisfactory concrete, as the concrete mass will be
full of voids.

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Bottom dump bucket

Other method of placing concrete under water or in a trench filled with the
bentonite slurry is by bottom dump bucket method.
In the bottom dump bucket concrete is taken through the water in a water tight
bucket of box.
On reaching the final position the bottom of the bucket is made to open by some
mechanism and the whole concrete is dumped slowly in water.
There are chances of washing away of some quantity of cement when concrete is
dumped from the bucket.
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Tremie
The most satisfactory method of placing concrete under water is by the use of
tremie pipe.
The word tremie is derived from the French word hopper.
In this method, tremie pipe of 200 mm to 250 mm diameter is used.
The length of pipe can be easily increased or decreased by using copulings.
A funnel is provided at the top end of pipe to facilitate pouring of concrete.
The bottom end is closed with a plug or thick polyethylene sheet to prevent entry
of water into the pipe.
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 The pipe is lowered and made to rest at the point where the concrete is going to be placed.
The concrete having a very high slump of about 15 to 20 cm is poured into the funnel.
Precautions to be taken during concreting by tremie method:a)Cofferdams or forms should be sufficiently tight to reduce the flow of water to less than 3
m per minute through the space to be concreted.
b)All the time, the lower end of the tremie pipe should be kept well embedded in the wet
concrete.
c)Once concreting has started the tremie should not be moved laterally through the deposited
concrete as this will again disturb the concrete. If it is necessary to shift the tremie, it
should be lifted out and moved to the new position.
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d) Pumping of water should not be allowed whilst concrete is being placed, nor 24 hours
thereafter. If simultaneous pumping is done it may suck the cement particles.
e) Under water concreting need not be compacted, as concrete gets automatically
compacted by the hydrostatic pressure of water.
f) High water/cement ratio is required for high consistency which reduces the strength of
concrete. But at present with the use of super plasticizers it is possible to place a
concrete with as low a water/cement ratio as 0.3.
g) When large quantities of concrete are required to be placed over an extensive area it is
advisable to use a number of tremies.
Pile Concreting (tremie method).mp4
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Grouted aggregates
Another method of placing concrete under water is the grouting of prepacked aggregates.
Coarse aggregate is dumped in the forms to assume full dimension of the concrete mass.
Cement mortar grout is injected through pipes, which extend up to the bottom of the
aggregate bed. The pipes are alowly withdrawn as the grouting proceeds.
The grout forces the water out of the forms and fills the interstices in the aggregate. This
method, however has been used very little. For plugging the well foundation this method is
often adopted.

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Concrete pump
Concrete pumps and pipes can also be used for placing concrete under water. The
pipeline is plugged at the end and lowered until it rests on the bottom.
Pumping is then started, when the pipe is completely filled, the plug is forced out, the
concrete surrounding the lower end of the pipe seals the pipe.
The pipe is held in this position until the pressure becomes too great. Then the pipe is
withdrawn and the operation is repeated. This process is repeated until concrete
reached the level above water.

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Pre
packed
concrete
Prepacked concrete is a special technique of placing concrete under water.
When tremie method or bottom dump bucket method are not found feasible, this method
is adopted.
This technique also called grouted concrete consists of placing the coarse aggregate only
in the form and thoroughly compacting it to form a prepacked mass.
This mass is then grouted with the cement mortar of the required proportions.
This process can be employed for both plain or reinforced cement concrete.
This method is employed where the reinforcement is very complicated or where certain
arrangements like pipes, conduits, openings are required to be incorporated in the concrete.
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Cold weather concreting

The production of concrete in cold weather introduces many problems such as delay in setting
and hardening, damage to concrete in plastic condition due to the formation of ice lenses.
Hence, it is essential to maintain the temperature of the concrete above 5C, it is generally
accepted that there is little cement hydration and strength gain if concrete is frozen and kept
frozen below 10C.
Therefore fresh concrete must be protected against disruptive expansion by freezing until
adequate strength has been gained.
Lower concrete temperatures are permitted for massive sections because the amout of heat
generated is very large.
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 The effects of cold weather on concrete are as follows:

A.Delayed setting: The rate of hydration of cement depends upon the temperature. If temperature is low, hydration

process will go slow and concrete takes a longer time to set to develop strength.
The setting period necessary before removal of formwork is thus increased.
B.Freezing of concrete at early age: When the temperature of concrete falls below freezing point, the free water held in the plastic

concrete freezes.
Due to freezing of water, concrete expands and hydration of cement will be stopped.
This will result in considerable loss of strength.
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C. Freezing and thawing:

When concrete is subjected to alternate cycle of freezing and thawing , its durability
is greatly impaired.

It has been found that even one cycle of freezing and thawing during the
prehardening period may reduce the compressive strength to 50% of what would be
expected for normal temperature concrete.

D. Stresses due to temperature differential:

In case of mass concreting in cold weather there will be a large temperature

differential due to higher temperature inside the mass which may promote micro
cracking and has harmful effect on durability of concrete.
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Hot weather concreting

Concreting in hot weather, especially in tropical countries and desert areas, where the
temperatures above 40C are reached, posses some problems.
High temperature and reduced relative humidity are the main climatic factors affecting
concrete.
In India, most of the areas are in tropical regions.
The procedure of concreting in hot-weather is et out in IS : 7861-1975 (Part-I).
The effects of hot-weather are as follows:-

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A. Rapid rate of hydration:

A higher temperature results in a more rapid hydration leading to quick setting, thus
reducing the handling time of concrete and also lowering the strength of hardened
concrete.

With the increase in the temperature of concrete, the workability of concrete decreases
and water demand increases.

The addition of water without proper adjustments in the mix proportions adversely
affects the ultimate quantity of concrete.

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B. Rapid evaporation of mixing water:

As mentioned earlier, due to high ambient temperature, the water mixed with the
concrete to give the required workability will be lost by evaporation. Therefore,
workability of concrete will be reduced.

Such concrete cannot be properly compacted and it will result in reduction in

strength.

The rate of evaporation depends on the ambient temperature, relative humidity and
wind speed.

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C. Rapid evaporation during curing:

Hot weather requires early and a continuous effort for curing, particularly when 53
grade cement is used.

If there is only lapse, the concrete surface dries up fast interrupts the continuous
hydration.

The subsequent wetting does not fully contribute to the development of full
strength.

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D. Air- entrainment:

At higher temperature it is difficult to control the air content in air-entrained

concrete.

For a given amount of air-entraining agent, hot concrete entrains less air than does
concrete at normal temperatures.

E. Increased tendency of cracking:

Rapid evaporation of mixing water leads to plastic shrinkage cracking and

subsequent cooling of hardened concrete introduces tensile stresses.

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Ready Mix Concrete (RMC)

A concrete whose constituents are weight-batched at a central batching plant, mixed
either at the plant itself or in truck mixers, and then transported to the construction site
and delivered in a condition ready to use, is known as ready mixed concrete (RMC).
This technique is very useful in congested sites or at diverse work places and saves the
consumer from the botheration of procurement, storage and handling of concrete
materials.
The use of ready mixed concrete is also advantageous when only small quantity of
concrete are required or when concrete is placed only at intervals.
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Concrete Mix Design

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Concrete Mix Design

Concrete mix design may be defined as the art of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete
and determining their relative proportions with the object of producing concrete of certain
minimum strength and durability as economically as possible.
Objectives of mix design: The purpose of concrete mix design is to ensure the most optimum proportions of the
constituent materials to fulfill the requirements of the structure being built.
Mix design should ensure the following objectives.
To achieve the designed/desired workability in the plastic stage.
To achieve the desired minimum strength in the hardened stage.
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 To achieve the desired durability in the given environmental conditions.

To produce concrete as economically as possible.

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Basic considerations

The following points must be considered while designing concrete mixes.

1.Cost
2.Specifications.
3.Workability
4.Strength and durability.

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cost
The cost of concrete is made up of (1) material cost
(2) equipment cost
(3) labour cost.
The variation in the cost of materials arises from the fact that cement is several times
costlier than aggregate.
So it is natural in mix design to aim at as lean a mix as possible.

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Specifications
The following points may be kept in mind while designing concrete mixes.
Minimum compressive strength required.
Maximum water/cement ratio.
Maximum cement content to avoid shrinkage cracks.
Maximum aggregate/cement ratio.
Maximum density of concrete in case of gravity dams.

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Workability

The following points related to workability shall be kept in mind while designing concrete

mixes.
The consistency of concrete should be no more than that necessary for placing, compacting

and finishing.
For concrete mixes requiring high consistency at the time of placing, the use of water

reducing and set-retarding admixtures should be used rather than the addition of more water.
Whenever possible, the cohesiveness and finishibility of concrete should be improved by

increasing sand/aggregate ratio rather than by increasing the proportion of the fine particles
in the sand.
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Strength and durability

Strength and durability require low w/c ratio.
It is usually achieved not by increasing the cement content, but by lowering the water
demand at a given cement content. Water demand can be lowered by through control of
the aggregate grading and by using water reducing admixtures.

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Nominal Mix concrete

The wide use of concrete as construction material has led to the use of mixes of fixed
proportions, which ensure adequate strength. These mixes are called nominal mixes.
They offer simplicity and under normal circumstances, have a margin of strength above
that specified.
Nominal mix concrete may be used for concrete of grade M 5, M 7.5, M 10, M 15 and
M 20.

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Design mix concrete

The concrete mix produced under quality control keeping in view the strength,
durability and workability is called the design mix.
Other factors like compaction equipment available, curing methods adopted, type of
cement, quality of fine and coarse aggregate etc. have to be kept in mind before
arriving at the mix proportion.
The design mix or controlled mix is being used more and more in variety of
important structures, because of better strength, reduced variability, leaner mixes
with consequent economy, as well as greater assurances of the resultant quality.
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Factors influencing the choice of mix

According to IS 456-2000 and IS 1343-1980, the important factors influencing the design of concrete mix are :
design
Grade of concrete
Type of cement
Maximum nominal size of aggregate
Grading of combined aggregate
Maximum water/cement ratio
Workability
Durability
Quality control

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Methods of Concrete Mix Design

I.S. method

A.C.I. method
Road Note-4 method
IRC -44 method
Arbitrary method
Maximum density method
Fineness modulus method
Surface area method
Mix design for high strength concrete
Mix design for pumpable concrete
DOE mix design method
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I.S. Method of Mix Design

The Bureau of Indian Standards, recommended a set of procedure for design of concrete
mix.
The mix design procedures are covered in IS : 10262-1982.
The IS recommended guidelines for mix design include the design of normal concrete
mixes for both medium and high strength concretes.

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Data for mix design

Characteristic compressive strength of concrete at 28 days.
Degree of workability desired.
Limitations on the water/cement ratio and the minimum cement to ensure adequate
durability.
Type and maximum size of aggregate to be used.
Standard deviation of compressive strength of concrete.

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I.S. Method Design Steps

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Step-1 target strength for mix design

The target average compressive strength of concrete at 28 days is given by ,
fck = fck + (t . S)

where fck = target average compressive strength at 28 days.

fck = characteristic compressive strength at 28 days.
s = standard deviation
t = a statistical value, depending upon the accepted proportion

of low results and the number of tests.

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 Value of t
Accepted proportion of low results

Value of t

1 in 5

0.84

1 in 10

1.28

1 in 15

1.50

1 in 20

1.65

1 in 40

1.86

1 in 100

2.33

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 According to IS : 456- 2000 and IS : 1343- 1980 the characteristic strength is defined as
the value below which not more than 5 % ( 1 in 20) results are expected fall. In such
cases, the above equation reduced to:
fck = fck + 1.65 . S
Grade of concrete

Assumed standard deviation

(s) N/mm2

M 10, M 15

3.5

M 20, M 25

4.0

M 30, M 35, M 40, M 45, M 50

5.0

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Step-2 Selection of water-cement

ratio

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Step-3 Estimation of Air-Content

Approximate amount of entrapped air to be expected in normal concrete is given by
.
Nominal

maximum

size

of Entrapped air, as percentage

aggregate (mm)

of volume of concrete (%)

10

3.0

20

2.0

40

1.0
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Step-4 selection of water content

and fine to total aggregate ratio
Approximate sand and water contents per cubic meter of concrete for grade up to M35.
w/c = 0.60, workability = 0.80 C.F.
Nominal

maximum Water content

per cubic Sand as % of total aggregate

size of aggregate (mm)

meter of concrete (kg)

by absolute volume

10

208

40

20

186

35

40

165

30

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 Approximate sand and water contents per cubic meter of concrete for grade above M35.
w/c = 0.35, workability = 0.80 C.F.

Nominal

maximum Water content

per cubic Sand as % of total aggregate

size of aggregate (mm)

meter of concrete (kg)

by absolute volume (%)

10

200

28

20
180
25
Adjustment of values in water content and sand % for other conditions.(P.T.O.)
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Change in condition stipulated

Adjustment required in
Water

Percent

sand

content

total aggregate

in

For sand confirming to grading zones I, III or IV of IS : 0

+1.5 % for zone I

383-1970

-1.5 % for zone III

(standard zone is II)

-3.0 % for zone IV

Increase or decrease in value of compacting factor by 3%

1.0 (Standard value = 0.80)

Each 0.05 increase or decrease in free water cement 0

1%

ratio. (standard value = 0.60)

For rounded
aggregate
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-15 Kg/m

-7 %

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Step-5 calculation of cement content

The cement content per unit volume of concrete may be calculated from the free watercement ratio obtained in step-2, and the quality of water per unit volume of concrete
obtained in step-4.
The cement content so obtained should be checked against the minimum cement content
for the requirements of durability as per table 5.4 (table-5, IS :456-2000) and the greater
of the two values adopted.

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Step-6 Calculation of aggregate

content

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 W = Mass of water (kg) per m of concrete.

C = Mass cement (kg) per m of concrete.
Sc = specific gravity of cement, say 3.15
p = ratio of fine aggregate to total aggregate by absolute volume.
fa, Ca = total masses of fine aggregate and coarse aggregate (kg) per m of concrete
respectively.
Sfa, Sca = specific gravities of saturated surface dry fine aggregate and coarse aggregate
respectively.
Normally Sfa = 2.6 and Sca = 2.7 are used.
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ACI Method of design mix

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 In the USA, the method suggested by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) is widely
used.
The ACI method is based on the fact that for a given maximum size of well graded
aggregate water content is largely independent of mix proportions, i.e. water content is
constant regardless of various in water/cement ratio and cement content.
The method further assumes that the optimum ratio of the bulk volume of coarse
aggregate to the total volume of concrete depends only on the maximum size of
aggregate and on the grading of fine aggregate regardless of shape of particles.

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Step-1 Data to be collected

Finess modulus of F.A.
Unit weight of dry rodded C.A.
Specific gravity of FA and CA saturated surface dry condition.
Specific gravity of cement.
Absorption characteristics of both CA and FA.

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Step-2 Calculate mean design strength,

from the minimum strength specified,
using standard deviation:

Grade of concrete

Assumed standard deviation

(s) N/mm2

M 10, M 15
M 20, M 25

3.5
4.0

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Accepted proportion of low results

Value of t

1 in 5

0.84

1 in 10

1.28

1 in 15

1.50

1 in 20

1.65

1 in 40

1.86

1 in 100

2.33

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Step- 3 Estimation of Water-cement

Water-cement
ratio ratio is estimated from the table for the mean design strength.
Average compressive strength at 28 days
MPa

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Effective water-cement ratio (by mass)

Non-air entrained concrete

Air-entrained concrete

45

0.38

40

0.43

35

0.48

0.40

30

0.55

0.46

25

0.62

0.53

20

0.70

0.61

15

0.80

0.71
66

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Step-4 minimum water cement and

entrapped
content
Decide maximum sizeair
of aggregate to be used. Generally for RCC work 20 mm and for
prestressed concrete 10 mm size are used.
Decide workability in terms of slump for the type of job in hand. Recommended value
of slump for various types of construction as given by ACI 211-1-91 is given in table:

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Step- 5 cement content

Cement content is computed by dividing the water content by the water/cement ratio.

Step- 6 Bulk volume of dry rodded

coarse aggregate per unit volume of
concrete
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Step-7 The weight of CA per cubic

meter of concrete is calculated by
multiplying the bulk volume with bulk
density of CA
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Step-8 Estimation of density of fresh

concrete

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Step9
absolute
volumes
of
ingredients per cubic meter of concrete
are obtained by knowing the specific
gravity
of
cement,
water,
CA and FA

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Step-10 Trial mix proportions are

calculated and adjustments for filed
conditions like free moisture and water
absorption by aggregate are made

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Step-11 A trial mix is then made to

study the properties of concrete in
respect of workability, cohesiveness,
finishing
quality
and
28
day
compressive strength. The proportions
of CA and FA may be changed to get
desired properties.
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