Depending on the component material, the mix design, the technique of construction, the region of application, and the form of hydration reaction, several distinct varieties of concrete can be formed. In this article, the many different kinds of concrete, their characteristics, and the uses for each are broken down in detail.
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Concrete: What is it?
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Concrete is a composite material that is made up of different sizes of aggregate that are held together with a fluid cement and allowed to solidify over time. Concrete is the second-most-used material in the world after water and is the most widely used building material.
Concrete can be found virtually everywhere, such as in buildings, bridges, walls, swimming pools, motorways, airport runways, floors, patios, and even houses made entirely of cement. All of these structures are dependent on an artificial material that can be described using a straightforward formula.
Cement, water, and coarse particles are the three main components of concrete. When combined, the two substances produce a building material that, after being let to sit. The qualities of concrete are determined by the amounts of water and cement that are used, and these features include:
- Strength
- Durability
- Resistance to heat or radiation
- Workability
Fresh concrete can be used for a variety of purposes and moulded into a variety of shapes, including circles, rectangles, squares, and more. In addition to that, it can be used for things like stairs, columns, doors, beams, lentils, and a variety of other common constructions.
Concrete is produced in a variety of grades, the most common of which are normal, standard, and high-strength grades. These grades provide an indication of the concrete’s strength as well as how it will be used in the building industry.
Concrete: How is it made?
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When you produce concrete, it doesn’t matter what you want to use it for; the important thing is to combine the proportions in precise amounts to get the quality you want.
Nominal mix
This mixture is used in typical building projects, such as the construction of modest residential buildings. The ratio of 1:2:4 is the most common one used for nominal blends. The first number represents the required ratio of cement, the second number represents the required ratio of sand, and the third number represents the required ratio of aggregate depending on the weight or volume of the materials.
Design mix
To estimate the compressive strength of the combination, the “design mix,” also known as the “mix design,” depends on proportions that were determined via laboratory testing. Because of this, the structural design of the concrete component will help define the level of strength that is required.
The amount of concrete you intend to produce, as well as its quality, will determine the kind of mixing you utilise. These are:
Machine mixing: Machine mixing is characterised by the use of many kinds of pieces of machinery. After the components have been loaded into the machine, the mixture is subsequently made. The end product is newly mixed concrete.
Hand mixing: When using hand mixing, the contents are spread out on a level surface before beginning the mixing process. After that, workers add water and manually mix the cement using specialised equipment that was created specifically for the job.
Concrete: 23 types of concrete and their applications
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The following is a list of all 23 types of concrete:
Normal strength concrete
The concrete that is formed by combining the fundamental elements of cement, water and aggregate will offer us normal strength concrete. Various types of concrete can have strengths ranging from 10 MPa to 40 MPa. The first setting time for concrete of average strength might range anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the characteristics of the cement used and the building site’s weather at the time.
Plain concrete
The plain concrete won’t have any reinforcements mixed into it at all. Cement, aggregates, and water are the primary components that make up the whole. The typical mix design, which consists of a ratio of 1:2:4, is the most frequent mix design that is employed. The density of the plain concrete can range anywhere from 2200 to 2500 kilogrammes per cubic metre. Compressive strength ranges from 200 to 500 kg/cm² depending on the material. Pavements and structures are two of the most common applications for these varieties of concrete, particularly in regions with a lower requirement for very high tensile strength. The amount of durability that these particular types of concrete provide is, to a large degree, sufficient.
Lightweight concrete
Concrete is referred to as lightweight concrete if its density is lower than 1920 kg/m³. The density of the concrete is mostly determined by the aggregates, which constitute an essential component of the mixture. Lightweight aggregates are used for the production of lightweight concrete. Pumice, perlites, and scoria are all types of aggregates that fall under the category of having a low weight. The lightweight concrete is employed for the protection of steel structures and is also used for the building of long-span bridge decks. These are also used in the manufacturing process while creating the building blocks.
High-Density concrete
The term “heavyweight concrete” refers to concrete that has densities that range from 3,000 to 4,000 kg/m³, and this concrete can be rather dense. Aggregates of a significant weight are used here. The rocks that have been crushed are what are known as coarse aggregates. Barytes is the kind of high-weight aggregate that is used most often. The most prevalent use for aggregates of this kind is in the building of nuclear power plants and other similar kinds of structures. The construction will be better able to withstand any and all types of radiations because of the large weight aggregate.
Air entrained concrete
These are varieties of concrete into which air is purposefully entrained for a quantity ranging from 3% to 6% of the total volume of the concrete. The use of foams or gas-foaming agents allows for the incorporation of air into the concrete, which is known as entrainment. Resins, alcohols, and fatty acids are all types of substances that can be used as air-entraining agents.
Reinforced concrete
It is described as the concrete to which reinforcement is added to withstand the tensile strength, and this kind of concrete is known as reinforced cement concrete. Concrete, in its most basic form, has poor tensile strength but excellent compressive strength. As a result, the location of reinforcement will be responsible for carrying the tensile stresses instead. R.C.C., or Reinforced Cement Concrete, is effective because of the synergistic interaction between the reinforcement and the plain concrete.
The steel reinforcement that is utilised in the concrete might come in the shape of meshes, rods, or bars. Sometimes it’s even employed in bar form. Reinforcement can now be achieved via the use of fibres as well. The term “fibre-reinforced concrete” refers to a kind of concrete that is strengthened by the addition of fibres (often steel fibres).
The creation of fibre-reinforced concrete requires the use of meshes in concrete. It is essential to guarantee that a suitable bond is formed between the concrete and the reinforcement, and this is true regardless of the kind of reinforcement that is utilised in the concrete. Due to this relationship, both the strength and the durability of the concrete will be under its control.
Ready mix concrete
Ready-mix concrete is a term used to describe concrete that has been mixed and conditioned at a central mixing facility. A truck-mounted transit mixer is used to bring the concrete that has been mixed to the location where it is needed. After it has been delivered to the location, this can be utilised immediately without requiring any more processing. Ready-mixed concrete is very accurate, and specialised concrete can be created according to the specification while maintaining the highest possible level of quality.
A centralised mixing facility is going to be essential for the production of various types of concrete. These plants will be placed at a distance from the building site that can be customised to meet your needs. If the transportation takes too long, then the concrete will firm up. This will be an undesirable outcome. The use of retarding agents, which delay the setting, is one way that problems related to time delay might be resolved.
Prestressed concrete
The vast majority of mega-concrete projects are executed with the assistance of precast prestressed concrete components. The bars or the tendons that are used in the concrete are pre-stressed in this particular method, which comes before the application of the real service load. These tensioned bars were set in place securely and held from either end of the structural unit while the concrete was being mixed and put. Once the concrete sets and hardens, the structural unit will be placed under compression.
Due to this process of prestressing, the bottom area of the concrete will become more resistant to strain. The procedure of prestressing will call for the use of heavy equipment in addition to skilled manual work (jacks and equipment for tensioning). As a result, the prestressing units are created in the location where they will ultimately be assembled. In the construction of bridges, other heavily laden buildings, and roofs with larger spans, they are often used.
Precast concrete
Various structural components can be fabricated and cast in the factory following the requirements and then brought to the construction site to be assembled. Such concrete components are referred to as precast concrete. Examples of precast concrete units include concrete blocks, staircase units, precast walls and poles, concrete lintels and many more features. The only need for the manufacture of these units is assembly, which results in significant time savings throughout the process. The quality can never be compromised because the manufacture happens on-site. The sole care taken is for their transit.
Polymer concrete
The aggregates in polymer concrete, as opposed to being tied together with cement as they are in traditional concrete, will instead be bound with the polymer. The manufacture of polymer concrete will aid in the decrease of the volume of voids in the aggregate. This will therefore result in a reduction in the quantity of polymer that is required to bind the aggregates that are used. Consequently, the aggregates are graded and blended suitably to create the lowest voids hence maximum density. This kind of concrete has numerous categories:
- Polymer impregnated concrete
- Polymer cement concrete
- Partially impregnated polymer concrete
High-strength concrete
High-strength concrete is defined as concrete with a strength of at least 40 MPa more than standard concrete. It is possible to attain this improved strength by lowering the water-to-cement ratio even more than 0.35. The insertion of silica fumes results in a reduction in the amount of calcium hydroxide crystals, which are the primary product of concern during the hydration process for the strength qualities. When it comes to performance, high-strength concrete should have a lower performance in terms of its workability, which is a problem.
High-performance concrete
This concrete is designed to meet a certain standard, but its strength will in no way be restricted in any way. It is essential to keep in mind that even high-strength concrete can be made into high-performance varieties. However, high-strength concrete does not always come from a high-performance concrete mix. The following is a list of standards that must be met to adhere to high-performance concrete:
- Convenient positioning of the concrete
- Both permeability and density
- The heat produced by hydration
- Longevity and resistance
- Durability, in addition to long-term mechanical characteristics
- Environmental issues
Self – consolidated concrete
Concrete that, once laid, will compress under its own weight to form a solid mass is referred to as self-consolidated concrete. There must be no vibration offered for the same independently. This mixture is easier to deal with than the others. The value of the collapse will fall somewhere between 650 and 750. This type of concrete is frequently referred to as “flowing concrete” since it is so simple to deal with. Self-consolidating concrete performs very well in regions that include substantial amounts of reinforcement.
Shotcrete concrete
In this case, the kind of concrete used and how it is applied to the area that will be cast are different. With the assistance of a nozzle, the concrete is fired into the framework or the structural formwork that has been prepared. While the shooting is being done in an environment with greater air pressure, both the placement and the compaction processes will be happening simultaneously.
Permeable concrete
Concrete that is built to be water-permeable is referred to as pervious or permeable concrete. This kind of concrete enables water to travel through it. When these kinds of concrete are built, the volume of the concrete will have voids that range from 15 to 20 % of the total volume. The creation of the pervious concrete involves a one-of-a-kind mixing technique, as well as performance, application, and other procedures. In areas that continue to have problems with stormwater, they are employed in the building of driveways and pavements. These pervious concrete pavements will allow the stormwater to flow through them and reach the groundwater underneath. As a result, the majority of the drainage problems have been resolved.
Vacuum concrete
In vacuum concrete, the formwork is filled with concrete that has a water content that is more than the necessary amount. After that, the surplus water is extracted with the assistance of a vacuum pump before waiting for the concrete to complete its setting process. When compared to the conventional method of construction, this means that the concrete structure or the platform will be available for usage at an earlier stage. This concrete will achieve its 28-day compressive strength within ten days, and the crushing strength of these structures is 25% larger when compared with the crushing strength of ordinary concrete kinds.
Pumped concrete
The ability of concrete to be transported to greater heights is one of its primary properties, and it is particularly important for the construction of high-rise buildings and other large-scale megastructures. Therefore, the design of pumped concrete will arise from one of the properties of concrete, which is that it can be readily pumped. The concrete that is used for pumping has to have a sufficient level of workability for it to be readily transported through the pipe. The pipe that will be used will either be stiff or a flexible hose, and it will be used to discharge the concrete to the location that was selected.
The concrete that is utilised must have a fluid consistency and include an adequate amount of fine particles in addition to the water to completely fill the cavities. The bigger the amount of material with a finer particle size that is employed, the more control that can be gained on the mix. The coarse aggregate that is utilised must have a consistent grade throughout its whole.
Stamped concrete
Stamped concrete is a kind of architectural concrete that can be imprinted with patterns that are lifelike and realistic, resembling natural stones, granites, and tiles. These designs are created by using professional stamping pads. When the concrete is in its plastic state, the stamping process is carried out on the surface of the material. The use of a variety of colour stains and texture work will ultimately result in a finish that is quite comparable to more expensive genuine stones. A stamped finish provides a high aesthetic appeal at a lower cost than other finishes. Driveways, interior flooring, and patios are all common places for their use in buildings.
Limecrete
Lime is used instead of cement in this form of concrete, which results in a different type of concrete. The primary uses for this product are vaults, domes, and floors. Other applications include domes. This cement, on the other hand, has many positive effects on both the environment and human health. These goods have a long lifespan and are simple to disinfect.
Glass concrete
The glass that has been recycled can be used in place of aggregates in concrete. As a result, we have a block of concrete that is more appropriate for contemporary times: glass concrete. The visual appeal of the concrete will be improved as a result of this concrete. In addition, they provide superior thermal insulation and long-term strength.
Asphalt concrete
To pave roads, parking lots, and airports, as well as to form the core of embankment dams, asphalt concrete is used. It is a composite material that is a blend of aggregates and asphalts. In North America, asphalt concrete is also referred to as asphalt, blacktop, or pavement. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, however, asphalt concrete is referred to as tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt.
Roller-compacted concrete
These are slabs of concrete that were laid down and compacted with the assistance of machinery designed for moving dirt, such as large rollers. This concrete is used most often for purposes relating to excavation and filling. This concrete has a lower cement concentration than others, yet it is dense enough to fill the required space. After being compacted, this concrete produces a high density and, after fully cured, transforms into a solid monolithic block.
Rapid strength concrete
As the name suggests, the strength of this concrete will begin to develop just a few hours after it has been manufactured. Because of this, removing the formwork is made easier, and as a result, the building construction is completed more quickly. Because it can be reused after just a few hours, it has a broad range of applications in the field of road rehabilitation.
FAQs:
Can you explain concrete in simple terms?
Concrete is an engineering material that mimics the qualities of rock and consists of particles that are tightly linked. It is only a mixture of aggregates, which are often natural sand, gravel, or crushed rock.
What is the most popular concrete type?
The most widespread kind of concrete is standard ready-mixed concrete. The quality of the concrete is ensured since it is not mixed on the building site but rather at a concrete factory.
What is the best concrete mixture?
Four-two-one is the safest bet for any concrete mix: Four parts crushed rock, two parts sand, and one part cement are mixed together.
