4.4.

MIX DESIGN

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 4.4. MIX DESIGN
 The proportioning of concrete mixtures, more commonly

referred to as mix design, is a process that consists of two

interrelated steps:

1. selection of the suitable ingredients (cement,

aggregate, water and admixtures) of concrete and

2. determining their relative quantities (“proportioning”)

 To produce, as economically as possible,

possible concrete of the
appropriate workability,
workability strength and durability.
durability
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  Goals:
 Maximize strength
 minimize water

control bleeding & segregation

 Reduce Cost
 use largest gravel possible for the job

minimize paste requirement

 Provide good durability

 use well graded aggregates

minimize void packing
 reduced segregation

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 Mix Design Methods

 Some of the prevalent concrete mix design methods are:

 ACI:
ACI American Concrete Institute Mix Design Method,
 DOE:
DOE Department of Environment Mix design practice
(British),
 DIN Mix design Method (German)
 IS:
IS Indian Standard Mix Design Method

Among the various standard methods of concrete mix design ACI

methods is generally accepted in Ethiopian mix design practice.

Because the selection of concrete proportions involving a balance

between reasonable economy and requirements for place ability,
strength and durability.

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 ACI Standard Mix Design
Method
 The standard ACI mix design procedure can be
divided up into 8 basic steps:

1. Choice of slump
2. Maximum aggregate size selection
3. Mixing water and air content selection
4. Water-cement ratio
5. Cement content
6. Coarse aggregate content
7. Fine aggregate content
8. Adjustments for aggregate moisture
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 Procedures for Determining Mix Proportions

The job specification may indicate some or all of the

following information:
 Sieve analyses of fine and coarse aggregates
 Bulk specific gravities and absorption of aggregates.
 Natural moisture content of aggregates
 Fineness modulus of fine aggregates
 S.G of Portland cement, or other cementing materials
 Air content
 Slump
 Maximum size of aggregate
 Characteristic compressive Strength
 Dry rodded mass of C.A
 Sometimes, Details specification of structural element. i.e. severity
or exposure, thickness of slab and congestion of reinforcement.
6  Maximum or minimum cement content
 Establishment of Batch Weights
 Step 1: Choice of Slump

 If slump is not specified, a value appropriate for the work can be

selected from Table1.

Table 1: Recommended Slumps for Various Types of Construction*

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*Slump may be increased when chemical admixtures are

used, provided that the admixture-treated concrete has the

same or lower water-cement ratio and does not exhibit
segregation potential or excessive bleeding.
 **May be increased 25 mm for methods of consolidation

other than vibration

 Step 2: Choice of Maximum Size of Aggregate

 1/3 of the slab depth.

 3/4 of the minimum clear space between bars/form.

 1/5 minimum dimension of non-reinforced member or C/C between

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bars.
Step 3: Estimation of Mixing Water and Air Content

 The quantity of water per unit volume of concrete required

to produce a given slump is dependent on:

 The nominal maximum size

 Particle shape
 Grading of the aggregates
 Concrete temperature
 Amount of entrained air
 Use of chemical admixtures

 Slump is not greatly affected by the quantity of cement.

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  Table 2 provides estimates of required mixing water for

concrete made with various maximum sizes of

aggregate, with and without air entrainment and Slump
values.

 Depending on aggregate texture and shape, mixing water

requirements may be somewhat above or below the

tabulated values, but they are sufficiently accurate for the
first estimate.

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 Table 2: Approximate Mixing water and air content requirements
for different slumps and nominal maximum sizes of aggregates

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Step 4: Selection of Water – Cement Ratio

 Selection of water-cement ratio w/c is determined not only by

strength requirements but also by factors such as durability.

 With typical materials, the w/c ratios given on Table 3

produce the strength shown, based on 28-day tests of

specimens cured under standard laboratory conditions.

 The average strength selected must exceed the specified

strength by a sufficient margin to keep the number of low

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tests within specific limits.
 Table 3: Relationships between Water-Cement Ratio and
Compressive Strength of Concrete

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 Step 5: Calculation of Cement Content

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Step 6: Estimation of Coarse Aggregate Content

 Aggregates of essentially the same nominal maximum size

and grading will produce concrete of satisfactory workability

when a given volume of coarse aggregate, on an oven-dry-
rodded basis, is used per unit volume of concrete.

 Appropriate values for this aggregate volume are given in

Table 4. It can be seen that, for equal workability, the

volume of coarse aggregate in a unit volume of concrete is
dependent only on its nominal maximum size C.A and
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fineness modus of the F.A.
  The dry mass of coarse aggregate required for a cubic

meter of concrete is equal to the value from Table 4

multiplied by the dry-rodded unit weight of the aggregate in
kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m³).

Weight of C.A = Value from table 4 * dry-rodded

unit weight of C.A

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Table 4: Volume of Coarse Aggregate per unit of Volume
of Concrete

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 Step 7: Estimation of Fine Aggregate Content
 At completion of Step 6, all ingredients of the concrete
have been estimated except the fine aggregate.
 There are two standard methods to establish the fine
aggregate content: - Mass (Weight) method and Absolute
Volume method.

Step 7.1: Mass basis:

 If the weight of the concrete per unit volume is assumed,

the required weight of fine aggregate is simply the
difference between the weight of fresh concrete and the
total weight of the other ingredients.
 Table 5 can be used to make a first estimate of the unit
weight of concrete.
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 Table 5: First Estimate of Mass of Fresh Concrete

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 Step 7.2: Absolute volume basis:

Volume method is preferred, as it is somewhat exact

procedure.

The volume of F.A is found by subtracting the Vw, Va, Vc,

and Vca from the total volume of concrete.

 The volume occupied in concrete by any ingredient is

equal to its Weight divided by the density of that material
(the latter being the product of the unit weight of water
and the specific gravity of the material).

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Step 8: Adjustment for Aggregate Moisture
 The aggregate quantities actually to be weighed out for the
concrete must allow for moisture in the aggregates.

 Generally, the aggregates will be moist and their dry

weights should be increased by the percentage of water
they contain, both absorbed and surface.

 The mixing water added to the batch must be reduced by

an amount equal to the free moisture contributed by the
aggregate, i.e. total moisture minus absorption.

 To convert from Oven-dry (OD) to Saturated Surface Dry

(SSD) weights, multiply by (1+absorption capacity)
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 Mix Design Example
1) Concrete is required for a portion of a structure that will be below
a ground level in a location where it will not be exposed to severe
weathering or sulfate attack. Structural considerations require it
to have an average 28-day compressive strength of 24 MPa with
slump of 75 to 100 mm. The coarse aggregate has a nominal
maximum size of 37.5mm dry-rodded mass of 1600 kg/m3.
Ordinary Portland cement will be used and its specific gravity is
assumed to be 3.15. The coarse aggregate has a bulk specific
gravity of 2.68 and an absorption of 0.5%. The fine aggregate
has a bulk specific gravity of 2.64, an absorption of 0.7% and a
FM of 2.8.

Tests indicate total moisture of 2% in the C.A and 6% in the F.A.

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Solution:
Step 1:Choice of the slump

The slump is required to be 75 to 100 mm.

Step 2:Choice of Maximum Size of Aggregate

The aggregate to be used has a nominal max size of

37.5mm

Step 3:Estimation of Mixing Water and Air Content

The concrete will be non-air entrained since the structure

is not exposed to severe weathering. From table 2 the
estimated mixing water for a slump of 75 to 100 mm in
non-air entrained concrete made with 37.5mm aggregate
is found to be 181 kg/m3.
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Step 4:Selection of Water – Cement Ratio

The water-cement ratio for non-air entrained concrete with

strength of 24 Mpa is found from table 3 to be 0.62.

Step 5:Calculation of Cement Content

From the information developed in step 3 and 4 the required

cement content is found to be 181/0.62 = 292 kg/m3.

Step 6:Estimation of Coarse Aggregate Content.

For a fine aggregate having a FM of 2.8 and 37.5 mm

nominal maximum size C.A, the table (4) indicated that
0.71 m3 of C.A, on a dry-rodded basis, may be used in each
cubic meter of concrete.
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 Weight of C.A = Value from table 4 * dry-rodded unit weight
of C.A
The required dry mass is therefore, 0.71*1600 = 1136 kg.

Step 7: Estimation of Fine Aggregate Content

With the quantities of water, cement, and coarse aggregate

established, the remaining material comprising the cubic meter

of concrete must consist of fine aggregate and whatever air will
be entrapped.
The required fine aggregate may be determined on the basis
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of either mass or absolute volume as shown below.
  Step 7.1 Mass basis:

 From table 5, the mass of a cubic meter of non-air-

entrained concrete made with aggregate having a nominal

maximum size of 37.5 mm is estimated to be 2410kg.

Mass already known are:

 Water (net mixing) 181 kg
 Cement 292 kg
 Coarse aggregate 1136 kg
 Total 1609 kg

 The mass of fine aggregate, therefore, is estimated to be

26 2410-1609 = 801 kg.

  Step 7.2 Absolute volume basis:

 With the quantities of cement, water and coarse aggregate

established, and the approximate entrapped air content (as

opposed to purposely entrained air) of 1 percent
determined from table 2 the sand content can be calculated
as follows:

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Volume of entrapped air = 0.01 * 1 = 0.010 m3
Total solid volume of ingredients = 0.708 m3
except fine aggregate

Solid volume of the F.A = 1- 0.708 = 0.292 m3

required

Required weight of = 0.292*2.64*1000=771 kg

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dry fine aggregate
 Step 7.3:

 Both masses per cubic meter of concrete calculated on the

two bases are compared below:

Based On Based On Absolute

Estimated Volume Of
Concrete Mass, Kg Ingredients, Kg

Water (net 181 181

mixing)
Cement 292 292

Coarse 1136 1136

aggregate (dry)
Sand (dry) 801 771
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 Step 8: Adjustment for Aggregate Moisture

 Tests indicate total moisture of 2% in the coarse aggregate

and 6% in the fine aggregate. If the trial batch proportions
based on assumed concrete mass are used, the adjusted
aggregate masses become:

Coarse aggregate (wet) = 1136 (1.02) = 1159 kg

Fine aggregate (wet) = 801 (1.06) = 849 kg

 Absorbed water must does not become part of the mixing

water and must be excluded from the adjustment in added
water.

 Thus, surface water contributed by the coarse aggregate

amounts to 2-0.5 = 1.5 percent; by the fine aggregate 6-0.7
= 5.3 percent
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  The estimated requirement for added water, therefore,
becomes:

181 - 1136 (0.015) - 801 (0.053) = 122 kg

 The estimated batch masses for a cubic meter of concrete

are:

Water (to be added)……..........................122 kg

Cement……………………………………..292 kg
Coarse aggregate (wet)…………………1159 kg
Sand (wet)………………………………….849 kg
Total………………………………………..2422 kg

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