4.

CONCRETE MIX DESIGN

4.1 Introduction
• The required properties of hardened concrete
are specified by the designer of the structure.
• The required properties of fresh concrete are
governed by:
• The type of construction
• Techniques of transporting and placing
• Traditionally, nominal mixes were used.
• Water/cement ratio is not specified for
nominal mixes
• Arbitrarily fixed nominal mix proportions
have limited significance as they give little
consideration to the materials used
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.1 Introduction cont’
• Concrete mix design is the process of selecting
suitable ingredients of concrete and determining
their relative quantities in concrete with the aim
of producing an economical concrete with certain
minimum properties, notably: workability,
strength and durability
• The proportions are controlled by factors that
govern the plastic and the hardened states of
concrete.
• The ease of placement of concrete is governed by
the workability, while its durability is related
primarily to the water/cement ratio
• It is important that the prescribed method of
compaction is used during the entire process of
construction.
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.1 Introduction cont’

• The properties that have to be satisfied include:

• Maximum water/cement ratio
• Minimum cement content
• Minimum strength
• Minimum workability
• Maximum size of aggregate
• Air content within specified limits
• For concrete to have proper cohesiveness and a
smooth finish, the minimum amount of fine
aggregate passing the 300-micron sieve should
be at least 15% and that passing 150-micron
sieve, be at least 3–4% of the total quantity of
fine aggregates.
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.1 Introduction cont’
• Popular methods of mix design:
• Indian Standard method
• Road Research Laboratory (RRL) method
• Department of Environment (DOE) method
• American Concrete Institute (ACI) method
• Surface Index method
• Trial Mix method
• Maximum Density method
• Minimum Voids method
• Fineness Modulus method
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.2 Factors considered
• 4.2.1 Water/cement ratio

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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.2 Factors considered
• 4.2.1 Water/cement ratio

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 Figure
19.1

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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.2 Factors considered
• For concrete containing not more than 2% for
non-air-entrained concrete and 6% for air-
entrained concrete
• Based on concrete with maximum size of
aggregate of 20mm to 25mm
• When pozzolana or slag is used in concrete,
the water/cementitious material ratio by mass
has to be considered.
• Partial replacement of cement by pozzolana
generally reduces strength at early ages
• Pozzolana is mainly used for mass concrete, in
which the reduction of heat of hydration is of
paramaount importance and the early strength
is of less significance
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.2 Factors considered
• Use of PFA, an artificial pozzolana, results in
better workability and reduced water
requirement.
• Strength specified is that of the 28th day
• High strength concrete, above 40 MPa
• The mix design gives mass, in kg, of the
different ingredients required to make 1m3 of
compacted concrete.
• After the proportions of the ingredients are
finalized, about 0.03m3 of concrete is prepared
for casting of 6 cubes of 150-mm size and for
conducting the slump and V-B time test.
• Three cubes are required for the compressive
strength test at 7 days and three for the test at
28 days.
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 4. CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
4.3 Factors considered
• 4.2.2 Type of cement
• The type of cement is chosen based on:
• Required rate of strength development
• Likelihood of chemical attack
• Thermal consideration
• 4.2.3 Durability
• The water/cement ratio is a fundamental factor in
permeability of cement paste and concrete.
• The minimum cover should always be greater than
size of the reinforcement bar and the maximum
nominal size of the aggregate
• Air-entrainment is important under conditions of
freezing/thawing and exposure to de-icing salts
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 Cements
for various
conditions
of Sulfate
attack

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 Sulfate
Strength
attack in class for
ground durable
water concrete

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Minimum cover
for reinforced
or pre-
stressed Carbonation
concrete and Chloride
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exposed to attack
different
Minimum cover
for reinforced
or pre-
stressed
concrete
exposed to
different
conditions

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 Minimum
cementitiou
s material
content for
various
maximum
sizes of
aggregates

W/C for
durability
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Special
conditions

Effective free
water is difficult
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light weight
 Protection of
reinforcements

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 Resist
freezing and
thawing

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 ** Continuous
* Occasional
exposure to
exposure to
moisture prior
moisture prior
to freezing or
to freezing and
where de-
where no de-
icing salts are
icing salts are
used e.g
used e.g.
bridge decks,
exterior walls,
pavements,
beams,
Dr. slabs
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sidewalks and
not in contact
water tanks
4.2.4 Workability and water content

Choose th level
of workability

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 Choose the
level of
workability

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 Estimate amount of
water per unit volume
ACI

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 Estimate amount of
water per unit volume
- ACI

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Estimate amount of water per unit volume BS
Method

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• The BS method differentiates between
crushed and uncrushed aggregates
• In the case of air-entrained concrete, the
free water content is selected for the
next less-workable category of Table 19.5
• In the British method, the estimated
water content of a Portland-cement-only
mix is reduced by the amounts of Table
19.6

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Reduction in the free water content BS Method

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4.2.5 Choice of Grading of sand
aggregate

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4.2.5 Choice of Grading of coarse
aggregates –
aggregate
nominal & single
size BS

Max 40mm

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Max 40mm

Grading of coarse
aggregates –
nominal & single
size ASTM

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Max 40mm

Grading of coarse
aggregates – all-
in-aggregates BS

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 Max 40mm
When the maximum size of aggregate is 40mm or
smaller, an approximate guide for dividing the
coarse aggregate into size fractions (as %) is
given below.

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 Max Greater than
40mm
For mass concrete with a maximum size aggregate
For mass concrete with a maximum size aggregate
greater than 40mm, the aggregates fractions are
combined to give maximum density and minimum
air voids. A parabolic grading curve for the
percentage of material passing a sieve size
represents the ideal grading.

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Max Greater than
40mm

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Idealized combined grading for 150mm and 75mm nominal
maximum size of aggregate

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 Consider 4
fraction sizes
55, 28, 13 =
1:0.5:0.28:0.29

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 4.2.6 Cement content

4.2.7 Aggregate content

4.3 Trial Mixes

4.4 Examples

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