SECTION 5 PRINCIPLES OF CONCRETE MIX DESIGN ‘5.1 Basic Considerations — Design of concrete mixes involves determination of the proportions of the given constituents, name- ly, cement, water, coarse and fine aggregates and admixtures, if any, which would pro- duce concrete possessing specified properties both in the fresh and hardened states with the maximum overall economy. Workabilty is specified as the important property of con- crete in the fresh state; for hardened state compressive strength and durability are important. The mix design is, therefore, generally carried out for a particular com- pressive strength of concrete with adequate ‘workability so that fresh concrete can be properly placed and compacted, and to achieve the required durability. In special situations, concrete can be designed for flex- ural strength of, for that matter, for any other specific property of concrete! ‘The proportioning of concrete mixes is accomplished by the,use of certain relation- ships established from experimental data, which afford reasonably accurate guide to select the best combination of ingredients so a to achieve the desirable properties. The following basic assumptions are made in design of plastic concrete mixes of medium strength: 4) The compressive strength of concrete is governed by its water-cement ratio, and b) For a given aggregate characteristics, the workability of concrete is governed by its water content. For high strength concrete mixes of low workability, considerable interaction occurs between these two criteria and validity of such assumptions may become limited. Moreover, there are various other factors which affect the properties of concrete, for example, the quality and quantity of cement, water and aggregates; procedures of batch- ‘ing, mixing, placing, compaction and cur- ing, etc. Therefore, the specific relationships that are used in’ proportioning concrete mixes should be considered only as a basis for trial mixes. Further modifications are necessary at the site based on the situation as well as specific materials available, It is noted that a design in the strict sense 9s of the word is not possible in relation to con- crete mix proportioning. Concrete making materials are essentially variable and the two ‘basic assumptions enumerated above may not be held to be quantitatively exact under all situations. If more accurate relationships between the proportions of materials and the properties of conerete (for example, reta- tionship’ between compressive strength and water-cement ratio or water content and workability) are available, they should be used. Mix design on the basis of recommend- ‘ed guidelines is really a process of making an initial guess at the optimum combination of ingredients and final mix proportions is ‘obtained only on the basis of further trial sixes, 5.2 Factors in the Choice of Mix Design — Both 1S : 456-1978 as well as IS ; 1343-1980" envisage that design of con- crete mix be based on the following factors: 8) Grade designation, b) Type of cement, c) Maximum nominal size of agere- gates, 4) Minimum water-cement ratio, ©) Workability, and f) Minimum cement content. Out of these, the grade designation gives the characteristic strength requirement of concrete, Depending upon the level of quali- ty control available at the site, the concrete mix has to be designed for a target mean strength (see 4.1.4) somewhat higher than the characteristic strength. ‘The workability of concrete for satisfac. tory placing and compaction is related to the size and shape of the section to be concreted, the quantity and spacing of reinforcement, and the methods to be employed for transportation, placing and compaction of concrete. A guide to workability require- ments for different conditions of placing is described in Section 3 (see 3.1.3). The type of cement is important mainly through its influence on the rate of develop- ‘ment of compressive strength of concrete as well as durability under aggressive en- vironments. The different types of cementsSP : 23-1982 that can be used with the approval of the Engineer-in-Charge are discussed in 2.1 From among the different types of cements available, the Engineer-in-Charge is required to make his choice depending upon the re- quirements of performance at hand. Where very high compressive strength is required, for example, in prestressed concrete railway sleepers, high strength ordinary Portland ce- ment conforming to 1S : 8112-1976° will be found suitable. Where an early strength development is required, rapid hardening Portland cement conforming to IS ; 8041- 19788 is preferable. On the other hand in situations where heat of hydration has to be limited, for example, in mass concrete con- structions, low heat Portland cement confor- ming to IS : 269-1976" is preferable. Portland pozzolana cement and Portland slag cement are permitted for use in rein- foreed concrete constructions; while Portland slag cement is also permitted for prestressed concrete constructions. With such blended cements, the rate of develop- ment of early strength may be somewhat slower. On the other hand, these blended cements render greater durability to the con- crete in silphatic, environment and sea water. The requirements of durability are achieved by limitations in terms of minimum cement content, the type of cement and the maximum water-cement ratio, as discussed in detail in Section 3. ‘The maximum nominal size of aggregates to be used in concrete is governed by the size of the section and spacing of the reinforcement. Both IS : 456-1978? and TS : 1343-1980, specify that the nominal maximum size of coarse aggregate should not be greater than one-fourth of the minimum thickness of the member, and it should be restricted to § mm less than the minimum clear distance between the main bars or 5 mm less than the minimum cover to the reinforcement and 5 mm less than the spacing between the cables, strands or sheathing in case of prestressed concrete, Within these limits, the nominal maximum size of coarse aggregates may be as large as possible. In general, it is found that larger the maximum size of aggregate, smaller is the cement requirement for a particular water-cement ratio (see Fig. 40"). This arises mainly from the fact that workability of con- rete increases with increase in maximum size of aggregate. However, the maximum 96 size of aggregates also influences the com- pressive strength of concrete in that, for a particular volume of aggregate, the com- pressive strength tends to increase with decrease in the size of coarse aggregate. This is due to the fact that smaller size aggregates resent a larger surface area for bonding with the mortar matrix; it also results from the fact that the stress concentration in the ‘mortar-aggregate interfaces increase with in- crease in the maximum size of aggregate’. ‘There is thus an interaction of the maximum size of aggregate as well as the grade of con- ‘rete which determine the ‘strength efficien- cy’ of the cement and, therefore, the require- ‘ment of cement for a particular compressive strength is to be specified (Fig. 41°). From Fig. 41? it is seen that for concrete with higher water-cement ratio, larger maximum size of aggregates may be beneficial whereas for high strength concretes 10 or 20 mm size of aggregates is preferable. It is because of such reasons that IS : 456-1978? and IS : 1343-1980, while recommending that nominal size of coarse aggregates be as large as possible, also suggest that for reinforced and prestressed concrete works, aggregates having a maximum nominal size of 20mm or smaller are generally considered satisfactory. In appropriate circumstances, the maxi- ‘mum limit of cement content in the concrete may also have to be specified. This is because concrete mixes having high cement content may give rise to shrinkage, cracking and creep of concrete also increases with the ‘cement paste content. In thick concrete sec- tions restrained against movements, high ‘cement content may give rise to excessive cracking caused by differential thermal stresses due to hydration of cement in young concretes, For high strength concretes, in- teasing cement content beyond a certain value, of the order of 550 kg/m? or so, may ‘not increase the compressive strength. Prom these considerations as well as those of overall economy, the maximum cement con- tent in the concrete mixes was limited to 530 kg/m? for prestressed concrete struc- tures (see IS : 1343-19809 and for reinforced concrete liquid retaining structures [see 1S : 3370 (Part 1)-1965"). 5.3 Outline of Mix Design Pro- cedure — The various factors for determin- ing the concrete mix proportions and the step by stép procedure for concrete mixdesign can be schematically represented as in Fig. 42. The basic steps involved can be sum- matised as follows: a) Arrive at the mean target strength from the characteristic strength specified and the level of quality control, b) Choose the water-cement ratio for mean target strength and check for require. ments of durability, ©) Arrive at the water content for the workability required, 4) Calculate cement content and check for requirements of durability, SP : 23-1982 ©) Choose the relative proportion of the fine and coarse aggregates from the characteristics of coarse and fine aggre- Bates, 1) Artive at the conerete mix proportions for the first trial mix, and. 2) Conduct trial mixes with suitable ad- justments till the final mix composition is arrived at, Most of the available mix design methods are essentially based on the above procedure, the details of the same are discussed in Section 6.