Different Types of Concrete

The types of concrete mentioned here are from 7.5 MPa to around 400 MPa. Very specialised plants with management controls are required for handling all such type of concrete. Most the plants may not be able to fulfil the requirements. However, UHPC is available as ready to mix  packs and can be purchased, transported, and used.

Topics Covered

General

Types of Concrete - Nominal Mix Concrete

Types of Concrete -Design  Mix Concrete

Data Required for Design Mix Concrete

Brief description for types of concrete

Summary of Different types of Concrete

Project Concrete Requirements Management

  

General

The types of concrete mentioned here are from 7.5 MPa to around 400 MPa. Very specialised plants with management controls are required for handling all such type of concrete. Most the plants may not be able to fulfil the requirements. However, UHPC is available as ready to mix  packs and can be purchased, transported, and used.

Concrete is a mixture of FA, CA, Cement & SCM and Water with or without chemical admixtures, prepared in proportions as per design requirements.

 

FA - Fine Aggregates

CA – Coarse Aggregates

SCM – Supplementary Cementitious Materials

UHPC – Ultra High-Performance Concrete

NMC – Normal Mix Concrete

 

Types of Concrete  - Nominal Mix Concrete

Indian Standard, IS 456 – Plain and Reinforced Code of Practice, suggests using Nominal Mix Concrete up to M20 (20 MPa) and Design Mix Concrete above M20

NMC is  not designed, and it may use excess quantity of cement and must be use for small quantiles of works  as per direction and approval of Engineer in Charge.

However, if the quality of NMC is in mass, it is advisable to use the design mix concrete.

 

Proportioning of Nominal Mix Concrete

(For small and scattered job and as per approval of engineer in Charge)

 

 

Types of Concrete - Design  Mix Concrete

Designed Mix — Mix for which the purchaser is responsible for specifying the required performance and the producer is responsible for selecting the mix proportions to produce the required performance.

 

Grades of Concrete as per IS: 456, for Ordinary, Normal and High Strength Concrete. 

Data Required for Design Mix Concrete:

  

Attributes	Requirements
Type of Concrete	Such as Ordinary, High strength, High performance, Mass, Self- compacted concrete etcetera.
Grade designation	M 60: or 60 MPa
Type of cement; and grade of cement	OPC or PPC; 43 or 53 or other
Maximum nominal size of aggregate	A40 or A 20
Maximum water-cement / cementitious materials ratio to be adopted	As per Code
Minimum cement / cementitious materials content	Do -
Exposure conditions	Mild, Moderate, Severe, Very Severe, Extreme
Workability required at the time of placement	Very low, Low, Medium, High, Very High
Transportation time	As per site requirement
Means of Transport	Dumpers, TM, other
Concrete placement environment	Over the ground or under the ground etcetera
Method of placing	Bucket, pumping etcetera
Degree of site control	Good / fair or value of established standard deviation if any
Type of coarse aggregate	Angular / sub angular/ gravel with some crushed particles/ rounded gravel / manufactured
Type of fine aggregate	natural sand/ crushed stone or gravel sand / manufactured sand/ mixed sand);
Maximum cement content;	As required for durability requirement
Details of Admixes used	Type of admixture / Manufacturer
Type of pozzolanic material to be used as replacement of cement	Such as Fly Ash, GGBF Slag, Micro Silica
Any other specific requirement like early age strength requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brief description for types of concrete

Normal Strength Concrete (NSC) is designated up to 40 MPa.

High Strength Concrete Beyond NSC the concrete was developed as High Strength Concrete (HSC). HSC is used in high rise buildings and in structural members bearing high loads. The member size gets reduced using HSC and performance is better about strength and durability.

HSC provides a high level of structural performance, especially in strength and durability, as compared (NSC).

ACI defines a high-strength concrete as concrete that has a specified compressive strength for design of 6,000 psi (41 MPa) or greater.

High Performance Concrete  High Performance Concrete  up to 150 MPa

High-performance concrete It is a mix of concrete ingredients defined based on  performance criteria that includes  high durability, high strength, and high workability.

 

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete UHPC ( Beyond 150 MPa) - Ultra-High-Performance Concrete is a super concrete which has more strength, durability, and ductility. The UHPC can be used for structural and architectural members, overlays, and many more items through its factory and in situ production. The UHPC is more homogeneous and its design, mixing placing and curing processes are slightly different and need better controls in all stages from design to placement.

Self-Consolidating Concrete SCC

SCC is an innovative concrete that does not require vibration for placing and compaction. It can flow under its own weight, completely filing formwork and achieving full compaction, without segregation, even in the presence of congested reinforcement.

 

Polymer Concrete

Polymer Concrete  - Cement is replaced with polymeric materials.

Polymer Modified Concrete – a mix of cement and polymer is used as cementing material.

Polymer Impregnated Concrete – The top surface of concrete is impregnated with polymers and cured at high temperature

 

          Summary of Different types of Concrete

 

In summary the concrete categories are as follows:

Nominal mix concrete

Design mix concrete

Normal Strength Concrete

High Strength Concrete

High Performance Concrete

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

Polymer Concrete

Self-Compacting Concrete

 

Main type of concretes is discussed above . However, the concrete is also classified on basis of structural and another requirement, namely

 Under water concrete – concrete placement under water by tremie or other means

Light weight,  porous and nailing concrete – to reduce load, to provide drainage and concrete in which nails can be hammered (soft concrete)

Foam concrete – for light weight bricks or as underlay below tiles.

 

Reinforced Concrete  with steel bars and girders, ribs, and fibber reinforced concrete

Prestressed Concrete

Precast Concrete

Shotcrete

Nominal mix concrete

Design mix concrete

Normal Strength Concrete

High Strength Concrete

High Performance Concrete

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

Polymer Concrete

Self-Compacting Concrete

Vacuum Concrete – water is sucked out after placement to reduce water cement ratio.

Pumped Concrete – It is associated with placement techniques.

Stamped Concrete – architectural features are stamped for enhanced appearance.

Limecrete-  use of lime instead of cement in concrete

Asphalt Concrete – Asphalt is used as binder instead of cement and supplementary cementitious materials.

 

Roller Compacted Concrete- A near zero slump concrete is consolidated by rollers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Concrete Requirements Management

In general, the project concrete requirements should be oriented and managed on points as given below:

 

Reporting Requirements

Concrete mix design requirements

 Checklist for project  work

Preconstruction conference

Project concrete requirements

Onsite concrete performance and rejection process

 Material management

Laboratory set up.

Field test set up.

Project testing needs

Tests on Fresh concrete

Tests on hardened concrete

 Transportation and storage of test material

Setting up of Processing and Batching Plants

Production of Concrete

Test result communication system

Field Lab vs Main Lab outcomes

Measurement / Acceptance concrete procedures

Concrete placement and Finishing measures.

Concrete placement and pumpability

 

Also please follow the link below, by the same author.

Introduction to Ultra- High-Performance Concrete