Detailing

The Properties of Concrete are its characteristics or basic qualities. The four main properties of concrete are

• Workability
• Cohesiveness
• Strength
• Durability

Workability means how easy it is to

• Place
• Handle
• Compact
• Finish a concrete mix

Cohesiveness is how well concrete holds together. A mix that has too much water will not be cohesive and may separate and bleed.

There are two main tests to be done on concrete

• The Slump test : the SLUMP test shows the WORKABILITY of concrete.Workability measures how easy the concrete is to place, handle and compact.
• The Compression test : The COMPRESSION test shows the best possible strength concrete can reach in perfect conditions and measures concrete strength in the hardened state. Testing should always be done carefully. Wrong test results can be costly.

Strength is usually specified to ensure a level of durability. Higher strength concrete will become more durable!

DURABILITY OF CONCRETE

• Permeability and water tightness
• Freeze-thaw resistance
• Shrinkage
  • Plastic shrinkage
  • Drying shrinkage
• Abrasion resistance
• Heat of Hydration
• Sulfate Attack
• Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
  • ASR (Alkali Silica Reaction)
  • ACR (Alkali Carbonate Reaction)
• Thermal Movement
• Physical Salt Attack
• Carbonation
• Corrosion of reinforcing steel

• RMC operations are highly mechanized and fully controlled through electronic controls and hence reduce the probability of errors in various operations.
• It is also environmentally friendly and brings down pollution due to dust at construction can also be accelerated with the use of the RMC.
• Ready mix concrete has gained acceptance in Indian industry due to several advantages including quality control and overall economy.
• The present study has developed a framework of criteria which contributes for Ready Mixed Concrete selection. As Ready Mixed Concrete selection is a multi-criteria decision making problem, Analytic Hierarchy Process is suggested for the solution. AHP based Ready Mixed Concrete selection approach is suggested in this study.
• Such approach will be more comprehensive and will include the relative importance of criteria in the final \decision making. Engineers are encouraged to use such innovative and simple tool like AHP to support their decisions which will finally help the project success achievement