The new edition of this successful manual has been carefully revised throughout to take account of recent changes and to incorporate amendments required due to the publication of the revised BS 5328. This manual provides information on all aspects of the ready-mixed concrete industry, from the basic materials and their properties to the production, quality control and the use of ready-mixed concrete.
PART 1: TECHNOLOGY OF READY-MIXED CONCRETE
Introduction: History of ready-mixed concrete
Materials for concrete
Aggregates
Maximum aggregate size
Grading
Silt, clay and fine dust
Shape and texture
Water absorption
Relative density
Bulk density, void content and voids ratio
Moisture content
Chloride content
Deleterious materials
Shells
Uniformity
Non-standard aggregates
Making the best use of natural resources
Moisture movement
Lightweight aggregates
Heavyweight aggregates
Cementitious materials
Grading, mean size and fineness
Relative density
Water demand
Setting times
Strength at days
Ratio of early to -day strength
Sulphate resistance
Alkali content
Chloride content
Colour
Ground granulated blastfurnace slag and pulverized-fuel ash
Admixtures
Accelerators
Retarders
Water-reducers (normal and superplasticizers)
Air entrainment
Superplasticizers
Pigments
Foaming agents
Other materials
Pfa to BS : Part , Grade A
Silica fume (micro-silica)
Fibres
Water for concrete
Properties of fresh concrete
Uniformity and stability
Workability
Workability test methods
Pumpability
Water demand and water/cement ratio
Rate of change of workability
Influence of transporting on the workability of ready-mixed concrete
Cement content
Aggregate grinding
Water content and initial workability
Admixtures
Ambient conditions
Bulk volume of concrete
Transporting method
Effects of transporting of concrete on strength and workability
Limitations on delivery time
Retempering of concrete
Laboratory simulation of ready-mixed concrete
Properties of hardened concrete
Surface quality
Cracking of concrete
Strength
Strength development with age
Durability
Concrete mobility
Covercrete and heartcrete
A background to specifying durability
Corrosion of reinforcement
Chlorides in concrete
Alkali-silica reaction
Mix design
Principles of mix design
BRMCA method of concrete mix design
Use of base data from BRMCA mix design method
Example: selecting batch proportions for specified design mix requirements
Selection of batch proportions for a prescribed mix
Example: selecting batch proportions for a standard mix
The predictable future
Technical advice on concrete properties based on the BRMCA method
Mix design using ggbs or pfa
Example: an adjustment to a mix design for the use of pfa
Judging concrete mix design
Water/cement ratio—free or total
Meeting durability requirements
Equivalent strength grades—ensuring durability
Statistics for quality control, mix design and compliance
Statistical terms
Variation
Distribution
Normal distribution
Calculations of mean, standard deviation and other parameters
Sources of variation
Influence of mean strength level on standard deviation
Standard deviation due to sampling and testing
Relevance of standard deviation for concrete mix design
Statistical implication of compliance rules
Current compliance rules of BS
Influence on producer’s risk of faults in sampling and testing for compliance
Quality control
Forward control
Immediate control
Retrospective control
Quality monitoring
The cusum system of strength monitoring
Principles
Control of mean strength
Monitoring of standard deviation
Significance of trends
Design of masks
Advantages over other systems
Cusum for correlation of predicted and actual strength
Example: cusum in operation
Plotting cusum charts
Action following changes
Investigation of the cause of a change
Computerization
BRMCA concrete control system
Initial situation
Test data
Prediction of 28-day strength
Mean strength control (by counting rule)
Standard deviation
Early-28-day strength relationships
Sampling and testing ready-mixed concrete
Sampling ready-mixed concrete
Effects of non-standard testing on strength
Simple checks on validity of results
Communication
Simple visual checks on the crushed cube
NAMAS register of test houses
Interpreting test results for strength
Apparent compliance failures
Checking on validity
Action relating to valid compliance failures
Establishing strength of concrete in the structure
Interpretation of in-situ cube strength
Use of non-destructive testing
Remedial work
Increasing the strength and durability of concrete in the structure
Checking mix proportions or quantities
Analysis of fresh concrete
Chemical analysis of hardened concrete
Checking the quantity of concrete
Measuring construction volume
Measuring volume to be concreted
Measuring volume of plastic concrete after finishing
Measuring volume of hardened concrete
Variation in density and yield
PART 2: PRACTICE
Production, delivery and quality assurance
Production methods
Material types
Storage capacity
Processing sequence
Truckmixer capacity and throughput
Planning requirements
Quality control requirements
Regulatory requirements
Duration of operations
Health and safety
Organizing production and delivery
Delivery
Truckmixers
Tippers
Conveyors
Quality assurance
Specifications and supervision
Interpreting specifications
Uses of concrete specifications
Specifying and supervising the supply of ready-mixed concrete
Specification clauses
Checking
Designated mixes
Ready-mixed concrete on site
Choosing ready-mixed concrete
Site mixing costs
Ready-mixed v. site mixing supply
Ready-mixed concrete plants on site
Site preparations for ready-mixed concrete
Site/supply liaison
Setting up a concrete supply
Programming concrete deliveries
Ready-mixed concrete on site
Delivery ticket
Addition of water at site
Safety
Delays
Placing the concrete
Compacting the concrete
Curing the concrete
Pumping concrete
The contractor
The pump hirer
The ready-mixed concrete supplier
Organizations
BRMCA
BACMI
QSRMC
Technical standards
Order processing
Technical records
Plant and production
Continuing surveillance and enforcement
NACCB accreditation
NACCB
NAMAS
Appendix 1: QSRMC technical regulations
Appendix 2: Conversion factors
Appendix 3: Designated mixes in accordance with BS 5328: Part 2 Section 5 References
References to standards
Biography
R Anderson and J D Dewar
'this book will prove indispensable to technical and sales personnel in the concrete industry, and to civil and structural engineers, contractors, architects, and surveyors. Graduate trainees and advanced students will find it a valuable source of reference.' - Concrete Plant and Production
'The book provides a detailed ready reference for individual sectors of the industry, while at the same time providing the reader with useful perspective on the industry as a whole...this book will provide perspective indispensable to technical and sales personnel in the concrete industry, and to civil and structural engineers, contractors, architects, and surveyors.' - Concrete Abstracts
'This is a proper manual; it will be of great help to anyone wishing to understand and/or participate in the whole process (and service, as the authors would claim) of providing ready-mixed concrete...It should be noted and welcomed by all sectors of the industry and is a major contribution to the topics...it is excellent value and strongly recommended: the authors deserve congratulations and their industry is lucky to have such representatives.' - Construction and Building Materials