GUJARAT TECOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

A Report on- Transparent Concrete

Under Subject of

Design Engineering - 2A

B.E., Semester- v (Civil Branch)

Submitted by; Group

SR Enrollment
No. Name Of Student No.
1 Hitendrasinh Chauhan 211080106508
2 Pratik Mistry 211080106505
3 Kiran Shekatkar 211080106513
4 Rutwik Prajapati 211080106527

Prof. Mayur Hirani

(Faculty Guide)

Nutan Patel
(Head OF Department)

Academic year (2022-2023)

Common Instructions

1) There is no need to repeat/ rewrite these instructions in your report document.

2) All questions are to be attempted to best describe your thinking approaches.

3) Questions may be answered in paragraph form. Avoid bullet unless to mention very specifically
something.

4) There are no page limit/ word limit for the answer, may be you can put in brief/ detail to best of your
discretion.

5) You can also use pictures (in part or full size) of your canvas if any. Kindly make sure you reduce the
using compression (Format tab at top) with a resolution of 200 dpi. Teams can add picture of any part of
canvases to explain particular thing in the report. (These instructions are applicable to the teams who
changed their topic in 5th semester as they need to again make all canvases and frameworks)

6) Sections are illustrative here. Students and faculty guide may decide their best way to express the
THINKING APPROACH in report.

7) The report book can be spiral bound and team can keep one copy with them and they can give a copy
to the department for record.

8) GTU will provide a web link where each team in each branch can register and upload the soft copy of
the report including image of each canvas, if the portal will be ready by the time of examination. Else
Examiner shall mail best 3 project reports todesign@gtu.edu.in

9) Teams will have to show the physical canvases, other frameworks and logbooks (logbook is optional
for 5th semester) to the department/examiner during the practical examination and explain briefly.

10) After examination students team has to keep record of all the canvases, other frameworks and
logbooks for their further reference or submit to the department. They need to safeguard all the
canvases, other frameworks and logbooks for future references.

11) If you have carry forwarded the project from second year, examiner may ask for any further
documents related to your project in current semester, hence student need to carry all the previous
year documents with them to exam.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We express our deep sense of gratitude to our project Guide Prof.

Mayur Hirani , for Providing precious guidance, inspiring discussions
and constructive criticism effort made it possible made it possible to
present the work contained in this project.

 We are grateful to Prof. Neel K Shah, Head of Department of Civil

engineering for providing us necessary facilities in the
department.

 We also thankful to all the staff members of the department of

civil engineering and to our well-wisher for their inspiration and
help.

 We are deeply indebted to our parents for their inspiration and

ever encouraging moral support, which enabled us to pursue our
studies.
 ABSTRACT

Transparent concrete is the new type of concrete introduced

in modern era which carries special property of light
transmitting due to presence of glass rods & is also known as
translucent concrete or light transmitting concrete. It is lighter
than conventional concrete having special features such as low
density and thermal conductivity with main advantage of
reduction in dead weight, faster building rate in construction,
lower haulage & handling cost. Light is transmitted from one
surface of the brick wall to the other due to glass rods along the
overall width of the wall which allows light to pass through. An
optical glass fiber (or optical fiber) is a flexible, transparent fiber
made of glass (silica) or plastic, slightly thicker than a human
hair & can function as waveguide, or “light pipe” to transmit
light between the two ends. Main aim of the study is to design
translucent concrete blocks with the use of glass rods with sand
& cement then analyze their various physical & engineering
properties with respect to conventional concrete blocks by
adding glass rods of 1%, 2 %, 3 % 4 % 5% at 1.5 cm spacing
respectively From the study, it can be concluded that there is 5% to
10% increase in initial compressive strength for 7 days & also 10% to
15% increase in initial compressive strength for 28 days to a glass rod
mix of up to 3% Whereas the initial & final characteristic compressive
strength gradually decreases with an increase in glass rods in the
concrete mix.

KEY WORDS: Transparent concrete, Workability, Compressive

strength, Tensile strength, Flexural strength.
 INTRODUCTION

Translucent lightweight Concrete is a new material with various applications in the construction
field, architecture, decoration and even in furniture industry. In today’s time where whole of the
research is concentrated towards non utilization of natural resources as much as possible and to reduce
its consumption which are decreasing with time, Lightweight LiTraCon ("Lightweight light transmitting
concrete") is a lightweight translucent concrete building material made of fine concrete embedded with
up to 5% by weight of concrete mix which are impregnated inside the concrete cubes so that light can
be transmitted from the outside in or inside out of the building. Due to great economic growth,
urbanization, population growth, space utilization worldwide, there is drastic change in concrete
technology. Most of the big buildings are built close to each other all in the same areas like sky scrapers
There arises one of biggest problem in deriving natural light in building due obstruction of nearby
structures. When buildings are stacks closed to each other, there is not much natural sunlight passing
through it.

A wall made of "Light LitraCon" has the strength of traditional concrete and an embedded array of
glass rods that can display a view of the outside world. Thousands of optical glasses rods form a matrix
and run parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of every block where in which Shadows
on the lighter side will 9 appear with sharp outlines on the darker one. An optical glass fiber is a flexible
transparent fiber made of glass (silica) or plastic, slightly thicker than a human hair & is a three layered
cable made up of Buffer coating, cladding and core with transmits light through the core of glass rods.

Glass is a non-crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical
technological and decorative usage in many things. Glass has many useful properties.

1. It is transparent. One can see through it.

2. Strong & hard. One can put a lot of load on it.

3. It is impermeable. It does not allow water or other liquid to pass through and it doesn’t get soggy
or stained itself.

4. User friendly- The glass rod is durable, UV protected & there is nothing to break or burn out,
virtually maintenance free.

5. It is transparent, strong & hard with impermeable characteristics which do not allow water or
other liquid to pass through it.
 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The concrete specimen are produced by reinforcing optical fibers with various percentages and is
compared with normal conventional concrete, the material used for this concrete are cement(53 grade),
sand(2.36 mm sieve passing), optical fiber cables 200 micron diameter with fine cement concrete mix
ratio for this concrete is 1:2 and water cement ratio is 0.45. The result of this experimental investigation
shows that the compressive strength of light transmitting concrete was ranging between 20 - 23N/mm2
with optical fiber specimens which indicates that it satisfies the compressive strength requirements for
M20 grade concrete and also we can conclude that the transparency of light is possible in concrete
without affecting its compressive strength.

[1]. Investigations have been done to develop the building with increase in aesthetic value by
modern construction techniques and also consumption of energy by eco-friendly way. The main purpose
is to use sunlight as a light source to reduce the alternate power consumption by using optical fibers to
sense the stresses of structures and also as an architectural purpose for good aesthetical view of the
building. They conclude that the fibers will not lose the strength parameter when compared to regular
conventional concrete which can integrate the concept of green energy saving with the usage self-
sensing properties of functional material.

[2]. The light guiding performance of concrete materials is completely determined by the internal
POFs area ratio and the surface roughness in certain sections. POF based transparent concrete could be
regarded as an art which could be used in museums and specific exhibitions rather than just a
construction material.

[3]. When a solid wall is imbued with the ability to transmit light, it means that a home can use
fewer lights in their house during daylight hours & also it has very good architectural properties for
giving good aesthetical view to the building. Energy saving can be done by utilization of transparent
concrete in building which is totally environment friendly because of its light transmitting characteristics
& therefore energy consumption can be reduced. The major disadvantage is translucent concrete is very
costly because of the optical fibers used for construction & casting of transparent concrete block is
difficult & special skilled person is required.
 [4]. The physio-chemical properties of coir pith in relation to particle size suitable for potting
medium. Coir pith, light to dark brown in color, consists primarily of particles in the size range 0.2–4
mm. The physio-chemical properties of coir pith was investigated after grading it based on particle size
(100μm to 2000μm) for the use as potting medium. The porosity, density and absorptive decreased as
the particle size increased. Ph of raw coir pith was found to be acidic in nature but as the particle size
increased, the pH also became alkaline. The electrical conductivity was observed to be high in lower
grades of coir pith (4.41 ms / cm) which grad- 12 usually decreased as the size increased (3.32 ms / cm).
The salt analysis made on coir pith did not show any significant change according to particle size.
 MATERIALS & METHODOLOGY

Materials

a. Ordinary Portland cement of 53 Grade.

b. Manufactured Sand of pertaining Sieve size

c. Glass Rods 0.5 mm in Diameter are used for casting transparent concrete.
 Methodology

Preliminary tests were conducted on the normal conventional concrete materials as per IS standards
& specifications for its physical & engineering properties, cubes were casted in the standard metallic
molds& vibrated to obtain the required sample size of specimen. The molds were cleaned initially and
oiled on all the sides before concrete sample is poured in to it. Thoroughly mixed concrete is poured into
the molds in three equal layers and compacted using vibrating table for a small period of 5 minutes. The
excess concrete is removed out of the mold using trowel and the top surface is finished with smooth
surface.

The manufacturing process of transparent concrete is same as of the regular conventional concrete
blocks with the Only change is glass rods are spread throughout the fine aggregate and cement mix &
Small layers of the concrete are poured on top of each other and infused with the rods in the wooden
casted box. Light transmitting concrete is produced by adding 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% & 5% of glass rods by
weight into the concrete mixture; the translucent concrete mixture is made from fine aggregate
materials only & does not contain coarse aggregates.

Glass rods and concrete are alternately inserted into molds at an intervals of approximately 1.5cm
spacing & the casted materials are cut into small panels or blocks of the specified thickness finally the
surface is typically polished resulting in semi-gloss to high gloss surface finish. 15 After 24 hours the
samples of both normal conventional concrete & translucent concrete were remolded and put in curing
tank for the respective periods of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days & a set of 5 samples were prepared for each
stage of curing. The temperature of curing tank was maintained about 25 degree during the analysis of
characteristic strength & the results were tabulated.

The main aim of the methodology is to-

 To calculate the compressive strength of M25 grade plain concrete.

 Translucent concrete by laboratory to calculate the Split tensile strength of M25 grade plain
concrete.
  Experiments as per IS specifications. & translucent concrete by laboratory to calculate the
Flexural strength of M25 grade plain concrete.

 Experiments as per IS specifications. & translucent concrete by laboratory experiments as

per IS specifications.

Tests (physical properties) conducted on Concrete materials

Test on cement

 Final setting time of cement

 Initial setting time of cement
 Specific gravity
 Specific gravity
 Normal Consistency of cement
 Fineness of cement

Test on fine aggregates – Manufactured sand (Size<4.75mm)

Specific gravity and Water absorption test

TABLE-2 Test on fine aggregates (Manufactured sand)

SR Methods of
No. Test Test Average Result Permissible Value

1 Specific gravity IS:2720-Pt-3 Bulk specific gravity = 2.51 2.53 to 2.67

      Apparent specific gravity = 2.49  

Water
2 absorption IS:2386-Pt-3 1 <2%
 Tests (Engineering properties) conducted on Plain Concrete Test on
Plain concrete

 Flexural strength of concrete.

 Split tensile strength of concrete

 Compressive strength of concrete

 Vee Bee consistometer

 Compaction factor

 Slump test

TABLE Test on Plain cement concrete

SR Methods of
No. Test Test Average Result Permissible Value
True slump for 0.5
1 Slump test IS-7320-1974 water cement ratio --
2 Compaction factor IS-1199-1959 0.9 --
IS-10510-
3 Vee Bee consistometer 1983 22 seconds --
4 Compressive strength of plain concrete (7 days) IS 1489-1991 18.9 N/mm2 Min 17 N/mm2
Compressive strength of plain concrete (14
5 days) IS 1489-1991 22.1 N/mm2 Min 22 N/mm2
Compressive strength of plain concrete (21
6 days) IS 1489-1991 23.4 N/mm2 Min 23.5 N/mm2
Compressive strength of plain concrete (28
7 days) IS 1489-1991 25.9 N/mm2 Min 25 N/mm2
8 Split tensile strength of plain concrete (7 days) IS 5816-1976 4.9 N/mm2 --
9 Split tensile strength of plain concrete (28 days) IS 5816-1976 5.5 N/mm2 --
10 Flexural strength of plain concrete (7 days) IS: 516-1959 5.4 N/mm2 --
 11 Flexural strength of plain concrete (28 days) IS: 516-1959 5.5 N/mm2 --

Tests (Engineering properties) conducted on Transparent Concrete

Test on Transparent concrete

 Split tensile strength of concrete

 Compressive strength of concrete
 Vee Bee consistometer
 Compaction factor
 Slump test

TABLE Test on Transparent concrete

SR
No. Test Methods of Test Average Result Permissible Value
True slump for 0.5 water
1 Slump test IS-7320-1974 cement ratio --
2 Compaction factor IS-1199-1959 0.8 --
3 Vee Bee consistometer IS-10510-1983 18 seconds --
Compressive strength of
4 plain concrete (7 days) IS 1489-1991 17.6 N/mm2 Min 17 N/mm2
Compressive strength of
5 plain concrete (14 days) IS 1489-1991 21.7 N/mm2 Min 22 N/mm2
Compressive strength of
6 plain concrete (21 days) IS 1489-1991 Min 23.5 N/mm2 Min 23.5 N/mm2
Compressive strength of
7 plain concrete (28 days) IS 1489-1991 25.3 N/mm2 Min 25 N/mm2
Split tensile strength of
8 plain concrete (7 days) IS 5816-1976 5.2 N/mm2 --
9 Split tensile strength of IS 5816-1976 5.7 N/mm2 --
 plain concrete (28 days)
Flexural strength of
10 plain concrete (7 days) IS: 516-1959 5.3 N/mm2 --
Flexural strength of
11 plain concrete (28 days) IS: 516-1959 5.6 N/mm2 --

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

MIX DESIGN

Volumetric batching is done for the material mix to analyze the amount of quantity required for casting
each cube specimen considering the design mix as M25 grade (cement: fine aggregate) is 1: 1 as per IS
383-1970 &IS 456-2000 specifications. The aggregates with cement mix are varied up to 35% of porosity
by varying the materials having minimal or zero number of fine aggregates & is mixed with cement for a
water cement ratio of 0.5 to cast the molds for analyzing the compressive strength of 7, 14, 21 & 28 days
strength for an average of 5 specimens.

Light transmitting concrete is produced by adding 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% & 5% of glass rods by its weight into
the concrete mixture. The translucent concrete mixture is made from fine aggregate materials only &
does not contain coarse aggregates.

Glass rods and concrete are alternately inserted into molds at intervals of approximately 1.5cm & the
casted materials are cut into small panels or blocks of the specified thickness finally the surface is
typically polished resulting in semi-gloss to high-gloss surface finish.

After 24 hours the samples of both normal conventional concrete & translucent concrete were
demolded and put in curing tank for the respective periods of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days & a set of 5 samples
were prepared for each stage of curing.
 RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Relation between characteristic strength for the plain concrete mix for 7, 14, 21 & 28 days

With the volumetric batching for the plain concrete material mix is done to analyze the amount of
quantity required for casting each cube specimen considering the design mix as M25 grade (cement: fine
aggregate) is 1: 1 as per IS 383-1970 & IS 456-2000 specifications & tested for its strength for 7, 14, 21 &
28 days strength in which the compressive strength is analyzed by testing under compressive testing
machine has given an average values of 22.0 N/mm2 & 25.7 N/mm2 for 14 & 28 days which are more
than permissible limits as per specifications respectively.

TABLE-5: Comparison of compressive strength in concrete specimens for 7, 14, 21 & 28 days in N/mm2

Average strength Average strength Average strength Average strength

SR At At at At
No. 7 days (N/mm2) 14 days(N/mm2) 21 days (N/mm2) 28 days (N/mm2)
1 18.5 21.1 22.9 24.78
2 18.55 21.9 23 26.98
3 18.54 22 23 25.5
4 18.2 21.6 23.2 24.4
5 18.6 23.4 23 25.89
Fig-1: Comparison between compressive strength of plain cement concrete for 7, 14, 21 & 28 days

TABLE: Comparison of Split tensile strength in plain concrete specimens for 7 &
28 days in N/mm2

SR Average strength at 7 days Average strength at 28 days

No. (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
1 4.95 5.36
2 5.23 5.43
3 4.98 5.2
4 4.6 5.67
5 5.2 5.8

Fig-2: Comparison between Split tensile strength of plain cement concrete for 7 days
 Fig-3: Comparison between Split tensile strength of plain cement concrete for 28 days

TABLE-11: Comparison of Flexural strength in plain concrete specimens for 7 & 28 days in N/mm2

SR Average strength at 7 days Average strength at 28 days

No. (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
1 5.15 5.32
2 5.23 5.29
3 5.19 5.3
4 5.25 5.4
5 5.62 5.5
Relation between characteristic strength of transparent
concrete for 7, 14, 21 & 28 days

With the inclusion of Glass rod fibers in varied proportions of 1%,2%,3%,4% & 5% the strength of

concrete gradually increases up to a certain limit but the gradually decreases. By the experimental

analysis with the inclusion of Glass rods by its weight will lead to increase in the initial compressive

strength of the concrete up to a certain percentages in the transparent concrete blocks. There is 5% to

10% increase in initial compressive strength for 7 days & also 10% to 15% increase in initial compressive

strength for 28 days for Glass rod mix up to 3% whereas initial & final characteristic compressive

strength gradually decreases with an increase in percentage of Glass rods in the concrete mix.

TABLE: Comparison of compressive strength for various specimens with varying % in Glass rods of 1.5
cms spacing for 7, 14, 21 & 28 days in N/mm2

Average
% of Glass Average Average Average strength at
SR No. rods in 1.5 strength at 7 strength at 14 strength at 21 28 days
cm spacing days (N/mm2) days (N/mm2) days (N/mm2 (N/mm2) 
1 1 14.3 16 20.3 24
2 2 15.1 17.1 23.2 25.7
3 3 15.9 17.8 24.3 26.4
4 4 14.3 16.2 21.5 24.3
5 5 13.6 15.4 19.9 22.6
Fig-9: Comparison of compressive strength for various specimens with varying % in Glass rods of 1.5
cms spacing for 28 days

TABLE: Comparison of Split tensile strength in translucent concrete

specimens of 1.5 cms spacing for 7 & 28 days in N/mm2

Average strength at 28 days

xSR No. Average strength at 7 days (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
1 4.95 5.3
2 5.2 5.5
3 4.5 5.5
4 4.6 5.2
5 5.2 5.1
TABLE: Comparison of Flexural strength in translucent concrete specimens of 1.5 cms spacing
for 7 & 28 days in N/mm2

Average strength at Average strength at

SR No. 7 days (N/mm2) 28 days (N/mm2)
1 5.15 5.3
2 5.3 5.9
3 5.19 5.3
4 5.25 5.2
5 5.16 5.1
AEIOU SUMMARY
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