Concrete American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

- is a mixture of sand, gravel, crushed
rock, or other aggregates held together in a American Railway Engineering Association
rocklike mass with a paste of cement and water (AREA)
(Sometimes one or more admixtures)
Concretes made with normal portland cement
- has a high compressive strength and a require about
very 2 weeks to achieve a sufficient strength to permit
low tensile strength. the removal of forms and the application of
moderate loads.
Reinforced concrete is a combination of concrete Type I— cement is the normal cement used for
and steel wherein the steel reinforcement most construction, but four other types are useful
provides the tensile strength lacking in the for special situations in which high early strength
concrete. or low heat or sulfate resistance is needed:
Type II—A modified cement that has a lower heat
of hydration than does Type I cement
and that can withstand some exposure to sulfate
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete as a attack.
Structural Material Type III—A high-early-strength cement that will
produce in the first 24 hours a concrete
-Reinforced concrete structures are very rigid. with a strength about twice that of Type I cement.
- It is a low-maintenance material. This cement does have a much
higher heat of hydration.
- Economical material available for footings, floor Type IV—A low-heat cement that produces a
slabs, basement walls, piers, and similar concrete which generates heat very slowly.
applications. It is used for very large concrete structures.
Type V—A cement used for concretes that are to
be exposed to high concentrations of
sulfate.
Disadvantages of Reinforced Concrete as a
Structural Material Admixtures - Materials added to concrete during
or before mixing
-Concrete has a very low tensile strength,
requiring the use of tensile reinforcing. Most common types of admixtures:
Air-entraining admixtures, conforming to the
-Forms are required to hold the concrete in place
requirements of ASTM C260 and C618, are used
until it hardens sufficiently. primarily to increase concrete’s resistance to
freezing and thawing and provide better resistance
Concrete and steel reinforcing work together to the deteriorating action of deicing salts.
beautifully in reinforced concrete structures. The
The addition of accelerating admixtures, such as
advantages of each material seem to compensate calcium chloride, to concrete will accelerate its
for the disadvantages of the other. early strength development.
For steel, the coefficient is 0.0000065 per unit
Retarding admixtures are used to slow the setting
length per degree Fahrenheit, while it varies for of the concrete and to retard temperature
concrete from about 0.000004 to 0.000007 increases.
(average value: 0.0000055)
Superplasticizers - admixtures made from organic
American Concrete Institute’s Building Code sulfonates.
Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-
11).10 This code, which is used primarily for the
design of buildings, is followed for the majority of Waterproofing materials usually are applied to
hardened concrete surfaces, but they may be
the numerical examples given in this text.
added to concrete mixes.
 used, the result may be one and a half or even two
The compressive strength of concrete, fc , is times the shrinkage with other aggregates. To
determined by testing to failure 28-day-old 6-in. minimize shrinkage it is desirable to:
diameter by 12-in. concrete cylinders at a
specified rate of loading (4-in. diameter by 8-in. Under sustained compressive loads, concrete will
cylinders were first permitted in the 2008 code in continue to deform for long periods of time. After
lieu of the larger cylinders). the initial deformation occurs, the additional
deformation is called creep, or plastic flow.

In this expression, Ec is the modulus of elasticity Several other items affecting the amount of creep
in psi, are:
• Creep increases with higher temperatures. It is
highest when the concrete is at about 150◦ F to
160◦ F.
• The higher the humidity, the smaller will be the
free pore water that can escape from the
wc is the weight of the concrete in pounds per concrete. Creep is almost twice as large at 50%
cubic foot, and fc is its specified 28-day humidity than at 100% humidity. It is obviously
compressive strength in psi. This is actually a quite difficult to distinguish between shrinkage
secant modulus with the line (whose slope equals and creep.
the modulus) drawn from the origin to a point on
the stress–strain curve corresponding The tensile strength of concrete varies from about
approximately to the stress (0.45fc ) that would 8% to 15% of its compressive strength. A major
occur under the estimated dead and live loads the reason for this small strength is the fact that
structure must support. concrete is filled with fine cracks.

The dynamic modulus of elasticity, which Shear Strength

corresponds to very small instantaneous strains, is It is extremely difficult in laboratory testing to
usually obtained by sonic tests. It is generally 20% obtain pure shear failures unaffected by other
to 40% higher than the static modulus and is stresses. As a result, the tests of concrete shearing
approximately equal to the initial modulus. strengths through the years have yielded values all
referred the way from one-third to four-fifths of the
Poisson’s ratio — is the ratio of this lateral ultimate compressive strengths.
expansion to the longitudinal shortening.
1.12 Aggregates
Its value varies from about : The aggregates used in concrete occupy about
0.11 for the higher-strength concretes three-fourths of the concrete volume. Since they
0.21 for the weaker-grade concretes, are less expensive than the cement, it is desirable
with average values of about 0.16. to use as much of them as possible. Both fine
aggregates (usually sand) and coarse aggregates
(usually gravel or crushed stone) are used. Any
Shrinkage (Hydration of Cement) aggregate that passes a No. 4 sieve (which has
wires spaced 1 4 in. on centers in each direction)
To achieve this desired workability, considerably is said to be fine aggregate. Material of a larger
more water (perhaps twice as much) is used than size is coarse aggregate.
is necessary for the cement and water to react The maximum-size aggregates that can be used in
(called hydration). reinforced concrete are specified in Section 3.3.2
of the ACI Code. These limiting values are as
After the concrete has been cured and begins to
follows: one-fifth of the narrowest dimensions
dry, the extra mixing water that was used begins between the sides of the forms, one-third of the
to work its way out of the concrete to the surface, depth of slabs, or three-quarters of the minimum
where it evaporates. As a result, the concrete clear spacing between reinforcing.
shrinks and cracks.
When certain absorptive slates and sandstone
aggregates are
 • ASTM A706: Low-alloy deformed and plain
bars. These bars, which must be marked with the
High-Strength Concretes letter W (for type of steel), are to be used where
Concretes with compression strengths exceeding controlled tensile properties
6000 psi are referred to as high-strength and/or specially controlled chemical composition
concretes. Another name sometimes given to them is required for welding purposes.
is high-performance concretes because they have
other excellent characteristics besides just high • ASTM A996: Deformed rail steel or axle steel
strengths. bars. They must be marked with the letter R (for
type of steel).
Fiber-Reinforced Concretes
In recent years, a great deal of interest has been • When deformed bars are produced to meet both
shown in fiber-reinforced concrete, and today the A615 and A706 specifications, they must be
there is much ongoing research on the subject. marked with both the letters S and W.
The fibers used are made from steel, plastics,
glass, and other materials. Various experiments SI Bar Sizes and Material Strengths
have shown that the addition of such fibers in The metric version of the ACI Code 318M-11
convenient quantities (normally up to about 1% or makes use of the same reinforcing bars used for
2% by volume) to conventional concretes can designs using U.S. customary units. T
appreciably improve their characteristics. 1. The bar sizes used in the metric version of the
code correspond to U.S. sizes #3 through #18
bars. They are numbered 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25,
Reinforcing Steel 29, 32, 36, 43, and 57.
The reinforcing used for concrete structures may 2. The steel reinforcing grades, or minimum steel
be in the form of bars or welded wire fabric. yield strengths, referred to in the code are 300,
Reinforcing bars are referred to as plain/smooth or 350, 420, and 520 MPa.
deformed. The deformed bars, which have ribbed 3. The concrete strengths in metric units referred
projections rolled onto their surfaces (patterns to in the code are 17, 21, 24, 28, 35, and 42 MPa.
differing with different manufacturers) to provide
better bonding between the concrete and the steel, Corrosive Environments
are used for almost all applications. Instead of When reinforced concrete is subjected to deicing
rolled-on deformations, deformed wire has salts, seawater, or spray from these substances, it
indentations pressed into it. Plain bars are not used is necessary to provide special corrosion
very often except for wrapping around protection for the reinforcing. The structures
longitudinal bars, primarily in columns. usually involved are bridge decks, parking
garages, wastewater treatment plants, and various
Grades of Reinforcing Steel coastal
Reinforcing bars may be rolled from billet steel, structures. Also, the bond, or sticking of the
axle steel, or rail steel. Only occasionally, concrete to the steel, is reduced. The result of all
however, are they rolled from old train rails or of these factors is a decided reduction in the life of
locomotive axles. These latter steels have been the structure.
cold-worked for many years and are not as ductile
as the billet steels. Identifying Marks on Reinforcing Bars
1. The producing company is identified with a
These steels are available in different grades as letter.
Grade 50, Grade 60, and so on, where Grade 50 2. The bar size number (3 to 18) is given next.
means the steel has a specified yield point of 3. Another letter is shown to identify the type of
50,000 psi, Grade 60 means 60,000 psi, and so on. steel (S for billet, R in addition to a rail sign for
rail steel, A for axle, and W for low alloy).
4. Finally, the grade of the bars is shown either
• ASTM A615: Deformed and plain billet steel with numbers or with continuous lines. A Grade
bars. These bars, which must be marked with the 60 bar has either the number 60 on it or a
letter S (for type of steel), are the most widely continuous longitudinal line in addition to its main
used reinforcing bars in the ribs. A Grade 75 bar will have the number 75 on it
or two continuous lines in addition to the main
ribs.
 Selection of Design Loads
One of the most widely used design-load
specifications for buildings is that published by
Dead loads are loads of constant magnitude that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
remain in one position. For a reinforced concrete Some other commonly used specifications are:
building, some dead loads are the frames, walls, • For railroad bridges, American Railway
floors, ceilings, stairways, roofs, and plumbing. Engineering Association (AREA).
• For highway bridges, American Association of
Live loads are loads that can change in magnitude State Highway and Transportation Officials
and position. They include occupancy loads, (AASHTO).
warehouse materials, construction loads, overhead • For buildings, the International Building Code
service cranes, equipment operating loads, and (IBC)
many others. In general, they are induced by
gravity. Impact of Computers on Reinforced Concrete
Design
Among the many other types of live loads are: The availability of personal computers has
drastically changed the way in which reinforced
Traffic loads for bridges—Bridges are subjected concrete structures are analyzed and designed. In
to series of concentrated loads of varying nearly every engineering school and office,
magnitude caused by groups of truck or train computers are routinely used to handle structural
wheels. design problems.
Impact loads—Impact loads are caused by the
vibration of moving or movable loads.
Longitudinal loads—Longitudinal loads also need
to be considered in designing some structures.
Miscellaneous loads—Among the other types of
live loads with which the structural designer will
have to contend are soil pressures (such as the
exertion of lateral earth
pressures on walls or upward pressures on
foundations),

Environmental loads are loads caused by the

environment in which the structure is located.
1. Snow and ice. In the colder states, snow and ice
loads are often quite important.
2. Rain. Although snow loads are a more severe
problem than rain loads for the usual roof, the
situation may be reversed for flat roofs—
particularly those in warmer climates.
3. Wind. A survey of engineering literature for the
past 150 years reveals many references to
structural failures caused by wind. Perhaps the
most infamous of these have been bridge failures
such as those of the Tay Bridge in Scotland in
1879 (which caused the deaths of 75 persons) and
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma,
Washington) in 1940.
4. Seismic loads. Many areas of the world are in
earthquake territory, and in those areas, it is
necessary to consider seismic forces in design for
all types of structures.