12-11-2014, 07:18 AM
PCC - Fundamentals
PCC consists of three basic ingredients: aggregate, water and portland cement.
According to the Portland Cement Association (PCA, 1988):
"The objective in designing concrete mixtures is to determine the most economical and practical combination of readily available materials to produce a concrete that will satisfy the performance requirements under particular conditions of use."
PCC mix design has evolved chiefly through experience and well-documented empirical relationships. Normally, the mix design procedure involves two basic steps:
1. Mix proportioning. This step uses the desired PCC properties as inputs then determines the required materials and proportions based on a combination of empirical
relationships and local experience. There are many different PCC proportioning methods of varying complexity that work reasonably well.
2. Mix testing. Trial mixes are then evaluated and characterized by subjecting them to several laboratory tests. Although these characterizations are not comprehensive, they can give the mix designer a good understanding of how a particular mix will perform in the field during construction and under subsequent traffic loading.
PCC consists of three basic ingredients: aggregate, water and portland cement.
According to the Portland Cement Association (PCA, 1988):
"The objective in designing concrete mixtures is to determine the most economical and practical combination of readily available materials to produce a concrete that will satisfy the performance requirements under particular conditions of use."
PCC mix design has evolved chiefly through experience and well-documented empirical relationships. Normally, the mix design procedure involves two basic steps:
1. Mix proportioning. This step uses the desired PCC properties as inputs then determines the required materials and proportions based on a combination of empirical
relationships and local experience. There are many different PCC proportioning methods of varying complexity that work reasonably well.
2. Mix testing. Trial mixes are then evaluated and characterized by subjecting them to several laboratory tests. Although these characterizations are not comprehensive, they can give the mix designer a good understanding of how a particular mix will perform in the field during construction and under subsequent traffic loading.