What is concrete? Different Types of concrete

What is concrete made of

Concrete is a paste mixture of Aggregate (coarse & fine), cement & Water which is formed artificial rock after it setting time. It is the major building material which use in construction industry. In easy language concrete is the backbone of structure. In this post we will understand types of concrete.

Ingredients in concrete

Aggregate, cement & water are the main components of concrete. Two type of Aggregate are use in concrete fine aggregate as sand and coarse aggregate as crushed stone or gravel.

Aggregate – It is granular material which are generally formed by rock into natural sand, gravels, crushed stone.
Cement – Cement is a binding material which work like binder for coarse aggregate & fine aggregate.
Water – Water is the main components of the concrete which start process of making concrete.

Types of concrete

Concrete is divided into mainly two categories by density & strength.

Classified by Density of Concrete.

We can define of concrete according of his density. In this category has 3 types of concrete

1. Light Weight Concrete

Light weight concrete is a mixture, which made from lightweight coarse aggregates. its components like as clay, shale which reduce its density. Density of LWC is less than 19.6 KN/m³ OR 2000 kg/m3

2. Normal Weight Concrete

Density of NWC is 24kN/m³.

3. Heavy Weight Concrete

HWC is made by high density aggregate so it’s density more than 32kn/m³.

Classified by strength of Concrete

We can define of concrete according of his strength. In this category has 3 types of concrete

Ordinary Concrete.

Strength less than 20MPa.

Standard Concrete

Strength between 20-40MPa.

High Strength Concrete

Which Concrete having strength between 40-80MPa is known as High Strength Concrete.

Properties of Concrete

It is Highly compressive strength material.
It is free from any type of corrosion & there is no effect of atmospheric agent on Concrete.
It hardens with age of the process and after long time the concrete has obtain sufficient strength.
The minimum water-cement ratio should be taken it may change on site ‘s weather conditions.
After setting is act as water proofing material.

Advantages of Concrete

It is Highly compressive strength.
It is more economical than steel.
Maintenance cost is very low or nil.
Its is also used as sound proofing material.
It will be desires in shape with help of steel (for strength purpose).

Disadvantages of Concrete

It is a brittle material so it will be break on hammering.
It has low tensile strength.
Its structures are heavy in weight.
It requires expansion joint for long structure & contraction joint to avoid drying shrinkage.