University of Windsor

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Concrete Design I

87-311

Chapter 1
Material Properties

1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the two materials used in reinforced concrete technology,
namely concrete and steel reinforcement. We will focus on mechanical properties of each material,
which are involved in the design process.

2. CONCRETE AS A BUILDING MATERIAL

Concrete is one of the four main structural building materials (concrete, steel, timber, masonry). It is a
product of mixture of cement, aggregates (sand, gravel, crushed rock) and water. When the materials
are mixed together in the proper proportions and allowed to harden, a solid rocklike mass is obtained
which is called concrete. The process of hardening is due to a chemical reaction in the paste of cement
and water, this reaction is called hydration. The process of hydration is not instantaneous but
continues as long as the concrete remains saturated and the temperature remains favourable. The
behavior of concrete a complex because:

1) Concrete is a conglomerate – artificial composite of

• Coarse Aggregate

• Fine Aggregate

• Cement (Powder of Calcium and Aluminum Silicates)

• Properties of the concrete depend on mix proportions, component properties, and age.
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2) Concrete behaves in a visco-elastic fashion (tends to flow, or creep under long-term loads).
Thus strength and particularly stiffness depend on duration of loading.

3. CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

3.1 Cement and Water/Cement Ratio

Hydraulic cements, particularly Portland Cement, which set and harden by chemically reacting with
water, are used to make structural concrete. CSA Standard A5-M83 provides five types of Portland
Cements as follows;

• Type 10 – Normal (used in ordinary construction)

• Type 20 – Moderate (lower heat hydratation or higher sulfate resistance than type 10)

• Type 30 – High early strength (has considerably higher heat of hydratation)

• Type 40 – Low heat of hydration (Used in mass concrete dams and other construction
where heat of hydratation is dissipated slowly)

• Type 50 – Sulfate resistant (used in footings, basement, sewers, etc.)

The most important parameter, which controls the

mechanical properties of concrete, is the water/cement
ratio denoted by w/c. A minimum w/c ratio is required in
a concrete mix to ensure complete hydration of the
cement (minimum w/c is about 0.35 to 0.4). However,
higher w/c ratios are usually used to improve workability,
that is to make the mixture more plastic and workable so
that it can be placed without difficulty.

Reduction in the water content will result in increased

compressive strength, bond strength, resistance to
weathering, and lower porosity, creep, absorption, and volume change.
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3.2 Aggregates

The aggregates make up 60 to 80 percent of the total volume of concrete and act only as an inert filler.
Aggregates are divided into two categories;

• fine aggregate: sand with particle size up to 5 mm

• coarse aggregate: gravel, crushed rock with particle size in excess of 5 mm, but usually it
has sizes 10 mm up to 40 mm.

3.3 Normal Density Concrete

Commonly used aggregates such as sand, gravel, and crushed stone produce normal density concrete
with mass density of about 2150 to 2500 kg/m3 (average 2320 kg/m3). For design computation, normal
density concrete, reinforced with steel, is commonly assumed to have a mass density of 2400 kg/m3.
Low Density Concrete

Occasionally, structural low-density aggregates are used for special applications (expanded shale, clay,
slate, and slag). The resulting concrete has a density of about 1350 to 1850 kg/m3.

3.4 High Density Concrete

Similarly, high density aggregates such as limonite, borite, magnetite, iron (shots or punchings), and
steel slugs are used occasionally to produce high-density concrete for special applications such as
radiation shielding and counter-weighting.

3.5 Design of Concrete Mixes

The mix is designed on the basis of the desired mean compressive strength, workability (slump),
availability of materials, and economy. The concrete mix proportions is usually expressed as the ratio,
by volume, or by mass of cement to fine to coarse aggregate in that order (for example 1:2:4) together
with the w/c ratio.

Concrete is normally specified by the required compressive strength at 28-days, f’c, as determined by
tests on standard cylindrical specimens 150 x 300 mm long. A concrete is considered satisfactory
(CSA Standard A23.1) if the average of all sets of three consecutive strength tests equal or exceed the
specified strength, with no individual test more than 3.5 MPa below the specified strength.

Results of standard strength tests on cylinders cast from concrete of identical proportions show
inevitable scatter, the amount of scatter depends on the degree of control. To account for these
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variations in strength results, it is necessary to proportion the concrete mix for a mean strength higher
than the specified strength, f’c.

In addition to cement, aggregates and water, other materials termed as admixtures are sometimes added

to the mix to import special properties to the concrete. For instance, admixtures are often used to

entrain air, improve workability, and to accelerate or retard setting and rate of strength gain.

Proper mixing, placing, compacting, and curing are all essential for the production of quality concrete.

4. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

4.1 Concrete Under Compression

Compressive strength (or crushing strength) depends on mix design and age of concrete. The
compression behavior of concrete is therefore assessed for short-term loading and long-term loading.
Structural concrete is primarily used to withstand compressive stresses, many important properties that
influence the strength and deformation of concrete structures (tensile strength, shear strength, and
elastic modulus) can be approximated and correlated to the compressive strength.

Compressive strength is assessed by standard tests CSA Test Method A23.2-9C on 150 mm by 300

mm cylinders at 28-days.
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H
= 2 Standard H = 300 mm, D = 150 mm
D

H H/D ratio is significant factor affecting the test results due to friction

between platen of test machine and ends of the cylinders.

As the cylinder is compressed it attempts to expand laterally (Poisson’s ratio effect). This is restrained
by friction, inducing radial compression near the ends.

P P 4P
f c' = = =
Area πD 2
πD 2
4

In usual structural applications the concrete strength is in the range of 20 to 45 MPa for reinforced
concrete and 35 to 45 MPa for prestressed concrete.
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4.2 Stress-Strain of Concrete in Compression

A typical stress-strain curve of concrete under compressive load is shown below;

Stress (f’c ) in MPa

30

20

10

1‰ 2‰ 3‰ 4‰
εc
(a) the initial portion of the σ-ε curve is relatively straight (linear)

(b) concrete reaches a maximum stress at strain of 0.002 to 0.003

(c) concrete with higher resistance is more brittle

(d) the modulus of elasticity varies with the strength of concrete ( f c' )

(e) the strain at failure is in the range of 0.003 to 0.0045

A23.3 limits the maximum usable concrete strain to 0.0035 [10.1.3].

Concrete strength used in design is determined at 28-days. However, paste continues to hydrate with

time, and hence gain strength.

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σ max
f c',max
1.4

1.2

1.0
0.8
0.6

0.4
0.2

4.3 Tensile Strength (A23.2 -13C) time

Tensile strength of concrete is low, typically 10% to 20% of f c' . There are three possible ways to

measure tensile strength.

P 1) Splitting Test – Carried out on standard

P
(200 x 100) cylinders

P
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2P
f ct' =
π DH

2) Modulus of Rupture Test (A23.2 -8C)

P/2 P/2

f’c

fr = M/Z

L/3 L/3 L/3 f’t

PL/6

P/2 P/2
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3) Direct Tension

This test is very uncommon, because of the difficulty of avoiding traverse

P
P
stress gradient. f t' = .
A

The tensile strength of concrete is found to be approximately proportional to

A
f c' . Thus CSA Standard A23.3 takes the modulus of rupture f r of concrete

as: f r = 0.6 λ f c' MPa ([8.6.4] , [8.6.5])

λ= 1.0 for normal density concrete

λ = 0.85 for structural semi-low density concrete

λ = 0.75 for structural low density concrete

4.4 Shear Strength

The strength of concrete in pure shear is of little practical relevance in design. The case of pure shear
rarely exists in actual structures.

4.5 Poisson’s Ratio

The ratio of lateral expansion to longitudinal contraction.

∆L ∆D
εl = , εD =
L D
D + ∆D

εD
ν=
εl
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4.6 Elasticity

Even if concrete is not an elastic material, the knowledge of the modulus of elasticity is necessary for
all computations of deformation as well as designing sections by the working stress design procedure.

The term Young’s Modulus of Elasticity has relevance only in the linear part of a stress-strain curve.

For a material like concrete whose stress-strain curve is non-linear throughout the range, an elastic
modulus may be defined in different ways.

⎛ f' ⎞
• The secant modulus ⎜⎜ σ = c ⎟⎟ (Working stress range).
⎝ 2⎠

• Initial Tangent.

CSA A23.3 gives an approximate expression for the modulus of elasticity of concrete in terms of its
strength and mass density [8.6.2.2].

( )
⎛ γ ⎞
1.5

E c = 3300 f c' + 6900 ⎜ c ⎟

⎝ 2300 ⎠

Unit Stress

Unit Strain
This formula is valid for concrete with γc between 1500 and 2500 kg/m3 and f’c = 20 MPa and 40 MPa.

The follwing formula is also used: E c = 4500 f c' [8.6.2.3].

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5. LONG TERM BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE

5.1 Creep

Experimental studies shown that concrete under sustained loads is subjected to creep (ie. its
deformation increases with time). The total deformation is often divided into two parts;

• an initial instantaneous deformation, referred to as elastic deformation ( γinst )

• a time dependent deformation, termed creep, that continues at a decreasing rate for a
period of years.

Although creep under normal levels of stress produced by service loads does not reduce the strength of
a reinforced concrete member, it frequently influences behavior.

Case 1: Because of the delayed effects of creep, the long term deflections of a beam may be 2
or 3 times longer than initial deflections. Thus the long-term deflections of reinforced concrete
beams must be investigated by the designer.

Case 2: In a reinforced concrete column supporting a constant load, the deformations due to
creep can cause the initial stress in the steel to double or triple with time.

deformation

time
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If at any instant t ε t = ε el + ε cr

If f c ≤ 0.5 f c' ε cr = (1 + C t ) ε el where Ct is a creep function C t (max) = 0.8 − 2.5

5.2 Effective modulus

Effect of creep at constant stress is to reduce the apparent secant modulus of elasticity

fc
Initially E ci =
ε el

fc E
At time t E ct = = ci
ε el (1 + C t ) 1 + C t

The major factors related to the composition of the mix that influence creep are the type and amount of
cement, w/c ratio, aggregate type and content, and admixtures.

5.3 Shrinkage

In order to produce a workable concrete mix that will flow readily between reinforcement to fill all
parts of the frame work and can be effectively compacted to eliminate voids, nearly twice as much
water as is theoretically required to hydrate the cement must be added to the concrete mix. As concrete
dries, it shrinks at a rate that decreases with time.

Although shrinkage continues for many years, particularly for thick members, approximately 90% of
the ultimate shrinkage occurs during the first year.
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6. REINFORCEMENT

The low tensile strength of unreinforced concrete, a brittle material, results in limited structural
applications since most structural elements carry forces, e.g. shear and moment, that create tensile
stress of significant magnitude. The addition of high strength ductile reinforcement that bonds strongly
to concrete produces a tough ductile material capable of transmitting tension and suitable for
constructing many types of structural elements.

To be effective, the reinforcement and the surrounding concrete must deform under load as an integral
unit without any relative movement or slip between them. To assist the bond between the steel bars
and concrete, and mechanically inhibit longitudinal movement of the bars relative to concrete around
it, reinforcing bars are provided with lugs or protrusions (called “deformations”) on their surface.
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6.1 Purpose of reinforcement

1) Flexural (tension) reinforcement provides tension capacity across cracks (more needed at centre
where moment is high)

2) Shear reinforcement “Stirrups or Ties” carries shear across inclined cracks

3) Compression reinforcement increases compression capacity of concrete zone when necessary

Plain bars are used only as spiral reinforcing in columns and in sizes smaller than 10 mm diameter as
stirrups or ties.

Hot rolled round bars

Reinforcement
Cold drawn wires

6.2 Steel Reinforcement Behavior

Tensile Stress-Strain of Steel