CHAPTER-3

PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

15
 PROPERTIES OF MATERIAL

3.1 GENERAL

Concrete is a construction material composed of Portland cement, sand, crushed stone

and water. The cement and water form a paste which hardens by chemical reaction into a strong,
stone-like mass. No more cement paste should be used than necessary to coat all the aggregate
surfaces and to fill all the voids.

The concrete paste is plastic and can easily mould into any form or trowelled to produce a
smooth surface. Hardening begins immediately, but precautions need to be taken, usually by
covering, to avoid rapid loss of moisture since the presence of water is necessary to continue the
chemical reaction and increase the strength. Too much water, however, produces a concrete that
is more porous and weaker. The quality of the paste formed by the cement and water largely
determines the character of the concrete. Proportioning of the ingredients of concrete is referred
to as designing the mixture. Concrete may be produced as a dense mass which is practically
artificial rock, and chemicals may be added to make it waterproof, or it can be made porous and
highly permeable for such use as filter beds. An air-entraining chemical may be added to produce
minute bubbles for porosity or light weight. The gradual increase in strength is due to the
hydration of the Tricalcium aluminates and silicates. Sand used in concrete was originally
specified as roughly angular, but rounded grains are now preferred. The stone is usually sharply
broken. The unit weight of concrete varies with the type and amount of rock and sand. Concrete
is stronger in compression than in tension, and steel bar, called rebar or mesh is embedded in
structural members to increase the tensile and flexural Strengths. In addition to the structural
uses, concrete is widely used in precast units such as block, tile, sewer, and water pipe, and
ornamental products.

3.2 CEMENT

Cement used in the present work is Zuari 43 Grade Ordinary Portland Cement confirming
to IS 12269-1987 specifications. The chemical composition of cement provided by the supplier
was shown in Table 3.1. It was tested for its physical properties in accordance with Indian
Standard specifications. The properties of cement were shown in Table 3.2.

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Table 3.1 Chemical Composition Of Cement( provided by manufacturer)

Limits Of OPC
Components Percentage 43 Grade
Cement(%)

CaO 60.41 60-67

SiO2 20.27 17-25

Al2O3 5.32 3-8

Fe2O3 3.56 0.5-6.0

MgO 2.46 0.1-4.0

Alkalies(K2O,Na2O) 1.25 0.4-1.3

SO3 2.92 1.0-3.0

Table 3.2 Properties of Cement

S.No Property Values

1 Specific Gravity 3.12

Normal
2 30 %
Consistency

Setting Time
55mins
3 1.Initial setting time
320mins
2.Final setting time
4 Fineness 3%

Compressive
5 44Mpa
strength

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3.3 FINE AGGREGATE

Locally available river sand confirming to IS 383-1970 specifications was used as the
fine aggregate in the concrete. Fine aggregate / sand is an accumulation of grains of mineral
matter derived from the disintegration of rocks. It is distinguished from gravel only by the size of
the grains or particles, but is distinct from clays which contain organic materials. Sands that have
been sorted out and separated from the organic material by the action of currents of water or by
winds across arid lands are generally quite uniform in size of grains. Usually commercial sand is
obtained from river beds or from sand dunes originally formed by the action of winds. Much of
the earth’s surface is sandy, and these sands are usually quartz and other siliceous materials. The
commercially used silica sand is 98% pure. Beach sands usually have smooth, spherical to oval.
Void particles from the abrasive action of waves and tides and are free of organic matter. The
white beach sands are largely silica but may also be of zircon, monazite, garnet, and other
minerals, and are used for extracting various elements. Sand is used for making mortar and
concrete and for polishing and sand blasting.

Standard sand is silica sand used in making concrete and cement tests. The fine aggregate
obtained from river bed, clear from all sorts of organic impurities was used in this experimental
program. The fine aggregate was passing through 4.75 mm sieve and the grading zone of fine
aggregate was zone II as per Indian Standard specifications. The properties of Fine aggregate
were shown in Table 3.2, the sieve analysis of Fine aggregate was shown in Table 3.3 and also
the grading curves of Fine aggregate were shown in Fig 3.1.

Table 3.3 Properties of Fine Aggregate

S.No Property Values

1 Specific Gravity 2.60

2 Fineness Modulus 2.74

3 Grading of Sand Zone – II

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 Table 3.4 Sieve Analysis of Fine Aggregate

Weight Cumulat- % Zone - Specifications as per

Retained ive % Passing
Sieve Size IS:383-1970 (% Passing)
(gm) Retained
I II III IV

4.75 mm 20 2.00 98.00 90-100 90-100 90-100 95-100

2.36 mm 40 6.00 94.00 60-95 75-100 85-100 95-100

1.18 mm 125 18.50 81.50 30-70 55-90 75-100 90-100

600 µ 336 52.10 47.90 15-34 35-59 60-79 80-100

300 µ 460 98.10 1.90 5-20 8-30 12-40 15-50

150 µ 15 99.60 0.40 0-10 0-10 0-10 0-10

Pan 4 100 0 --- --- --- ---

100

80
Percentage passing

60
Fine aggregate
Sample
40 Lower Limit (Zone-II)

20 Upper Limit (Zone-II)

0
0.01 0.1 1 10
-20
Sieve sizes (mm)

Fig 3.1 Particle Size Distribution of Fine Aggregate (Zone-II)

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3.4 COARSE AGGREGATE

Coarse aggregate of nominal size 20 mm and 12.5 mm, obtained from the local quarry
confirming to IS 383-1970 specifications were used. Coarse aggregate are the crushed stone is
used for making concrete. The commercial stone is quarried, crushed and graded. Much of the
crushed stone used is granite, limestone and trap rock. Graded crushed stone usually consists of
only one kind of rock and is broken with sharp edges. Machine crushed granite broken stone
angular in shape was used as coarse aggregate. The maximum size of coarse aggregate was 20
mm. Proportion of coarse aggregate were used 20mm (60%) and 12.5mm (40%) as graded
aggregate. The properties of coarse aggregate were shown in Table 3.5, the sieve analysis of
coarse aggregate 20mm , 12.5mm and graded aggregate was shown in Table 3.6,3.7 and 3.8 ,
also the grading curves of were shown in Fig 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 respectively.

Table 3.5 Properties of Coarse Aggregate

S.No Property Values

2.67(20mm)
1 Specific Gravity
2.70(12mm)

0.49%(20 mm)
2 Water Absorption
0.80%(12 mm)

7.29(20mm)
3 Fineness Modulus
6.49(12mm

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 Table 3.6 Sieve Analysis of 20mm Coarse Aggregate

% PASSING
FOR SINGLE
SIZED
SIEVE WEIGHT
CUMULATIVE CUMULATIVE AGGREGATE
SIZE RETAINED
% RETAINED % PASSING OF NOMINAL
(mm) (Kg)
SIZE
(20mm)
(IS:383-1970)
40 0 0 100 100
20 0.454 4.54 95.46 85 -100
10 7.968 84.22 15.78 0-20
4.75 1.578 100 0 0-5
2.36 0 100 0 --
1.18 0 100 0 --
0.6 0 100 0 --
0.3 0 100 0 --
0.15 0 100 0 --

120
100
Cumulative % passing

80 UPPER
60 LIMIT

40 CUMULAT
IVE %
20
PASSING
0 LOWER
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 LIMIT
-20
Sieve size(mm)

Fig 3.2 Grading curve of coarse aggregate(20mm)

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 Table 3.7 Sieve Analysis Of 12.5mm Coarse Aggregate

% PASSING
FOR SINGLE
SIZED
SIEVE WEIGHT
CUMULATIVE CUMULATIVE AGGREGATE
SIZE RETAINED
% RETAINED % PASSING OF NOMINAL
(mm) (Kg)
SIZE
(12.5mm)
(IS:383-1970)
20 0 0 100 --
16 0 0 100 100
12.5 0.483 4.83 95.17 85 -100
10 5.17 56.53 43.47 0-45
4.75 3.484 91.37 8.63 0-10
2.36 0.574 97.11 2.89 --
1.18 0.289 100 0 --
0.6 0 100 0 --
0.3 0 100 0 --
0.15 0 100 0 --

120
Cumulative % passing

100
80 UPPER LIMIT
60
40 CUMULATIVE
% PASSING
20
LOWER LIMIT
0
-200.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve size(mm)

Fig 3.3 Grading curve of coarse aggregate(12.5mm)

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 Table 3.8 Sieve Analysis Of Coarse Aggregate(60:40)

% PASSING
FOR GRADED
SIEVE WEIGHT AGGREGATE
CUMULATIVE CUMULATIVE
SIZE RETAINED OF NOMINAL
% RETAINED % PASSING
(mm) (Kg) SIZE
(20mm)
(IS:383-1970)
40 0 0 100 100
20 0.386 3.86 96.14 95-100
10 1.27 70.5 29.5 25-55
4.75 2.68 97.3 2.7 0-10
2.36 0.187 99.17 0.83 --
1.18 0.083 100 0 --
0.6 0 100 0 --
0.3 0 100 0 --
0.15 0 100 0 --

120
Cumulative % passing

100
80 CUMULATIVE %
PASSING
60
LOWER LIMIT
40
20 UPPER LIMIT
0
-200.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve size(mm)

Fig 3.4 Grading curve of coarse aggregate(60:40)

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3.5 WATER

In this work tap water used, which is available in Structural Engineering laboratory.
Water fit for drinking is generally considered fit for making concrete. Water should be free from
acids, oils, alkalies, vegetables or other organic impurities. Soft waters also produce weaker
concrete. Water has two functions in a concrete mix. Firstly, it reacts with the cement to form
cement paste in which the inert aggregates are held in suspension until the cement paste has
hardened. Secondly, it serves as a vehicle or lubricant in the mixture of fine aggregates and
cement. Water properties were shown in table 3.11

Table 3.9 Different substances present in water used for work and their permissible limits
(IS 3025)

Parameter Experimental values (mg/l) Permissible limits(mg/l)

pH 7.8 6.5-8
Acidity 20 50
Alkalinity 420 <1000
Chlorides <2000 –PCC
213
<500--RCC
Total hardness 480 --
Sulphates 80 <400ppm
Total dissolved solids 900 <15000ppm

3.6 TENSILE TEST OF STEEL BAR:

Tensile test is done to study the behavior of the material under tensile load by using
Universal Testing Machine having capacity 40 tons and to determine various properties like
proof stress, ultimate stress, breaking stress and young's modulus of the material.

Ultimate stress =Ultimate load/Nominal area

Breaking stress =Breaking load/Nominal area

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 Table 3.10 Test results of steel bar

Sample Ultimate Breaking Proof Young’s

no. stress(N/mm^2) stress(N/mm^2) stress(N/mm^2) stress(N/mm^2)

1 628.67 36.39 535 2.5x10^5

2 618 436.39 510 2.8x10^5

3 622.12 487.74 525 2.5x10^5

Stress VS Strain
700

600

500
Stress(N/mm^2)

400
Stress VS
300 Strain

200

100

0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014
Strain

Fig 3.5 Stress vs strain curve of steel bar

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3.7 STEEL FIBRE

In this present investigation loose hooked end steel fibre is used which is obtained from
Kasturi metal composites, MIDC, Amravati, Maharastra. Steel fibre is shown in fig 3.6 and the
properties of steel fibre given by the supplier are shown in table 3.11.

Fig 3.6 Steel fibre

Table 3.11 Properties of steel fiber

Material Low carbon drawn wire

Aspect ratio 50
Length 30mm
Diameter 0.60mm
Tensile strength >1300 Mpa
Modulus of Elasticity 200 Gpa
Specific Gravity 7.5
Tunnel shotcrete, precast
Suitable application
elements, road & pavement

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