Mix Design of Concrete

by British Standards
 Presented to: Sir Shazad Rasool


 Presented by: Zeeshan Manzoor

Introduction

 The British method of concrete mix design, popularly

referred to as the "DOE method", is used in the United
Kingdom and other parts of the world and has a long
established record. The method originates from the
"Road Note No 4, which was published in Great Britain
in 1950. In 1975 the note was replaced by the "Design of
Normal Concrete Mixes", published by the British
Department of the Environment (DOE). In 1988 the
"Design of Normal Concrete Mixes" was issued in a
revised and updated edition to allow for changes in
various British Standards.
Continue:

The procedures used by Firstmix are based on the

long established British DOE Method of concrete
mix design. The method was developed for use
with cements and aggregates, which conform to
the relevant British Standards. However since
these Standards lay down requirements which
materials must meet in order to be suitable for
good quality concrete, the procedures of the DOE
Method can be applied to concrete mix design
generally, subject to Firstmix Limitations.
 The DOE method utilizes British test data
obtained at the , and the British Cement
Association. The aggregates used in the tests
conformed to BS 882 and the cements to BS
12 or BS 4027 .
The DOE method is based on various assumptions and requirements:

Mixes are specified by the weights of the different

materials contained in a given volume of fully
compacted concrete.
 It is assumed that the volume of freshly mixed
concrete equals the sum of the air content and of
the absolute volumes of its constituent materials.
The method therefore requires that the absolute
densitiesof the materials be known in order that
their absolute volumes may be calculated.
 It is assumed that the strength of a concrete mix
depends on:
 The Free water/Cement Ratio;
 The Coarse Aggregate Type;
 The Cement Properties
 On the basis of tests the DOE Method provides a
Table and a Figure from which one can estimate the
free water/cement ratio, which will provide a given
strength for concrete made from given coarse
aggregate and cement types.
 It is assumed that the workability of a concrete mix
depends primarily on:
 The Free Water Content;
 The Fine Aggregate Type and, to a lesser degree, the 
Coarse Aggregate Type;
 The Maximum Size of Coarse Aggregate.
 It is assumed that the workability of a concrete mix
depends secondarily on:
 The Percentage of the Fine Aggregate as a proportion of
the total aggregate content.
 The Grading of the Fine Aggregate.
 The Free water/Cement Ratio;
Specification of a Concrete Mix

 The object of concrete mix design is to find

the proportions in which the concrete
materials - cement, water, fine aggregate and
coarse aggregate - should be combined in
order to provide the specified strength,
workability and durability and possibly meet
other requirements, as listed in standards
such as the British BS 5328.
 Mix Design Stages
 The mix design is carried out according to the DOE Method in the
following five stages.
 Stage (I). Determine Free Water/Cement Ratio Required for Strength
 Either use a specified margin or calculate a margin for a given 
proportion of defectives and statistical standard deviation.
 Obtain the target mean strength by adding the margin to the required 
characteristic strength.
 If air entrainment is specified, calculate an artificially raised 
modified target mean strength.
 Either accept a specified free water/cement ratio or obtain the maximum
free water/cement ratio which will provide the target mean strength for
concrete made from the given coarse aggregate type and from cement
with the given properties.
 Stage (II). Determine Free Water Content Required
for Workability
 Either use a specified free water content or obtain the
minimum free water content, which will provide the
desired workability for concrete made with the given 
fine aggregate type, coarse aggregate typeand 
maximum size of coarse aggregate.
 If the free water content has been determined for
workability, adjust the required free water content if 
air entrainment is specified, and adjust further if a 
water-reducing admixture is specified.
 Stage (III). Determine Required Cement Content
 Obtain the minimum cement content, which is required for
strength, by dividing the free water content obtained in Stage (II)
by the free water/cement ratio obtained in Stage (I).
 Check the minimum cement content, which is required for
strength, against the maximum cement content, which is
permitted, and give a warning if the former exceeds the latter.
 Check the minimum cement content, which is required for
strength, against the minimum cement content, which is allowable
for durability, and adopt whichever is greater to be the cement
content in the mix.
 Divide the free water content by the cement content used in the
mix to obtain a modified free water/cement ratio.
 Stage (IV). Determine Total Aggregate Content
 Obtain a value for the overall aggregate density.
 Obtain the fractional volume of the aggregate by
subtracting the proportional volumes of the free
water and the cement from a unit volume.
 Calculate the total aggregate content by dividing
the volume of the aggregate by the aggregate
density.
 Stage (V). Determine Fine Aggregate Content
 Either use a specified value of the 
percentage of fine aggregate, or obtain the percentage
of fine aggregate, which will provide the desired 
workability for concrete made with the given 
grading of fine aggregate, 
maximum size of coarse aggregate and the free
water/cement ratio obtained in Stage (III).
 Calculate the fine and coarse aggregate contents from
the total aggregate content obtained in Stage (IV) and
the percentage of fine aggregate.