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Concrete Mix Design

• It Is the technique of CHOOSING

the most ECONOMIC PROPORTIONS
of concrete ingredients to obtain a COHESIVE and
DURABLE concrete of the desired STRENGTH
and WORKABILITY
using AVAILABLE materials.

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 Methods
• Trial and Error method
• ACI method
• The British method
• Road Note No. 4 method
• IRC-44 method
• Surface area method
• Fineness modulus method
• Maximum dry density method
• I.S method
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Indian Standard method of Concrete Mix Design
as per
IS:10262-2004
and in accordance with
IS:456-2000

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 CMD – Design Stipulations

• Characteristic Compressive strength of concrete, fck

• Maximum nominal size of aggregate (MSA)
• Workability/C.F.
• Exposure conditions as per IS:456
• Degree of Quality control
• Type of aggregate (Crushed/Rounded)
• W/C ratio
• Zone pf Sand (I,II,III)
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 Assumptions in IS:10262-2004

• Crushed cubical aggregates

• C.F of 0.8
• w-c ratio of 0.6
• Z II F.A

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 Characteristic compressive
strength

• 28 days
• Not more than 5% of the test results are expected to
fall below the value
• I.e. it is the strength obtained from the test of cube
of 28 curing, such that 95% cube sample exceeds the
desired value

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 Workability
Cl 7, IS:456-2000

Degree of Slump Compacting

Placing condition
workability (mm) factor
shallow sections; pavements
Very Low < 25 0.75
using pavers

Mass concrete; Lightly reinforced

sections in slabs, beams, walls,
Low 25-75 0.80
columns; Floors; Hand placed
pavements; canal lining

Heavily reinforced sections in

Medium 50-100 0.85
slabs, beams, walls, columns
Slipform work; Medium 75-100 0.90
Pumped concrete; Trench fill High 100-150 0.95
In-situ piling (Tremie concrete) Very High > 150
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Environmental Exposure Conditions
(T-3, IS:456-2000)
 Degree of Quality Control
Very good: Fresh cement from single source, weigh-batching of all
materials, aggregates supplied in single sizes, control of
aggregate grading & moisture content, control of water
added, frequent supervision, regular workability & strength
tests, field laboratory facilities.

Good : Carefully stored cement & periodic tests, weigh-batching of

all materials, controlled water, graded aggregates supplied,
occasional grading & moisture tests, periodic check of
workability & strength intermittent supervision and
experienced workers.

Fair : Proper storage of cement, volume batching of all

aggregates allowing for bulking of sand, weigh batching of
cement, water content controlled by inspection of mix,
occasional supervision & tests.
10
Poor : Not fair.
TEST DATA FOR MATERIALS

TYPE OF CEMENT

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CEMENT, C.A & F.A

WATER ABSORPTION FOR C.A & F.A

FREE SURFACE MOISTURE IN C.A & F.A

Grading Limits for Fine Aggregates: IS:383

IS Sieve % age passing by weight for Grading

Zone I Zone II Zone III Zone IV

4.75 mm 90-100 90-100 90-100 95-100

2.36 mm 60-95 75-100 85-100 95-100
1.18 mm 30-70 55-90 75-100 90-100
600 micron 15-34 35-59 60-79 80-100
300 micron 5-20 8-30 12-40 15-50
150 micron 0-10 0-10 0-10 0-15

It is the zone that contains the F.A. percentage of less than

600micron as above
Grading Limits for Coarse Aggregates (IS:383)
% Passing for Graded aggregates
IS Sieve
Designation 40 mm 20 mm 10 mm

40 mm 95-100 100 100

20 mm 30-70 95-100 100
10 mm 10-35 25-55 40-85
4.75 mm 0-5 0-10 0-10
 PROCEDURE

STEP 1
DETERMINE TARGET MEAN STRENGTH OF CONCRETE AS

ft =fck + t S
WHERE, ft - TARGET MEAN COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH AT 28 DAYS
fck- CHARACTERISTIC COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE
AT 28 DAYS
t – USUALLY 1.65 AS PER IS:456-2000
S – STANDARD DEVIATION
IS:10262-2004
IS:456-2000
 STEP 2

CHOOSE THE WATER CEMENT RATIO FOR THE TARGET MEAN

STRENGTH ( FIG.2 OF IS 10262-1982)

CHECK THIS W-C RATIO AGAINST MAX W-C RATIO FOR THE
REQUIREMENT OF DURABILITY. (TABLE 5, IS:456-2000)

ADOPT THE LOWER OF THE TWO VALUES.

MAKE A MORE PRECISE ESTIMATE OF THE PRELIMINARY W-C

RATIO CORRESPONDING TO THE TARGET AVERAGE STRENGTH.
IS:456-2000
IS:456-2000
 STEP 3

Estimate the water content and percentage of F.A by absolute

volume of total aggregate (Table 4 & 5 of IS:10262)
IS:10262-2004
IS:10262-2004
 STEP 4

Make necessary adjustments in water content and percentage of F.A

for different conditions of workability, w-c ratio, grading of
aggregates (Table 6 of IS:10262)
IS:10262-2004
 STEP 5
CALCULATE THE CEMENT CONTENT FROM W-C RATIO AND FINAL
WATER CONTENT ARRIVED AFTER ADJUSTMENT.

Cement Content = Water content / (w-c ratio)

CHECK THE CEMENT CONTENT SO CALCULATED AGAINST THE
MIN. CEMENT CONTENT FROM THE REQUIREMENT OF
DURABILITY. ADOPT GREATER OF THE TWO VALUES.

QUANTITY OF WATER, CEMENT PER UNIT VOLUME OF CONCRETE

AND % OF SAND IN TOTAL AGGREGATE ARE ALREADY
DETERMINED.
IS:10262-2004
 STEP 5

CALCULATE THE C.A AND F.A CONTENTS PER UNIT VOLUME OF

CONCRETE AS PER THE FOLLOWING FORMULA.

V= (W+(C/SC)+ (1/p) x (fa/Sfa)) / 1000

V= (W+(C/SC)+ (1/1-p) x (Ca/Sca)) / 1000

where
V= ABSOLUTE VOLUME OF FRESH CONCRETE
SC= SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CEMENT
W= MASS OF WATER PER CUM OF CONCRETE
C= MASS OF CEMENT PER CUM OF CONCRETE
p= RATIO OF F.A TO TOTAL AGGREGATE BY ABSOLUTE VOLUME.
fa, Ca= TOTAL MASS OF F.A & C.A PER CUM OF CONCRETE,
Sfa Sca = SPECIFIC GRAVITIES OF SATURATED SURFACE
DRY F.A AND C.A
 STEP 7
ARRIVE AT THE VOLUMETRIC OR WEIGH BATCH MIX
PROPORTION OF CONCRETE.

THIS WAY DO DIFFERENT TRIAL MIXES BY ADJUSTING

AGGREGATE CONTENT, CEMENT CONTENT AND W.C.RATIO.

FINALLY ARRIVE AT 2-3 FINAL MIXES AND CAST CUBES AND

FIND OUT THEIR 7 & 28 DAY STRENGTHS.
 STEPS
1. Target mean strength fck
2. Selection of w-c ratio
3. Selection of water content and fine to total aggregate
ratio
4. Adjustments for the deviations
5. Calculation of cement content
6. Estimation of entrapped air
7. Calculation of aggregate content
8. Trial mix
9. Optimisation of mix 31
LETS NOW DO A CMD FOR M30 GRADE CONCRETE

DESIGN STIPULATIONS

1. CHARACTERISTIC COMPRESSIVE
STRENGTH REQD. IN 28 DAYS - 30N/sq mm
2. MSA(MAX. SIZE OF AGGREGATE) - 20 mm
3. DEGREE OF WORKABILITY
(COMPACTING FACTOR) - 0.85
4. DEGREE OF QUALITY CONTROL - FAIR
5. TYPE OF EXPOSURE - SEVERE

TEST DATA FOR MATERIALS

1. CEMENT - OPC 53 Gr
2. SP. GRAVITY OF CEMENT - 3.15
3. SP. GRAVITY OF C.A - 2.67
 4. SP. GRAVITY OF F.A - 2.60
5. WATER ABSORPTION BY C.A - 0.5%
6. SURFACE MOISTURE IN C.A - NIL
7. SURFACE MOISTURE IN F.A - 2%
8. SIEVE ANALYSIS – C.A

IS SIEVE PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE OF DIFFERENT REMARKS

SIZE(mm) PASSING FRACTIONS
I II I II COMBINED
(60%) (40%) (100%)

20 100 100.00 60 40.00 100.00 CONFORMING

10 0 71.20 0 28.50 28.50 TO TABLE 2
4.75 - 9.40 - 3.70 3.70 OF IS 383-
1970
2.36 - - - - -
 9. SIEVE ANALYSIS – FA

IS SIEVE SIZE PERCENTAGE REMARKS

PASSING

4.75 mm 100 CONFORMING

2.36 mm 80 TO GRADING
1.18 mm 60 ZONE II OF IS
383-1970
600 micron 40
300 micron 20
150 micron 1
 RESULTS :
1. TARGET MEAN STRENGTH

ft = fck + t*S
= 30 + 1.65 x 5
= 38.25 MPa

2. FIND W/C RATIO

From Fig 2 of IS:10262, corresponding to 38.25 MPa,

W-C RATIO IS 0.47

Max w-c ratio for SEVERE exposure,

IS 0.45

Adopt lower of the two

i.e W-C RATIO IS 0.45

 3.FIND WATER CONTENT AND % OF F.A

From ,Table 4 of IS:10262-2004

For 20mm MSA, Z II F.A, w-c ratio of 0.6, C.F of 0.8,

Water content of Concrete is 186 Kg / Cu.m

F.A as a %age of total aggregate by absolute volume is 35%

4.Since W-C ratio is 0.45, C.F is 0.85, apply Correction as per Table 6 of
IS:10262-2004

Therefore required F.A as a percentage of total aggregate by absolute volume is 35 –

3 = 32% (refer next slide)

similarly, required water content is 186 + (186*1.5/100) = 188.8 L

Change in condition
% adjustment required
Water F.A in total
content aggregate
For decrease in w-c ratio 0 -3.0
from 0.6 to 0.45 = 0.15

For increase in C.F from +1.5 0

0.8 to 0.85 = 0.05

Total Correction +1.5 -3.0

 5. FIND CEMENT CONTENT

W/C = 0.45
WATER = 188.8 LITRES
CEMENT = 188.8/0.45
= 420 kg.
Check for min. cement content for Durability,
The min. cement content for M30 grade, severe exposure is 320 Kg/cu.m
Hence the worked cement content satisfies the condition.

6. THE ENTRAPPED AIR

For specified MSA of 20mm, the amount of entrapped air in wet concrete is 2%
( Table 3 of IS:10262-2004)

So the absolute volume of concrete is 1 – 0.02 = 0.98 Cu.m

7. DETERMINATION OF COARSE AND FINE AGGREGATE

Substitute the values known in the:

i.e. V = [ W + (C / Sc) + 1 / p x ( fa /Sfa )] x (1 /1000 )

= [ 188.8 + 420/3.15 + 1 / 0.32 x fa / 2.6] x 1 /1000

fa = 547.29 kg/cu.m

similarly, Ca= 1194.30 kg/cu.m

 MIX PROPORTIONS THEN BECOMES

WATER CEMENT FA CA

188.8 420 547.29 1194.30

0.45 1 1.3 2.84

ACTUAL QUANTITIES REQD FOR THE MIX PER BAG OF

CEMENT

CEMENT - 50 kg
FA(SAND)- 65 kg
CA - 142kg (C.A I – 85.2kg, C.A II – 56.8kg)
 8. TRIAL MIX

a) WATER CONTENT = 188.8 L

b) EXTRA WATER FOR ABSORPTION OF

C.A AT 0.5% BY MASS = (0.5/100) x 1194.3 = 5.97 L

C) WATER TO BE DEDUCTED FOR FREE

MOISTURE PRESENT IN SAND, AT 2%
BY MASS = -(2/100) x 547.29 = - 10.95 L

D) ACTUAL QTY. OF WATER ADDED = 188.8 + 5.97 – 10.95 = 183.82 L

SAND

ACTUAL QTY OF SAND AFTER ALLOWING = 547.29 + 10.95

FOR MASS OF FREE MOISTURE = 558.24 Kg
 COARSE AGGREGATE

= 1194.30 – 5.97 = 1188.33

FRACTION I = 1188.33 x 0.6 = 713 kg

FRACTION II = 1188.33 x 0.4 = 475.33 kg

FINAL MIX PROPORTIONS

WATER = 183.82 L 0.43

CEMENT = 420 kg 1
SAND = 558.24 kg 1.33
CA = 713 kg (FRACTION I) 1.70
475.33 kg (FRACTION II) 1.13
 TEST RESULTS
Slump – 60 mm

C.S in MPa
Age

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Average

7 days 36.3 37.3 35.3 36.3

28 days 52 53 52.5 52.5

IN THE ABOVE MIX DESIGN, NO ADMIXTURE HAS BEEN USED.

BY USING PLASTICISER ,CEMENT CONTENT COULD BE REDUCED TO
ACHIEVE THE SAME SLUMP.
CAN WE OPTIMIZE THE MIX?
• Yes, we can optimize the mix.
In the above example, 28days cube strength obtained as per
IS : 10262 – 2004 is far greater than the target strength.
• For any concrete, if it is to be good, it should have both
strength and durability.
• IS : 456 – 2000 gives out certain criteria for durability.
• Keeping this in mind, the design can be optimized as follows
:

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 REVISED MIX PROPORTION
Original mix:
• CEMENT 420 Kg
• WATER 183.82 L
• SAND 558.24 Kg
• 20 MM 713 Kg
• 12.5 MM 475.33 Kg
TOTAL 2350.39 Kg
9.OPTIMISATION OF MIX
REDUCE CEMENT AND WATER
MIN. CEMENT CONTENT AS PER CODE IS 320 Kgs.
SELECT CEMENT CONTENT AS 350 KGS

REVISED WATER 350 X 0.45 = 157.5 L 45

 REVISED MIX PROPORTION
RE -WORK THE MIX :

CEMENT 420 – 350 = 70 Kgs

WATER 183.82 - 157.5 = 26.32 Kgs
TOTAL = 96.32 Kgs

BY REDUCING THE ABOVE CEMENT AND WATER, THE TOTAL

REDUCTION IN THE MASS OF INGREDIENTS IS 96.32 Kgs

WE HAVE TO BRING THIS MASS TO THE ORIGINAL LEVEL OF

2350.39 Kgs TO KEEP THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CONCRETE
SAME.
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 REVISED MIX PROPORTION
MASS OF COMBINED AGGREGATE
= 558.24+ 713 + 475.33 = 1746.57 Kgs

THIS HAS TO BE INCREASED BY 96.32 Kgs. ie; COMBINED MASS OF AGGR = 1842.96 Kgs
HENCE THE REVISED PROPORTION OF AGGREGATES ARE AS FOLLOWS

1. SAND = 558.24 x 1842.96 / 1746.57 = 589.1 Kg

2. 20 mm = 713 x 1842.96 / 1746.57 = 752.35 Kg
3. 12.5 mm = 475.33 x 1842.96 / 1746.57 = 501.5 Kg

TOTAL = 1842.95 Kg

THIS IS THE REVISED MASS OF AGGREGATES

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 REVISED MIX PROPORTION
MASS OF COMBINED AGGREGATE
CEMENT 35O Kgs
WATER 157.5 L
SAND 589.1 Kgs
20 mm 752.35 Kgs
12.5mm 501.5 Kgs

TRY THIS MIX IN THE LAB. :

IF THE ABOVE MIX DOES NOT GIVE THE REQUIRED
WORKABILITY, ADD 0.5% SUPER PLASTICIZER BY WEIGHT
OF CEMENT TO GET COHESIVE AND WORKABLE MIX.

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 TEST RESULTS
Slump – 73 mm

C.S in MPa
Age

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Average

7 days 29.4 28.3 28.7 28.8

28 days 42.8 43.5 42.7 43