BUILDING MATERIALS AND
CONSTRUCTION
GRADES AND PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
CONCRETE
• Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and
coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement
(cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time.
• Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world
after water, and is the most widely used building material.
GRADE OF CONCRETE
What is the grade of concrete?
The minimum strength of concrete after 28 days of initial construction,
its strength, and composition are used to define the grade of concrete.
The units of the strength of concrete are in MPa. (The pascal
(symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI) MPa
– Megapascal Pressure Unit. The megapascal is a x1000000 multiple of the
pascal unit which is the SI unit for pressure.)
It is usually represented by the letter M, which represents the Mix
design such as M15, represents the mix design of concrete having 15
MPa strength.
The concrete mix design is also represented by their compressive
strengths in Newton starting from 5 Newton, to higher values. In this
case, C10 has 10 Newton strength, C20 has 20 Newton strength, and so
on.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRADES
According to IS456: 2000, the grades of the concrete are shown by M5, M10,
M20, etc. where M denotes the strength of concrete at 28 days when a
concrete cube of 15×15×15 cm3.
CLASSIFICATION OF CONCRETE GRADES
The grades of concrete classify the concrete into four
types:
Lean Concrete
Ordinary grade concrete
Standard grade concrete
High strength grade concrete
LEAN CONCRETE
It is a type of concrete mix in which the liquid content is higher than the amount of cement
present in the mix.
M5 GRADE CONCRETE M7.5 GRADE CONCRETE
It is a lean mix type of It is also a low strength type
concrete and its applications of concrete and due to its
are in non-structural work. low tension strength and
It is mostly used for non- high compressive strength.
structural members. It is used in portions of the
It is used as PCC for the structure where the loading
foundation. PCC is strong to is mostly of compression
bear compression but weak type such as in case of
in tension loading. foundation of the structure.
ORDINARY GRADE CONCRETE
M10 GRADE CONCRETE M20 GRADE CONCRETE
It is used in the It is mostly used as RCC
substructure portion of also known as Reinforced
the concrete structures. Cement Concrete.
It is mostly used as PCC The main loading members
also known as Plain of the structure which bear
Cement Concrete. M10 all types of bending loads
concrete typically used in are made with this type of
concrete grade.
leveling, of course,
bedding for footing and
concrete roads.
STANDARD GRADE CONCRETE
M25 AND M30 GRADE M30 M35 M40 GRADE
It is used in the structure to The concrete is resistant to
form the basic and essential mild exposure.
loading members of the It is also used in RCC
reinforced structure such as columns, pressurized
beams, columns and beams, runway concrete
footings.
roads etc.
HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE
M60 AND M80 GRADE It has also many
It is used as Reinforced applications in
Cement Concrete. spillways of dams,
These grades of concrete coastal constructions,
made for the structures and for constructing
where high strength concrete passage for dams.
is usually required.
It is used for high rise
buildings, bridges, long-span
bridges. Both of these
perform exceptionally in
highly aggressive
environments.
KEY FACTORS TO CHOOSE THE GRADE
OF CONCRETE
Compressive Strength
Workability
Durability
Water Cement Ratio
Nominal size of aggregates
Grading of combined aggregates
Control of Quality at site
PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
Grades of Concrete (M20, M25, M30, etc.)
Compressive Strength of Concrete.
Characteristic Strength of Concrete.
Tensile Strength of Concrete.
Durability of Concrete.
Creep of Concrete.
Shrinkage of Concrete.
Unit Weight of Concrete.
Modular Ratio of Concrete.
Poisson’s Ratio of Concrete.
PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
MODULAR RATIO OF POISSON’S RATIO OF
CONCRETE. CONCRETE.
Modular ratio is the For high-strength
ratio of modulus of concrete Poisson’s ratio
elasticity of two varies between 0.1 and
different materials. 0.2 for weak mixes. For
strength design, It is
In RCC, steel and normally taken as 0.15
concrete are used so and 0.2 for serviceability
ratio of ES to EC is criteria.
modular ratio.
