Concrete is a composite material composed of cement, fine aggregates and coarse aggregates mixed with water that hardens over time. Portland cement is mostly used for the production of concrete.

Components of concrete:

Various components of concrete are cement, sand, water, and aggregates. The paste is made of a mixture of Portland cement and water. Thus, another name for concrete is a mixture of paste, sand, and aggregates.

Concrete

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How to make concrete?

Concrete is manufactured with respect to cement quantity.  There are two types of concrete mixes. They are normal mix and design mix.

• Normal mix concrete: This concrete is normally used for normal construction works such as small residential buildings. It’s in a proportion of1:2:4
• Designed mix concrete: These concretes are those for which proportions are mixed and are finalized on the basis of lab tests on cylinder or tube. This is called mix design.

The method of mixing (Hand Mixing or Machine Mixing) is decided on the basis of quality and quantity.

Three basic ingredients in the concrete mix are:

• Portland cement: A paste is made with cement and water which assembles the aggregate and sand in the mix. The paste than hardens and binds both.
• Water: Water is needed to chemically react with the cement and thus makes it workable with the concrete. The amount of water in the mix and cement is called the water/cement ratio.
• Aggregates (rock and sand): Sand is the fine aggregate.

Properties of concrete:

• Concrete mix as people say is workable. It can be done by any person.
• Hardened concrete is prepared very easily. There are many easy processes which one can opt
• Since the quality depends mainly on the water to cement ratio the use of water should be minimized to minimize cement requirement resulting in cost reduction.

• Placing concrete: Normal concrete should be placed to the nearest to its final placement. Excess handling can cause isolation of the course and fine aggregates. Concrete is poured directly, wheeled into or pumped into place with a concrete boom pump.
• Spreading concrete: Two types of concretes are used in construction activities. They are plain concrete construction and reinforced concrete construction.

Spreading the concrete is vital step in itself. Below are the steps of concrete construction.

Steps of concrete construction:

• Quantities of materials selection for selected mix proportion
• Mixing of material
• Checking of its workability
• Transportation
• Pouring for casting in formwork
• Vibrating for proper compaction
• Removal of formwork
• Curing members

Concrete Construction

Working with concrete:

Concrete is easy to work with. It is a very versatile, durable, and economical to use. It is one of the safest materials for building. Very few people involved in preparation procedure of mixing, handling, and finishing concrete have experienced injury.

Perquisites of concrete:

• Concrete is economical and reduces initial and operational costs.
• Excellent water and high-temperature resistance characteristics.
• Ability to consume and recycle waste.
• Low or zero maintenance required.
• Reduce vibration and sound transfer.
• Ingredients of concrete are easily available.
• It can be cast in any desired shape.
• Concrete makes building safe from fire
• Concrete is resistant to water and wind.
• The durability of concrete is very high.
• It hardens at ambiance temperature.
• It reduces energy use.

Epilogue: 

Thus, most buildings whether it’s an individual or commercial use concrete is most important because it is a strong element. Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water. The history of concrete and cement says that Mr. John Smeaton made the first concrete.