Description
This book is intended for anyone who wants an introduction to concrete and concrete construction. Craftsmen in the concrete field may find it particularly useful as a guide for good practice. The now soft-cover book has been made more affordable to allow for greater use as a teaching, training/development, and convenient reference tool for the concrete industry.
It is easily accessible and ideal as a required course textbook or company on-boarding tool. This is one of six books in the Concrete Craftsman Series published by the American Concrete Institute.
“CCS-0: Concrete Fundamentals,” starts with the most basic question of all, "What is concrete?" Other sections cover materials, basic construction practices, and testing. This book is a good starting point for someone in the concrete industry, whether they are an apprentice, a journeyman, a foreman, a material supplier, or even a young engineer without field experience. This book is not a design aid but rather a guide to good practice.
The design of concrete structures is the responsibility of a professional engineer. Designs are usually reviewed and approved by local building authorities and are governed by codes such as the International Building Code (IBC), or other local building codes that usually reference "Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318) and Commentary." This book is not a replacement for these documents. Plans and specifications for a specific project, and local building code requirements are required to be followed, even if they differ from the information in this book.
Keywords: Materials, design, mixture proportioning, batching, mixing, curing, protection, placing, quality, strength testing.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
VOCABULARY
CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION
What is concrete?
Importance of concrete
Importance of the craftsman
Adding water to concrete
Handling concrete safely
CHAPTER 2—CONCRETE MATERIALS
Portland cements
Types of portland cement
White and colored portland cement
Special types of cement
Aggregates
Nominal maximum size of aggregate
Aggregate grading
Harmful materials in aggregate
Handling aggregates
Mixing water
Admixtures
Supplementary cementitious materials
CHAPTER 3—MIXTURE PROPORTIONING
Properties of the unhardened concrete
Properties of hardened concrete
Control of shrinkage and cracking
Effects of temperature
Proportioning example
Values needed to choose mixture proportions
A summary of concrete mixture proportioning by weight method according to ACI 211.1
Concrete for the small job
CHAPTER 4—BATCHING AND
MIXING CONCRETE
Batching
Mixing concrete
Stationary mixers: central or on site
Ready mixed concrete
Mobile batcher mixer
High-energy mixers
Remixing concrete
Maintenance of mixing equipment
CHAPTER 5—HANDLING, PLACING, AND CONSOLIDATING CONCRETE
Handling and placing methods
Depositing concrete from the truck mixer
Wheelbarrows and buggies
Belt conveyors
Buckets and hoppers
Pumping concrete
Pneumatic or air gun placing
Shotcrete
Other placing equipment and methods
Depositing the concrete
Consolidation
Hand methods
Mechanical vibration
Internal vibration
Form vibration
Surface vibration
Roller compacted concrete
Benefits of consolidation
Self-consolidating concrete
CHAPTER 6—CURING AND PROTECTION
Rain damage
Curing time and temperature
Accelerating admixtures
Keeping moisture in the concrete
Membrane-forming curing compounds
Waterproof paper or plastic film
Water spray or soaker hose
Wet burlap or mats
Other methods
Cold weather precautions
Protection against freezing
Hot weather precautions
Keeping cool
Avoiding delays
Plastic shrinkage cracking
CHAPTER 7—FIELD TESTING AND CONTROL OF CONCRETE QUALITY
Sampling fresh concrete (ASTM C172/C172M)
Slump test (ASTM C143/C143M)
Air content tests
Air content by the pressure method
(ASTM C231/C231M)
Air content by the volumetric method
(ASTM C173/C173M)
Air content estimated with an air indicator
Density (unit weight) and yield (ASTM C138/C138M)
Temperature (ASTM C1064/C1064M)
Making test cylinders (ASTM C31/C31M)
Curing and protecting test cylinders
Cylinders for design strength check
Cylinders made for construction site control
CHAPTER 8—EVALUATING CONCRETE STRENGTH
Core and Cylinder Strength Tests of Hardened Concrete
ACI 318 requirements
Cylinder compressive strength tests
(ASTM C39/C39M)
Core tests (ASTM C42/C42M)
Nondestructive and in-place testing methods
Rebound hammer test (ASTM C805)
Penetration resistance method
(ASTM C803/C803M)
Pullout tests (ASTM C900)
Pulse velocity test (ASTM C597)
Concrete maturity method (ASTM C1074)
Load testing concrete structures
APPENDIX A—REFERENCES
Referenced standards and committee reports
American Concrete Institute
ASTM International