Engineering and Technical

Concrete Technology, Mix Design and Quality Control

Concrete is specified by a strength a cube reaches at twenty eight days and delivered by people making decisions at the mixer, in the truck and at the placing point, any one of which can undo the design. This course connects the two. Delegates work through cement types and what each changes about setting, heat and durability, then through aggregates, grading, shape and the moisture content that silently alters a mix. Water cement ratio is treated as the governing relationship it is. Mix design is worked through by calculation, including target mean strength, standard deviation and the margin above characteristic strength. Admixtures are covered on what each actually does. Batching, mixing, transporting and placing follow, with segregation and the water added on site that no design survives. Curing is addressed directly. Testing is covered: slump, cubes, and interpreting a failed result. The course closes on durability, on cracking and on investigating low strength.