How to Make Stronger Concrete

Reinforced Concrete

Introduction: Concrete is an artificial engineering material made from a mixture of Portland cement, water, fine and coarse aggregates. It is the most widely used material for construction in the world. Concrete is the only major building material that can be delivered to the job site in a semi plastic state and is capable of being molded.

This unique quality makes concrete desirable as a building material because it can be molded to virtually any form or shape. Concrete provides wide latitude in surface textures and colors and can be used to construct a wide variety of structures such as highways, large buildings, airport runways, breakwaters, piers and homes. The most desirable quality of concrete as a building material is its strength, economy, and durability. The tensile strength of concrete is lower however, by using steel to reinforce its structural members can be made that are just as strong in tension as they are in compression.

When Portland cement is mixed with water the compounds of the cement react to form a cementing medium. In properly mixed concrete each particle of sand and coarse aggregate is completely surrounded and coated by this paste, and all spaces between the particles are filled with it. As the cement paste hardens it binds the aggregates into a solid mass.

How to make Stronger Concrete:

Mixtures of concrete are usually specified in terms of the dry-volume ratios of cement, sand, and coarse aggregates used. A 1:2:3 mixtures, for instance, consists of 1 part by volume of cement, 2 parts of sand, and 3 parts of coarse aggregate such as stone. Depending on the applications the proportions of the ingredients in the concrete can be altered to produce stronger concrete in terms of strength and durability. The ratios can vary from 1:2:3 to 1:2:4 and 1:3:5. The amount of water added to these mixtures is about 1 to 1.5 times the volume of the cement. For high-strength concrete, the water content is kept low, with just enough water added to wet the entire mixture. In general, the more water in a concrete mix, the easier it is to work with, but the weaker the hardened concrete becomes.

For small jobs and minor repairs, concrete can be mixed by hand, but machine mixing ensures a more uniform mix and improves performance. For most home repairs and improvements such as floors, walkways, driveways, and patios the recommended proportion is a 1:2:3 mix.

Steel reinforced concrete is used in most construction work. When concrete is reinforced with steel it increases its strength to resist extreme tensile stresses, the steel supplies the increased strength. Steel is embedded in the concrete in the form of a mesh, or roughened or twisted bars. A bond forms between the steel and the concrete, and stresses can be transferred between both components.

Fiberglass is also used to reinforce concrete. Fiberglass reinforced concrete is often used in garage and basement concrete floors, walkways and patios. It is much cheaper than using steel for these applications and achieves the same results.

Concrete is a fantastic building material and it can be molded into almost any shape. By changing the mixture ratio and adding steel and aggregate the strength and durability can be increased significantly.

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