Tuesday, August 9, 2011

concrete mix design..........


Good quality concrete starts with the quality of materials, cost effective designs is actually a by-product of selecting the best quality material and good construction practices. Following are 10 Things to remember during Concrete Mix Design and Concrete Trials.

1. ACI and other standards only serves as a guide, initial designs must be confirmed by laboratory trial and plant trial, adjustments on the design shall be done during trial mixes. Initial design “on paper” is never the final design.

2. Always carry out trial mixes using the materials for actual use.

3. Carry out 2 or 3 design variations for every design target.

4. Consider always the factor of safety, (1.125, 1.2, 1.25, 1.3 X target strength)

5. Before proceeding to plant trials, always confirm the source of materials to be the same as the one used in the laboratory trials.

6. Check calibration of batching plant.

7. Carry out full tests of fresh concrete at the batching plant, specially the air content and yield which is very important in commercial batching plants.

8. Correct quality control procedures at the plant will prevent future concrete problems.

9. Follow admixture recommendations from your supplier

10. Check and verify strength development, most critical stage is the 3 and 7 days strength.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

IMP POINTS FOR PRESENTATION.....


Important Points from Presentation
A design engineer’s responsibility should include assuring the structural safety of the design, details, checking shop drawing.

Detailing is as important as design since proper detailing of engineering designs is an essential link in the planning and engineering process as some of the most devasting collapses in history have been caused by defective connections or DETAILING. There are many examples explained in the book” DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FAILURES by Dov Kaminetzky.

Detailing is very important not only for the proper execution of the structures but for the safety of the structures.

Detailing is necessary not only for the steel structures but also for the RCC members as it is the translation of all the mathematical expression’s and equation’s results.

For the RCC members for most commonly used for buildings we can divide the detailing for Slabs-with or without openings.(Rectangular,circular,non-rectangular-pyramid slab,triangular etc) balcony slab, loft slab, corner slab etc

Beams – With or without openigs.(Shallow & deep beams)
Columns – (Rectangular,l-shape,t-shape, circular,octagonal,cross shape etc)
Foundations.

Detailing for gravity loads is different from the lateral loads specially for the SEISMIC FORCES.

Apart from the detailing for the above there is a different detailing required for the Rehabilitation and strengthening of damaged structures.

We will now dwell on the DETAILING OF MEMBERS FOR THE GRAVITY AND SOME CODAL DETAILINGS AS PER IS CODE IS 13920 AND IS 4326 AS REQUIRED FOR SEISMIC FORCES.