Concrete Mix Design by IS, ACI and BS Methods | A Comparative Analysis of Concrete Mix Design

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Concrete Mix Design by IS, ACI and BS Methods: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract of Research Paper

Concrete is one of the most consumable construction materials on the earth. The concrete constitutes cement, sand, gravel, water and/or additives in definite proportions. The proportions of raw materials of concrete are decided by the concrete mix design. The mix design depends on various factors. For mixed design, most of the countries have their own specifications. In the present study, standard guidelines of India, Britain and America for the concrete mix design have been discussed. The concrete grades of M25, M35 and M45 were designed and compared. Indian Standards were also compared. It was concluded that a new revised version of the Indian Standard code has the lowest value of water/cement ratio and highest quantity of cement as compared to other standards.

Concrete Mix Design Methodology

IS: 10262-2009 presents the guidelines for the design of concrete mix. The second revision i.e. IS:10262-2019 “Concrete Mix Proportioning-Guidelines” confirms the design of high strength concrete, self-compacting concrete and mass concrete along with standard strength of concrete up to 60MPa.

This new code also implemented the new revised code of fine and coarse aggregates. A graph between w/c and 28 days compressive strength has been introduced which depend on the type and grade of cement, for the selection of w/c. The w/c has an important role in the compressive strength of concrete mixtures and; selected on the basis of the grade of concrete and type of exposure. The steps involved in the mix design of concrete are as follows:

1. Selection of w/c
2. Selection of free water content
3. Determination of cement content
4. Determination of fine and coarse aggregates

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#2 Concrete Mix Design as Per ACI

In 1991, American Concrete Institute (ACI) published the guidelines for the mix design of normal, heavy-weight and mass concrete. The absolute volume method of mix design as described by the ACI Standard 211.1 “Recommended Practice for Selecting Proportion for concrete” and design steps is given as below

1. Selection of slump
2. Selection of maximum aggregates size
3. Determination of mixing water and air content
4. Computation of target mean compressive strength
5. Selection of w/c
6. Determination of cement content, coarse aggregate and fine aggregate
7. Adjustments for aggregates moisture

#3 Concrete BS DoE Method

British DoE method was first published in 1975 and was revised in 1988. It is a general method developed by the Department of Environment that can be applied to produce designed concrete, using cement and aggregates which conform to the relevant British Standards.

The mixes are specified by the mass of the different materials contained in a cubic metre. The basic mix design approach is the same and based on the characteristics value approach for strength, target mean for slump and air, the minimum target mean for cement content and maximum target means for w/c. Design steps for the concrete mix design are as follows

1. Selection of w/c
2. Determination of free water content followed by cement content
3. Computation of total volume of aggregates followed by determination of fine and coarse aggregate content
4. Adjustments for aggregates moisture
5. Determination of final proportions

Concrete Mix Design by IS, ACI and BS Methods Comparative Conclusions

The concrete mix design adopted in various countries has been done and compared. As a thumb rule, the lower will be the w/c, higher will be the cement content.

The New IS code suggests higher cement content and lower w/c than the old IS code. For good strength and durability properties of concrete, lower w/c is the main requirement. The difference may be justified by the fact that the new IS code introduced a graph between w/c and compressive strength while the old IS code dictates that the w/c may opt from the experience of the practitioner/engineer.

The quantity of cement and w/c ratio were found close in the case of BS and IS codes for 25MPa and 35MPa characteristics strength while, IS and ACI codes recommend the same input design parameters for 45MPa strength characteristics concrete mix. The new IS code advocates higher content of cement that leads to a higher cost of the end product and huge carbon dioxide emission. For sustainable construction, industrial waste materials can be used as partial replacements for cement or aggregates.

Download Research Paper for Concrete Mix Design

Download Research Paper for Concrete Mix Design detailed comparison study with different Country code standards such as Indian IS code, American Concrete Institute, British DoE method. The reference site is the Journal of Building Material Science