PART II: CONCRETE ELEMENTS

Chapter 2: Properties of Reinforced Concrete

2. PROPERTIES OF REINFORCED CONCRETE

2.1 Definition

Reinforced concrete consists of concrete and mild steel reinforcement or structural steel. Concrete is
made of cement, sand (fine aggregates < 5 mm in size) and coarse aggregates (> 5 mm in size of
crushed stone), and water. The ratios given are by volume such as:

1: 2: 4, which correspond to cement: sand: gravel (or ballast).

2.2 Properties of Reinforced Concrete

a) Compressive and tensile strengths

A fully compacted concrete has trapped air less than 1% by volume. For every 1% above this value the
compressive strength of the concrete drops by about 5.5%. Excess water not used for the chemical
reactions within cement reduces the compressive strength of concrete, as shown in Figure 2.1. The less
cement is in a mix the weaker is the final concrete; thus a 1: 1: 2 mix is stronger than a 1: 2: 4 mix.

The strength of concrete increases with

age (Figure 2.2). For design purposes, it
is usual to take the concrete strength at
28 days, which is approximately 80% of
the strength at one year.

Concrete is weak in tension (tensile

strength is about a tenth of the
compressive strength) thus it requires
reinforcement. Consider some of the
widely differing properties of concrete and
steel that are listed in Table 2.1.
Figure 2.1 Influence of water-to-cement ratio
on the compressive strength of concrete.

Table 2.1. Properties of concrete and steel

Property Concrete Steel
Strength in tension Poor Good
Strength in compression Good Good, but slender bars will buckle
Strength in shear Fair Good
Durability Good Corrodes if unprotected
Fire resistance Good Poor–suffers rapid loss of strength at high temperatures

The list shows that when combined the steel provides the tensile and some of the shear strength while
the concrete (strong in compression) protects the steel to give durability and fire resistance.

A typical stress-strain curve for reinforced concrete is as shown in Figure 2.3. As the load is applied, the
ratio between the stresses and strains is approximately linear at first and the concrete behaves almost as
an elastic material. Eventually the curve is no longer linear and the concrete behaves like a plastic
material. The ultimate strain for most structural concretes tends to be approximately 0.0035, irrespective
of the strength of concrete.

b) Creep
Creep in concrete is gradual increase in strain (deformation) with time in a member subjected to
prolonged stress (Figure 2.4). The precise behaviour of a particular concrete depends on the aggregates
and the mix design, but the general pattern is illustrated by considering a member subjected to axial
compression. The characteristics of creep are:

• The final deformation of the member can be three to four times the short-term deformation.
• The deformation is roughly proportional to the intensity of loading and the inverse of the concrete
strength.
• If the load is removed, only the instantaneous elastic deformation will recover, the plastic deformation
will not.

AAE 2411/2414: Structural Design 1

 PART II: CONCRETE ELEMENTS
Chapter 2: Properties of Reinforced Concrete

• There is a redistribution of load between the concrete and any steel present.

Figure 2.2 Increase of concrete strength with age (typical curve for grade C30 concrete).

Figure 2.3 Stress-strain curve for concrete in

compression.
Figure 2.4 Typical increase of deformation with
time for concrete.

c) Shrinkage
Shrinkage is the contraction that occurs in concrete when it dries and hardens. Drying shrinkage is
irreversible but alternate wetting and drying causes expansion and contraction of concrete. This
shrinkage is liable to cause cracking of the concrete. The type and content of aggregate are the most
important factors influencing shrinkage. The larger the size of the aggregate is, the lower the workability
and water-to-cement ratio are, the lower is the dry shrinkage.

d) Durability
Properly designed and constructed concrete structures are long lasting and require minimal maintenance.
Durability of concrete is influenced by:

• The exposure conditions (viz., soil, sea water, chemicals, atmosphere)–the severity of the exposure
governs the type of concrete mix required and the minimum cover to the reinforcements.
• Concrete quality–use impervious and chemically inert aggregates, and a dense, well-compacted
concrete, with low water-to-cement ratio.
• Cover to the reinforcements–required to protect the bars against corrosion, and high temperatures
due to fire. The thickness of the cover required depends on severity of exposure conditions and
quality of concrete.
• Width of cracks–should be as minimal as possible to protect reinforcing bars against corrosion and
fire.

AAE 2411/2414: Structural Design 2