Civil Engineering Forum

Flat Plate Floor System – Pros & Cons

Flat Plate Floor System Flat Plate Floor System: The flat plate is simply a slab of constant thickness supported directly on columns or load bearing walls. This system is one of the most common structural

Green Cements

TeamCivil Concrete, Materials

Concrete is the most used construction material in the world due to its numerous advantages. Moreover, the concrete industry is one which uses massive natural resources and therefore, has a significant impact on the environment. It

Portland Cement Hydration

TeamCivil Concrete, Materials

In a previous post about cement and its components, we mentioned that there are four compounds of cement. They are: Silicates Alite, C3S Belite, C2S Aluminates Tricalcium aluminate, C3A Calcium alumino ferrite, C4AF Portland Cement Hydration

How Concrete is Made

TeamCivil Concrete, Materials

This post gives a basic outline on how the concrete is made. Simply, concrete is a mix of paste and aggregates. The paste, which consists of portland cement and water, coats the surface of the

Freezing and Thawing Damage to Concrete

TeamCivil Concrete, Durability

In this article, the damage caused by freezing and thawing cycles to concrete is described. Freezing-thawing damage results from the fact that when water freezes to ice, it expands by about 9 percent. When the water in

Compressive Strength Test of Concrete

TeamCivil Concrete, Tests

This test is considered as the most popular test performed on concrete in construction as it gives a general idea on the all the characteristics of concrete. Based on this test, one can either accept

Reinforced Concrete Quantity and Rate Analysis

TeamCivil Construction

In order to perform rate analysis for reinforced concrete, two steps are involved: 1- Estimation of number of labour and equipment, quantity of materials, miscellaneous items required for for a certain quantity of reinforced concrete. 2- Determination of structural

Effect of Water-to-cement Ratio on Concrete

TeamCivil Concrete, Durability

The concept of water-to-cement ratio (w/c) of concrete is a universally fundamental concept and is considered as the oldest law in the concrete technology. The water/cement ratio influences the durability properties of concrete in a