Minimum Strength of Concrete
Minimum Strength of Concrete
(OP)
Hello everyone!
I noticed that a minimum concrete strength is usually specified in designed code for concrete subjected to extreme environmental condition (eg. marine concrete).
Could anyone explain the purpose of setting such a limit?
For example,
In BS6349, minimum cube strength of marine concrete was required to be at least 40MPa.
However, I always wonder that why we are not allowed to use concrete of lower strength, say 30MPa, even if I put heavier reinforcement to make the RC design satisfy the ULS.
I noticed that a minimum concrete strength is usually specified in designed code for concrete subjected to extreme environmental condition (eg. marine concrete).
Could anyone explain the purpose of setting such a limit?
For example,
In BS6349, minimum cube strength of marine concrete was required to be at least 40MPa.
However, I always wonder that why we are not allowed to use concrete of lower strength, say 30MPa, even if I put heavier reinforcement to make the RC design satisfy the ULS.





RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
Dik
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
What are the correlation between strength and durability?
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
A distinction needs to be made between concrete itself and reinforced concrete. The durability of reinforced concrete is usually controlled by the protection the concrete provides against corrosion of the reinforcement. And there is no question that better quality concrete provides better protection.
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
Dik
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete
Didn't actually answer your question, but, testing and performance in the field has shown that. It has better abrasion resistance, flexural tensile strength, freeze-thaw resistance, etc. The down side is that it has more cement which causes it to shrink more.
Dik
RE: Minimum Strength of Concrete