The concrete is a macro content that is made by blending cement, sand & coarse aggregate with water. The strength of the structure depends on the properties of the concrete we use.
In general, the concrete that we made at site or in RMC is suitable for general construction purposes on typical locality and environmental conditions.
If we need to build special structures such as power plants, offshore buildings, docks, aerodromes, we need special concrete that has a distinct set of properties.
Each of these special structures are needed to survive under aggressive conditions such as sulphate attack, chemical attack, acid attacks, chloride attacks, and other surface characteristics.
Like types of cement, there are some types of special concrete.
The concrete which is made unique to withstand any specific aggressive condition or situation is known as special concrete. This will be attained by either changing the core ingredients or by the manufacturing process or by the combination of both.
The mix ratio will differ from the ordinary concrete and will have unique ingredients to withstand the aggressiveness that it is intended to.
Let’s discuss each in detail
This concrete is a crack fighter.
The ferrocement concrete is used where high performance and lightweight concrete is required to fight against the crack.
This concrete is a shrinkage fighter.
There are 2 types of fibre reinforced concrete in use.
The steel bars are cut into a small length and mixed with other ingredients at a specific ratio to produce steel fibre reinforced concrete.
Generally, the steel reinforcement concrete is used in the construction of bridge decks & tunnel lining, etc.,
A 10% of glass fibre mixed with the concrete increases the concrete flexural strength & resistance capacity against the crack on the concrete surface. It is known as glass fibre reinforced concrete.
The glass fibres are cut into small pieces and mixed with other materials in concrete to produce glass fibre reinforced concrete. The GFR concrete is mainly used in the construction of swimming pools, water tanks, etc.
This concrete is a void fighter.
The PIC is mainly used in precast structure construction, road & marine structure.
The polymer cement concrete is used in marine-related construction works.
Generally, in ordinary concrete, the cement acts as a binding material, the sand acts as a filler material & coarse aggregates will implement the strength of the concrete.
In polymer concrete, cement will not be added as a binding material.
Instead of cement, the polymer will be mixed with the aggregates to make bondage between the ingredients. After placing the concrete, it was polymerised either at a normal temperature or high temperature.
This special concrete is a workability booster.
The superplasticiser added with the concrete at 0.7% to increase the workability & strength of the concrete
The super plasticised concrete is used in construction for the below-mentioned situations.
This special concrete is a strength booster.
The following different methodology is used to increase the strength of the concrete.
The ultra high strength concrete is used in the construction of high rise structure & precast products.
This special concrete is an Acid Resistor.
Moreover, the durability & strength of the SIC concrete is very high. The sulphur impregnated concrete attains the higher strength in early compared to other ordinary concrete.
Ordinary Concrete | Special Concrete |
Economical | Expensive |
Strength & durability is low. | Strength & durability is very high under aggressive conditions. |
The formal method used to produce the special concrete. | A High technique used. |
Mostly natural resources are used to make the concrete. | Some special admixtures & other materials are used to make the concrete. |
It is used in typical construction works. | It is used in the construction of nuclear plants, power plants & radiation protection structures. |
The water cement ratio ranges from 0.4 to 0.55 | The water cement ratio is less using of admixture & superplasticizer. |
Happy Learning 🙂
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