Concrete Overstrength: Assessment of Field Strength Seeking Insights for Overdesign Optimization
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Academic Editor: Akanshu Sharma
CivilEng 2022, 3(1), 51-65; https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng3010004
Received: 5 December 2021
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Revised: 2 January 2022
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Accepted: 4 January 2022
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Published: 10 January 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Connections in Concrete Volume 2)
This study investigates the high contents of cementitious materials in Portland cement concrete and assesses the required (f’cr) and actual (σ) compressive strength of concrete specimens. A linear optimization technique identifies the required binder content to reach f’cr. Standard specifications have required concrete overdesign (OD) for decades, but few studies have evaluated the actual magnitude of OD from field data. The compressive strength of 958 cylinders prepared in the field represented 8200 m3 of ready-mixed concrete with 300 and 450 kg/m3 of cementitious are analyzed. The actual OD appears to be 7 to 21% higher than required. The required 28-day compressive strength of concrete was achieved in less than seven days. Therefore, the content of the cementitious materials could be reduced by 6 and 17% so that concrete could reach f’cr without cementitious overconsumption. Reducing cementitious content is recommended to improve construction quality and optimize resource utilization. Among the main reasons for this recommendation are the estimated substantial long-term savings, increased concrete durability and more rational use of natural resources required to build the structures.
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Keywords:
Portland cement; Portland limestone cement; concrete materials; overdesign; compressive strength
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MDPI and ACS Style
Antunes, R. Concrete Overstrength: Assessment of Field Strength Seeking Insights for Overdesign Optimization. CivilEng 2022, 3, 51-65. https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng3010004
AMA Style
Antunes R. Concrete Overstrength: Assessment of Field Strength Seeking Insights for Overdesign Optimization. CivilEng. 2022; 3(1):51-65. https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng3010004
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntunes, Rodrigo. 2022. "Concrete Overstrength: Assessment of Field Strength Seeking Insights for Overdesign Optimization" CivilEng 3, no. 1: 51-65. https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng3010004
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