Concrete Specific Terminology

The Conco Companies are one of the nation’s premier commercial concrete contractors.  Our scope of projects is vast and we have experience in most every type of concrete construction, and as leaders, we have worked to advance the concrete industry over the last few decades. We are proud of the highly professional team we have in place that has assisted in the development or improved upon much of the industry’s evolvement.

Since many of the terms used in concrete are specific to the industry, we have dedicated a couple of blogs to going over some of the terminology.  What follows is our first list of definitions that is taken from the American Concrete Institute’s ACI Concrete Terminology. 

Abrams’ law — a rule stating that, with given concrete materials and conditions of test, the

ratio of the amount of water to the amount of the cement in the mixture determines the strength of the concrete, provided the mixture is of a workable consistency. (See also water-cement ratio.

Abrasion damage — wearing away of a surface by rubbing and friction. (See also cavitation damage and erosion.)

Absorbed moisture — moisture that has entered the permeable pores of a solid and has physical properties not substantially different from ordinary water at the same temperature and pressure. (See also absorption.)

Accelerating admixture — an admixture that causes an increase in the rate of hydration of the hydraulic cement and thus shortens the time of setting, increases the rate of strength development, or both.

Acceleration — increase in rate of natural progress of setting or hardening of concrete.

(See also accelerating admixture.)

Admixture — a material other than water, aggregates, cementitious materials, and fiber reinforcement, used as an ingredient of a cementitious mixture to modify its freshly mixed, setting, or hardened properties and that is added to the batch before or during its mixing.

Aggregate blending — the process of intermixing two or more aggregates to produce a combination with improved grading or other properties aggregate gradation — see grading

Air entrainment — the incorporation of air in the form of microscopic bubbles (typically smaller than 1 mm [0.04 in.]) during the mixing of either concrete or mortar.

Air-entraining admixture — an admixture that causes the development of a system of microscopic air bubbles in concrete, mortar, or cement paste during mixing, usually to increase its workability and resistance to freezing and thawing.

Anchor — (1) in prestressed concrete, to lock the stressed tendon in position so that it will retain its stressed condition; (2) in precast-concrete construction, to attach the precast units to the building frame; (3) in slabs-on-grade or walls, to fasten to rock or adjacent structures to prevent movement of the slab or wall with respect to the foundation, adjacent structure, or rock.

Artificial pozzolan      — materials such as fly ash and silica fume. (See also fly ash and silica fume).

Sources:  concrete.org/tools/concreteterminology.aspx  

 



Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We got our start in the Bay Area in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.