More Concrete Terminology

 

 

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We have taken the opportunity to do a couple of blogs providing definitions for some concrete specific terms.  Here is our last post regarding some indispensable concrete terminology that is taken from the American Concrete Institute’s ACI Concrete Terminology. 

Load balancing — a technique used in the design of prestressed-concrete members in which the amount and path of the prestressing is selected so that the forces imposed upon the member or structure by the prestressing counteract or balance a portion of the dead and live loads for which the member or structure must be designed.

Mass concrete — any volume of concrete in which a combination of dimensions of the member being cast, the boundary conditions can lead to undesirable thermal stresses, cracking, deleterious chemical reactions, or reduction in the long-term strength as a result of elevated concrete temperature due to heat from hydration.

Metakaolin — a natural pozzolan produced by heating kaolin-containing clays

Natural pozzolan — a raw or calcined natural material that has pozzolanic properties

No-slump concrete — freshly mixed concrete exhibiting a slump of less than 1/4 in. (6 mm).

Plastic shrinkage — shrinkage that takes place before cement paste, mortar, grout, or concrete sets.

Portland cement — a hydraulic cement produced by pulverizing portland-cement clinker and usually with addition of calcium sulfate to control setting

Pozzolan — a siliceous or silico-aluminous material that will, in finely divided form and in the presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperatures to form compounds having cementitious properties (there are both natural and artificial pozzolans).

 

Precast concrete — concrete cast elsewhere than its final position

Reinforced concrete — structural concrete reinforced with no less than the minimum amount of prestressing steel or nonprestressed reinforcement as specified in the applicable building code.

Scaling — local flaking or peeling away of the near-surface portion of hardened concrete or mortar

Slump — a measure of consistency of freshly mixed concrete, mortar, or stucco equal to the subsidence measured to the nearest 1/4 in. (5 mm) of the molded specimen immediately after removal of the slump cone

Sources:  concrete.org/tools/concreteterminology.aspx  

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