Concrete is a mixture of cement, aggregates (fine and coarse) and water in varying proportions. The proportion of each component in the mix is very important in determining the properties of concrete. Concrete is used more than any other man made material in the world. In addition to these components, sometimes certain chemical admixtures might be added to improve the properties of concrete and also steel reinforcement may be provided to increase its strength. In this project a study is conducted to see the way in which the ratio of cement and sand affects the strength of concrete.
Cement and sand were taken in different proportions and bricks were made out of it. For each proportion of the mix at least 3 bricks were made. These bricks were allowed to set and then tested till they failed. Testing was done by hanging steel weights from them till they finally broke. The weight required to fail each of the bricks were calculated and for each brick type an average load that caused failure was calculated. A bar graph of failure load (y-axis) vs. concrete mix (x-axis) was made to summarize the results. |
