Is water cement ratio by weight or volume?

The water–cement ratio is the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of cement used in a concrete mix. A lower ratio leads to higher strength and durability, but may make the mix difficult to work with and form. Workability can be resolved with the use of plasticizers or super-plasticizers.

Is concrete ratio by weight or volume?

The concrete mix is the proportion of each constituent (cement: sand: aggregate). Mixes can be prepared by weight or by volume. Of the two, mixing by weight is more accurate. (This is usually called ‘weigh batching’).

What is the ratio of water to cement in concrete?

A properly designed mixture possesses the desired workability for the fresh concrete and the required durability and strength for the hardened concrete. Typically, a mix is about 10 to 15 percent cement, 60 to 75 percent aggregate and 15 to 20 percent water.

Can we use water cement ratio as low as 5?

Yes, the most important factor that affects the strengthening properties of concrete is water-cement (W/C) ratio. Lower the W/C ratio, higher would be the strength of concrete. However, there is a cap on this ratio such as 0.5 (max) and near about 0.2 (min).

What is water-cement ratio?

The ratio between the water and cement by weight is known as Water-Cement Ratio. The quantity of water added to the cement while preparing concrete mixes has been known to exert tremendous influence on the quality of concrete.

How do you calculate the amount of water required for concrete?

If we need to calculate Water quantity for concrete, first find the cement content for the volume. Therefore, Required amount of water = 0.5 X 50 kg = 25 litres / 50 kg cement bag. For Design mix, the W/C Ratio will depend upon the workability, strength requirements.

What is the W/C of concrete?

From the graph, one can see it forms a hyperbola shape. As water to cement ratio is increasing its compressive strength is gradually lacking behind. Duff Abrams in 1919 presented an equation that relates strength of concrete with water to cement ratio. W/c is the water to cement ratio in the concrete mix.

How to choose the right water for your concrete mix?

That’s why you need to carefully select the quantity of water which should be used in the mix. It can be seen that lower water cement ratio could be used when the concrete is vibrated to achieve higher strength, whereas, comparatively, higher water cement ratio is required when concrete is hand compacted.