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Difference between Normal Concrete and High Strength Concrete

What are the Difference between Normal Concrete and High Strength Concrete?

Almost all of students’ gets confused when asked about the questions related to the differences between Normal concrete and high strength concrete. If you want to know about their differences, this article explains it in detail.

Before going into the list of differences between Normal concrete and high strength concrete, we are going to discuss what is normal concrete and high strength concrete and what differentiates them from each other.

Difference between Normal concrete and High Strength Concrete

Normal Concrete:

This concrete is prepared from cement, sand and coarse aggregate usually M5 to M20 concrete ratio is used in normal concrete. the initial setting time of normal concrete is 30 minute and final setting time is 10 hours. Its compressive strength of normal concrete is 20 Mpa (400PSI) to 40 Mpa. This type of concrete is used in normal construction work where high or ultra-strength is not required. water cement ratio in this concrete is normal should not more than 0.6. the properties of normal concrete are moderate.

High Strength concrete:

It is called high strength concrete because the strength of this concrete is more than normal concrete. The compressive strength of this concrete is approximately 900 kg/ cm2. This strength is reached in 28 days.

For getting high strength then good quality of aggregates should be used and ordinary Portland cement should be used more in quantity. The amount of cement in this concrete is 450 to 550 kg / m3. In this concrete, the water cement ratio is low it means in high strength concrete the water should be added in low quantity water cement ratio is 0.25 to 0.35 but sometimes 0.20 can be used to increase the more strength because of low Water Cement Ratio the super plasticizer chemicals is used. The quantity of this chemical in 1 m3 should be 5 to 15 liter and also silica fume is used in high strength concrete. silica fumes are used to fill the voids and concrete will be strong more. fly ash is also used in this type of concrete. The fine modulus of fine aggregate and coarse aggregate should be good then concrete will be durable and good quality.

Difference between Normal Concrete and high Strength Concrete:

The Difference between Normal Concrete and high Strength Concrete is given below in chart:

S.No Normal Concrete High Strength Concrete
1 The water cement ratio is used in normal concrete is 0.6 The water cement ratio is used in high strength concrete is 0.25 to 0.35
2 Moderate quantity of cement is used in normal concrete High amount or quantity of cement is used in high strength concrete.
3 In normal concrete not high quality of aggregates (sand + crush) are used and ordinary Portland cement is mostly use. In this type of concrete high quality of aggregates (sand + crush) are used and high strength cement is use. Sometimes ordinary Portland cement can be use.
4 The concrete mix ratio of normal concrete varies from M5 to M20 The concrete mix ratio of high strength concrete varies from M50 to M70
5 The compressive strength of normal concrete is  5 MPa   or 725 psi to 20 Mpa or 2900 psi The compressive strength of high strength concrete is   50 Mpa or 7250 Psi to 70 Mpa or 10150 psi
6 Workability of normal concrete is more than high strength concrete. Workability of high strength concrete is low.
7 Normal concrete is used in small projects where high strength is not required High strength concrete is used heavy construction works where high strength is required.
8 Bleeding can develop in normal concrete High strength concrete does not bleed
9 Less cementitious material is used High cementitious material is used
10 Permeability of normal concrete is moderate (not bad or not excellent). Permeability of normal concrete is very good.
11 Fracture surface made in normal strength concrete is very rough Fracture surface formed in High strength concrete is smooth.
12 In general life the normal concrete is used more than high strength concrete The high strength concrete is used in specific works such as high strength projects.
13 To prepare the normal concrete it is not costly To prepare the high strength concrete it is slightly costly than normal concrete
14 Normal concrete columns can’t bear more load and therefore be constructed thicker. This concrete columns can bear more load and therefore be constructed slimmer than normal concrete columns that permits for more utilizable space, mainly in the lower floors of buildings.
15 The initial setting of normal concrete is 30 minutes. The initial setting of high strength concrete is 140 minutes
16 The final setting time of normal concrete is 10 hours or 600 minutes The final setting time of high strength concrete is 290 minutes
17 Durability of normal concrete is not high Durability of high strength concrete is high
18 To preparing the normal concrete not high skilled labor is required To preparing this concrete high skilled labor is required

Conclusion:

The main objective of this article “Differences between Normal Concrete and high Strength Concrete” is that the strength of normal concrete is normal and used in normal construction while the strength of high strength concrete is high and used in high construction work.

So friends I have written all the difference between Normal Concrete and high Strength Concrete as much as I know. If this article is helpful do share it with your friends and leave a comment

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