Concrete:
Concrete determinant
Concrete’s best depends on its content and the quantity of these ingredients. You would not like a mixture that shrinks or becomes brittle; nor do you want it to be runny. There will be four basic materials you need in your concrete mix. Cement, Sand, Aggregate and Water.
How much water to use when mixing concrete!
Adding water is to form a paste; that’s to say used to soften and eventually bind the other materials together until mix hardens or cures.
The strength of concrete is inversely proportional to Water/Cement ratio. In other words the more water you use to mix the concrete the weaker the concrete mix. The less water you use to mix the concrete, the stronger the concrete mix. A mix with little water and more concrete mix will be dryer and less workable but stronger.
The strength of concrete is inversely proportional to Water/Cement ratio
But of course the water makeup isn’t the only consideration.
The sand and aggregate help to reduce the cost and also limit the amount of shrinking that happens to the concrete as it cures.
In order to produce a strong, resilient concrete mix, you need to get the ratio of aggregate to sand to cement right. Consider the following formulas as you mix your concrete:
One standard recipe calls for one part of cement to two parts of sand to four parts of gravel. This results in a C20-rated concrete mix, which means the concrete is rated on a system that indicates the strength of the mix after it’s cured for approximately a month.
To make the concrete stronger, add more cement or less sand. The closer you bring the ratio to an even one-to-one of sand to cement, the stronger the ratio becomes. This principle works in the opposite direction as well.
You can achieve an accurate mixing ratio by using buckets or other measuring devices to get the right quality of each ingredient for your mixture. Getting the right ratios throughout the process means getting consistent mix throughout your whole concrete project.
But the ratio may change in different conditions and sand types. So that being standard for concrete mixtures, the type of and what you use may vary. Unwashed beach sand creates a mixture that isn’t quite as strong as products made with sand that’s been cleaned. While clean sand tends to produce a more high-quality product. I would request if you consult an expert to advice the type of sand and aggregate you are using.