64-597: Smith Mountain Dam is a concrete arch dam located on the Roanoke River in Virginia , creating Smith Mountain Lake . The dam was built by Appalachian Power (a division of American Electric Power ) between 1960 and 1963 for the purposes of pumped-storage hydroelectricity . The dam created Smith Mountain Lake as its reservoir, where recreation and real estate have become popular. In
128-412: A bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces , and polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder. Concrete is distinct from mortar . Whereas concrete is itself a building material, mortar is a bonding agent that typically holds bricks , tiles and other masonry units together. Grout is another material associated with concrete and cement. It does not contain coarse aggregates and
192-512: A tensometer at a constant strain (change in gauge length divided by initial gauge length) rate until the sample breaks. When testing some metals, indentation hardness correlates linearly with tensile strength. This important relation permits economically important nondestructive testing of bulk metal deliveries with lightweight, even portable equipment, such as hand-held Rockwell hardness testers. This practical correlation helps quality assurance in metalworking industries to extend well beyond
256-433: A French structural and civil engineer . Concrete components or structures are compressed by tendon cables during, or after, their fabrication in order to strengthen them against tensile forces developing when put in service. Freyssinet patented the technique on 2 October 1928. Concrete is an artificial composite material , comprising a matrix of cementitious binder (typically Portland cement paste or asphalt ) and
320-452: A cementitious material forms a cement paste by the process of hydration. The cement paste glues the aggregate together, fills voids within it, and makes it flow more freely. As stated by Abrams' law , a lower water-to-cement ratio yields a stronger, more durable concrete, whereas more water gives a freer-flowing concrete with a higher slump . The hydration of cement involves many concurrent reactions. The process involves polymerization ,
384-400: A concrete component—and become a part of the binder for the aggregate. Fly ash and slag can enhance some properties of concrete such as fresh properties and durability. Alternatively, other materials can also be used as a concrete binder: the most prevalent substitute is asphalt , which is used as the binder in asphalt concrete . Admixtures are added to modify the cure rate or properties of
448-434: A dispersed phase or "filler" of aggregate (typically a rocky material, loose stones, and sand). The binder "glues" the filler together to form a synthetic conglomerate . Many types of concrete are available, determined by the formulations of binders and the types of aggregate used to suit the application of the engineered material. These variables determine strength and density, as well as chemical and thermal resistance of
512-452: A greater degree of fracture resistance even in seismically active environments. Roman concrete is significantly more resistant to erosion by seawater than modern concrete; it used pyroclastic materials which react with seawater to form Al- tobermorite crystals over time. The use of hot mixing and the presence of lime clasts are thought to give the concrete a self-healing ability, where cracks that form become filled with calcite that prevents
576-546: A key event in the history of architecture termed the Roman architectural revolution , freed Roman construction from the restrictions of stone and brick materials. It enabled revolutionary new designs in terms of both structural complexity and dimension. The Colosseum in Rome was built largely of concrete, and the Pantheon has the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Concrete, as
640-415: A large aggregate that is too large for the size of the formwork, or which has too few smaller aggregate grades to serve to fill the gaps between the larger grades, or using too little or too much sand for the same reason, or using too little water, or too much cement, or even using jagged crushed stone instead of smoother round aggregate such as pebbles. Any combination of these factors and others may result in
704-461: A large type of industrial facility called a concrete plant , or often a batch plant. The usual method of placement is casting in formwork , which holds the mix in shape until it has set enough to hold its shape unaided. Concrete plants come in two main types, ready-mix plants and central mix plants. A ready-mix plant blends all of the solid ingredients, while a central mix does the same but adds water. A central-mix plant offers more precise control of
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#1732858275342768-680: A linear stress–strain relationship , as shown in figure 1 up to point 3. The elastic behavior of materials often extends into a non-linear region, represented in figure 1 by point 2 (the "yield strength"), up to which deformations are completely recoverable upon removal of the load; that is, a specimen loaded elastically in tension will elongate, but will return to its original shape and size when unloaded. Beyond this elastic region, for ductile materials, such as steel, deformations are plastic . A plastically deformed specimen does not completely return to its original size and shape when unloaded. For many applications, plastic deformation
832-417: A material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials, the ultimate tensile strength is close to the yield point , whereas in ductile materials, the ultimate tensile strength can be higher. The ultimate tensile strength is usually found by performing a tensile test and recording the engineering stress versus strain . The highest point of the stress–strain curve
896-403: A material is an intensive property ; therefore its value does not depend on the size of the test specimen. However, depending on the material, it may be dependent on other factors, such as the preparation of the specimen, the presence or otherwise of surface defects, and the temperature of the test environment and material. Some materials break very sharply, without plastic deformation , in what
960-399: A mix which is too harsh, i.e., which does not flow or spread out smoothly, is difficult to get into the formwork, and which is difficult to surface finish. Tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (also called UTS , tensile strength , TS , ultimate strength or F tu {\displaystyle F_{\text{tu}}} in notation) is the maximum stress that
1024-469: A mixture of calcium silicates ( alite , belite ), aluminates and ferrites —compounds, which will react with water. Portland cement and similar materials are made by heating limestone (a source of calcium) with clay or shale (a source of silicon, aluminium and iron) and grinding this product (called clinker ) with a source of sulfate (most commonly gypsum ). Cement kilns are extremely large, complex, and inherently dusty industrial installations. Of
1088-405: A number of manufactured aggregates, including air-cooled blast furnace slag and bottom ash are also permitted. The size distribution of the aggregate determines how much binder is required. Aggregate with a very even size distribution has the biggest gaps whereas adding aggregate with smaller particles tends to fill these gaps. The binder must fill the gaps between the aggregate as well as paste
1152-424: A semi-liquid slurry (paste) that can be shaped, typically by pouring it into a form. The concrete solidifies and hardens through a chemical process called hydration . The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, creating a robust, stone-like material. Other cementitious materials, such as fly ash and slag cement , are sometimes added—either pre-blended with the cement or directly as
1216-493: A simple, fast way of getting a basic idea of the properties of the finished concrete without having to perform testing in advance. Various governing bodies (such as British Standards ) define nominal mix ratios into a number of grades, usually ranging from lower compressive strength to higher compressive strength. The grades usually indicate the 28-day cure strength. Thorough mixing is essential to produce uniform, high-quality concrete. Separate paste mixing has shown that
1280-461: A small empire in the regions of southern Syria and northern Jordan from the 4th century BC. They discovered the advantages of hydraulic lime , with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC. They built kilns to supply mortar for the construction of rubble masonry houses, concrete floors, and underground waterproof cisterns . They kept the cisterns secret as these enabled the Nabataeans to thrive in
1344-409: A variety of tooled processes performed. The hydration process is exothermic , which means ambient temperature plays a significant role in how long it takes concrete to set. Often, additives (such as pozzolans or superplasticizers ) are included in the mixture to improve the physical properties of the wet mix, delay or accelerate the curing time, or otherwise change the finished material. Most concrete
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#17328582753421408-408: Is because the engineering stress is calculated assuming the original cross-sectional area before necking. The reversal point is the maximum stress on the engineering stress–strain curve, and the engineering stress coordinate of this point is the ultimate tensile strength, given by point 1. Ultimate tensile strength is not used in the design of ductile static members because design practices dictate
1472-484: Is called a brittle failure. Others, which are more ductile, including most metals, experience some plastic deformation and possibly necking before fracture. Tensile strength is defined as a stress, which is measured as force per unit area. For some non-homogeneous materials (or for assembled components) it can be reported just as a force or as a force per unit width. In the International System of Units (SI),
1536-468: Is flat and had been covered with cement". "The floors were cement, in some places hard, but, by long exposure, broken, and now crumbling under the feet." "But throughout the wall was solid, and consisting of large stones imbedded in mortar, almost as hard as rock." Small-scale production of concrete-like materials was pioneered by the Nabatean traders who occupied and controlled a series of oases and developed
1600-426: Is mixed with dry Portland cement and water , the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts with the water through a process called concrete hydration that hardens it over several hours to form a hard matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. This time allows concrete to not only be cast in forms, but also to have
1664-566: Is poured with reinforcing materials (such as steel rebar ) embedded to provide tensile strength , yielding reinforced concrete . In the past, lime -based cement binders, such as lime putty, were often used but sometimes with other hydraulic cements , (water resistant) such as a calcium aluminate cement or with Portland cement to form Portland cement concrete (named for its visual resemblance to Portland stone ). Many other non-cementitious types of concrete exist with other methods of binding aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with
1728-446: Is the ultimate tensile strength and has units of stress. The equivalent point for the case of compression, instead of tension, is called the compressive strength . Tensile strengths are rarely of any consequence in the design of ductile members, but they are important with brittle members. They are tabulated for common materials such as alloys , composite materials , ceramics , plastics, and wood. The ultimate tensile strength of
1792-559: Is then blended with aggregates and any remaining batch water and final mixing is completed in conventional concrete mixing equipment. Workability is the ability of a fresh (plastic) concrete mix to fill the form/mold properly with the desired work (pouring, pumping, spreading, tamping, vibration) and without reducing the concrete's quality. Workability depends on water content, aggregate (shape and size distribution), cementitious content and age (level of hydration ) and can be modified by adding chemical admixtures, like superplasticizer. Raising
1856-459: Is unacceptable, and is used as the design limitation. After the yield point, ductile metals undergo a period of strain hardening, in which the stress increases again with increasing strain, and they begin to neck , as the cross-sectional area of the specimen decreases due to plastic flow. In a sufficiently ductile material, when necking becomes substantial, it causes a reversal of the engineering stress–strain curve (curve A, figure 2); this
1920-562: Is usually either pourable or thixotropic , and is used to fill gaps between masonry components or coarse aggregate which has already been put in place. Some methods of concrete manufacture and repair involve pumping grout into the gaps to make up a solid mass in situ . The word concrete comes from the Latin word " concretus " (meaning compact or condensed), the perfect passive participle of " concrescere ", from " con -" (together) and " crescere " (to grow). Concrete floors were found in
1984-399: Is usually reinforced with materials that are strong in tension, typically steel rebar . The mix design depends on the type of structure being built, how the concrete is mixed and delivered, and how it is placed to form the structure. Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general usage. It is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar , and many plasters . It consists of
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2048-480: The construction industry , whose demand is ever growing with greater impacts on raw material extraction, waste generation and landfill practices. Concrete production is the process of mixing together the various ingredients—water, aggregate, cement, and any additives—to produce concrete. Concrete production is time-sensitive. Once the ingredients are mixed, workers must put the concrete in place before it hardens. In modern usage, most concrete production takes place in
2112-504: The Romans knew it, was a new and revolutionary material. Laid in the shape of arches , vaults and domes , it quickly hardened into a rigid mass, free from many of the internal thrusts and strains that troubled the builders of similar structures in stone or brick. Modern tests show that opus caementicium had as much compressive strength as modern Portland-cement concrete (c. 200 kg/cm [20 MPa; 2,800 psi]). However, due to
2176-477: The Smith Mountain Lake for this purpose. Hydro-electricity is usually produced during high-demand times (day) and pumped back into the lake during low demand times (night). The Leesville Dam also produces hydro-electricity as well. In December 2009, The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Appalachian Power a new license to operate the hydro-electricity plant. The new 30-year license replaces
2240-639: The absence of reinforcement, its tensile strength was far lower than modern reinforced concrete , and its mode of application also differed: Modern structural concrete differs from Roman concrete in two important details. First, its mix consistency is fluid and homogeneous, allowing it to be poured into forms rather than requiring hand-layering together with the placement of aggregate, which, in Roman practice, often consisted of rubble . Second, integral reinforcing steel gives modern concrete assemblies great strength in tension, whereas Roman concrete could depend only upon
2304-526: The concrete at the time of batching/mixing. (See § Production below.) The common types of admixtures are as follows: Inorganic materials that have pozzolanic or latent hydraulic properties, these very fine-grained materials are added to the concrete mix to improve the properties of concrete (mineral admixtures), or as a replacement for Portland cement (blended cements). Products which incorporate limestone , fly ash , blast furnace slag , and other useful materials with pozzolanic properties into
2368-399: The concrete can cause the initially placed material to begin to set before the next batch is added on top. This creates a horizontal plane of weakness called a cold joint between the two batches. Once the mix is where it should be, the curing process must be controlled to ensure that the concrete attains the desired attributes. During concrete preparation, various technical details may affect
2432-461: The concrete quality. Central mix plants must be close to the work site where the concrete will be used, since hydration begins at the plant. A concrete plant consists of large hoppers for storage of various ingredients like cement, storage for bulk ingredients like aggregate and water, mechanisms for the addition of various additives and amendments, machinery to accurately weigh, move, and mix some or all of those ingredients, and facilities to dispense
2496-477: The crack from spreading. The widespread use of concrete in many Roman structures ensured that many survive to the present day. The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are just one example. Many Roman aqueducts and bridges, such as the magnificent Pont du Gard in southern France, have masonry cladding on a concrete core, as does the dome of the Pantheon . After the Roman Empire, the use of burned lime and pozzolana
2560-554: The desert. Some of these structures survive to this day. In the Ancient Egyptian and later Roman eras, builders discovered that adding volcanic ash to lime allowed the mix to set underwater. They discovered the pozzolanic reaction . The Romans used concrete extensively from 300 BC to AD 476. During the Roman Empire, Roman concrete (or opus caementicium ) was made from quicklime , pozzolana and an aggregate of pumice . Its widespread use in many Roman structures ,
2624-431: The finished product. Construction aggregates consist of large chunks of material in a concrete mix, generally a coarse gravel or crushed rocks such as limestone , or granite , along with finer materials such as sand . Cement paste, most commonly made of Portland cement , is the most prevalent kind of concrete binder. For cementitious binders, water is mixed with the dry cement powder and aggregate, which produces
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2688-554: The interlinking of the silicates and aluminate components as well as their bonding to sand and gravel particles to form a solid mass. One illustrative conversion is the hydration of tricalcium silicate: The hydration (curing) of cement is irreversible. Fine and coarse aggregates make up the bulk of a concrete mixture. Sand , natural gravel, and crushed stone are used mainly for this purpose. Recycled aggregates (from construction, demolition, and excavation waste) are increasingly used as partial replacements for natural aggregates, while
2752-524: The late 1920s, Appalachian Power began purchasing land and planning for a hydroelectricity dam within the Smith Mountain Gorge that is split by the Roanoke River . After several delays and the completion of engineering studies, construction began in 1960. Construction on the smaller Leesville Dam also began downstream at this time as well. Concrete pouring began in 1961 and in 1962, the re-construction of roads and bridges that would be affected by
2816-406: The making of mortar. In an English translation from 1397, it reads "lyme ... is a stone brent; by medlynge thereof with sonde and water sement is made". From the 14th century, the quality of mortar was again excellent, but only from the 17th century was pozzolana commonly added. The Canal du Midi was built using concrete in 1670. Perhaps the greatest step forward in the modern use of concrete
2880-531: The material. Mineral admixtures use recycled materials as concrete ingredients. Conspicuous materials include fly ash , a by-product of coal-fired power plants ; ground granulated blast furnace slag , a by-product of steelmaking ; and silica fume , a by-product of industrial electric arc furnaces . Structures employing Portland cement concrete usually include steel reinforcement because this type of concrete can be formulated with high compressive strength , but always has lower tensile strength . Therefore, it
2944-419: The mix, are being tested and used. These developments are ever growing in relevance to minimize the impacts caused by cement use, notorious for being one of the largest producers (at about 5 to 10%) of global greenhouse gas emissions . The use of alternative materials also is capable of lowering costs, improving concrete properties, and recycling wastes, the latest being relevant for circular economy aspects of
3008-478: The mixed concrete, often to a concrete mixer truck. Modern concrete is usually prepared as a viscous fluid, so that it may be poured into forms. The forms are containers that define the desired shape. Concrete formwork can be prepared in several ways, such as slip forming and steel plate construction . Alternatively, concrete can be mixed into dryer, non-fluid forms and used in factory settings to manufacture precast concrete products. Interruption in pouring
3072-441: The mixing of cement and water into a paste before combining these materials with aggregates can increase the compressive strength of the resulting concrete. The paste is generally mixed in a high-speed , shear-type mixer at a w/c (water to cement ratio) of 0.30 to 0.45 by mass. The cement paste premix may include admixtures such as accelerators or retarders, superplasticizers , pigments , or silica fume . The premixed paste
3136-479: The original 50-year license and also addresses recreational and environmental management. Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water , and is the most widely used building material. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminium combined. When aggregate
3200-506: The properties or increase the performance envelope of the mix. Design-mix concrete can have very broad specifications that cannot be met with more basic nominal mixes, but the involvement of the engineer often increases the cost of the concrete mix. Concrete mixes are primarily divided into nominal mix, standard mix and design mix. Nominal mix ratios are given in volume of Cement : Sand : Aggregate {\displaystyle {\text{Cement : Sand : Aggregate}}} . Nominal mixes are
3264-468: The quality and nature of the product. Design mix ratios are decided by an engineer after analyzing the properties of the specific ingredients being used. Instead of using a 'nominal mix' of 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, and 4 parts aggregate (the second example from above), a civil engineer will custom-design a concrete mix to exactly meet the requirements of the site and conditions, setting material ratios and often designing an admixture package to fine-tune
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#17328582753423328-416: The reservoir was complete. Filling of the reservoir, Smith Mountain Lake , began on September 24, 1963. In 1964, the first four hydro- electrical generators were installed. The first commercial saturation dives were performed by Westinghouse to replace faulty trash racks at 200 feet (61 m) on the dam in 1965. On March 7, 1966, the reservoir was full. In 1979, a fifth hydro-electrical generator
3392-632: The royal palace of Tiryns , Greece, which dates roughly to 1400 to 1200 BC. Lime mortars were used in Greece, such as in Crete and Cyprus, in 800 BC. The Assyrian Jerwan Aqueduct (688 BC) made use of waterproof concrete . Concrete was used for construction in many ancient structures. Mayan concrete at the ruins of Uxmal (AD 850–925) is referenced in Incidents of Travel in the Yucatán by John L. Stephens . "The roof
3456-411: The strength of the concrete bonding to resist tension. The long-term durability of Roman concrete structures has been found to be due to its use of pyroclastic (volcanic) rock and ash, whereby the crystallization of strätlingite (a specific and complex calcium aluminosilicate hydrate) and the coalescence of this and similar calcium–aluminium-silicate–hydrate cementing binders helped give the concrete
3520-497: The surface of concrete for a decorative "exposed aggregate" finish, popular among landscape designers. Admixtures are materials in the form of powder or fluids that are added to the concrete to give it certain characteristics not obtainable with plain concrete mixes. Admixtures are defined as additions "made as the concrete mix is being prepared". The most common admixtures are retarders and accelerators. In normal use, admixture dosages are less than 5% by mass of cement and are added to
3584-535: The surfaces of the aggregate together, and is typically the most expensive component. Thus, variation in sizes of the aggregate reduces the cost of concrete. The aggregate is nearly always stronger than the binder, so its use does not negatively affect the strength of the concrete. Redistribution of aggregates after compaction often creates non-homogeneity due to the influence of vibration. This can lead to strength gradients. Decorative stones such as quartzite , small river stones or crushed glass are sometimes added to
3648-574: The unit is the pascal (Pa) (or a multiple thereof, often megapascals (MPa), using the SI prefix mega ); or, equivalently to pascals, newtons per square metre (N/m ). A United States customary unit is pounds per square inch (lb/in or psi). Kilopounds per square inch (ksi, or sometimes kpsi) is equal to 1000 psi, and is commonly used in the United States, when measuring tensile strengths. Many materials can display linear elastic behavior , defined by
3712-450: The use of the yield stress . It is, however, used for quality control, because of the ease of testing. It is also used to roughly determine material types for unknown samples. The ultimate tensile strength is a common engineering parameter to design members made of brittle material because such materials have no yield point . Typically, the testing involves taking a small sample with a fixed cross-sectional area, and then pulling it with
3776-655: The various ingredients used to produce a given quantity of concrete, the cement is the most energetically expensive. Even complex and efficient kilns require 3.3 to 3.6 gigajoules of energy to produce a ton of clinker and then grind it into cement . Many kilns can be fueled with difficult-to-dispose-of wastes, the most common being used tires. The extremely high temperatures and long periods of time at those temperatures allows cement kilns to efficiently and completely burn even difficult-to-use fuels. The five major compounds of calcium silicates and aluminates comprising Portland cement range from 5 to 50% in weight. Combining water with
3840-439: The water content or adding chemical admixtures increases concrete workability. Excessive water leads to increased bleeding or segregation of aggregates (when the cement and aggregates start to separate), with the resulting concrete having reduced quality. Changes in gradation can also affect workability of the concrete, although a wide range of gradation can be used for various applications. An undesirable gradation can mean using
3904-515: Was Smeaton's Tower , built by British engineer John Smeaton in Devon , England, between 1756 and 1759. This third Eddystone Lighthouse pioneered the use of hydraulic lime in concrete, using pebbles and powdered brick as aggregate. A method for producing Portland cement was developed in England and patented by Joseph Aspdin in 1824. Aspdin chose the name for its similarity to Portland stone , which
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#17328582753423968-602: Was greatly reduced. Low kiln temperatures in the burning of lime, lack of pozzolana, and poor mixing all contributed to a decline in the quality of concrete and mortar. From the 11th century, the increased use of stone in church and castle construction led to an increased demand for mortar. Quality began to improve in the 12th century through better grinding and sieving. Medieval lime mortars and concretes were non-hydraulic and were used for binding masonry, "hearting" (binding rubble masonry cores) and foundations. Bartholomaeus Anglicus in his De proprietatibus rerum (1240) describes
4032-511: Was installed, increasing the generation capacity to 560 megawatts (750,000 hp). Smith Mountain Dam houses five hydroelectric generators with a combined installed capacity of 560 MW. Smith Mountain Lake Dam uses pumped-storage hydroelectricity by which water that is released downstream can be pumped back into Smith Mountain Lake for re-use. The Leesville Dam regulates the Smith Mountain Lake's outflows and stores water to be pumped back into
4096-614: Was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset , England. His son William continued developments into the 1840s, earning him recognition for the development of "modern" Portland cement. Reinforced concrete was invented in 1849 by Joseph Monier . and the first reinforced concrete house was built by François Coignet in 1853. The first concrete reinforced bridge was designed and built by Joseph Monier in 1875. Prestressed concrete and post-tensioned concrete were pioneered by Eugène Freyssinet ,
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