Currently, like many centuries ago, concrete remains probably the most common material for construction. It is used in a variety of construction works - from major repairs to the construction of buildings. However, to perform any work, the first thing is to calculate the amount of necessary material, taking into account its characteristics. For example, builders often have the task of determining the weight of its cubic meter. Therefore, this article is devoted to the question of what is the weight of 1 m3 of concrete.
What determines the mass of concrete
First of all, it should be noted that the builders do not use such a thing as the "specific gravity of concrete." This is due to the fact that this building material in its composition may contain a variety of components that have different weights.
So, as a filler can be used:
• Crushed stone.
• Gravel.
• Expanded clay, etc.
Even if the same composition is used to prepare the concrete mortar, the weight of 1 m3 of concrete can be different in cases where the filler has different fractions. The larger the size of the fraction, the more voids in the material and, accordingly, its mass is less.
But builders are still interested in weight characteristics, since many characteristics of the executed objects depend on the value of this indicator. For example, based on these data, a weight calculation is performed and the type of foundations for different types of soil is selected. The same applies to other supporting elements.
In practice, builders use a parameter called “volumetric weight”. But this characteristic is not of constant importance. In addition, the weight of the liquid used in the preparation of the solution should be taken into account in the calculations.
Varieties of concrete
By the type of cementitious material, this building material is divided into cement, silicate, slag-alkali, asphalt concrete, etc. By purpose, ordinary concrete (for civil and industrial construction), special (road, decorative, heat-insulating, hydraulic) and special-purpose (chemically resistant, sound-absorbing, heat resistant, to protect against nuclear radiation and others).
Concrete characteristics
As the main indicator characterizing concrete, compressive strength is used. This characteristic defines the class of concrete marked with the letter “B” (Latin) and numbers indicating (in kg / sq. Cm) the permissible load. For example, a value of B25 indicates that this class of concrete is designed for a load of 25 kg / sq. Cm. When calculating the structural strength indicators, the coefficients should be taken into account. Example: a concrete structure of class B25 with a coefficient of variation of 13.5 percent is capable of withstanding a load of 327 kg / sq.cm, which is equivalent to the strength grade M350. Strength class B3.5 corresponds to the strength grade M50, B10 - M150, B30 - M400, and B60 - M800.
Other important indicators of concrete include frost resistance, bending strength and water resistance. Frost resistance is indicated by the letter “F” and a number from 50 to 500, which means the number of transitions from freezing to thawing and vice versa that concrete will withstand. For the water resistance indicator, the letter “W” is used and a number from 2 to 12, which shows the water pressure that can withstand a sample of this concrete grade in the form of a cylinder.
Weight determination
Reference data on the volumetric weight of concrete are defined in SNiP No. II-3. This standard indicates the estimated weight of varieties of concrete, depending on the type of aggregate. It has a table of concrete weight, from which it can be found out that reinforced concrete products are characterized by a bulk density (in kg / m3) of 2500, concrete with a filler in the form of gravel or crushed stone - 2400, expanded clay concrete based on expanded clay sand - 500-1800, based on perlite sand - 800-1000. In turn, aerated concrete is characterized by a bulk density of 300-1000 kg / m3. Naturally, the weight of 1 m3 of concrete is approximate, but these data are quite suitable for calculation purposes. After all, not a single calculation can provide data accuracy of up to several kilograms.
Weight of concrete depending on its brand
Builders often determine the weight of 1 m3 of concrete, depending on the brand. Its severe species are characterized by the following calculated data. The weight of concrete M200 is 2430 kg / m3. For the M100 brand, a value of 2495 kg / m3 can be used. The weight of concrete M300 is 2390, and for brands M400 and M500, you can take values of 2375 and 2300 kg / m3, respectively.
Thus, the quantitative values given in the article can be used for approximate engineering calculations in the repair and construction works.