The successful placement of concrete depends on the careful mixing, appropriate equipment, and adequate transportation.
Dosing and mixing concrete
A concrete mixer is simply defined as the complete mixing of the material which is required for the production of a homogeneous concrete.
However, no successful mixture can not be achieved without proper dosing of the material. Quality assurance, convenient schedule of materials and equipment, and properly measure the materials are basic steps that must be completed before mixing begins to unfold.
Mixing components
There are many components to consider mixing to ensure to achieve high-quality concrete mixture. Location, shape and angle of the mixing blades, the shape of the mixing chamber, rotation speed, and horsepower must be taken into account. It is important that each group according to the specification consistently be mixed so that the final concrete strength is not compromised.
Classification mixer
There are three types of concrete mixer. These are the
drum mixer,
pan mixer,
and continuous mixer.
Further concrete mixers can be classifieds either dosed continuous free fall or forced movement, and stationary or portable.
Mixing time
When a suitable mixer chosen, it is necessary to determine the mixing time. It takes time to get mixed concrete when the mixer is fully loaded with all materials.
Mixing time is not standard for each mixer. For example, a drum mixer with a small diameter creates a greater speed than a mixer with a large diameter, therefore, the mixing time will be reduced.
Transport concrete
Transport concrete is defined as the transfer of concrete from the concrete mixing plant to the construction site. All concretes are still not mixed at the site, which is why it can sometimes require the transport of concrete. This usually refers to the ready-mixed concrete.
There are many elements of transport that should be considered to ensure that the concrete does not change its state. Two key objectives when transporting the concrete to the construction site to prevent segregation and to not reduce the workability of the mixture. The transportation process must be well thought out and effectively organized. As a general rule, thirty to sixty minutes of transport is acceptable for small jobs. In the central or portable ready mix concrete plants need to be released from the truck mixer or mixers on trucks within two hours. If the equipment is used for transport without interference, this time is reduced to one hour.
There are many factors that determine which type of service is most appropriate. Type and integral parts of the concrete, the size and type of construction, topography, weather conditions, location of the batch plant and the costs are taken into account when selecting modes of transport concrete. If you select the wrong mode of transport, it may be useless. Therefore, it is important to choose an adequate transport.