Stonehenge which is in England, Peruvian citadel are the extraordinary examples of how stone was used to make structures that last for hundreds if not thousands of years. Although the stone is one of the oldest and available building materials, it is not an easy one to work with. It is faced with many disadvantages. For instance, it is heavy and this makes it hard to transport, and most of the time comes in big chunks which need to be cut into shape thus making building more laborious.
How would it feel if we had a recipe for stone? It would be a great idea. A kind of mixture that we would throw and mix together and bring the shape and size that best suits us. Well, the good news is that, that liquid stone is in existence “the concrete”. In some cases, it gets a bad name due to the reason that some people associate it with barbarous architecture. All in all, the concrete advantages outweigh its disadvantages thus making it the best choice for building.
Reinforcing concrete
As stated in our previous articles, concrete is a compound material. Reinforced concrete is a concrete in which other materials like wires or metal bars are embedded to strengthen it. When the concrete is added to bars and hardens, a new composite material is formed, a reinforced material. It works well in either in compression or tension. The steel bars resist stretching and bending while the concrete offers compressive strength. In other words, reinforcing concrete is combining two materials where one is inside the other. Hence, the concrete acts as the matrix while the wires or the steel bar gives the reinforcement.
Normally, the steel bars are made from strands which are twisted with nobles or ridges on them which attach them firmly inside the concrete without allowing a room for slipping inside it. Generally, steel is the widely used metal bar for reinforcing concrete because it contracts and expands almost on the same rate with the concrete. This means that the bars won’t crack the concrete surrounding it. Other materials are used which include some plastics.
That post will help you to learn about the secrets of reinforcing concrete, read more about the batching and mixing processes of concrete in this post.