1、Shelter from the very beginning of man/ existence, has demanded the application Of the best , available technology of the contemporary era. In the earliest ages, structures consisted of rammed earth, or stone blocks laid one on another without benefit of any bonding or cementing medium. Stability of
2、 the stone structures depended on the regular setting of the heavy stones , The earliest masonry probably consisted of sun-dried clay bricks, set in regular courses in thin layers of moist mud. When the moist mud dried, a solid clay wall resulted. Construction: of this kind was common in the dry des
3、ert areas of the world.Burnt gypsum as a cementing material was developed early in the Egyptian period and was apparently used in construction of some of the pyramids. Later the Greeks and Romans discovered methods of burning limestone to produce quicklime which was subsequently slaked for use in ma
4、king mortar. Both the Greeks and the Romans learned that certain fine soil or earth, when mixed with the lime and the sand, produced a superior cementing material. The Greek material, a volcanic tuff from the island of Santorin , is still used in that part Of the world. The best of the materials use
5、d by the Romans was a tuff or ash from the vicinity of Pozzuoli near Mt. Vesuvius, hence the name “pozzolan”used to identify a certain type of mineral admixture used in concrete today.The cement produced by the Romans was a hydraulic cement, that is, it had the capability of hardening under water. M
6、any of the Roman structures were constructed of a form of concrete, using these materials, and stone masonry was bonded with a mortar similarly composed.During the Middle Ages of history, the art of making good mortar was nearly lost, the low point having been reached in about the llth century, when
7、 much inferior material was used. Quality of the lime started to improve at this time and in the 14th century or later the use of pozzolans was again practised.One of the most famous projects of the comparatively recent period was the construction of the new Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of Eng
8、land in 1757-59. John Smeaton, the engineer and designer of the structure, investigated many materials and methods of bonding the stones for the building.Engineering and scientific development was beginning to move rapidly at this time, and many researchers in several countries were investigating ce
9、menting agents made from gypsum, limestone and other natural materials. One discovery was a method of making a cement by burning a naturally occurring mixture of lime and clay. properties of the natural cement were very erratic because of variations in the proportions in the natural material, althou
10、gh use of this natural cement continued for many years. In 1824 Joseph Aspdin , a brickmason of Leeds, England, took out a patent on a material he called Portland cement, so called because concrete made with it was supposed to resemble the limestone quarried near Portland, England. Aspdin is general
11、ly credited with inventing a method of proportioning limestone and clay, burning the mixture at high temperature to produce clinkers, then grinding the clinkers to produce a hydraulic cement. His small kiln, producing about 16 tons of clinker at a time, required several days/or each burn. Expansion
12、and development of cement manufacturing was slow for a number of years. About 1850, however, the industry had become well established not only in England, but also in Germany and Belgium. Shipments to the United States were started in 1868 and reached a peak about 1895, at which time production was
13、well under way in the United States. Meanwhile the United States production of natural cement had been started early in the 19th century as a result of the demand for cement for construction of the Erie Canal and related works. Subsequent development of the rotary kiln led to large scale production
14、of cement throughout the world. The use of concrete was expanded by the construction of railroads, bridges ,buildings and street pavements. Research in reinforcing concrete with steel rods had been started in France, and the year 1875 saw first use of reinforced concrete in the United States. Muchof
15、 the concrete at this time contained barely enough water to enable the concrete to be rammed into place by the application of much hand labor. There then ensued a period of wet concrete in which the concrete was flowed into place. Many users of concrete, however, realized the folly of wet mixes, and
16、 about 1920 Duff Abrams revealed the results of his research and observations. He stated that the quality of concrete was directly affected by the amount of water in relation to the amount of cement ; within reasonable limits, the quality of the concrete decreases as the water-cement ratio goes up.
17、This has become one of the basic laws of concrete technology. 2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Concrete and Its Water-Cement RatioConcrete is a mixture of Portland cement, water, sand, and crushed gravel or stone. The water and cement form a cement paste in which the sand and stone or gravel are m
18、ixed. The sand and stone or gravel together make up the aggregate of a concrete mixture. The aggregate serves no structural function. It is merely ,a filler that adds low-cost bulk to the cement paste; it usually makes up about 75 percent of a given mass of concrete, by volume, although a poor aggre
19、gate can reduce the strength of a batch of concrete considerably, good aggregate adds only slightly to the strength of the cement. The two principal advantages of concrete as a construction material are its relative cheapness and the ease with which it can be handled and placed while it is in the pl
20、astic state.The principal structural advantages of concrete are its great compressive strength and its durability , Concrete can withstand very high compressive loads. This is what makes concrete so suitable for the foundations, walls, and columns of buildings, and for driveways and walks as well. T
21、he principal structural disadvantage of concrete is its poor tensile strength. That is, it cannot withstand pulling or bending loads without cracking or breaking. For this reason, steel rods, or reinforcement steel, are often embedded in concrete, the reinforcement steel providing the tensile streng
22、th the concrete lacks. Concrete with reinforcement steel embedded in it is reinforced concrete.In addition to its poor tensile strength, concrete, like most construction materials, expands in hot weather and when wet and contracts in cold weather and as it dries out. Unless these movements are allow
23、ed for during construction, the concrete will crack.And, contrary to common belief, solid concrete is not impervious to water. Some moisture will migrate into the best-made concrete. But if the concrete should be excessively porous ,which can happen if too much water has been used in mixing it, mois
24、ture can easily enter the concrete after it has cured. If this moisture should be present within the concrete when cold weather comes, the moisture may freeze, which may result in serious frost damage to the structure.Despite these limitations, concrete is an inherently strong and durable constructi
25、on material. If the proportions of water, cement, and aggregate are carefully calculated and if the concrete is placed and allowed to cure according to simple but definite rules, it is possible to obtain from the concrete all the strength and durability that is inherent in it.The ratio of water to c
26、ement in a batch of concrete is the principal determinant of the concretes final strength. At one time the instructions for preparing a batch of concrete would have contained proportions such as 1:2:4, indicating that 1 part of Portland cement to 2 parts of sand to 4 parts of gravel by volume were t
27、o be mixed together, after which sufficient water was to be added to obtain a workable mixture. This procedure ignored entirely the importance of the water-cement ratio. It also resulted very often in the preparation or a very weak concrete, since the natural tendency is to add enough water to make
28、placement of the concrete as easy as possible-the sloppier the better, as far as the workmen are concerned. This manner of specifying the proportions of concrete is obsolete and should never be followed.In theory, it takes only 3 gal of water to hydrate completely 1 cu ft of cement. （A sack of cemen
29、t contains 1 cu ft exactly, and the sack weighs 94 lb）. But this water-cement ratio produces a mixture that is too stiff to be worked. In practice, therefore, additional water, between 4 and 8 gal per sack of cement, is used to obtain a workable mixture.But the greater the proportion of water in a w
30、ater-cement ratio, the weaker the final concrete will be. The additional water that is necessary to achieve a workable batch will only evaporate from the concrete as the concrete sets, and it will leave behind in the concrete innumerable voids. This is the reason there will always be some porosity i
31、n concrete. When an excessive amount of water has been used, there will be an excessive number of voids, which may cause the concrete to leak badly. If these voids should be filled with moisture when cold weather comes, they will cause the frost damage alluded to above. As a general rule, therefore,
32、 6 gal of water per sack of cement should be the maximum amount used for making concrete; and the less the amount of water that is used, the stronger the concrete will be. Also included in the 6 gal is whatever surface moisture is contained in the sand that is part of the aggregate. 3.Mortar Mortar is a mixture of a cementitious material （which may be portland cement or lime or both） and sand. When water is added to these ingredients, the result is a plastic substance that is used to bind together bricks, tiles, concrete blocks, and othe
