A new model for the estimation of compressive strength of Portland cement concrete

In this article, on the basis of the existing experimental data, an empirical equation for calculating the compressive strength of Portland cement concrete is developed. The determination of the compressive strengths by the equation described here relies on accurate determination of the water to cement ratio which gives maximum compressive strength and the analysis of its variation with the curing time. The results obtained for the plain (without admixture) and latex modified concretes at the age of 28 days show that this ratio ranges from 0.18 to 0.23. These values are reasonably close to the non-evaporable water content reported for the Portland cement. On the other hand, this range as determined by the above procedure limits the usefulness of the proposed equation for predicting the compressive strength of silica fume blended Portland cement concretes. However, a general method of solving problems of this type allows the determination of upper and lower bounds of this range. This method requires the measurement of at least two compressive strengths corresponding to two different water to cement ratios.