Copy of `ACPA - American Pavement Glossary`

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ACPA - American Pavement Glossary Category: Architecture and Buildings > concrete terms Date & country: 25/09/2008, USA Words: 597

Spalling, Surface
Cracking, breaking, chipping, or fraying of slab surface; usually within a confined area less than 0.5 square meters.

Specific Gravity
The ratio of the weight in air of a given volume of material at a stated temperature to the weight in air of an equal volume of distilled water at the same temperature.

Specific Gravity Factor
The ratio of the weight of aggregates (including all moisture), as introduced into the mixer, to the effective volume displaced by the aggregates.

Split Batch Charging
Method of charging a mixer in which the solid ingredients do not all enter the mixer together; cement, and sometimes different sizes of aggregate, may be added separately.

Spud Vibrator
A vibrator used for consolidating concrete, having a vibrating casing or head that is used by insertion into freshly placed concrete.

Standard Deviation
The root mean square deviation of individual values from their average.

Static Load
The weight of a single stationary body or the combined weights of all stationary bodies in a structure (such as the load of a stationary vehicle on a roadway); during construction, the combined weight of forms, stringers, joists, reinforcing bars, and the actual concrete to be placed. See also Dead Load.

Stationary Hopper
A container used to receive and temporarily store freshly mixed concrete.

Storage Hopper
See Stationary Hopper

Straight-Edging
Process of using a rigid, straight piece of either wood or metal to strike off or screed a concrete surface to proper grade or to check the planeness of a finished surface.

Stratification
The separation of over-wet or over-vibrated concrete into horizontal layers with increasingly lighter material toward the top; water, laitance, mortar, and coarse aggregate will tend to occupy successively lower positions (in that order).

Strength
A generic term for the ability of a material to resist strain or rupture induced by external forces. See also Compressive Strength, Fatigue Strength, Flexural Strength, Shear Strength, Splitting Tensile Strength, Tensile Strength, Ultimate Strength, and Yield Strength.

Stress
Intensity of internal force (i.e., force per unit area) exerted by either of two adjacent parts of a body on the other across an imagined plane of separation; when the forces are parallel to the plane, the stress is called shear stress; when the forces are normal to the plane the stress is called normal stress; when the normal stress is directed toward the part on which it acts it is called compre...

Strikeoff
To remove concrete in excess of that required to fill the form evenly or bring the surface to grade; performed with a straightedged piece of wood or metal by means of a forward sawing movement or by a power operated tool appropriate for this purpose; also the name applied to the tool. See also Screed and Screeding.

Structural Capacity
Expression of the ability of a pavement to carry traffic loads; Expressed as number of equivalent single axle loads in AASHTO design methodology.

Subbase
A layer in a pavement system between the subgrade and base course or between the subgrade and a portland cement concrete pavement.

Subgrade
The soil prepared and compacted to support a structure or a pavement system. Also sometimes called grade.

Sulfate Attack
Chemical or physical reaction between certain constituents in cement and sulfates in the soil or groundwater; sufficient attack may disrupt concrete that is susceptible to it.

Sulfate Resistance
The ability of aggregate, cement paste, or mixtures thereof to withstand chemical attack by sulfate ion in solution.

Superplasticizer
See Water-Reducing Admixture (high range)

Supplementary Cementitious Material
Mineral admixtures consisting of powdered or pulverized materials which are added to concrete before or during mixing to improve or change some of the plastic or hardened properties of Portland cement concrete. Materials are generally natural or by-products of other manufacturing processes.

Surface Moisture
Water retained on surfaces of aggregates capable of mixing with portland cement in concrete; distinguished from absorbed moisture, which is contained inside the aggregate particles.

Surface Retarder
A retarder used by application to a form or to the surface of newly placed concrete to delay setting of the cement to facilitate construction joint cleanup or to facilitate production of exposed, aggregate finish.

Surface Tension
That property, due to molecular forces, that exists in the surface film of all liquids and tends to prevent the liquid from spreading.

Surface Texture
Degree of roughness or irregularity of the exterior surfaces of aggregate particles or hardened concrete.

Surface Vibrator
A vibrator used for consolidating concrete by application to the top surface of a mass of freshly mixed concrete; four principal types exist: vibrating screeds, pan vibrators, plate or grid vibratory tampers, and vibratory roller screeds.

Surface Voids
Cavities visible on the surface of a solid. See also Bug Holes.

Surface Water
See Surface Moisture

Swelling
Increase in length or volume. See also Autogenous Volume Change, Contraction, Expansion, and Volume Change.

Tamper
1) An implement used to consolidate concrete or mortar in molds or forms. 2) A hand-operated device for compacting floor topping or other unformed concrete by impact from the dropped device in preparation for strikeoff and finishing; contact surface often consists of a screen or a grid of bars to force coarse aggregates below the surface to prevent interference with floating or troweling. See also...

Tamping
The operation of compacting freshly placed concrete by repeated blows or penetrations with a tamping device.

Temper
The addition of water and mixing of concrete or mortar as necessary to bring it initially to the desired consistency. See also Retempering.

Tensile Strength
Maximum stress that a material is capable of resisting under axial tensile loading based on the cross-sectional area of the specimen before loading.

Terminal Joint
Joint used in continuously reinforced concrete pavement (see CRCP) to transition to another pavement type or to a bridge structure.

Texturing
The process of producing a special texture on either unhardened or hardened concrete.

Thermal Expansion
Expansion caused by increase in temperature.

Thermal Movement
Change of dimension of concrete or masonry resulting from change of temperatures. See also Contraction and Expansion.

Thermal Shock
The subjection of newly hardened concrete to a rapid change in temperature which may be expected to have a potentially deleterious effect.

Tie Bar
Bar at right angles to and tied to reinforcement to keep it in place; deformed bar extending across a construction joint to prevent separation of adjoining slabs.

Tilting Concrete Mixer
See Mixer, Tilting

Time of Haul
In production of ready-mixed concrete, the period from first contact between mixing water and cement until completion of discharge of the freshly mixed concrete.

Time of Set
Time required after addition of water to cement for cement paste, mortars, or concretes to attain a certain arbitrary degree of hardness or strength.

Time of Setting
See Initial Setting Time and Final Setting Time.

TMMB
Truck Mixer Manufacturers` Bureau; most truck mixers carry TMMB rating plates.

Tongue and Groove
A joint in which a protruding rib on the edge of one side fits into a groove in the edge of the other side, abbreviated 'T & G.' See also Keyway.

Topping
1) A layer of high quality concrete placed to form a floor surface on a concrete base, or 2) a dry-shake application of a special material to produce particular surface characteristics.

Transit-mixed Concrete
Concrete, the mixing of which is wholly or principally accomplished in a truck mixer. (Same as truck mixed concrete.)

Transverse Broom
Surface texture obtained using either a hand broom or mechanical broom that lightly drags the stiff bristles across the surface.

Transverse Crack
Crack that develops at a right angle to the long direction of the member.

Transverse Joint
A joint normal to the longitudinal dimension of a structure.

Transverse Reinforcement
See Reinforcement, Transverse

Transverse Tine
Surface texture achieved by a hand held or mechanical device equipped with a rake-like tining head that moves laterally across the width of the paving surface.

TRB
Transportation Research Board

Trial Batch
A batch of concrete used for establishing or checking proportions.

Trowel
A flat, broad-bladed steel hand tool used in the final stages of finishing operations to impart a relatively smooth surface to concrete floors and other unformed concrete surfaces; also, a flat triangular-bladed tool used for applying mortar to masonry.

Truck mixed Concrete
Concrete, the mixing of which is accomplished in a truck mixer.

Truck Mixer
A concrete mixer suitable for mounting on a truck chassis and capable of mixing concrete in transit. See also Horizontal-Axis Mixer, Inclined-Axis Mixer, and Agitator.

Ultra-thin Whitetopping
Thin layer of new concrete (2-4 inches), usually high strength and fiber-reinforced, placed over a prepared surface of distressed asphalt

Unbonded Concrete Overlay
Overlay of new concrete placed onto distressed existing concrete pavement with a layer of asphalt or other medium between the new and old concrete surface to separate them.

Uncontrolled Crack
A crack that is located within a slab away from the sawed joints.

Under-Sanded
A concrete mixture that is deficient in sand content; a condition associated with poor workability or finishing characteristics.

Unit Water Content
The quantity of water per unit volume of freshly mixed concrete, often expressed as pounds or gallons per cubic yard. It is the quantity of water on which the water-cement ratio is based and does not include water absorbed by the aggregate.

Unit Weight
See Bulk Density and Specific Gravity

Unreinforced Concrete
See Plain Concrete

Unsound Aggregate
An aggregate or individual particles of an aggregate capable of causing or contributing to deterioration or disintegration of concrete under anticipated conditions of service.

Uplift Beam
Beam-like movement detection device used to monitor slab lift during slab stabilization.

Vibrated Concrete
Concrete compacted by vibration during and after placing.

Vibration
Energetic agitation of concrete produced by a mechanical oscillating device at moderately high frequency to assist consolidation and compaction.

Vibration Limit
That time at which fresh concrete has hardened sufficiently to prevent its becoming mobile when subject to vibration.

Vibration, External
External vibration employs vibrating devices attached at strategic positions on the forms and is particularly applicable to manufacture of precast items and for vibration of tunnel-lining forms; in manufacture of concrete products, external vibration or impact may be applied to a casting table.

Vibration, Internal
Internal vibration employs one or more vibrating elements that can be inserted into the concrete at selected locations, and is more generally applicable to in-place construction.

Vibration, Surface
Surface vibration employs a portable horizontal platform on which a vibrating element is mounted.

Vibrator
An oscillating machine used to agitate fresh concrete so as to eliminate gross voids, including entrapped air but no entrained air, and produce intimate contact with form surfaces and embedded materials.

Vibratory Plate Compactor
Motorized, one-man tool consisting of a vibrating square plate that transmits energy to compact granular materials.

Volume Batching
The measuring of the constituent materials for mortar or concrete by volume.

Wash Water
Water carried on a truck mixer in a special tank for flushing the interior of the mixer after discharge of the concrete.

Water-Cement Ratio
The ratio of the amount of water, exclusive only of that absorbed by the aggregates, to the amount of portland cement in a concrete or mortar mixture; preferably stated as a decimal by weight.

Water-Cementitious Ratio
The ratio of the amount of water, exclusive only of that absorbed by the aggregates, to the amount of portland cement and other cementitious material (fly ash, pozzolan, etc.) in a concrete or mortar mixture; preferably stated as a decimal by weight.

Water-Gain
See Bleeding

Water-Reducing Admixture
A material that either increases slump of freshly mixed mortar or concrete without increasing water content or maintains a workability with a reduced amount of water, the effect being due to factors other than air entrainment; also known as water reducer.

Water-Reducing Admixture
A water-reducing admixture capable of producing large water reduction or great flowability without causing undue set retardation or entrainment of air in mortar or concrete.

Weathering
Changes in color, texture, strength, chemical composition or other properties of a natural or artificial material due to the action of the weather.

Weight Batching
Measuring the constituent materials for mortar or concrete by weight.

Welded-Wire Fabric Reinforcement
Welded-wire fabric in either sheets or rolls, used to reinforce concrete.

Well-Graded Aggregate
Aggregate having a particle size distribution that will produce maximum density; i.e., minimum void space.

Wet
Covered with visible free moisture; not dry. See also Damp and Moist.

Wet Process
In the manufacture of cement, the process in which the raw materials are ground, blended, mixed, and pumped while mixed with water; the wet process is chosen where raw materials are extremely wet and sticky, which would make drying before crushing and grinding difficult.

Whitetopping
Concrete overlay pavement placed on an existing asphalt pavement.

Whitetopping, Conventional
Overlay of new concrete, greater than 4 inches thick, placed onto existing asphalt pavement with no particular steps taken to ensure bonding or debonding.

Whitetopping, Ultra-thin
See 'Ultra-thin Whitetopping'

Wiggle Bolt
Two-piece threaded bolt system used for tying lanes of concrete pavement; usually consists of a female section that is cast into a vertical slab face, and an angled male end which screws into the female coupler.

Wire Mesh
See Welded Wire Fabric

Workability
That property of freshly mixed concrete or mortar which determines the ease and homogeneity with which it can be mixed, placed, compacted, and finished.

Working Crack
A crack in a concrete pavement slab that undergoes significant deflection and thermal opening and closing movements; Typically oriented transverse to the pavement centerline and near a non-functioning transverse contraction joint.

Yield
The volume of fresh concrete produced from a known quantity of ingredients; the total weight of ingredients divided by the unit weight of the freshly mixed concrete.

Zero-Slump Concrete
Concrete of stiff or extremely dry consistency showing no measurable slump after removal of the slump cone. See also Slump and No-Slump Concrete.

A+B Contract
Cost-plus-time bidding process where each contractor includes a time cost bid along with their construction bid and the contractor selected has the lowest combined bid total.