From the course: Construction Management: Concrete Construction
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Compression versus tension
From the course: Construction Management: Concrete Construction
Compression versus tension
- At this point, we've covered what's in concrete, how it's made, how it gets hard and how we can use chemicals to change and improve its properties. Now let's take that information and use it to begin to understand how and why we use this incredible material so much during construction. To start that conversation, you need to understand exactly what I really mean when I say concrete is strong and that it's a durable building material. So let's talk about concrete's strengths and about concrete weaknesses. You'll often hear concrete referred to in terms of its strength. You may hear things like, 'This is 3000 psi concrete. Or 5000, or 7000 psi concrete.' When people throw around these numbers, they're actually referring to its 28 day compressive strength, or if you want to be a little bit more precise, this is the expected compressive strength of the hardened concrete in pounds per square inch when it's 28 days old. Compressive strength is where concrete really has its advantages…
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