Introduction
Concrete refers to the mixture of Portland cement of any other form of hydraulic cement, fine, aggregate, the coarse aggregate, and water that could be with or without water. Concrete remains to be an ancient material of construction that was first in use in the Roman Empire. In the present world, concrete is part of the sophisticated material to which other constituents can be subject to add to produce a product that is capable of achieving the 50,000-psi compressive strength. According to Koren & Hall (2012, p. 35), the strength of concrete is subject to consider being the most valuable property. However, in most practical cases, other characteristics like durability and permeability may be subject to consider as important. Therefore, the strength of concrete is almost invariably a vital element of the structural design, which is subject to specify for the compliance purposes. The paper thus talks about the differences between plain and reinforced concrete, also highlighting how they react to loads.
Plain concrete is the type of concrete that contains no bars of steel reinforcement, no wire, or concrete that contains no more than the two-tenths of one percent of reinforcing. Its physical properties are also similar to stone, and it includes the ability to withstand great pressure. Plain concrete remains to be the commonly used type of man-made material in the world. Plain concrete is subject to combine with water and then allowed to harden in place after pouring on a surface through a hydration process (Llewellyn, 2002, p. 51). The cement in this process reacts with water, hence creating the new chemical bond existing between the different materials in the concrete mix.
Reinforced concrete refers to the composite material in which steel is subject to embed to it in a manner that the two materials come to act together as resisting forces. The reinforcement material could be steel, rods, bars, or mesh, which absorbs the tensile, shear, and the comprehensive stresses in the form of a concrete structure (Taylor et al., 1925, p. 67). The reinforcement schemes are entire with the design of resisting tensile stresses in specific regions that might cause some unacceptable cracks or structural failures. The reinforced concrete may also be subject to stress or compress on the permanent scale to improve the behavior of the final structure that is under working loads.
According to Chadwick (2005, p. 41), reinforced concrete is different from plain concrete concerning the ability to withstand tensile and shear stresses. Plain concrete does not have the ability to withstand tensile and shear stresses that the wind, earthquakes or vibration causes, thus being unsuitable concrete to use in most structural applications. On the contrary, reinforced concrete has the tensile strength of steel together with the comprehensive strength of concrete that works together into allowing the member in sustaining these stresses over the considerable spans. The intervention of reinforced concrete from the 19th century was able to revolutionize the construction industry, hence making concrete become one of the most common building material in the world.
In a reinforced concrete, the cross-sectional area of steel is subject to insert into the engineering formulae as evident in the ACI 318 when determining the load carrying capacity of a given slab design (Neville, 1970, p. 19). In any form of reinforced concrete, the thickness of the slab does not form the determining factor about the loading capacity that it can withstand. The cross-sectional area of steel together with the tensile properties of the steel forms the parameters used in the calculations to determine the loading capacity. On the contrary, plain concrete relies on the thickness of the slab when determining the loading capacity that it can withstand.
In the structural plain concrete, the slab-on-ground will use the properties of concrete in supporting the design loads. The thickness of the slab, compression and the flexural strength play a key role in determining the controlling parameters, basing on the 28 day tests (Feenstra & De Borst, 1993, p. 57). When making plain concrete, secondary or temperature-shrinkage reinforcement is in use by controlling the cracks upon their formation on the concrete cross-section. Secondary reinforcement is not subject to consider here when determining the load carrying capacity of the plain slab.
Typically, the majority of the highways, parking lots, warehouse and commercial floors across the world are with the design of structural plain concrete. Plain structural concrete will also be thicker than when in comparison to the reinforced concrete, but remain to be cost effective. The use of steel and metal rods in reinforced concrete makes it expensive since there will be more additional costs like concrete pumps, space for storing steel, and time for building the mesh frame. On the plain concrete surface, a truck can easily discharge the mixture directly to the slab base at the specific point of use (Walraven & Reinhardt, 1981, p. 62).
Conclusion
It is a parent that there is a significant difference between plain and reinforced concrete. Despite these differences, all of them are subject to make for use in a manner that suits the specific needs. It is thus upon the user to determine the need for the specific, concrete before making an informed choice between these two types of concrete. Essentially, plain concrete is for use in lesser strenuous tasks that can withstand lesser loads while reinforced concrete is for use on surfaces that are required to withstand excessive loads.
Bibliography
Chadwick, P. (2005). Concrete. Vol. 2, Vol. 2. Milwaukie, Or, Dark Horse.
Feenstra, F.H., & DE Borst, R. (1993). Aspects of Robust Computational Modeling for Plain and Reinforced Concrete. Article. Delft University of Technology.
Koren, L., & HALL, W. (2012). Concrete.
Llewellyn, C. (2002). Concrete. New York, Franklin Watts.
Neville, A. M. (1970). Creep of concrete: plain, reinforced and prestressed.
Taylor, F. W., Thompson, S. E., Smulski, E., & Robbins, H. C. (1925).Concrete, plain and reinforced. New York, J. Wiley & Sons.
Walraven, J.C., & Reinhardt, H.W. (1981). Theory and Experiments on the Mechanical Behaviour of Cracks in Plain and Reinforced Concrete Subjected to Shear Loading. Article. Delft University of Technology
