ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the constituent or “raw” materials used for producing high-strength concrete. It was for the most part written based on the presumption that the reader is already knowledgeable about the basic properties of concrete-making materials. This undertaking has already been successfully accomplished in several comprehensive publications (Neville, 1996; Kosmatka et al., 2002; Mindess et al., 2003), and addressing it in appropriate depth is beyond the scope of this book. Most of the discussion in this chapter will be devoted to the industry's most commonly used “mainstream” materials. Conceptually, the concreting materials described in this chapter, when appropriately proportioned and combined, have been capable of producing high-strength concrete with long-term compressive strength on the order of approximately 140 MPa (20,000 psi), or even slightly higher.
