0.55 vs 0.65 - Water cement ratio

[concretestudent]

Can someone please give me a quick education on why a 0.55 ratio is stronger than a 0.65 ratio? This is all relative to slab on grade for residential housing in California. We are trying decide on an appropriate slab thickness based on these ratios, and I want to learn and better understand this process. Thanks!

[Tony McC]

It's summat to do with the aluminium tri-silicate, as far as I can remember. Funnily enough, I was supposed to be at a Concrete Society seminar in Manchester today but had to turn around just as I got to the door of the venue as I had some bad news from home. Perhaps they discussed w/c ratios in my absence?

You need a concrete technologist to answer this properly. In the Brew Cabin, we tend to attract groundworkers, contractors and keen diyers. I'd suggest trying whatever is the USian equivalent of the Concrete Society.

[simeonronacrete]

Master Student

Did you find your answer?

There are many web sources for such information; as a rule of thumb..

Water/cement ratio
Description: The water/cement ratio is the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of cement in the fresh concrete mix. The water/cement ratio controls the strength of the concrete and its permeability. The lower the water/cement ratio the higher the compressive strength and the lower the permeability of the hardened concrete. The lower the permeability the greater the potential durability of the concrete.

Regards