Cetarc, Kochi (2026)

14/11/2020

Happy Diwali

12/11/2020

Strength, impermeability, dimensional stability, and resistance of the concrete to weathering, wear, and chemical attack all depend on the factors like; selection and proper control of materials and mixture proportioning, initial concrete temperatures, wind velocity, solar radiation, ambient temperatures, and humidity conditions during placing and curing periods.
For achieving the desired concrete properties, the concrete shall be placed by taking all precautions. Beside using cool concrete , other practices are also recommended.

Role of water
Since water has a specific heat of about four to five times that of cement or aggregates, the temperature of the mixing water has the greatest effect per unit weight on the temperature of concrete. it takes 4,200 J to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1°C. The temperature of water is easier to control than that of the other components.
Lowering the temperature of the batch water by 3.5 to 4 F (2.0 to 2.2 C) will reduce the concrete temperature approximately 1 F (0.5 C).
In order to keep the water cooled, tanks, pipes, or water tankers used for storing or transporting water should be insulated or painted white or both. Water can be cooled to as low as 33 F (1 C) using water chillers, ice, heat pump technology, or liquid nitrogen.
1. Use of flaked ice in concrete
On melting alone ice will absorb heat at the rate of 144 Btu/lb (335 J/g). To be most effective, the crushed, shaved, or chipped ice should be placed directly into the mixer as part of the added mixing water. For maximum effectiveness, the ice should not be allowed to melt before it is placed in the mixer in contact with the other ingredients, but it must melt completely prior to the completion of mixing of the concrete (ACI305R).
For most concrete, the maximum temperature reduction with ice is about 20 F (11 C).

Now a days Ice making plant is prefabricated and installed in a 40-ft. container, available with ice production capacities of 20 to 100 tons of flake ice per day per unit.

In middle east countries, for mass concrete construction, few consultants insist for even 250C concrete temperature at placing. During summer season, when the ambient temperature rises to 500C and above, it is difficult to achieve low concrete temperature as low as 250C. However, specifying concrete temperature of below 320C is very common, though ACI allows for up to 350C. Unfortunately raft concrete pours have to be continuous and the specified maximum ambient temperature limits of 400C through- out placement is practically not possible in peak summer season. Addition of flaked ice is the best economical method available in such situations. Due to the higher volume concrete placements, during May to September months commercial ready- mix companies have to depend on external commercial ice plants for supply of flaked ice.
Indian concrete industry does not use temperature- controlled concrete much, except for very few prestigious projects, even though the ambient temperature exceeds above 400C during summer season in many parts of India. The consequences of this action on quality of concrete placed is often ignored.
Flaked ice replaces the total mixing water by weight in concrete mix. For example, if the mixing water required is 150l and the quantity of ice required to achieve specified concrete placement temperature is 50kg/m3, the net water addition to the mix will be 100l. ICE quantity may have to be limited to about 75 percent of the batch water requirement, which depends on mixture proportions and moisture content of the aggregates.

2. Replacing normal water with chilled water

The containerized cold-water systems (chiller), cools water at inlet temperatures between +20 °C to +45 °C down to temperatures between +5 °C and +3 °C. At very highwater inlet temperatures, the first stage pre-cools the water to +38 °C via the evaporative condenser before being finally cooled to the desired outlet temperatures.
In the beginning and end of summer season lower concrete temperatures can be achieved through addition of chilled water to concrete. During summer season (or hot weather conditions) combination of chilled water and flaked ice is being used in concrete production.
Most of the RMC plants in India operate even without Chillers.
Importance of temperature control of concrete is ignored to a large extent leading to long term quality issues including durability and sustainability of concrete structure.
To be continued………

- SHYAM

04/10/2020

Concrete in Hot weather - Part 1

In three decades of concrete manufacturing experience with leading ready-mix companies in United Arab Emirates, the most challenging time appeared to me was the summer season from June to September, every year. Production, delivery and placement of concrete was almost a “nightmare” in July and August.
The impact of hot summer on quality of concrete due to scorching temperature is huge and pose great challenges to the ready-mix concrete manufacturer and the contractor. Concrete starts behaving almost unpredictably with its rheology and setting properties. The quality control engineers get involved in trouble shooting of quality issues like loss of workability, temperature of concrete exceeding the maximum specified for concrete and development of early thermal cracks. The rejection of concrete due to quality issues are at peak during this season bringing up the heat on the professionals involved.
Contractors face problems in placing, compacting and final finishing of the concrete. Workability retention and consistency of the mix is very important to place and finish the concrete at site.
In middle east countries the peak ambient temperature easily cross 50oC mark during summer season leading to stoppage of concreting during day time. As per specified regulations, concreting is not allowed by consultants and local authorities in case the ambient temperature exceeds 40oC (though small &medium level contractors try to override this). In many occasions the night time temperature also exceed this limit leading to stoppage of concreting, hampering the progress of the project.
What are the specification limits for concrete temperature?
ACI specifies a limit of 35oC (ACI 305R, ACI 207.1R)
What is expected from a good quality concrete?
• Workability
• Consistency
• Strength
• Durability
Concrete shall be mouldable, placeable, strong, durable, resilient, sustainable, aesthetic, versatile
What is the impact of high temperature of concrete?
High differential between the internal temperature and the exterior temperature of a concrete mass, combined with imposition of constrains in expansion or contraction of concrete (restraint volume changes) will lead to cracks. High internal temperature against lower exterior ambient temperatures will cause cracking.
If temperature rise is not controlled, the later age strength of the concrete will come down from the expected normal results under standard curing conditions.
What are the factors influencing concrete during summer season and their impact on quality of concrete?
Hot sun, heavy wind, low humidity
How do we control concrete temperature?
• Use of flaked ice in concrete
• Replacing normal water with chilled water
• Shading of aggregates
• Dampening of aggregates before production of concrete
• Protecting the Transit mixer drums with dampened clothes
• Wind barriers and shades at site to prevent water loss
• Minimum time of haulage and placement of concrete from mixing of concrete at Plant
• Coarse aggregate can be cooled by passing frigid air through the bins or by passing the coarse aggregate through ice water
• Aggregate cool through vacuum processes (unless the moisture content of the aggregate is quite uniform, don’t apply this process)
• Embedded pipe cooling, whereby a series of evenly spaced pipe coils are circulated with refrigerated water, is used to limit concrete temperature in mass foundations. This method is expensive and used only when other less expensive methods are not sufficient.
• Use of Liquid Nitrogen is an expensive mode of cooling concrete.

25/09/2020

Effective communication is a pillar of successful organization.
Communication flow can be upwards, downwards, lateral within the organization. Communication of information can be internal and external. A committed leadership shall be able to communicate the quality policy to the entire organization through effective means of communication. They shall be able to effectively communicate with the internal and external customers.
Some organizations compile excellent policies and procedures and completely or partially fails to communicate them to the stake holders, resulting in unsuccessful performance.
To create quality awareness, we need to present information in different languages for various classes of employees in an organization.
Let us discuss the languages of communication within various segments of organization as illustrated in the below pyramid.
At the top management level, creating an awareness of quality is best done in the language of money. The financial benefit of quality is of interest at the top level. Advantages of quality and its influence on customer is best discussed in this level and cascaded to the rest through effective communication tools. Understanding the market place threats to sales income, cost of poor quality and removing the obstacles in implementing a quality culture are part of top management discussion.

Middle management must understand the language of Top management and language of work force below them. They are bilingual and must communicate between Top and low management, effectively. They act as the “communication bridge” in any organization.
Lower management and nonsupervisory employees mostly use the language of products. They are giving life to the product as per set of instructions and procedures communicated to them. Effective communication from top management shall reach them to sustain the quality of product or service.
Translating the importance and impact of quality on customer satisfaction, directly in to language of job security, will dramatically induct quality awareness in middle and lower management. Often the business lost in “millions of rupees” due to “poor quality” is not communicated effectively to middle and low management, in terms of money and the lost possibilities of generating further job opportunities.

“Communication works for those who work at it.” John Powell

SHYAM KUMAR SYAMA PRASAD

09/09/2020

Recipe for Quality ‘Concrete construction’ – Total Quality Management
Segment 4 - Commitment, Communication & Culture – the 3 C’s

As discussed earlier, the core of TQM is the customer-supplier interfaces.
The customer-supplier core must be surrounded by the 3 C’s, commitment to quality, communication of the quality message, and recognition of the need to change the culture of the organisation to create total quality. These are the foundations of Total Quality Management.

Commitment:

To achieve any goal, we shall build real feeling of commitment in all stake holders. Commitment shall not be forced up on, it shall evolve through right thinking processes. Leadership commitment is the foundation of any organization. A true leader shall have commitment to his cause. Without his/ her commitment, they will not be able to create a culture of quality in the organization. The success also depends on how effectively the leader communicate with his people.

Often, some organizations adopt or initiate Quality Management Systems (QMS) for getting certified by a third party (e.g.: ISO certification), which may be a pre requisite for winning a commercial order or to get approved / accepted by Governmental or Local authorities and other customers. In some cases, the Top management consider the QMS certification process as an exercise only to build the image.
In my professional career, I had a company owner who considered ISO 9001:2000 certification and QMS as a means to get approval from the local authority to run his ready- mix concrete business. He thought that the system is just documentation process and audits are useless exercises. Fortunately, reality from few incidents taught him that non committed leadership in Quality Management leads to “non committed customers” and inconsistent business, beside incurring huge financial losses due to repair and restoration process to correct the quality issues.

The actual “quality cost” (cost of poor quality) turns out to be much higher than what was being estimated by the managers, in some cases more than 20% of sales value. This is a subject of research and to be discussed separately.

The real advantages of a well-established Quality Management system and its commercial possibilities are not understood by some organizations. Non- committed and ignorant management and employees results in inferior quality products and services that leads to negative customer responses.

Commitment to produce good quality cement & concrete shall be supported by commitment to protect the environment, create sustainable and resilient products.
Major cement and concrete manufacturers are committed to the “zero carbon target” by 2050 in compliance with Paris agreement 2019.
Do you think the industry can achieve this target without commitment of the leadership and other stake holders? Answer is “absolutely not”
The message is clearly communicated to all stake holders and we all wish the commitment will be communicated and the required culture will be created for the benefit of our world.
We shall discuss about importance of communication and culture in Part 2

Commitment is what transforms promise in to a reality

- Abraham Lincoln

29/08/2020

Happy Onam

24/08/2020

Total Quality Management -Recipe for quality concrete construction

The core of TQM is the customer-supplier interfaces. Customer is the king and supplier is a major player in the total quality management system. The customer – supplier interfaces exist both internally (within the same organization) and externally. These interfaces are connected by the “quality chains” and they can be broken by any one man or machine, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Failure in any part of the system will have multiplying effects on the whole system.

The customer-supplier core must be surrounded by the 3 C’s, commitment to quality, communication of the quality message, and recognition of the need to change the culture of the organisation to create total quality. These are the foundations of TQM, and they are supported by the key management functions of people, processes and systems in the organisation. Effective coordination of Men, Machine and Material is essential for a Total quality management system.

For an organization to be effective, the Quality function shall spread across all departments, all people and all activities. The common practice is to assume that quality department is the only function responsible for quality, hence blame the quality department for any “quality failures”

Every person in the organization plays the role of a supplier (internally & externally) and shall be aware of:

 Who are his customers?
 What are the real needs and expectations of the customer?
 Does he have the capability to meet the customer needs and expectations? and if he doesn’t have the capability, what shall he do to achieve it?
 How do he measure the changes in their needs?

He also plays the role as an internal or external customer and shall be capable of understanding:

 Who are his internal suppliers?
 Who are his external suppliers?
 How he can communicate his needs and expectations?
 How he can measure the capabilities of his suppliers?

One simple example is the role played by a sales engineer in any organization, both as a customer and supplier. Sales engineer takes an order for his service or product from an external customer. He must be aware of all the points mentioned above (as a supplier). He communicates the customer requirements to the production manager, where production manager shall act as an internal supplier to the sales engineer and sales engineer shall act as an internal customer to the production manager. In all these processes communication, culture and commitment of People, System and Process plays a pivotal role.

The ideal situation is where an open partnership style relationship exists between customer and supplier.
Poor practices must be identified through regular monitoring or auditing processes and corrective actions shall be implemented for continuous improvement of the system.

Few reasons for poor practices which everyone might have observed in their organization include but not limited to:

 Vague directions given by the leaders disturbing the process – Non committed leadership.
 Not understanding, or ignoring the competitive positioning – improper communication or training
 Each department working only for achieving its own KPIs (Key performance indices)
 Trying to control people through systems
 Confusing quality with grade
 Creating a mentality to accept that a level of defects or errors is inevitable
 Believing in “reactive” rather than “proactive approach” – firefighting behaviour
 The “It’s not my problem” attitude

We shall discuss the poor practices in the Ready-mix concrete business and concrete construction with some examples, in upcoming articles…

21/08/2020

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

18/08/2020

Quality is non-negotiable

Quality is a way of organizational and everyday life. Quality gurus defined quality in simple terms as:

• “fit for use” - Joseph Juran
• “conformance to requirements” – Philip Cosby

International standard, ISO 9001 defines Quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements”

Customer needs

In this modern world customer is the king and the customer in the construction world are not exceptional. The customer, Supplier, Contractor, Consultant, Government agencies and the State are the main stake holders in construction industry who are supporting the customer through various processes of planning, budgeting, designing, specifying, supplying, constructing and managing quality to meet the requirements of customers (in compliance with standard specifications)

Customer need = Product Features + Freedom from deficiencies

Customer of concrete construction need a strong, economical, durable, aesthetic, resilient, sustainable concrete. Depending on his budgets, other stake holders may deliver a structure complying with all the above requirements or combinations of some. Each customer will have his/her own requirements. For someone only the strength matters, for someone aesthetics matters more than anything. The common phenomena, unfortunately, is the trend of compromising quality for economical reasons as well as letting poor quality management to destroy the “dream of life time”(some customers may end up spending life time savings to receive a defective product).
Some customers follow Murphy’s law – “there is never time to do it right but always to do it once more” and they end up spending more on repair and restoration work to extent the service life of the structure.
A serious awareness campaign is required to enlighten the customer and other stake holders about the “cost of poor quality”, which is hidden. They see only the tip of ice berg and not the huge mass underneath the water and continue to ignore it for short economical gains, due to which repair and restoration business is growing (it’s a subject for serious discussion)

Quality advantage

• Quality construction leads to sustainable development
• Quality and service improvements enhance revenue and growth of business
• Quality increases productivity, reduces wastage

Solution

The simple solution is to implement a Total quality management system in concrete construction from Planning, Design, Manufacturing to curing of concrete in the structure.

No customer accept defective concrete as shown

15/08/2020

Happy independence day

10/08/2020

Recipe for Quality Concrete construction - Segment 1

I cite Sustainability and Quality to be the most discussed issue in all forum of modern life. Climate changes and its impact are being debated a lot. Countries and Corporate are deriving ways to reduce the carbon emissions and protect the generations from the clutches of global warming and subsequent disasters which occur repeatedly as ‘calendar events’

The stake holders of concrete - the end user, the specifier, the contractor, the ready- mix concrete manufacturer, the raw material producer and the supplier – all shall be concerned about the fact that Embodied carbon from the building materials produce 11% of annual global GHG (Green House Gases) emissions. Concrete, iron, and steel alone produce ~9% of annual global GHG emissions.

In construction industry, when we build structures, one of the primary objectives shall be the attainment of maximum service life as sought by the customer and as specified by the standards, which is considered to be a prerequisite for a sustainable world. In order to achieve this, we shall build a structure with materials of low carbon foot print in the most efficient way following stringent quality practices. By creating long lasting serviceable structures we are reducing the need for rampant construction and thereby eliminating the excessive extraction of natural resources.
Use of quality materials and quality construction practices contributes significantly to the sustainability of construction world.

Let us discuss the way in which the stake holders in construction industry shall move forward to achieve goals of quality and sustainability, through the perspective of a concrete technologist.

The recipe of quality ‘Concrete construction’ entails;

• Effective implementation of quality practices in various stages of design to curing of concrete to ensure quality of concrete in structure enhancing strong, durable and sustainable structure.
• The Culture, Commitment & Communication of stake holders – 3C
• A complete co-ordination of Man, Machine & Material – 3M
• The principle ‘Never break the chain of quality’
• The proverb “Try to be Proactive than reactive”

We will also discuss about the 3 R’s,
“reduce, reuse, recycle” to achieve Sustainability, in following segments.

To be continued….

31/07/2020

CETARC PRIIVATE LIMITED has been established to serve as a total solution provider to Ready Mix Concrete Industry and to its stake holders, who are the Civil Engineers, Consultants, Contractors, Developers, Government Organizations and the Construction Industry.

Our Vision

“CETARC aspires to be the leading consultant, solution provider and mentor in the region, by creating “concrete” awareness in sustainable ready- mix concrete with emphasis on construction quality control for the benefit of our society.

Our Mission

“Our mission is to support the stake holders of the ready mix concrete Industry - civil engineers, builders, developers, government agencies, consultants, contractors, ready mix companies and any other customers , assist them to successfully achieve their goals for specifying, buying, producing, selling, using concrete for sustainable development , ensuring adequate profitability to the producer and ultimate satisfaction to the end users. We shall also dedicate our efforts in creating a responsible engineering society with focus on executing sustainable concrete construction with excellent quality control for future generations”

Our Services include:

Training

Technical training in various areas of ready- mix concrete manufacturing, concrete technology and construction quality management.

Testing

Venturing into quality control testing of concrete and construction materials.

Auditing

Preparing the ready- mix concrete plant for RMCMA accreditation and assessing the quality management system of production facilities.

Repair & Restoration

Comprehensive investigation of quality issues in concrete structures, repair and restoration.

Consultancy

Consultancy and management services for ready mix concrete manufacturing industry.

Cetarc

14/11/2020

12/11/2020

04/10/2020

25/09/2020

09/09/2020

29/08/2020

24/08/2020

21/08/2020

18/08/2020

15/08/2020

10/08/2020

31/07/2020

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category