Concrete Waterproofing Glossary
Calcite
(1) a mineral having the composition calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) and a specific crystal structure;
(2) the principal constituent of limestone, chalk, and marble;
(3) a major constituent in the manufacture of portland cement.
Calcium
a silver-white metallic element of the alkaline-earth group occurring naturally only in combination with other elements.
Calcium Chloride
caCl 2 , a crystalline solid, is primarily used in concrete as an accelerating admixture. (See also accelerating admixture.)
Calcium Chloride Solution
an aqueous solution of calcium.
Calcium Stearate
ca(C 18 H 35 O 2 ) 2 , commonly marketed in powder form, insoluble in water, used as a water repellent admixture in concrete.
Calcium-aluminate Cement
the product obtained by pulverizing clinker consisting essentially of hydraulic calcium aluminates resulting from fusing or sintering a suitably proportioned mixture of aluminous and calcareous materials (called high- alumina cement in the United Kingdom)
Calcium-silicate Brick
a concrete product made principally from sand and lime that is hardened by autoclave curing.
Calcium-silicate Hydrate
the primary product of silicate reactions that contribute to concretestrength and density. (See also dicalcium silicate and tricalcium silicate.)
Capacity
(1) a measure of the rated volume of a particular concrete mixer or agitator, usually limited by specifications to a maximum percentage of total gross volume;
(2) the output of concrete, aggregate, or other product per unit of time (as plant capacity or
Capillary Pores
microscopic channels within hydrated paste that will draw liquid water due to surface tension.
Carbonation
(1) reaction between carbon dioxide and a hydroxide or oxide to form a carbonate, especially in cement paste, mortar, or concrete;
(2) the reaction with calcium compounds to produce calcium carbonate.
Carbonation Shrinkage
shrinkage resulting from carbonation.
Cast-in-place Concrete
concrete that is deposited and allowed to harden in the place where it is required to be in the completed structure, as opposed to precast concrete.
Cast-in-place Pile
a concrete pile that is cast with or without a casing in its permanent location, as distinguished from a precast pile. (See also drilled pier and precast pile.)
Caulk
to place a material in a crack or joint with the intent of retarding entry of dirt or water. (See also joint filler or joint sealant.)
Cavitation Damage
pitting of concrete caused by implosion, that is, the collapse of vapor bubbles in flowing water that form in areas of low pressure and collapse as they enter areas of higher pressure. (See also abrasion damage and erosion. )
Cellular Concrete
a low-density product consisting of portland cement, cement-silica,cement-pozzolan, lime-pozzolan, or lime-silica pastes, or pastes containing blends of these ingredients and having a homogeneous void or cell structure, attained with gas-forming chemicals
Cellular Construction
a method of cast-in-place concrete construction where a large ratio ofhollow cores is produced in a flat slab.
Cement
any of a number of materials that are capable of binding aggregate particles together. (See also hydraulic cement.)
Cement Content
quantity of cement contained in a concrete, mortar, or grout preferably expressed as mass per unit volume of concrete, mortar, or grout.
Cement Paste
binder of concrete and mortar consisting essentially of cement, water, hydration products, and any admixtures together with very finely divided materials included in the aggregates. (See also neat cement paste.)
Cementation Process
the process of injecting cement grout under pressure into certain types of ground (for example, gravel, fractured rock) to solidify it.
Cementitious
having cementing properties.
Cementitious Materials
pozzolans and hydraulic cements. (See also fly ash, silica fume, and slag cement.)
Cementitious Mixture
a mixture (mortar, concrete, or grout) containing hydraulic cement.
Central-mixed Concrete
concrete that is completely mixed in a stationary mixer from which it is transported to the delivery point.
Chemical Attack of Concrete
the alteration or deterioration of concrete through chemical reaction or just presence of chemicals with either the cement paste, coarse aggregate, or embedded steel reinforcement.
Chemical Bond
bond between materials that is the result of cohesion and adhesion developed by chemical reaction.
Chemically Prestressing Cement
a type of expansive cement containing a higher percentage of expansive component than a shrinkage-compensating cement, when used in concretes with adequate internal or external restraint, that will expand sufficiently due to chemical reactions within the
Class (of Concrete)
an arbitrary characterization of concrete of various qualities or usages, usually by compressive strength.
Coarse Aggregate
aggregate predominantly retained on the 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve or that portion retained on the 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve.
Coarse-aggregate Factor
the ratio, expressed as a decimal, of the amount (mass or solid volume) of coarse aggregate in a unit volume of well-proportioned concrete to the amount of dry-rodded coarse aggregate compacted into the same volume ( b / b o ).
Coarse-grained Soil
soil in which the larger grain sizes, such as sand and gravel, predominate.
Coating
(1) (on concrete) material applied to a surface by brushing, dipping, mopping, spraying, troweling, etc., to preserve, protect, decorate, seal, or smooth the substrate.
(2) (on agg r egate particles) foreign or deleterious substances found adhering to the
Coefficient of Permeability To Water
the rate of discharge of water under laminar flow conditions through a unit cross-sectional area of a porous medium under a unit hydraulic gradient and standard temperature conditions, usually 20°C (68°F).
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
change in linear dimension per unit length per degree of temperature change.
Cold Joint
a joint or discontinuity resulting from a delay in placement of sufficient duration to preclude intermingling and bonding of the material, or where mortar or plaster rejoin or meet.
Cold Strength
the compressive or flexural strength of refractory concrete determined before drying or firing.
Cold Weather
a period when the average daily ambient temperature is below 40°F (5°C) for more than 3 successive days.
Note: The average daily temperature is the average of the highest and lowest temperature during the period from midnight to midnight. When temperatur
Cold-joint Lines
visible lines on the surfaces of formed concrete indicating the presence of discontinuities where one layer of concrete had reached final set before subsequent concrete was placed. (See also cold joint.)
Cold-worked Steel Reinforcement
steel bars or wires that have been rolled, twisted, or drawn at normal ambient temperatures.
Column
member with a ratio of height-to-least-lateral-dimension exceeding 3 used primarily to support axial compressive load.
Column Capital
an enlargement of a column below a slab intended to increase the shearingresistance.
Compacting Factor
the ratio obtained by dividing the observed mass of concrete that fills a container of standard size and shape when allowed to fall into it under standard conditions of test by the mass of fully compacted concrete that fills the same container.
Compaction
the process of reducing the volume of voids in a material such as soil by input of mechanical energy. (See also consolidation.)
Composite
engineering materials made from two or more constituent materials that remain distinct but combine to form materials with properties not possessed by any of the constituent materials individually.
Composite Column
a concrete compression member reinforced longitudinally with structural steel shapes, pipe, or tubing with or without longitudinal reinforcing bars.
Composite Construction
a type of construction using members produced by combining different materials (for example, concrete and structural steel), members produced by combining cast-in-place and precast concrete, or cast-in-place concrete elements constructed in separate place
Composite Pile
a pile made up of different materials, usually concrete and wood, or steel fastened together end to end, to form a single pile.
Compression Reinforcement
reinforcement designed to carry compressive stresses. (See also stress.)
Compression Test
test made on a test specimen of mortar or concrete to determine the compressive strength.
Concrete
mixture of hydraulic cement, aggregates, and water, with or withoutadmixtures, fibers, or other cementitious materials.
Concrete Block
a concrete masonry unit, usually containing hollow cores.
Concrete Brick
solid concrete masonry units of relatively small prescribed dimensions.
Concrete Compressive Strength
the measured maximum resistance of a concrete specimen to axial compressive loading and expressed as force per unit cross sectional area.
Concrete Containment Structure
a composite concrete and steel assembly that is designed as an integralpart of a pressure retaining barrier that, in an emergency, prevents the release of radioactive or hazardous effluents from nuclear power plant equipment enclosed therein.
Concrete Finishing Machine
(1) a machine mounted on flanged wheels that ride on forms or on specially set tracks, used to finish surfaces such as those of pavements;
(2) a portable power-driven machine for floating and finishing of floors and other slabs.
Concrete Flatwork
a general term applicable to concrete floors and slabs that require finishingoperations.
Concrete Masonry Unit
either a hollow or solid unit (block) composed of portland-cement concrete.
Concrete Pump
an apparatus that forces concrete to the placing position through a pipeline or hose.
Concrete Spreader
a machine, usually carried on side forms or on rails parallel thereto, designed to spread concrete from heaps already dumped in front of it, or to receive and spread concrete in a uniform layer.
Concrete Strength
see concrete compressive strength, fatigue strength, flexural strength, shear strength, splitting tensile strength, tensile strength, and ultimate strength.
Confined Concrete
concrete within the reinforcement cage.
Consistency
the degree to which a freshly mixed concrete, mortar, grout, or cement paste resists deformation. (See also normal consistency, plastic consistency, and wettest stable consistency.)
Consistency Factor
a measure of grout fluidity, roughly analogous to viscosity, which describes the ease with which grout may be pumped into voids or fissures; usually a laboratory measurement in which consistency is reported in degrees of rotation of a torque viscosimeter
Consistometer
an apparatus for measuring the consistency of cement pastes, mortars, grouts, or concretes.
Consolidation
the process of reducing the volume of voids, air pockets, and entrapped air in a fresh cementitious mixture, usually accomplished by inputting mechanical energy. (See also compaction, vibration, rodding, and tamping.)
Construction Joint
interface between concrete placements intentionally created to facilitate construction.
Construction Loads
the loads to which a permanent or temporary structure is subjected during construction.
Continuous Grading
a particle size distribution in which intermediate size fractions are present,as opposed to gap-grading. (See also gap-graded aggregate.)
Continuous Mixer
a mixer into which the ingredients of the mixture are fed without stopping, and from which the mixed product is discharged in a continuous stream.
Continuous Mixing
producing concrete by continuously blending ingredients in fixed proportions. The discharge of the concrete mixture may be started or stopped as required.
Continuous Sampling
sampling without interruptions throughout an operation or for a predetermined time.
Continuous Slab Or Beam
a slab or beam that extends as a unit over three or more supports in a given direction.
Contract Documents
a set of documents supplied by the owner to the contractor as the basis for construction. These documents contain contract forms, contract conditions, specifications, drawings, addenda, and contract changes.
Contraction Joint
formed, sawed, or tooled groove in a concrete structure to create a weakened plane to regulate the location of cracking resulting from the dimensional change of different parts of the structure. (See also isolation joint, expansion joint, and construction
Contraction-joint Grouting
injection of grout into contraction joints.
Contractor
the person, firm, or corporation with whom the owner enters into anagreement for construction of the work.
Control Joint
formed, sawed, or tooled groove in a concrete structure to create a weakened plane to regulate the location of cracking resulting from the dimensional reduction of adjacent sections of the structure.
Controlled Low-strength Material (CLSM)
self-consolidating cementitious mixture that is intended to result in a compressive strength of 1200 psi (8.3 MPa) or less.
Core (n.)
(1) the soil material enclosed within a tubular pile after driving (it may be replaced with concrete);
(2) the mandrel used for driving casings for cast- in-place piles;
(3) a structural shape used to internally reinforce a drilled- in-caisson;
(4)a cy
Core (v.)
the act of obtaining cores from concrete structures, rock foundations, or soils.
Core Test
compression test on a concrete specimen cut from hardened concrete by means of a core drill.
Cored Beam
a beam whose cross section is partially hollow or a beam from which cored samples of concrete have been taken.
Coring
the act of obtaining cores from hardened concrete or masonry structures, rock, or soil.
Corner Reinforcement
(1) concrete reinforcement used at wall intersections or near corners of square or rectangular openings in walls, slabs, or beams;
(2) metal reinforcement for plaster at reentrant corners to provide continuity between two intersecting planes.
Corrosion
deterioration of a material, usually a metal, that results from a chemical reaction with its environment.
Corrosion Inhibitor
a chemical compound that effectively decreases corrosion rate of steelreinforcement without reducing the concentration of the corrosive agent at the bar level.
Cotton Mats
cotton-filled quilts fabricated for use as a water-retaining covering incuring concrete surfaces.
Course
in concrete construction, a horizontal layer of concrete, usually one of several making up a lift; in masonry construction, a horizontal layer of block or brick. (See also lift.)
Cover
the least distance between the surface of embedded reinforcement and the surface of the concrete.
Crack
a complete or incomplete separation of either concrete or masonry intotwo or more parts produced by breaking or fracturing. (See also fracture.)
Crack-control Reinforcement
reinforcement in concrete construction designed to minimize opening of cracks, often effective in limiting them to uniformly distributed small cracks. (See also shrinkage reinforcement and temperature reinforcement.)
Cracked Section
a section designed or analyzed on the assumption that concrete has no resistance to tensile stress.
Cracking Load
the load that causes tensile stress in a member to exceed the tensile strength of the concrete.
Craze Cracks
fine random cracks or fissures in a surface of plaster, cement paste, mortar,or concrete.
Crazing
the development of craze cracks; the pattern of craze cracks existing in a surface. (See also checking and crack.)
Creep
time-dependent deformation due to sustained load.
Critical Saturation
a condition describing the degree of filling by freezable water of a pore space in cement paste or aggregate that affects the response of the material to freezing; usually taken to be 91.7 percent because of the 9 percent increase in volume of water under
Cross Section
(1) a plane through a body perpendicular to a given axis of the body;
(2) a drawing showing such a plane.
Crush Plate
an expendable strip of wood attached to the edge of a form or intersection of fitted forms to protect the form from damage during prying, pulling, or other stripping operations.
Crushed Gravel
the product resulting from the artificial crushing of gravel with a specified minimum percentage of fragments having one or more faces resulting from fracture. (See also coarse aggregate.)
Crushed Stone
the product resulting from the artificial crushing of rocks, boulders, or large cobblestones, substantially all faces of that possess well-defined edges resulting from the crushing operation. (See also coarse aggregate.)
Crusher-run Aggregate
aggregate that has been mechanically broken and has not been subjected to subsequent screening.
Cube Strength
concrete compressive strength determined using a standard cube test specimen. (See also concrete compressive strength.)
Cumulative Batching
measuring more than one ingredient of a batch in the same container by bringing the batcher scale into balance at successive total weights as each ingredient is accumulated in the container.
Curing
action taken to maintain moisture and temperature conditions in a freshly placed cementitious mixture to allow hydraulic cement hydration and (if applicable) pozzolanic reactions to occur so that the potential properties of the mixture may develop.
Curing Agent
a catalytic or reactive agent that induces cross-linking in a thermosetting resin. (See also hardener.)
Curing Blanket
a covering of sacks, matting, burlap, straw, waterproof paper, or othersuitable material placed over freshly finished concrete. (See also burlap.)
Curing Compound
a liquid applied to the surface of newly placed concrete that retards the loss of water and, if pigmented, reflects sunlight. (See also curing and membrane curing.)
Curing Cycle
see autoclave.
Curing Delay
see presteaming period (preferred term).
Curtain Grouting
injection of grout into a subsurface formation in such a way as to createa zone of grouted material transverse to the direction of anticipated waterflow.