Book Reviews
Book R e v i e w s Significance of Tests and Properties of Concrete and Concrete-making Materials, ASTM Special Technical Publication 169B, 04-169020-07 Published by The American Society for Testing and Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, U.S.A., 1978
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 78-51628, Price $65.00, 872 pp. This book is sponsored by ASTM Committee C - 9 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates and is an up-dated and extensively revised and expanded version of the earlier Report ASTM STP 169-A bearing the same title and published in 1966. Like the previous publications of Committee C-9, this book consists of numerous chapters written by individuals who are experts in their relevant fields; each of the chapters has been subsequently reviewed and the entire book coordinated by a special committee of Committee C-9. The book contains fifty chapters including the Introduction by Robert Philleo. The whole text is divided into four parts. Part I contains four chapters and deals with sampling, statistical considerations in sampling and testing, quality control and research. Part II deals with tests and properties of concrete which takes up twenty seven chapters and makes up more than half of the book. This section has an introductory chapter on the nature of concrete by Powers which sets the scene for the remainder of the section. The properties of freshly mixed concrete are discussed in four chapters while a host of the hardened concrete characteristics such as strength, elasticity, volume changes, corrosion, chemical and other resistance are covered in eighteen chapters. Individual chapters are devoted to accelerated strength testing, non-destructive testing and preplaced aggregate concrete highlighting the significance of these to the present-day construction industry. Four chapters are devoted to special categories such as ready-mixed and lightweight aggregate concrete. Part III of the book is devoted to tests and properties of concrete aggregates. The ten chapters included in this part deal with petrographic examination, grading, shape, absorption, porosity, physical properties, thermal properties, aggregatecement reactions and soundness. The increasing number and complexity of the alkali-aggregate reactions is recognised in this section in devoting two separate chapters to this subject, one dealing with alkali-silica and alkali-silicate reactions and the other with alkali-carbonate reactions. In Part IV of the book tests and properties of other materials are discussed in eight chapters. The topics dealt with in this section reflect the ability of the concrete technologist to tailor materials to suit specific and unusual applications and include curing materials, various types of admixtures, cellular concrete, organic materials for coating concrete and pumpability aids. This is undoubtedly a mammoth effort on the part of a few individuals of Committee C - 9 who have brought together the expertise and experience of a large number of specialists in one publication. The book contains invaluable information on all aspects of concrete technology, and will be exceptionally useful to all those involved in teaching, research, testing, specifying and designing in concrete. R.N. Swamy
Concrete Design: U.S. and European Practices ACl Publication SP-59; CEB Bulletin 113 Published by the American Concrete Institute, P.O. Box 19150, Detroit, Michigan 48219, USA, 1979
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 78-72044, Price $20.25 to ACI Members, $26.25 to Non-members plus postage, vi + 346 pp. The need for harmonisation between American and European design practice has been felt for some time and this publication is the result of an international symposium organised to achieve cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices in concrete design between the United States and Europe. The Symposium was held in 1976 during the ACI Annual Convention, and was cosponsored by ACI, CEB, FNP and the Prestressed Concrete Institute. The purpose of the Symposium was to review the agreements and differences in reinforced and prestressed concrete design approaches as embodied in the American and European Concrete Codes and to achieve international collaboration in establishing closer compatibility in the approaches between the different countries. Apart from the addresses given by CEB President Andrew Short and FIP President Ben Gerwick, the publication includes 20 papers divided into three sessions. The first session of the Symposium dealt with limit state design and the four papers included in this session discuss loading, safety, serviceability and limit state design philosophy as embodied in the CEB and ACI approaches. Session two was devoted to shear and torsion and eight papers in this session discussed these two stress conditions as related to beams and slabs. The third session dealt with special concepts and new applications in prestressed concrete, and the eight papers in this session reviewed the ACI and CEB approaches in relation to fire resistance, partial prestressing, concrete sea structures, concrete ships and design with unbonded tendons. The twenty papers included in this volume emphasize the fundamental design philosophies embodied in the American and European design practice, and the implications of the code revisions on design and economy. To all those involved in research or design of concrete structures, this publication provides detailed information on design practice and code specifications. R. N. Swamy
Reinforced and Prestressed Microconcrete Models Edited by F. K. Garas and G. S. T. Armer Published by Construction Press, Longman House, Burnt Hill, Har!ow, Essex, CM20 2JE
ISB~i 0-86005-880-9, Price £21.00, 387 pp. Microconcrete models have been accepted as a design tool for reinforced and prestressed concrete structures for nearly two decades now, and in the last few years there has been renewed interest in this subject area. Modern structures tend to be more innovative and complex, and in spite of the available information, testing of structural models still poses a number of problems, except for a few simple structures. The publication of this book is therefore most timely, and the Informal Study Group of The Institution of Structural Engineers who organised
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