Grade of Concrete

What is Grade of Concrete? Grade  of concrete is defined as the minimum strength the concrete must posses after 28 days of construction with proper quality control. Grade of concrete is denoted by prefixing M to the desired strength in MPa. For example, for a grade of concrete with 20 MPa strength, it will be denoted by M20, where M stands for Mix. These grade of concrete is converted into various mix proportions. For example, for M20 concrete, mix proportion will be 1:1.5:3 for cement:sand:coarse aggregates.  How to select suitable concrete grade for construction? Grade of concrete construction is selected based on structural design requirements. There are two types of concrete mixes, nominal mix and design mix. Nominal mix concrete are those which are generally used for small scale construction and small residential buildings where concrete consumption is not high. Nominal mix takes care of factor of safety against various quality control problems gen...