Concrete


 * •Definitions (concepts found in the text) || * **Concrete** is a manufactured mixture of cement and water, with aggregates of sand and stones, which **hardens** rapidly by chemical combination to a **stonelike**, **water-and-fire-resisting** solid of great **compressive** but low **tensile strength**.
 * **Reinforced concrete**: concrete in which metal (as steel) is embedded so that the two materials act together in resisting forces.
 * **Hardscape constructions**: structures (as fountains, benches, or gazebos) that are incorporated into a landscape
 * **String**: an elastic body or device that recovers its original shape when released after being distorted.
 * **Concrete-shell construction**: a **concrete shell**, also commonly called //thin shell concrete structure//, is a structure composed of a relatively thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses. The shells are most commonly flat plates and domes, but may also take the form of ellipsoids or cylindrical sections, or some combination thereof.
 * **Precast-concrete construction:** **precast concrete** is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and lifted into place. In contrast, standard concrete is poured into site-specific forms and cured on site.
 * **Prestressed concrete:** prestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete. Prestressing tendons (generally of high tensile steel cable or rods) are used to provide a clamping load which produces a compressive stress that balances the tensile stress that the concrete compression member would otherwise experience due to a bending load. Traditional reinforced concrete is based on the use of steel reinforcement bars, rebars, inside poured concrete. ||

• Look for images of spaces created using: reinforced concrete, pre-cast concrete, prestressed concrete and concrete-shell Reinforced concrete Pre-cast concrete Prestressed concrete Concrete-Shell • What is the difference between tiltwall construction, tilt-up panel construction and pre-cast concrete construction? (see the link for "**__precast concrete __**")

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Tiltwall and tilt-up are both methods for concrete construction that are developed outdoors, so both depend on the weather factors. But, tiltwall panels can be really tall and wide, tilt-up panel have been measured at just over 69 feet across and almost 93 feet from top to bottom.======

On the other hand, precast concrete in manufactured indoors. This is an advantage in terms of the weather conditions but it limits the size of the panels

becausethey have to be transported later.

These methods are similar but tilt-up allows more flexibily so it is more often used.

 * CONCLUSION:** Concrete is nowadays one of the most useful constrution material. Its strength in compression and its durability are two of the advantages it has. The only problem with this material is its weakness in tension but if has been solved by using steel to reinforce it. I think we will see concrete still for a long time in architecture.