Ready-mixed concrete production started in 1903 by the inventor Jürgen Hinrich Magens in Hamburg, Germany. Many ready-mixed concrete companies started their activities during the war years. The first Ready-Mixed Concrete Plant in our country started to work in 1976 by ISTAS (Insaat Sanayi Ticaret A.S.). The power plant, which accelerated the sector with great enthusiasm, gained popularity in the second period of 1980. Turkey is the leader among European countries with its 107 million cubic meters of Ready Mixed Concrete Production. While the USA and the People's Republic of China share the first two places, Turkey takes the third place in the world. In 1988, concrete production started to increase. The reason of this; Growth of the construction industry, Increasing need for housing, Preference for reinforced concrete, Urban transformation projects.
Cement, aggregate, water and additives are mixed with the Concrete Plant by using computer control in the required proportions, and the ready mixed concrete is delivered to the consumer as “Fresh Concrete” is called Ready-Mixed Concrete. Concrete aggregates, one of the ready-mixed concrete components, constitute 60-75% of the concrete volume. We know that concrete; It is formed by a mixture of cement, aggregate and water, and 3/4 of the volume of concrete resulting from this mixture is formed by aggregate.
Classification of Aggregates
Aggregates, which are components of Concrete Plants, are classified among themselves according to their sources. Aggregates that we know naturally are obtained from stream beds, lakes, seas and quarries. Artificial aggregates consist of industrial products such as slag stone and blast furnace slag sand. The aggregate below the 4 mm sieve is defined as fine aggregate type, and the aggregate above the 4 mm sieve is defined as coarse aggregate. It is a light aggregate such as natural artificial pumice, slag, expanded perlite, expanded mica etc. with a density of 2.45 g/cm3. Aggregates with a density of 2.8 g/cm3 are known as heavy aggregates. The aforementioned aggregate types are among the components used in Concrete Plant facilities.
What is Cement?
Cement and additives are components used for Ready Mixed Concrete Production. In the formation of cement, clinker is formed as a semi-finished product by firing the limestone and clay composition of the raw materials containing Si, Ca, Al, Fe up to the sintering degrees, while the binder materials that are grinded by adding additives such as gypsum, trass, limestone, and slag are called Cement. There are five main types of cement used in Concrete Plant facilities. Cement CEM I Portland Cement, CEM II Portland Composite Cement, CEM III Blast Furnace Slag Cement, CEM IV Pozzolan Cement and CEM V Composite Cement are among them.
