Concrete is a composite material formed by mixing and curing ingredients such as cement, fine and coarse aggregates, and water. Most concretes, however, contain additional ingredients such as chemical admixtures including air-entraining admixtures, fly ash, fibers, slag, and other products.The physical, chemical and durability characteristics of concrete depend on many factors such as the type and amount of the components, temperature, pore and pore size distribution, surface area, interfacial features, exposure conditions, etc. Consequently, a good understanding of various processes occurring in cementitious systems necessitates the application of diverse techniques.Several physical, chemical, and mechanical techniques are applied in concrete research and practice. They provide important information, including characterization of raw materials and cured concrete, quality control, quantitative estimation of products, prediction ofperformance, development of accelerated test methods, study of interrelationships amongst physical, chemical, mechanical, and durability characteristics, development of new materials, etc. In most instances, no single technique provides all the needed information and hence application of several techniques becomes necessary. Information on the application of various techniques in concrete is dispersed in literature, and few books are available that serve as a source or reference. Hence a handbook incorporating the latest knowledge on the application of various investigative techniques in concrete science and /x
