Design Rules🏛 Structural — RCC

Concrete Slump — Slabs & Beams

Target slump for slab and beam concrete with conventional mixes
See also📖 IS 1199 (Part 2)🔗 IS 1199 (Part 2)🔗 IS 456🔗 IS 10262🧮 RCC Design📒 Handbook Topic
75 – 100
mm
Abrams cone slump test
75-100mm slumpABRAMS CONESLAB / BEAMSLAB / BEAM — SLUMP TEST
Primary value75 – 100 mm (Abrams cone slump test)
Applies toRCC slabs (cast in-situ) · RCC beams · Conventional vibrated concrete with normal-strength mixes (M20–M30)
ExceptionsSlumping by 25 mm = ↓ ~2 N/mm² strengthAdding 4 L water / m³ for 25 mm slump
Pumped concrete100 – 150 mm
Self-compacting concrete (SCC)550 – 750 mm flow (not slump)
Measured asTrue slump = vertical drop of cone-shaped fresh concrete from the 300 mm-tall Abrams cone after demoulding. Measured at the centre of the slumped specimen.
SourceIS 1199 (Part 2)Clause 5
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Why this matters

Slump is the cheapest workability check on site — 75–100 mm gives the placement rheology that vibrated slabs and beams need without bleeding excess paste to the surface. Higher slump increases bleed, plastic shrinkage, and reduces strength. The IS 456 dilution rule (4 L water = 25 mm slump = −2 N/mm²) is the conversion every site mixer rejection should reference.

Typical practice

Indian batching plants supply M25 / M30 with 100 ± 25 mm slump for slab work. Site-mixed concrete tends to be wetter (120–150 mm) than design — the cube test is the only sanity check that catches it.

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