Drawing No. EH–MT–009 // Engineering Materials
Concrete Properties
Reviewed August 2026
Normal-weight concrete with compressive strength around 30 MPa is used as a reference point. Unlike a homogeneous metal, concrete properties depend strongly on aggregate, mixture, moisture, curing, age and test method.
Representative properties
Switch units without changing the underlying material reference.
What changes these properties?
Engineering variability
- Elastic modulus depends on density, aggregate stiffness and compressive strength; 25.7 GPa is an approximate normal-weight reference for f′c≈30 MPa.
- Direct/splitting/flexural tensile measures are not interchangeable; the 2–4 MPa range is only a scale reference.
- Thermal conductivity and heat capacity are especially sensitive to aggregate and moisture.
- Concrete does not simply melt as one substance; dehydration, cracking, spalling and constituent transformations occur during heating.
Selection note
Use actual mix test data and the governing concrete code for structural design. The overview values are useful for preliminary thermal/mechanical estimates only.
Do not combine strength from one grade/condition with modulus, thermal data or temperature limits from another without checking compatibility. Where the overview shows a range, it is intended to expose variability—not establish allowable bounds.
Property interpretation
Stiffness vs strength
Young’s modulus controls elastic deformation. Yield or fracture strength controls how far the material can be stressed. These are separate material characteristics.
Thermal response
Thermal conductivity controls temperature gradients, specific heat contributes to thermal inertia, and expansion controls thermally induced strain when movement is restrained.
Temperature transition
The final property card is deliberately labeled “melting / transition.” Metals often have a solidus–liquidus range; amorphous polymers and glass use softening or glass-transition concepts; concrete and wood decompose instead of exhibiting one clean melt point.
Technical sources
Source hierarchy favors manufacturers, industry associations, standards bodies and government engineering references. Strength data must still be reconciled with the exact procurement specification.