Significance of Water Cement Ratio:

From the foregoing discussions, the importance of water for manufacturing the concrete is very much clear. Here the ratio of weight of water to weight of cement is popularly known as Water-Cement Ratio (W/C ratio). W/C ratio governs the various properties of concrete both in the plastic as well as in hardened stage. Its importance for concrete mix design. For manufacturing the concrete, one does not have much liberty to compromise along with the W/C ratio. Since, any reduction in the desired value of W/C ratio will lead to incomplete hydration of cement and reduction of the workability of concrete mix, whereas the increase in W/C ratio will lead to reduction of concrete strength. The volume of capillary voids increases with the presence of excess water, which reduces the concrete strength.