New: Exposure Class & Durability Guides for UK, EU, US and Germany
Every region now has a guides section explaining exposure classes, durability limits, and how concrete is specified — not just the calculators.
What's new
Until now, only the India calculator had a full set of plain-language guides alongside the mix design tool — explaining exposure conditions, grades, and common mistakes. The UK, EU, US and Germany calculators are catching up. Each now has its own Guides section covering two things that come up constantly but aren't always clearly explained:
- Exposure classes and durability — why the environment a structure sits in (carbonation, chlorides, freeze-thaw, chemical attack) can require a stricter mix than the target strength alone would, and how each standard's exposure classification works.
- How concrete is specified — the difference between stating a fixed recipe versus stating the required performance and letting the producer design the mix, under each region's own terminology (Designated vs Designed Concrete in the UK, Designed vs Prescribed Concrete under EN 206, Prescriptive vs Performance-Based under ACI, and Beton nach Eigenschaften vs. nach Zusammensetzung in Germany).
Where to find them
A note on accuracy
The exposure-class guides deliberately explain the concepts — what each class category means, and how it interacts with strength-based design — without publishing a specific numeric limiting-value table. Durability tables (maximum water-cement ratio, minimum strength per exposure class) are revised between code editions, so each guide points you to the current official table in the applicable standard rather than a number that could go stale.