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Predicting 28 Days Compressive Strength of

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CONFERENCE PAPER JANUARY 2012

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Ahsanul Kabir Md Monjurul Hasan

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Te Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology
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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology
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Full Paper
Proc. of Int. Conf. on Advances in Design and Construction of Structures 2012

Predicting 28 Days Compressive Strength of Concrete

from 7 Days Test Result
Ahsanul Kabir1, Monjurul Hasan2 and Md. Khasro Miah3
1
Bangladesh University of Engg. & Tech. /Dept. of Civil Engineering, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: akabir@ce.buet.ac.bd
2
Z H Sikder University of Science & Tech. /Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shariatpur, Bangladesh
Email: hasan.m.m.ce@gmail.com
3
Dhaka University of Engg. & Tech. /Dept. of Civil Engineering, Gazipur, Bangladesh
Email: mkhasro@duet.ac.bd

AbstractConcrete structures are designed on the basis of 28
days cylinder crushing strength. 28 days cylinder strength
actually represents the characteristic strength of the concrete.
It is mandatory to test the concrete cylinders at the age of 28
days as per almost all building code requirements. Though it
is quite time consuming to wait 28 days for such tests, it is
important to continue the construction work and ensure the
quality control process. This paper presents a simple
mathematical model to predict the compressive strength of
concrete at 28 day from early age (say 7 days) results. The
model is a simple equation (a rational polynomial) that consists
of only two constants and one variable which is the age of
concrete in days. It is found that the constants have the relation
of a surface polynomial with the strength of a particular day
(7 th day or 14 th day). This is further simplified with a direct
correlation of one of the coefficient with concrete strength
value. The mathematical model is developed based on the
analysis of stone aggregate concrete data collected from a
previous study and is validated with some experimental data
of cylinder tests performed in the Concrete laboratory of
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET),
Dhaka. The proposed model has a good potential to predict
concrete strength at different age with high accuracy. This
has been finally employed to predict 28 days strength of
concrete made with brick aggregates from their 7 days test
results.
Index Termsconcrete, compressive strength, brick aggregate
concrete, strength prediction.
I. INTRODUCTION
Concrete has its benefits of strength, availability,
durability, flexibility and economy. In case of designing a
concrete structure, the compressive strength of concrete is
an essential element. 28days compressive strength of
concrete is usually considered as the design strength. To
ensure this strength it is necessary to wait a considerable
time i.e. 28 days. It becomes mandatory because it also
represents the quality control process of concrete mixing,
placing, compaction, curing etc. Concrete mix design is a
process that uses code recommendation and blends with the
experience of the concerned engineer. Due to some error in
mix design or mix preparation at site the test results may fail
to achieve the designed strength, then repetition of the entire
Corresponding Author: Dr. Ahsanul kabir, Department of Civil
Engineering, BUET, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
2012 ACEE
DOI: 02.ADCS.2012.1.505
process becomes mandatory, which can be costly and time
consuming. For every failure, it is necessary to wait at least
28 days, thus the need for an easy and reliable method for
estimating the final strength at an early age of concrete is a
long felt necessity. Hence, a rapid and suitable concrete
strength prediction would be of great significance [1].
Many studies are being carried out to explore the behavior
of concrete and to make a better prediction of its characteristic
strength. In this paper a mathematical model to evaluate the
concrete strength from early age test results is discussed
which represents a relationship equation in between concrete
strength and its age [2]. A simplification of the model is also
proposed. The model is established based on the experimental
result of concrete cylinder tests made with stone aggregate
[3] and then checked for stone aggregate concrete prepared
and tested in a different laboratory of a different country [4].
Finally, the same model is used to predict 28 days strength of
concrete made with brick aggregates
II. BACKGROUND
Early prediction of concrete compressive strength enables
to know quickly about the concrete and its probable weakness
and decide to continue the construction or manage the
destruction program. Therefore, prediction of the
compressive strength of concrete has been an active area of
research. Several methods for early estimation have been
introduced in some previously published studies. These
attempts were made to predict the 28 days concrete
compressive strength from early days test results but those
had some limitations [5].
Many efforts are made on using different techniques as
computational modeling, statistical techniques. A number of
research efforts have concentrated on using multivariable
regression model to improve the accuracy of prediction. In a
recent study [6] multivariable power equation is chosen as
an effective model for prediction of strength of different ages
of concrete (Eq. 1). The general format of the equation is
given below:
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In the above equation compressive strength of a particular it is expected that the strength gain pattern of brick aggregate
day (fage) is considered as the dependent variable on the concrete would be quite similar to that of stone aggregate
variables which has significant correlation with the strength concrete, the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical
like the water-cement ratio (w/c), cement (C), water (W), sand model for strength prediction is also tested with these brick
(FA), Aggregate (CA) content and density of concrete () aggregate concrete test results.
and then the Eqn. 1 becomes:
TABLE I. PROPERTY RANGES OF GROUP 1 AND GROUP 2 T EST DATA
(2)
The values of a0, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5 and a6 were determined
from regression of statistical data and able to predict the
strength of concrete for a particular age directly. To know
about the strength history of the corresponding day it is
required to identify the coefficients [a0, a1, a2] of the model
(Eq. 2) individually.
Alternatively, soft computing models namely Neural
Network, Fuzzy-Logic and Genetic Algorithm are used for
strength prediction but in this case training computation is
needed to form the model and also to solve the problem [5, 7-
8].
Some recent studies considered the early days strength
result as an important index for the prediction of concrete
strength [5, 8] and the aim of this study is also to predict the
concrete compressive strength from early days strength
result. Previously many parameters have been considered
for prediction of concrete strength which influences its
strength gaining characteristics. In this study attempt is made
to predict the concrete strength from an early days concrete IV. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
strength test result. The model is developed by exploring the
concrete strength gain pattern with age. The mathematical model for predicting the compressive
strength of the concrete focused on the determination of a
III. EXPERIMENTAL DATA general equation of strength gaining nature of concrete with
its age [2]. Investigation shows that all the concrete strength
Total 56 sets of available Data (called Group-1) have been maintains a correlation with its age according to the following
used for developing the mathematical model which are taken simple equation:
from a previous study by Garg [3] and the validation of the
model is done using the experimental data (called Group-2) (3)
obtained from tests carried out recently in the Concrete
laboratory of BUET [4].
where = Strength of the concrete at Dth day (D =
Ranges of material properties and concrete strengths
achieved for Group-1 and Group-2 data sets are summarized 1,2,3,..); D= Number of days; p and q are constants for
in Table 1. No admixtures or additives are used in either case each curve but different for different data sets (curves). It
of study; only the general constituents of concrete may be mentioned that this equation (Eq. 3) is similar to the
[Cement(C), Coarse-Aggregate (CA), Fine-Aggregate (FA) equation (Eq. 4) proposed by ACI committee ( ACI 209-71)
and Water (W)] are used to evaluate the concrete [10] for predicting compressive strength at any day based on
compressive strength. Different mix proportions of the 28 days strength.
ingredients and different w/c ratio are used to study the (4)
variations. All the specimens are immersed in water until the
day of testing and variation of temperature was negligible Here, a and b are constants, = 28-day strength
so, the effect of temperature variation is neglected.
and t is the time in days and this equation (Eq. 4) can be
Group-1 and Group-2 experimental data are for stone
recast to similar form of Eq. 3.To utilize the derived equation
aggregate normal concrete made with ordinary Portland
(Eq. 3), just value of two constants (p and q) are to be
cement. The experimental investigations are carried out in
determined. It may be mentioned that the constant q has the
two different laboratories of two different countries. Later,
unit of day and p has the stress unit to be consistent with the
some test results are made available for brick aggregate
expression.
concrete [9] which is widely used in Bangladesh. These are
also cast using ordinary Portland cement. Altogether 27 test
results for different sizes of cylinder molds are available. As

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The values of p and q can be determined by putting strength

test results in Eq. 3 for any two days and solving it, but for
this test results for at least two different days are required.
An attempt has been made to determine these values from
only one day test result [2]. It is observed that, all values of
p, q and strength of a particular day for each set maintain
a correlation of polynomial surface. In other words, values of
p can be expressed as the function of q and [which fits well
with a second degree polynomial surface equation]. The
equation of correlation is given below:
(5)
(10)
Plots of Eq. 9 and Eq. 10 is shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the
ccorresponding p values can be obtained by putting known
7 days or 14 days concrete strength values in the Eq. 9 or Eq.
10. Then, q is computed from Eq. 3 using 7 or 14 days strength
value and the p-value just obtained in the last step. Finally,
the q and p-value determined can be used to find the 28 days
strength of concrete using Eq. 3

Where = Strength of the concrete at Dth day. (D = 1,

2, 3 ) and a, b, c, d and e are the coefficients. This general
relation of p, q and is valid for any days test result of concrete
strength. For different D days strength, just the coefficients
[a, b, c, d, e] of Eq. 5 will be different. As the correlation is
built up for 7th day test result of concrete [D=7], the values
of the coefficients becomes, a = -6.26; b = 0.7898; c = 1.478; d
= 0.0994; e = -0.0074.
Putting these values in Eq. 5 the following equation is
obtained:
(6)
Figure 1. Variation of p with the strength of Concrete.

Similar equation is developed for 14th day strength results

V. PERFORMANCE
[D=14] and can be expressed as follows:
The performance of the proposed equations was
(7)
evaluated by three statistical parameters, mean absolute error
(MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and normal efficiency
Now, if the 7 days strength value is put in Eq. 6, it becomes (EF); their expressions are given below.
a linear equation in p and q. Thus, solving two linear equations
(Eq. 3 and Eq. 6), values of p and q are obtained for each case. (11)
Finally, after finding the values of p and q the complete
equation for the particular case can be formed which can
effectively predict the compressive strength of 28th days.
Eq. 5 contains five constants which need to be (12)
determined, before solving the prediction problem. These
constants can be evaluated by regression with sufficient data
of test results of a particular day. From the study, it is observed
that the p value which is obtained by solving Eq. 3 and Eq. 6 (13)
for 7 days strengths maintains a systematic correlation. This
correlation can be expressed in a general form as given by
the following equation (Eq. 8). It simplifies the problem of Here, Ai = Actual value; Pi = Predicted value; n = number of
prediction significantly data (1, 2, 3 ).
(8) A. Test for Stone AggregateConcrete
Where th
= Strength of the concrete at D day and m The model is basically developed using Group-1 test data
and r are the coefficients. made available by the study of Garg [3] where crushed stone
Using the available 56 test data [3], these coefficients are are used as coarse aggregates. The test results of Hasan [4]
determined from best fit equation. With slight rounding off it (Group-2 data) for stone aggregate concrete is used to validate
is found that, m = 3.0; r = 0.80, goes quite well with the 7 days the prediction capability of the proposed model. Some twenty
strength results. Thus the Eq. 8 becomes: three data (each average of 3 sets) are employed and from
there arbitrary seven results are tabulated here in Table 2.
(9)
Using 14 days concrete strength the general correlation
equation (Eq. 8) may be expressed as,

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Proc. of Int. Conf. on Advances in Design and Construction of Structures 2012
TABLE II. PREDICTION OF CONCRETE STRENGTH (GROUP -2 DATA)
The overall effectiveness of the proposed model considering
all the 56 test data of Group-1 and 23 test data of Group-2 is
summarized below in Table 3.
TABLE III. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROPOSED MODEL FOR G ROUP-1 &
GROUP -2 DATA
B. Test for Brick-AggregateConcrete
The proposed model was developed on the basis of
compressive strength of concrete cylinder made with stone
aggregates. However, it is also validated here with test results
of compressive strength of concrete cylinders made with brick
aggregates [9].
TABLE IV. PREDICTION EFFECTIVENESS FOR B RICK AGGREGATE CONCRETE
Table 4 shows the summary of the prediction effectiveness
with all the 27 concrete test results of brick aggregate concrete
made in different size concrete molds and Table 5 represents
the predicted values of compressive strength for sixteen
concrete cylinders (150x300mm size) made with brick
aggregates. The predicted 28 days compressive strength for
concrete made with brick aggregate from 7 days test result is
quite satisfactory.
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TABLE V. PREDICTION O F C OMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF B RICK AGGREGATE
CONCRETE
C. Discussion on Results
This study is carried out for normal weight concrete
having no admixture and the ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
used as binder for concrete mixing. The model is developed
for the strength results of concrete made with stone aggregate
(Group-1) and the efficiency is found to be 90%. Observed
RMSE, MAE and avg. Pi/Ai are 3.23, 2.68 and 1.03 respectively,
which may be considered as quite satisfactory. Next the
developed model is validated for the data sets of concrete
strength which are cast in a different country with local
ingredients (Group-2) and for these concrete specimens made
with locally available crushed stone chips, the same good
performance is observed. Table 3 shows the prediction
efficiency for both Group-1 & Group-2 data. The comparison
demonstrates that the RMSE (3.23, 2.53), MAE (2.68, 2.12)
and avg. Pi/Ai (1.03, 1.04) are very close to each other.
Finally, the proposed model was further checked for
concrete made with brick aggregates. In some countries like
Bangladesh use of brick chips as the coarse aggregate is a
common practice. The nature of strength gain of brick
aggregate concrete with age follows similar trend like that of
stone aggregate concrete if ordinary Portland cement is used
as a binder in either case. So, the proposed model is expected
to perform well. As expected, the results of prediction for
brick aggregate concrete shows equal accuracy as that of
the concrete made with stone aggregate. The efficiency of
prediction is about 92% and the average Pi/Ai is very close to
unity. The RMSE [2.26] and MAE [1.92] are within acceptable
range considering the level of scatter usually exhibited by
concrete strength.
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CONCLUSIONS
This paper simplifies the mathematical model to estimate
the 28 days compressive strength of concrete from just only
one parameter, 7 days test results without considering the
other index properties of concrete [e.g. water, cement, w/c
ratio, FA, CA, density ()] and, gives an initial idea of the 28
days strength with reasonable accuracy. In this study,
modeled concrete strength gain characteristic with age is
simplified and a simple mathematical (power) equation is
introduced which replaces the polynomial surface equation.
The proposed equations predicts well the 28 days strength
for concrete made with stone aggregate and has potential to
predict the strength of concrete made with brick aggregates.
The proposed technique can be used as a reliable tool for
assessing the design strength of concrete from quite early
age test results. Besides predicting 28 days strength for
ordinary Portland cement concrete, expected concrete
strength at any age (say 21, 60 or 360 days) can be determined
from the proposed model.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank the technicians of the Concrete
laboratories of Bangladesh University of Engineering &
Technology (BUET) and Dhaka University of Engineering
and Technology (DUET). This work was supported by the
Civil Engineering departments of the two universities.
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model for the prediction of cement compressive strength at
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