INTERPRETATION OF CONCRETE

TEST RESULTS

Presented by:
Your Organisation
Presenter - Bruce Raath PrEng CEng Logo here

Organisation - Letaba Management Services

Responsibility

 Best interests of structure and client

Identification of concrete properties
Proper function of structure
Built by contractor in accordance with
specification given and interpreted by him
Chosen at lowest cost
Quality control testing
Interpretation of results-
Some properties that cause disputes

 Bond between reinforcement and concrete

 Characteristic strength
 Shrinkage limits
 Crack acceptance by type and width
 Surface flatness and hardness
 Elastic modulus
 Durability-
 Should the following choices be made by the
contractor irrespective of tender price?
What cement to use
Type and size of coarse aggregate
Grading of sand (SANS 1083) not adequate
Rate and maximum bleeding
Allowable temperature differential
Material to be used for formwork
Allowable admixtures
Location of distribution steel-
Most Common Property
 Most poorly interpreted property of all
Cube strength of concrete - fcu
Importance of fcu
Compressive or tensile test
Measures bond in IFZ zone
Frequently the only specified property –
much of the contract hinges on it
Contractually – Contractor agrees to provide
concrete with fcu – Client promises to pay -
 Reliability of results
Cube making is often shoddy
Subject to errors in curing and testing
80 % of failures due to poor cube making
Must pass a validity test
No error can increase strength (except
dishonesty)-
 Significance in design and specification
Known as Characteristic strength or specified
strength
Designer uses 45 % after partial safety factors
Is not and was never meant to be the strength of
the concrete in the structure!
Making concrete consistently too high is easier
but is wasteful and the concrete is too brittle too
early -
 Interpretation of cube results
Average of test results should be 1.64 x SD
called a statistical margin
Can be difficult to calculate
SANS 2001 CC1 gives simplified method
Never fail concrete that is up to 3 MPa below
specification if the average is greater than 2
MPa above
Interpretation must be in accordance with
SANS requirements-
What if the Cubes Fail?
 Do not demolish the structure
SANS 2001 CC1 gives four steps
1. Back to design calculations
2. Non destructive testing
Rebound hammer
Ultra sound testing
Usually not conclusive
3. Drill cores -
 Three cores must be drilled and tested in
accordance with SANS 5863
 Interpretation of results in accordance with SANS
10100:Part 2
Question: Why do we drill and test cores
Hint: Not to establish concrete strength in the
structure which is irrelevant (within limits)
Answer: To estimate what the cube strength was
at the time of concrete placement fcu-
 Interpretation of cube/core test results
Cubes are “perfectly” pampered pieces of
concrete that do not reflect poor transporting,
compaction, curing etc.
Core result must be an indication of cube
strength
Core strength is always lower than cube
strength and the actual concrete strength in the
structure is not mentioned anywhere and is
irrelevant (within limits)-
 Code allows three corrections to the measured
core strength
Size
Steel
Compaction
 All corrections are greater than 1 and so increase
the measured strength
Not to favour the contractor
Not to make poor results “look” better
Not to skew the actual strength of the concrete
above what it actually is-
 Interpretation of adjusted core results is
contractually important
If three core strengths are up to 20 % lower on
average than specified strength
Cube strength to be accepted if no single core
strength is 30 % below the specified strength
 This allowance is much less than the 45 %
reduction in cube strength applied by the design
code
 It is the basis for payment to the contractor-
 4. Load test
Clause 15.2.3 of SANS 10100-2
Increase the live load used in the design by
25 %, place it incrementally on the element
for 24 hr and observe what happens
Measure any deflections that occur during
loading and during unloading
If the element regains 75 % of the deflection
then accept the concrete
If it does not regain 75 % of the deflection
repeat the test-
Interpretation of Concrete
Test Results
The End