QUALITY CONTROL &

STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS
SAMPLING OF FRESH CONCRETE IN
FIELD

Samples from fresh concrete as per IS 1199 and cubes

are made, cured and tested at 28 days as per IS 516
To get a relatively quicker idea of quality of concrete, optional tests on
beams for modulus of rupture at 72 2 h or at 7 days, or compressive
strength tests at 7 days
Random sampling procedure to ensure that each
concrete batch shall have a reasonable chance of being
tested
Sampling should be spread over the entire period of
concreting and cover all mixing units
Composite sample - truly representative of batch and
minimum 0.02m3 in volume
Portions taken from different points in the batch
In case of continuous mixers: a batch is the discharge
from mixer during one minute
SAMPLING OF FRESH CONCRETE IN
FIELD

From Mixers
At least 3 approximately equal sample increments totalling 0.02m 3
from a batch during its discharge
Collected by passing a clean and dry receptacle across the stream of

concrete
Receptacle - of non-absorbent material, preferably of metal and the

sample retained should not segregate

A flat surface without retaining sides will not fulfil this purpose

For 3 sample increments, taken at about the time when one-quarter,

one-half and three-quarters of concrete is discharged

If more than 3, correspondingly shorter, equally spaced intervals

From Concrete at the Time and Place of Deposition-

Shall be taken while a batch of concrete is being, or immediately after
it has been, discharged on the site
Collected from minimum 5 well-distributed positions, avoiding the edge

of the mass where segregation may have occurred

SAMPLING OF FRESH CONCRETE IN
FIELD

Frequency of sampling
SAMPLING OF FRESH CONCRETE IN
FIELD

Mixing the Composite Sample

The sample is mixed on a non-absorbent base either with a shovel
or by other-suitable implement to ensure uniformity
Used immediacy to carry out tests

Should be protected from weather

Recording of Sample
Date and time; method of sampling; mix proportions; mixture from
which delivered; location of sampled batch after placing;
temperature and weather conditions
Test Specimen
Three test specimens for each sample for 28 days test
Additional samples may be required for various purposes (for

strength at 7 days or at the time of striking the formwork, or to

determine the duration of curing or to check the testing error)
SECURING AND PREPARING TEST
SPECIMENS FROM HARDENED CONCRETE

Shall not be removed until concrete is hard

enough to permit its removal w/o disturbing
bond b/w mortar and coarse aggregates
(Normally 14 days old)
Specimens with abnormal defects or damages
shall not be used
Core specimens: using core drill
For pavement thickness min. 10cm dia
For compressive strength dia = min. 3 times max nominal

size of coarse aggr; length = approx. twice the dia.

Beam specimens: using saw with diamond or
silicon carbide cutting edge
For flexural strength 15x15 cm and length min. 70cm
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Test results of sample - average of strength of

3 specimens
Individual variation should be within 15% of average;
If more, results are invalid

Mean flexural strength from any group of 4

consecutive test results should exceed the
specified characteristic strength by at least
0.3N/mm2
Flexural strength from any test result is not
less than the specified characteristic strength
minus 0.3N/mm2
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Mean compressive strength from any group of

4 consecutive test results
Any individual comp. strength test result
 Attempt should be
made to obtain
results of 30
samples as early
as possible to
establish the value
of standard
deviation
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Quantity of concrete represented by a group of 4

consecutive test results shall include all batches
Batches from which the first and last samples were taken, with all
intervening batches
If the mean rate of sampling is not specified, the
maximum quantity of concrete that 4 consecutive
test results represent is limited to 60 m 3
Concrete is liable to be rejected if
it is porous or honey-combed,
placing is interrupted w/o providing proper construction joint,

reinforcement is displaced beyond tolerances specified

Still, hardened concrete may be accepted after

carrying out suitable remedial measures
INSPECTION AND TESTING OF
STRUCTURES

To ensure that the construction complies with

design, an inspection procedure should be set
up covering materials, records, workmanship
and construction
a system is necessary to verify that quality is satisfactory in
individual parts of the structure, especially the critical ones
Immediately after stripping the formwork, all
concrete is carefully inspected and any
defective work or small defects either
removed or made good before concrete has
thoroughly hardened
In case of doubt about cube results, core test
or load test
INSPECTION AND TESTING OF
STRUCTURES

Minimum 3 cores
Core test is acceptable if the avg. equivalent
cube strength of cores is min. 85% of cube
strength of grade of concrete specified for the
corresponding age; individual core strength >
75%
If core test dont satisfy load test for flexural
member - as soon as possible (but, after 28
days)
INSPECTION AND TESTING OF
STRUCTURES

Load test - Subjected to load = to full dead load of

structure +1.25 times the imposed load for 24 h and
then the imposed load is removed
Deflection due to imposed load only is recorded
If within 24 h of removal of imposed load, structure
doesnt recover at least 75% of deflection under
superimposed load, test may be repeated after 72 h
If recovery < 80%, structure is unacceptable
If maxm. deflection in mm during 24 h under load is
less than 40 L2/D (L - effective span in m; D - overall
depth of section in mm) no need to measure recovery
Non destructive tests
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Concrete has certain amount of variability in

materials and constructional methods resulting
variation of strength from batch to batch, and also
within the batch
Difficult to assess strength of final product large
number of destructive tests for strength of end
products is not possible rely on sample tests
Very rigid criteria to reject structure based on a
single or a few standard samples is costly
Basis of acceptance of a sample - a reasonable
control of concrete work can be provided, by
ensuring that probability of test result falling
below design strength is within a specified
tolerance level
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Statistical quality control method provides a

scientific approach to understand the realistic
variability of materials so as to lay down design
specifications with proper tolerance to cater for
unavoidable variations
Acceptance criteria are based on statistical
evaluation of test result of samples taken at
random during execution
Compressive strength test cubes from random
sampling of a mix, exhibit variations
If a number of cube test results are plotted on
histogram, the results follow a bell shaped curve
called Normal Distribution Curve
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Results follow a normal distribution curve if they

are equally spaced about mean value and if the
largest number of cubes have a strength closer to
mean value, and very few number of results with
much greater or less value than mean value
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Arithmetic mean or average value gives no

indication of the extent of variation of strength
Relate individual strength to mean strength and determine
variation from mean using properties of normal distribution
curve
Mean strength: average strength;
x= sum of the strength of cubes; n = number of cubes
Variance: difference between any single
observed data from mean strength
Standard deviation: root mean square deviation
of all results (s or )
n = number of observations; x = particular value of
observation;
increases with increasing variability.
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Characteristics of normal distribution curve are

fixed by average value and
Spread of curve along horizontal scale is governed by ;
position of curve along vertical scale is fixed by the mean
value
Coefficient of variation, v: an alternative method
to express variation of results - non-dimensional
measure of variation (standard deviation
arithmetic mean)

Average design strength to be aimed at should be

appreciably higher than the minimum strength
stipulated by structural designer
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Standard deviation or coefficient of variation

is used to determine average design strength
Sav= Smin+ K
Sav = Average design strength; Smin = Minimum strength; K =
Himsworth constant
 Based on the data given in
Table, find out the average
design strength using
standard deviation and
variance. Assume 35 MPa as
the minimum strength.
THANK YOU