)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

CIVIL ENGINEERING
)Concrete Technology(
Effect of testing parameters on the concrete
strength
‫ محمد علي حاتم عبد‬:‫اسم الطالب‬
‫ الهندسة المدنية‬:‫القسم‬
‫ البناء وإدارة المشاريع‬:‫الفرع‬
‫ الثانية‬:‫المرحلة‬
‫ تكنولوجيا الخرسانة‬:‫المادة‬

2020/07/09 / ‫تاريخ تسلم التقرير‬

)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

Introduction

The Importance of concrete Strength .

Obviously, the strength of any structure, or part of a structure, is important—the degree of
importance depending on the location of the structural element under consideration. The first-
floor columns in a high-rise building, for example, are more important structurally than a
nonbearing wall. Loading is more critical, and a deficiency in strength can lead to expensive and
difficult repairs or, at worst, a spectacular failure. Strength is usually the basis for acceptance or
rejection of the concrete in the structure. The specifications or code designate the strength (nearly
always compressive) required of the concrete in the several parts of the structure. In those cases,
in which strength specimens fail to reach the required value, further testing of the concrete in
place is usually specified. This may involve drilling cores from the structure or testing with certain
nondestructive instruments that measure the hardness of the concrete. Some specifications
permit a small amount of noncompliance, provided it is not serious, and may penalize the
contractor by deducting from the payments due for the faulty concrete. Statistical methods, now
applied to the evaluation of tests, lend a more realistic approach to the analysis of test results,
enabling the engineer to recognize the normal variations in strength and to evaluate individual
tests in their true perspective as they fit into the entire series of tests on the structure. Strength is
necessary when computing a proposed mix for concrete, as the contemplated mix proportions
are based on the expected strength-making properties of the constituents.1

Compressive Strength test.

By far the most common test carried out on concrete is the
compressive strength test. The main reason to understand this
fact is that this kind of test is easy and relatively inexpensive to
carry out. Testing Standard requirements use different
geometries of specimens to determine the compressive
concrete strength, fc. The most used geometries are cylinders
with a slenderness equal to two and cubes. Shape effect on
compression strength has been widely studied and different
relationships between compression strength obtained for these
geometries have been proposed, mainly from a technological
standpoint. Such approach eludes the fact that there is a direct
relation between the nucleation and propagation of fracture
processes and the failure of the specimen. Indeed, experimental
observations confirm that a2 localized micro-cracked area develops
at peak stress or just prior to the peak stress. For this reason,
compressive failure is suitable to be analyzed by means of Fracture
Mechanics.

.Concrete Manual: Based on the 2012 IBC and ACI 318-11 .)2012( .P.E Gerald B. Neville 1

Size and Shape Effects on the Compressive .)2003( .G. Ruiz, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha & J.R. del Viso, J.R. Carmona 2
.,Canales y Puertos: E.T.S. de Ingenieros de Caminos .Strength of High Strength Concrete
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength

Shape of Specimen
A- CYLINDRICAL SPECIMENS
B- CUBE SPECIMENS

The compressive strength of standard specimen is determined in two different ways is to be:
Cubes and Cylinders. In Great Britain, Germany and Europe cubes are used. In the United
States of America, France, Australia, and Canada cylinders are used as standard specimens.
The restraining effect of platens of the testing machine extends over the entire height of the
cube but leaves unaffected a part of a test cylinder. According to the expression for conversion
the strength of the cores in to equivalent cubes in BS 1881: part 120:1983 the strength of the
cylinder is equal to 0.8 times the strength of the cubes but in reality, there is no definite relation
between the strengths of the specimens of these two shapes. 3

The strength of the concrete cube and standard cylinder is affected by

the following factors:
1-Casting and curing procedure: casting of the cube is generally done in three layers. Each
layer of the concrete should be compacted properly by tamping rod. The top layer of the cube
should be evenly spaced so that a uniform surface should be formed. After some times the
mould should be removed carefully so that the cube should not get subjected to any cracks.
The standard cylinder should also be casted very carefully. The layer should be compacted with
the help of tamping rod and vibrator. The cylinders also should be removed very carefully from
the mould so that it does not get subjected to any cracks. The curing of the concrete cube
/standard cylinder should be done for 7 days, 14 days and 28 days according to the
experimental results. The concrete cube /standard cylinder should be cured properly.

3
.Co Ltd & India: Chand (S.) .CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY THEORY AND PRACTICE .)December 1, 2006( .M.S. Shetty
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

2-Testing procedure of concrete cube/standard cylinder: the concrete cube /standard

cylinder are tested by universal testing machine (UTM).
3-Size of Specimen: The factor such as shape and size of the concrete cube and cylinder (h/d)
ratio approximately affect the strength characteristics. The situation in the standard test, where
the height/diameter ratio is 2.
4-Effect of size of particle: The influence of the aggregate properties on strength is of
secondary importance. Generally, the maximum size of aggregate should be kept 20 mm and
minimum size 10mm. the aggregate should be so placed that the spacing of particles should be
minimum to avoid voids.
5-Effect of concrete strength level: the concrete cube and cylinder strength ratio is affected
by nominal strength of concrete. This ratio decreases with an increasing concrete strength
according to the research by Evans.4

FAILURE MODE OF TEST CUBE AND STANDARD TEST CYLINDER:

According to the BS1881: part 116:1983 the typical satisfactory modes
of test cubes are -
a) Non-explosive
b) Explosive
The influence of platen restraint can be seen from the typical failure
modes of test cubes. The effect of shear is always present, although it
decreases towards the center of the cube, so that the side of cube
have near vertical cracks as in case of non-explosive failure. This
happens when testing in a rigid testing machine. But a less rigid
machine can store more energy so that an explosive failure is possible.
Here one face touching the platens cracks and disintegrated so as to
leave a pyramid or a cone.

Typical failure modes of standard test cylinders are –

a) Splitting
b) Shear (cone)
c) Splitting and shear(cone)
When the height to width ratio of the specimen increases,
the influence of shear becomes smaller so that the central
part of the specimen may fail by lateral splitting. This is the
situation in a standard cylinder test where the height by diameter ratio is 2. The more usual
possible modes of failure are by splitting and shear.

Madan Mohan Malviya: .the Relation between the Strength of Concrete Cubes and Cylinders .)August 2015( .Ritu Kumari 4
.2248-9622, Vol. 5, Issue 8
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From the study of previous experimental data, the cube and standard cylinder were tested for 7
days and 28 days. The result shows that the strength of cube is greater than the strength of
standard cylinder. In the testing of cube, the specimen is affected by lateral stresses throughout
its height. In the case of standard cylinder, the central region is unaffected by lateral stresses.
The region of 0.866d from the top of the cylinder and the region of 0.866d from the bottom of
the cylinder is affected by lateral stresses and the central region of 0.268d is unaffected by
lateral stresses.

Size of Specimen
All materials have specific inherent material properties. For each material, the properties are
considered unique when they are independent of a specimen size and shape. For design
purposes, the concrete compressive strength of standard cylinder 5
(Ø150 mm × 300 mm) is accepted as the most basic and important material property. However,
the common notion that concrete compressive strength is a unique material property is an
erroneous one since the compressive strength of concrete changes based on specimen sizes
and shapes due to its fracture characteristics. For most countries, sizes and shapes of test
specimens to determine the compressive strength of the concrete are different. However,
commonly used specimens are cylinders and cubes. Cylinders (Ø150 mm × 300 mm) are used
in the United States, South Korea, France, Canada, Australia, and other countries whereas
cubes (150 mm) are the standard specimens used in the United Kingdom, Germany, and many
other European countries. There are several countries (i.e., Norway uses Ø150 mm × 300 mm
cylinder and 150 mm cube), where tests are made on both cylinders and cubes.
Due to the differences in the shape, height/diameter ratio, and end restraint occurred by the
machine platen, cylinder and cube strengths obtained from the same batch of concrete could
differ. Namely, it is noted that cubes have higher strength than cylinders. Since the early 1900s,
many studies 6 on this field have been carried out. Most researches were focused on some
guidelines for translating the compressive strength of concrete determined from nonstandard
specimens to that of standard specimens’ strength and relationships between cylinder strength
and cube strength for normal-strength concrete (NSC). Generally, a factor of 1.2 is used to
convert cylinder strength to cube strength for NSC. For cubes, however, the factor is gradually
decreased from the value of 1.2 as the concrete strength increases. Namely, for high-strength
concrete (HSC), the influence of specimen shape is decreased. also indicates that the ratio of
the cube strength to cylinder strength with increasing compressive strength of concrete
decreases progressively from 1.25 to 1.12. Above-mentioned 1.25 and 1.12 are the ratios
corresponding to the cylinder compressive strengths of 40 and 80 MPa, respectively.

5
Seong-Tae Yi a, ∗. E.-I.-C. (2006). Effect of specimen sizes, specimen shapes, and placement directions on compressive
strength of concrete. Seoul-si 138-842, South Korea: Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 .

Effect of length to diameter ratio of specimen on the apparent compressive strength of .)1957( .J.W., Kesler Murdock
.C.E: ASTM Bull. 221, 68–73 .concrete
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

1- Size effect for cylinders:

regression analyses for cylinders.7
0.49𝑓′c
𝑓cy(𝑑) = + 0.81𝑓′c
√1 + 𝑑/2.6

where compressive strength of general cylinder 𝑓cy(𝑑))

and compressive strength of standard cylinder 𝑓′c are
in MPa and diameter d is in cm. The term “general”
represents the cylinders with arbitrary chosen
dimensions. Fig. 1 shows the value 𝑓cy(𝑑)/ 𝑓′c as a
function of the diameter d. In this study, we conclude
that the strength ratio approaches a limit with an
increasing diameter d. In this figure, the solid
rectangular data points and the thick solid line
represent, respectively, experimental data of this study.

2- Size effect for cubes:

the regression analyses for cubes and the results are graphed and shown in Fig. 2.

This figure shows the value 𝑓cu(𝑑)/ 𝑓′c as a function of

the specimen size d and the strong size effect for
compressive strengths of cubes.
1.17𝑓′c
𝑓cu(𝑑) = + 0.62𝑓′c
√1 + 𝑑/2.6

where compressive strength with size of cubes

𝑓cu(𝑑) and compressive strength 𝑓′c are in MPa and
size of the cube d is in cm.

7
Probability, S. a. (January 1, 1970). Probability, Statistics, and Decisions for Civil Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill.
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

Effect of Moisture
In accordance with the provisions of ASTM C 42-90 and ACI 318-89, it is current practice to
either dry concrete core specimens in air for 7 days or soak them in lime-saturated water for at
least 40 hr before they are tested. In this paper, the effect of moisture condition on the strengths
of mature cores obtained from well-cured elements is investigated by reviewing available
literature and performing regression analysis of data from tests of 727 core specimens. It is
shown that the compressive strength of a concrete specimen is influenced both by moisture
content changes that are uniform throughout the specimen volume, and by moisture content
gradients between the surface of the specimen and the interior. The air-drying and soaking
periods specified in ASTM C 42-90 and ACI 318-89 are too short to cause a uniform change of
moisture content throughout the volume of the core. The effect of these treatments is to create
a moisture gradient that artificially biases the test result. The strength of air-dried cores is on
average 14 percent larger than the strength of soaked cores. The strength of cores with a
negligible moisture gradient is on average 9 percent larger than the strength of soaked cores.
These general average values are constant for concretes with strengths ranging from 2200 to
13,400 psi. However, the strength ratios for any particular mix may differ appreciably from these
.general average values.8

Prentice .Effect of Moisture Condition on Concrete Core Strengths .)1994/1/5 ( .F. Michael Bartlett and James G. MacGregor 8
.Hall Canada: Materials Journal
)Effect of testing parameters on the concrete strength( )Concrete Technology(

‫المراجع‬
Effect of specimen sizes, .)2006( .Eun-Ik Yang b, Joong-Cheol Choi c Seong-Tae Yi a ,∗
.specimen shapes, and placement directions on compressive strength of concrete
. Seoul-si 138-842, South Korea: Nuclear Engineering and Design 236

Effect of Moisture Condition on .)1994/1/5 ( .F. Michael Bartlett and James G. MacGregor
.Prentice Hall Canada: Materials Journal .Concrete Core Strengths

Size and .)2003( .G. Ruiz, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha & J.R. del Viso, J.R. Carmona
Canales y .Shape Effects on the Compressive Strength of High Strength Concrete
.,Puertos: E.T.S. de Ingenieros de Caminos

Effect of length to diameter ratio of specimen on the .)1957( .J.W., Kesler Murdock
.C.E: ASTM Bull. 221, 68–73 .apparent compressive strength of concrete

India: .CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY THEORY AND PRACTICE .)December 1, 2006( .M.S. Shetty
.Co Ltd & Chand (S.)

.Concrete Manual: Based on the 2012 IBC and ACI 318-11 .)2012( .P.E Gerald B. Neville
the Relation between the Strength of Concrete Cubes and .)August 2015( .Ritu Kumari
.Madan Mohan Malviya: 2248-9622, Vol. 5, Issue 8 .Cylinders

Probability, .)January 1, 1970( .Statistics, and Decisions for Civil Engineers Probability
.New York: McGraw-Hill .Statistics, and Decisions for Civil Engineers