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Compressive Strength of Concrete | Cube Test, Procedure, Apparatus & Results

Compressive Strength of Concrete | Cube

Test, Procedure, Apparatus & Results
Krishna May 18, 2018 18 Comments

Concrete being the major consumable material after water makes it quite inquisitive in its nature.
The strength of concrete is majorly derived from aggregates, where-as cement and sand
contribute binding and workability along with flowability to concrete.

This is an in-depth article on Compressive Strength of Concrete. If you are here to know about
how to test the Compressive Strength of concrete Click here or else follow me 🙂

Contents [show]

What is the Compressive strength?

Compressive strength is the capacity of material or structure to resist or withstand under
compression. The Compressive strength of a material is determined by the ability of the material
to resist failure in the form cracks and fissure.

In this test, the push force applied on the both faces of concrete specimen and the maximum
compression that concrete bears without failure is noted.
Concrete testing helps us to majorly focus on the Compressive strength of concrete because it
helps us to quantify the ability of concrete to resists Compressive stresses among structures
where-as other stresses such as axial stresses and tensile stresses are catered by reinforcement
and other means.

In technical point of view,

Compressive Strength of concrete is defined as the Characteristic strength of 150mm size

concrete cubes @28 days.

Compressive strength of Concrete and its importance:-

As we all know that concrete is a mixture of sand, cement, and aggregate. The strength of the
concrete depends upon many factors like individual compressive strength of its constituents
(Cement, Sand, aggregate), quality of materials used, air entrainment mix proportions, water-
cement ratio, curing methods and temperature effects.

Compressive strength gives an idea of the overall strength and above-mentioned factors.
Through conducting this test, one can easily judge the concrete strength psi and quality of
concrete produced.

Factors affecting compressive strength of concrete:-

Coarse aggregate:-

Concrete is made homogenous by combining aggregates, cement, sand, water and various other
admixtures. But even with proper mixing, there may arise some microcracks due to differences
in thermal and mechanical properties of coarse aggregates and cement matrix, which leads to
failure of concrete.

Concrete technologists came up with theoretical concepts regarding size of aggregates, which as
the size of aggregate being the major contributor of compressive strength. So if the size of
aggregate is increased, then it would lead increased compressive strength.

This theory was later discarded, as experiments proved that greater size of aggregates showed
increased strength in initial phases but reduced exponentially.

The sole reason for this strength drop was due to the reduced surface area for bond strength
between cement matrix and aggregates and weaker transition zone.

Air-entrainment:-

Air entrainment in concrete was one of the concepts developed by cold countries in order to
prevent damages due to freezing and thawing. Later on, as experimentation’s proved
multidimensional benefits of air entrainment along with improved the workability of concrete at
lower water/cement ratio.

As the achievement of the desired workability at lower water content helped one to achieve
concrete with the greater compressive strength which in turn, leads to light concrete with greater
compressive strength.

Water/Cement ratio:-

We are all very aware of how excess water can be harmful to the strength of concrete. Cement
being the major binding material in concrete needs water for hydration process, but that is only
limited to about (0.20 to 0.25) % of cement content. The excess water turns out to be beneficial
in contributing to workability and finishing of concrete.

The very aspect where excess water is considered harmful because as the water in the concrete
matrix dries, it leaves large interstitial spaces among aggregate and cement grains. This
interstitial space becomes primary cracks during compressive strength testing of concrete.

Why do we test concrete for 7 days, 14 days & 28 days?:

Concrete gains maximum strength at 28days. Since in construction sector great amount of capital
is at stake, so instead of checking strength at 28 days we can check strength in terms of concrete
strength psi at 7 and 14 days to predict the target strength of construction work.

From the below table it is clear that, Concrete gains 16 % of its strength within 24 hrs, whereas
concrete gains 65% of the target strength by the time of 7 days of its casting.

Till 14 days concrete shows 90% of the target strength and thereafter the gain in strength slows
down and it takes 28days to achieve 99% of strength.
We cant judge the strength of concrete until it becomes stable. And we also won’t wait for 28
days to judge the concrete whether it suitable for construction or not to keep it balanced, concrete
is tested at various intervals.

Age in Days Percentage of Strength

1 Days 16%
3 Days 40%
7 Days 65%
14 Days 90%
21 Days 94%
28 Days 99%

The maximum strength gain spike is observed till 14 days, so we test concrete at an intervals of 7
days, 10 days & 14days and If concrete fails to show results of 90% of its overall strength @14
days then that batching is rejected.

Compressive Strength of Different Grades of Concrete at 7,

14, 21 and 28 Days:
Compressive Compressive Compressive Compressive
Concrete
strength in N/mm² strength in N/mm² strength in N/mm² strength in N/mm²
Grade
at 3 days at 7 days at 14 days at 28 days
M10 4 6.5 9 10
M15 6 9.75 13.5 15
M20 8 13 18 20
M25 10 16.25 22.5 25
M30 12 19.5 27 30
M35 14 22.75 31.5 35
M40 16 26 36 40
M45 18 29.25 40.5 45
M50 20 32.5 45 50

Compressive strength testing of concrete:-

The test is carried out using 150mm concrete cubes on a Universal testing machine or
compressive testing machine.

Apparatus

As per IS: 516-1959 Compressive testing machine (2000Kn),15cm×15cm×15cm steel cube

molds or Cylinder having Dia 15cm and length 30cm are used.
The test includes following steps:-

Preparing of material for Cube test:

All the material must be brought and stored to an approximate temperature of 27 ±3 degree
Celsius. Cement must be uniformly mixed with a trowel in order there exist no lumps.

Mixing of concrete:

Machine mixing: The ingredient must not be rotated for more than 2 minutes and the following
pattern must be followed

1>Calculated water,2>50% coarse aggregates,3>fine aggregates,4>cement,5>50% coarse

aggregates.

Hand mixing: The process must be done on the rectangular pan until a homogenous mix is
obtained.

Dry mixing of fine aggregates and cement>addition of coarse aggregate with the even
distribution>addition of calculated water in batch till consistency is achieved.

Casting of specimen

The casting molds are chosen to be made of cast iron and must be rubbed with grease on inner
side for easy removal of cubes. The specimen must be cast in 3 layers (5cm each) and properly
compacted in order that honeycombing formation does not take place.

Compaction
In compacting through tamping bar, 35 strokes must be done in all parts of a cube for proper
compacting. This tamping bar has the dimension of diameter 16mm and length of 0.6m.

Age of test

The cube test for Compressive strength can be done on 1,3, 7, 14 and 28 days. In some cases, the
strength of greater ages is required which is performed from 13 to 52 weeks.

Number of specimens

It is mandatory to have at least 3 specimens for testing from different batches. The mean of
compressive strength achieved by this specimen is used to determine actual strength of the batch.

Procedure for Compressive strength of concrete or Cube test  :-

1. Place the prepared concrete mix in the steel cube mould for casting.
2. Once it sets, After 24 hours remove the concrete cube from the mould.
3. Keep the test specimens submerged underwater for stipulated time.
4. As mentioned the specimen must be kept in water for 7  or 14 or  28 days and for every 7
days the water is changed.

5. Ensure that concrete specimen must be well dried before placing it on the UTM.
6. Weight of samples is noted in order to proceed with testing and it must not be less than
8.1Kg.
7. Testing specimens are placed in the space between bearing surfaces.
 8. Care must be taken to prevent the existence of any loose material or grit on the metal
plates of machine or specimen block.

9. The concrete cubes are placed on bearing plate and aligned properly with the center of
thrust in the testing machine plates.
10. The loading must be applied axially on specimen without any shock and increased
at the rate of 140kg/sq cm/min. till the specimen collapse.
11. Due to the constant application of load, the specimen starts cracking at a point & final
breakdown of the specimen must be noted.

Calculations
Compressive strength of Concrete Formula:

The Compressive strength of specimen can be calculated by dividing maximum load carried by
the specimen by cross-sectional area of the specimen cubes.

The surface area of specimen: = 150 x 150 = 22500mm² = 225cm²

Assume, The Max compression load is 450KN

1KN = 1000N ; 450Kn = 450×100 = 450000N

Compressive Strength of Concrete  = 450000 /22500 = 20N/mm² = 203Kg/cm²

Refer google unit conversion tools if required.

The same calculation is done for the specimen at different ages as stated below:

Details   Specimens  
Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Specimen 3
@ 7 days @ 14 days @ 28 days
Max load that Specimen bear
310KN 408KN 445KN
(Assumed Test results)
in (KN)
Compressive Strength 310000/22500 408000/2250 448000/2250
in N/mm² = 13.7N/mm² =18.13N/mm² = 19.9N/mm²
As we assumed M20 grade concrete mix which bear a max load upto 20N/mm²
Minimum Strength 65% 90% 99%
to be achieved at different days @7 days @14 days @28 days
Percentage of Concrete gain (13.7x100)/20 = (18.13x100)/20 = (19.9x100)/20 =
(test results) 68.5%>65% 90.6%>90% 99.1%>99%
A good concrete should not show less than the minimum Compressive strength at
respective days. Hence concrete is safe to use.

Important Note: As per IS: 516-1959  Minimum three specimens should be tested at each
selected age (that means three specimens at 7 days, three specimens @ 14 days & 28 days) If
strength of any specimen varies by more than 15%  of average strength, such specimen should be
rejected. 

Results of cube test

Average Compressive strength at 7 days = _____N/mm²

The average Compressive strength at 28 days = _____N/mm²

Video Explanation:

You can also refer below for Compressive strength of concrete procedure video

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Tags: Compressive strength test on Building materials, concrete, Tests on concrete

18 Comments

1.

Vishal Gupta May 20, 2018 Reply

Superb

2.

Victor Prince May 25, 2018 Reply

Very interesting! who new concrete was that complex.

3.

Sanjay chaudhary May 26, 2018 Reply

 Gajab

4.

Priyesh June 22, 2018 Reply

Good work dear…..

5.

Faisal June 24, 2018 Reply

fantastic I like that this is what I want

Krishna June 29, 2018 Reply

Cheers!

6.

Litu Pradhan September 7, 2018 Reply

Compressive strength (1.3.7.14.28) days

not mention of as per is code and how to proof,

Krishna September 9, 2018 Reply

 could u be more specific about ur query? Elaborate the same in
forum.civilread.com we will get back to u asap.

7.

Swetha December 8, 2018 Reply

In which IS code the strength of concrete on 1,3,7,14 and 21 days is mentioned? You
have mentioned it as 16% ,40%,65%,90% & 94%. What is the reference?.

Krishna July 4, 2019 Reply

these values are as per experience.

Mahesh September 30, 2019 Reply

Sir my name is mahesh and I need particle mix design note sir .

Krishna November 30, 2019 Reply

Mix design concept is already posted on site clearly. You can

check that here : https://civilread.com/find-quantity-cement-sand-
aggregate/

8.
 B SURYA March 9, 2019 Reply

good

9.

Kiran Rajendran July 29, 2019 Reply

Nice explanation

10.

pranaba behera August 28, 2019 Reply

nice sir

11.

Rajesh ranjan kuanar October 24, 2019 Reply

Good job sir….

12.

PRIVATE January 26, 2020 Reply

what’s your fb, sir?

Krishna January 26, 2020 Reply

 you can follow us on f visit : http://www.facebook.com/civilread

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 After some time the mould should be covered with red gunny bag and put undisturbed for
24 hours at a temperature of 27 ° Celsius ± 2

 After 24 hours remove the specimen from the mould.

 Keep the specimen submerged under fresh water at 27 ° Celsius. The specimen should be
kept for 7 or 28 days. Every 7 days the water should be renewed.

 The specimen should be removed from the water 30 minutes prior to the testing.

 The specimen should be in dry condition before conducting the testing.

 The Cube weight should not be less than 8.1 Kgs

Compressive Strength of Concrete &
Concrete Cubes | What | How
July 7, 2016 by Anand Paul

Compressive Strength
The compressive strength of any material is defined as the resistance to failure under the action
of compressive forces. Especially for concrete, compressive strength is an important parameter to
determine the performance of the material during service conditions. Concrete mix can be
designed or proportioned to obtain the required engineering and durability properties as required
by the design engineer. Some of the other engineering properties of hardened concrete includes
Elastic Modulus, Tensile Strength, Creep coefficients, density, coefficient of thermal expansion
etc.
 C
ompressive Strength of Concrete – Cubes

Compressive Strength of Concrete

The compressive strength of concrete is determined in batching plant laboratories for every batch
in order to maintain the desired quality of concrete during casting. The strength of concrete is
required to calculate the strength of the members. Concrete specimens are a cast and tested under
the action of compressive loads to determine the strength of concrete.

In very simple words, compressive strength is calculated by dividing the failure load with the
area of application of load, usually after 28 days of curing. The strength of concrete is controlled
by the proportioning of cement, coarse and fine aggregates, water, and various admixtures. The
ratio of the water to cement is the chief factor for determining concrete strength. The lower the
water-cement ratio, the higher is the compressive strength.

The capacity of concrete is reported in psi – pounds per sq. inch in US units and in MPa – mega
pascals in SI units. This is usually called as the characteristic compressive strength of concrete
fc/ fck. For normal field applications, the concrete strength can vary from 10Mpa to 60 Mpa. For
certain applications and structures, concrete mixes can be designed to obtain very high
compressive strength capacity in the range of 500Mpa, usually referred as Ultra High Strength
Concrete or Powder Reactive Concrete.
 Buckling of Concrete Columns

Standard tests for determining the strength are Cube Test and Cylinder Test. As the name
suggests, the difference in both the tests are in the shape of test specimens. In Indian, British and
European standards, the Compressive strength of concrete is determined by testing concrete
cubes referred as characteristic compressive strength whereas in American standards Cylinder
strengths are used in RC and PSC design. It is obtained by testing concrete cylinder specimen.
However, empirical formulas can be used to convert cube strength to cylinder strength and vice-
versa. As per Indian code definition

“The compressive strength of concrete is given in terms of the characteristic compressive

strength of 150 mm size cubes tested at 28 days (fck). The characteristic strength is defined as
the strength of the concrete below which not more than 5% of the test results are expected to
fall.”

Average 28 days compressive strength of at least three 150 mm concrete cubes prepared with
water proposed to be used shall not be less than 90% of average of  strength of three similar
concrete cubes prepared with distilled water. For quality control in case of mass concreting, the
frequency of testing of compressive strength by cube test is as follows.
Quantity of Concrete (in m3) Number of samples for testing Compressive Strength

1-5 1

6-15 2

16-30 3

31-50 4

51 + 4 + 1 cube for each additional 50m3

Minimum or specified Compressive Strength of concrete cubes of various Grade of Concrete at

28 days of curing are as follows.

Specified Minimum Compressive Strength

Grade of Concrete
of 150mm Cube after 28days of Curing

M10 10 N/mm2

M15 15 N/mm2

M20 20 N/mm2

M25 25 N/mm2

M30 30 N/mm2

M35 35 N/mm2

M40 40 N/mm2

M45 45 N/mm2

M50 50 N/mm2

M55 55 N/mm2

M60 60 N/mm2

M65 65 N/mm2

M70 70 N/mm2

M75 75 N/mm2

M80 80 N/mm2

Compressive strength as per American Codes

In case of American codes, compression strength is defined in terms of cylinder strength fc’.
Here compressive strength of concrete at 28 days curing is obtained from a standard cylindrical
specimen 150mm diameter and 300mm high loaded longitudinally to failure under uniaxial
compression loading. In both cases, capacity is calculated using formula Compression capacity =
Load at Failure/ Area of loading. As a thumb rule, the cylinder strength will be 0.8 times cube
strength for a particular grade of concrete.

How to determine Compressive Strength of Concrete Cubes

Following procedure is adopted to determine the Capacity of concrete as per Indian Standards.

Objective:

Determination of compressive strength of concrete.

Apparatus:

Testing Machine: The testing machine may be of any reliable type of sufficient capacity for the
tests and capable of applying the load at the specified rate. The permissible error shall not be
greater than 2 percent of the maximum load. The testing machine shall be equipped with two
steel bearing platens with hardened faces.

One of the platens shall be fitted with a ball seating in the form the portion of a sphere. the center
of which coincides with time central point of the face of the platen. The other compression platen
shall be plain rigid bearing block. The bearing faces of both platens shall be at least as larger as.
and preferably larger than the nominal size of the specimen to which the load is applied.
 Hydr
aulic Compression Testing Machine

The bearing surface of the platens. when new, shall not depart from a plane by more than
0.01mm at any point, and they shall be maintained with a permissible variation limit of 0.02mm.
the movable portion of the spherical seated compression platen shall be held on the spherical
seat. but the design shall be such that the bearing face can be rotated freely and tilted through
small angles in any direction.

Age at test:

Tests shall be made at recognized ages of the test specimens, the most usual being 7 and 28 days.
The ages shall be calculated from the time of the addition of water of the dry ingredients.

Number of Specimens:

At least three specimens. preferably from different batches. shall be made for testing at each
selected age.
 Compression Testing Mould

Procedure:

Specimens stored in water shall be tested immediately on removal from the water and while they
are still in the wet condition. Surface water and grit shall be wiped off the specimens and any
projecting find removed specimens when received dry shall be kept in water for 24 hours before
they are taken for testing. The dimensions of the specimens to the nearest 0.2mm and their
weight shall be noted before testing.
 Casti
ng Concrete Cubes

Placing the specimen in the testing machine the bearing surface of the testing machine shall be
wiped clean and any loose sand or other material removed from the surface of the specimen.
which are to be in contact with the compression platens. In the case of cubes the specimen shall
be placed in the machine in such a manner that the load shall be applied to opposite sides of the
cubes as cast, that is, not to the top and bottom. The axes of the specimen shall be carefully
aligned with the center of thrust of the spherically seated platen.

Refer table below to verify Cube Weight to ensure Compacted Concrete Density

Corresponding
Volume of 150mm
Concrete Density in kg/cum Weight of cube
size cube
in kg

2400 0.003375 8.1

2425 0.003375 8.184

2450 0.003375 8.269

2475 0.003375 8.353

2500 0.003375 8.438

No packing shall be used between the faces of the test specimen and the steel platen of the
testing machine. As the spherically seated block is brought to bear on the specimen the movable
portion shall be rotated gently by hand so that uniform seating may be obtained. The load shall
be applied without shock and increased continuously at a rate of approximately 140 kgfcm/min
until the resistance of the specimen to the increasing load breaks down and no grater load can be
sustained. The maximum load applied to the specimen shall then be recorded and the appearance
of the concrete and any unusual features in the type of failure shall be noted.
 Compressive Strength

test for M25 Concrete

M25 Concrete Failure under Compressive Loading

Calculation:

The measured compressive strength of the specimen shall be calculated by dividing the
maximum load applied to the specimen during the test by the cross sectional Area, calculated
from the mean dimensions of the section and shall be expressed to the nearest kg per cm2.
Average of three values shall be taken as the representative of the batch provided the individual
variation is not more than +/-15 percent of the average. Otherwise repeat tests shall be made.

A correction factor according to the height / diameter ratio of specimen after capping shall be
obtained from the curve shown in Fig. 1 of IS:5 16-1959. The product of this correction factor
and the measured compressive strength shall be known as the corrected compressive strength this
being the equivalent strength of a cylinder having a height/diameter ratio of two. The equivalent
cube strength of the concrete shall be determined by multiplying the corrected cylinder strength
by 5/4.

IS 456 Interpretation of Test Results of Sample

1. The test results of the sample shall be the average of the strength of three specimen.
2. The individual variation should not be more than 15% of the average.
3. If more, the test results of the sample are invalid Concrete shall be deemed to comply with the
strength requirements when both the following condition are met:

 The mean strength determined from any group of four consecutive test results compiles with
the appropriate limits in column 2 of Table 11
 Any individual test result complies with the appropriate limits in column 3 of Table 11.

Facts about Compression Test

With variation in rate of loading on concrete specimen, the strength varies proportionately. At
higher rate of loading, the compressive strength increases. The increment is from 30% to almost
50% of the original strength. However, at lower rate of loading, the reduction in strength of
concrete cube compared to its true strength is insignificant.

Difference between Compressive strength & Characteristic

strength | FAQ
Compressive strength – the applied pressure at which a given concrete sample fails.

Characteristic strength – Suppose you take a certain number of samples from a particular batch
of concrete. Characteristic strength would be that compressive strength below which not more
5% of the samples are expected to fail. Thus atlas 95% of the samples have higher compressive
strength than the characteristic strength.