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which is then dropped into the second hopper and into the cylinder which is struck off
flush. The compacting factor is the ratio of the weight of concrete in the cylinder to
the weight of an equal volume of fully compacted concrete. The compacting factor for
concrete of medium workability is about 0.9.

(c) Other tests

Other tests are specified for stiff mixes and superplasticized mixes. Reference should
be made to specialist books on concrete.

2.5 TESTS ON HARDENED CONCRETE

2.5.1 Normal tests

The main destructive tests on hardened concrete are as follows.

(a) Cube test

Refer to section 2.3.1 above.

(b) Tensile splitting test

Refer to section 2.3.2 above.

(c) Flexure test

A plain concrete specimen is tested to failure in bending. The theoretical maximum

tensile stress at the bottom face at failure is calculated. This is termed the modulus of
rupture. It is about 1.5 times the tensile stress determined by the splitting test.

(d) Test cores

Cylindrical cores are cut from the finished structure with a rotary cutting tool. The
core is soaked, capped and tested in compression to give a measure of the concrete
strength in the actual structure. The ratio of core height to diameter and the location
where the core is taken affect the strength. The strength is lowest at the top surface
and increases with depth through the element. A ratio of core height-to-diameter of 2
gives a standard cylinder test.

2.5.2 Non-destructive tests

The main non-destructive tests for strength on hardened concrete are as follows.

(a) Rebound hardness test

The Schmidt hammer is used in the rebound hardness test in which a metal hammer
held against the concrete is struck by another spring-driven metal