REBOUND HAMMER TEST / SCHMIDT HAMMER

Aim:

To determine the compressive strength of the concrete by relating the

rebound index and the compressive strength.

Reference

IS-516 (Part 5/Sec 4):2020 “Part 5 Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete -

Section 4 Rebound Hammer Test”.

Principle:

Rebound of an elastic mass depends on the hardness of the concrete surface

against which the mass strikes and therefore the rebound is taken to be related to
the compressive strength of the concrete

Apparatus Required

Rebound Hammer

Test Procedure

1. For testing, smooth, clean and dry surface is to be selected. If loosely

adhering scale is present, this should be rubbed off with a grinding wheel or
stone. Rough surfaces resulting from incomplete compaction, loss of grout,
spalled or tooled surfaces do not give reliable results and should be avoided.
2. The point of impact should be at least 20 mm away from any edge or shape
discontinuity.
3. For taking a measurement, the rebound hammer should be held at right
angles to the surface of the concrete member.
4. When the plunger of rebound hammer is pressed against the surface of
concrete, a spring controlled mass with a constant energy is made to hit
concrete surface to rebound back & the extent of rebound, which is a
measure of surface hardness, is measured on a graduated scale.
5. The test can thus be conducted horizontally on vertical surfaces or vertically
upwards or downwards on horizontal surfaces.
6. Six readings of rebound number is taken at each point of testing and an
average of value of the readings is taken as rebound index for the
corresponding point of observation on concrete surface.
7. The compressive strength can be read directly from the graph provided on
the body of the hammer.
 Average Rebound Number Quality of Concrete
› 40 Very Good
30-40 Good
20-30 Fair
<20 Poor and/or delaminated
0 Very poor/or delaminated

Tabulation:

S no. Specimen Points Rebound index

1 P1
2 P2
3 P3
4 P4
5 P5
6 P6
7 P7
8 P8
9 P9
Average

Compressive Strength from chart =

Result:

Thus the compressive strength of concrete has been found using

Rebound hammer