REVIEW OF CORE TESTING CARRIED OUT BY M/S INSPECTIANS

HOUSE NO 28-J IZMIR TOWN AND 322-F LDA AVENUE LAHORE

1. Strength Requirements
Since the project drawings / design does not specify the required strength, the requirements
being specified by the local department i.e. Pak PWD will be considered as adequate and
according to section 114 of Pak PWD Schedule of rates item No 55, The cube crushing
strength requirements for ordinary reinforced concrete are as under.
1.1. When Local sand and Gravel is used. 2250/ PSI after 28 days
1.2. When good quality sand and Crushed aggregates are used. 3000/ PSI after 28 days

For the subject houses, river sand and locally available crushed aggregates were used,
therefore as a pessimistic estimate, the requirements stated at Sno 1.1 can be considered as
project specified strength. On the other hand optimistic requirements stated at Sno 1.2 can be
considered as project specified strength. The test carried out by M/S INSPECTIANS are
according to ASTM i.e. reported as cylindrical strength, the cube strength stated above can be
converted to the units adopted by them. Accordingly the equivalent requirements are;

1.3. When Local sand and Gravel is used. 1800/ PSI

1.4. When Good Quality sand and Crushed aggregates are used. 2400/ PSI
2. CORE TESTING EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS
2.1. American Concrete Institute (ACI) in section 26.6.1(e) sates that;

According to the above criteria, the minimum requirements for core tests works out as under
2.2. When Local sand and Gravel is used.
2.2.1. Individual core test @ 75% of 1800 = 1350/ PSI
2.2.2. Average of 03 Cores @ 85% of 1800 = 1530/ PSI
2.3. When Good Quality sand and Crushed aggregates are used
2.3.1. Individual core test @ 75% of 2400 = 1800/ PSI
2.3.2. Average of 03 Cores @ 85% of 2400 = 2040/ PSI
3. RESULTS REPORTED BY M/S INSPECTIANS
3.1. ANALYSIS:- As stated in ACI code section 26.12.6.1(e) reproduced above, minimum of
03 tests were required, against which only two samples were tested and even those from
different members. Even then the results reported are satisfactory for type-1 concrete i.e.
with local sand. Whereas in case the optimistic strength requirements are considered, then
tests for two houses are adequate, whereas the 3rd one is on boundary line. If by reverse
engineering we convert results of 3rd house to design requirements those work out to be;
3.1.1. Test 1 reported as 1728 psi will equal to 2304 PSI and Test 2 equal to 2227 PSI.
 3.2. CREDIBILITY OF TESTS CARRIED OUT BY INSPECTIANS:-
3.2.1. Tests carried out by testing agency have following violations of the codal
requirements;
3.2.1.1. Minimum 03 Tests were required from members of structure, where
possibility of steel reinforcement were negligible. Against which only two (02)
tests; one from slab and the other from beam were taken, the testing process is
not dependable.
3.2.1.2. According ASTM C-42 section 5.1.2, specimens containing embedded steel
shall not be used for testing. Since no pictures of the cores have been enclosed
in report, it is hard to say whether this point was taken in mind while carrying
out the tests.
3.2.1.3. Section 7.1 of the ASTM C-42 states that the diameter of the core shall be
preferably 4 inch (101.6mm) and not less than 3.7 inch (94 mm), whereas the
cores taken for testing were 2.64 inch (67 mm). and note-03, says that in case of
lesser diameter, the results can be on lower side, for which no authentic
calculations can be done. It is worth mentioning that the testing agency must
have carried out the tests with due diligence and according to the code
requirements.
3.2.1.4. Section 7 of ASTM C-42 specifies the method of calculating the correction
factor, where the diameter to depth ratio is outside the limit of 1.9 to 2.1; in the
given report this criteria has not been followed strictly.
3.2.1.5. As a practice, before going for core tests, Schmidth hammer tests would
have been performed and if the doubtful, the core cutting was to be done
according to the code requirements.
4. CONCLUSION
4.1. It is worth noting that the testing of the hardened concrete through different means is an
assessment processes to assess the adequacy of the structure, where test results of samples
during construction phase were not satisfactory and not as a practice. Hence, the process
needs to be done under supervision of experienced person, which from the reported
results makes the report un-reliable.

4.2. Analysis of the reported results indicates that results are satisfactory even if optimistic
requirements are considered, except for 3rd house where the results are at boundary line. If
type-1 concrete is taken as target, results are satisfactory.