CE 310 LECTURE 2

PLAIN AND REINFORCED CONCRETE II

NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING

MILITARY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RISALPUR
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SCHMIDT REBOUND HAMMER
 SELECTION OF TEST SURFACE
Concrete members to be tested shall be at least 4 in thick and
fixed within a structure. Smaller specimens must be rigidly
supported
Areas exhibiting honeycombing, scaling, rough texture, or high
porosity should be avoided
Concretes should be approximately the same age and moisture
condition in order to be compared
Dry concretes give higher rebound numbers than wet concrete,
and the surface layer of concrete may be carbonated, yielding
higher rebound numbers
 PREPARATION OF TEST
SURFACE
A test area shall be at least 6 in diameter
Heavily textured, soft, or surfaces with loose mortar shall be
ground smooth with the abrasive stone
Smooth formed or toweled surface shall be tested without
grinding
Concretes over 6 months old may require grinding to a depth of
2in if they are to be compared to younger concretes
Grinding to this depth is not feasible without power equipment
 PROCEDURE
Firmly hold the instrument in a position that allows the plunger
to strike perpendicularly to the surface tested
Gradually increase the pressure on the plunger until the hammer
impacts
After impact, record the rebound number to two significant
figures
Take ten readings from each test area
No two impact tests shall be closer together than 1 in
Discard readings differing from the average of 10 readings by
more than 5 units and determine the average of the remaining
readings
If more than 2 readings differ from the average by 7 units,
discard the entire set of readings
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SCHMIDT REBOUND HAMMER
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ULTRASONIC PULSE VELOCITY
Velocity of ultrasonic wave through concrete and its compressive
strength are related by a common factor of density. Change of
density results in change of pulse velocity. Also a change in density
affects the strength of concrete.

Figure below shows the relationship between pulse velocity and

strength of concrete. The lowering of density caused by an increase
in water-cement ratio decreases both the density and velocity of a
pulse transmitted through it.

The pulse velocity is calculated by measuring the time that the

pulse takes to travel through a measured distance.
General Arrangement
Ultrasonic pulses are generated by electronic circuit and piezo-
electric crystal which vibrate and transmit at their natural frequency.
The transducer is in contact with concrete so that vibration travel
through it and are picked up by another transducer in contact with
concrete at the other end of the specimen. The time of travel is
displayed on an LED or LCD display which is integral part of the
unit.

Classification. Concrete can be classified on the basis of pulse

velocity as follows.
Longitudinal pulse velocity Quality of concrete
103 ft/second
> 15 Excellent

12 _ 15 Good

10 _ 12 Doubtful

7 _ 10 Poor

< 7.0 Very Poor

In practice, it is convenient to establish a relation between strength
of concrete and pulse velocity by means of test cylinders / cubes
under the same conditions of moisture as that of the structure.
Figure shows the relation between compressive strength and pulse
velocities at different mix proportions.
PUNDIT
The fundamental design features of all commercially available test
sets are the same. One of such unit is known as PUNDIT (Portable
Ultrasonic Non destructive Digital Indicating Tester). It weighs
about 7 lbs and is 7 x 4 x 6 size. It is battery operated and
can be used in the field for testing of concrete up to a thickness of
75 ft.
The apparatus generates a pulse of vibration at an ultrasonic
frequency which are transmitted by electro acoustic transducer
held in contact with the concrete surface under test. After passing
through the concrete, the vibrations are received and converted
into an electric signal by a second electro acoustic transducer. The
time taken by the pulse to travel through the concrete is measured
by an electrical timing unit with an accuracy of 0.1 microsecond
and knowing the length of path traveled through the concrete, the
pulse velocity can be calculated.
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ULTRASONIC PULSE VELOCITY
Limitation and Use
It provides an excellent means for checking uniformity
of concrete and quality control.
It is relatively cheap and easy to operate.
Test can be carried out in laboratory or in the field on
completed concrete structures.
It can be used for detection of crack development in
structures such as dams and checking deterioration due to
frost or chemicals.
A large no of variable effect relationship between
compressive strength and pulse velocity. It should not
be used for predicting compressive strength of concrete
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PULL OUT TEST
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PULL OUT TEST
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PENETRATION RESISTANCE
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OTHER TECHNIQUES
Thank
You