Testing Concrete Construction
Testing Concrete Construction
Testing Concrete Construction
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Testing are important in concrete construction. Tests concerned with fresh
concrete are to check the workability of concrete. Tests on hardened concrete are
to find the strength, creep effects, durability, etc.
(1)Slump test
(3)Flow test
(1)Slump Test
Slump
No slump
From 10 to 30 mm
From 40 to 150 mm
Mobile mix
Over 150
Cast mix
Mould is lifted upwards from the concrete immediately by raising it slowly. This
allows the concrete to subside. This subsidence is referred to as slump of
concrete. The difference in height of the mould and that of the subsided concrete
is measured and reported in mm which is taken as the slump of concrete. Pattern
of slump also represents the characteristics of concrete.
If the slump of the concrete is even, it is called a true slump. If one-half of the
cone slides down it is called as shear slump. Here, the average value of the slump
is considered. Shear slump also indicates that the concrete is not cohesive and
reflects segregation (Fig.).
Types of slumps
Sl. No
Recommended slump
1.
Concrete to be vibrated
10 to 25 mm
2.
20 to 40 mm
3.
Mass concrete
25 to 50 mm
4.
Concrete for horizontal tops of kerbs, parapets, piers, slabs and walls
40 to 50 mm
5.
70 to 80 mm
6.
80 to 150 mm
7.
90 to 100 mm
Slump test can be conducted both in the laboratory and in work site. Slump test
results are used to detect the difference in water content of successive batches of
the identical mix.
This is a more refined test than the slump test. Measures the degree of
compaction obtained by using a certain energy in overcoming the internal friction
of the concrete. This property is a measure of workability. The test apparatus
consists of two conical hopers with bottom doors and a separate cylinder kept at
the bottom. Concrete is filled in the top hopper fully without compaction and
released successively through the two hoppers and into the bottom cylinder
(Fig. ).
After striking off the level in the cylinder the weight of the concrete (W1) in the
cylinder is determined. Same cylinder is filled with the same batch of concrete and
compacted to get the maximum weight (W2). The ratio of the observed weight
(W1) to the theoretical weight, (W2), i.e., W1/W2 is the compacting factor. The
workability, compacting factor and the corresponding slump are given in Table.
Workbility
Compacting factor
Corresponding slump
Very low
0.80
0 to 25 mm
Low
0.85
25 to 50 mm
Medium
0.92
50 to 100 mm
High
0.95
100 to 180 mm
This test measures the quality of concrete, which relates very close to the
workability. This test clearly depicts the workability of concrete. In the figure, the
dimensions are plotted in mm.
(3)Flow Test
Mould is kept on the clean table and concrete is filled in two layers with each
layer being rodded 25 times with a tamping rod of 1.6 cm diameter and 61 cm
long with rounded ends.
Excess concretes on the top of the mould is levelled. The mould is lifted vertically
upwards completely. The concrete stands on its own without support.
The table is raised and dropped 12.5 mm with a cam arrangement, 15 times in
about 15 seconds. The diameter of the spread-concrete is measured in 6
directions and the average value is taken.
The flow of the concrete is defined as the percentage increase in the average
diameter of the spread-concrete to the base diameter of the mould. i.e.,
The value varies from 0 to 150 %. Spread pattern of the concrete also reflects the
tendency of the segregation. It is a laboratory test. In the figure, the dimensions
are plotted in cm.
(4)Kelly-Ball Test
Kelly ball
(5)Vee-Bee Consistometer Test
Consists of a vibrating table, a metal pot, a sheet metal cone and a standard iron
rod (Fig). A slump cone with concrete is placed inside the sheet metal cylindrical
pot of the conistometer. Glass disc is turned and placed on the top of the
concrete in the pot. Vibrator switches on and the stopwatch is started
simultaneously. Vibrator is kept on till the concrete in the cone assumes a
cylindrical shape. The time is noted, time required in seconds for the concrete to
change from the shape of the cone to the shape of a cylinder is known as Vee Bee
Degree. It is a good laboratory method and more suitable for very dry concrete.
Measures the workability indirectly.
(3)Split-tension test
The largest nominal size of the aggregates does not exceed 20 mm. The moulds
are to be of metal moulds, preferably of steel or cast iron. The moulds are made in
such a way that the specimen is taken out without damage. A tamping steel bar of
16 mm diameter 0.6 m long with a bullet end is used for compacting.
The test cube specimens are made as soon as practicable. The concrete is filled
into the mould in 5 m deep approximately. Each layer is compacted by tamping
rod (25 to 35 strokes depending on 10 or 15 cm depth) or by vibration. After the
top layer has been compacted the top of the mould is leveled using a trowel. The
top is covered with a glass or metal plate to prevent evaporation.
The specimens are demoulded after 24 hours and submerged in fresh, clean water
or saturated lime solution and kept there until taken out just prior to testing. The
water should be maintained approximately at 27° C ± 2° C and on no account the
specimens are allowed to become dry. The specimen is tested in a compression
testing machine at the completion of 7 days and 28 days. Compression on the
cube or cylinder undergoes lateral expansion owing to the Poisson’s ratio effect.
Cylindrical specimens are less affected by end restraints caused by plates and
hence it is believed to give more uniform results than the cube. Further cylinder
simulates the real condition in the field in respect of direction of load. Normally
strength of cylindrical specimen is taken as 0.8 times the strength of cubical
specimens.
Direct measurement of tensile strength is not feasible. Beam tests are found to be
dependable to measure the flexural strength property of concrete. Modulus of
rupture is taken as the extreme fibre stress in bending.
The value of modulus of rupture depends on the dimension of the beam and the
type of loading. The loading adopted is central or two-point loading.
In the central point loading (Fig a), the maximum fibre stress occurs below the
point of loading where the bending moment is maximum.
In the two-point loading (Fig.b), the critical crack may appear in any section,
where the bending moment is maximum or the resistance is weak. In general, the
two-point loading yields lower value of modulus of rupture than the center point
loading.
Testing machine should have the sufficient loading capacity with a specific rate of
loading such that the permissible errors on the applied load should not be greater
than ±0.50 %. Flexural strength of the specimen is expressed as the modulus of
rupture fb as
Where,
If a is less than 170 cm for a 15.0 cm specimen or less than 11.0 cm for a 10.0 cm
specimen the results of the test be discarded.
(3)Split-Tension Test
This is an indirect tension test, also referred to as Brazilian test. In this test, a
cylindrical specimen is placed horizontally between the loading surfaces in a
compression testing machine. Load is applied to failure of the cylinder along the
vertical diameter. The test specimen is shown in Fig.
Split-tension test
When the load is applied along the genetrix, compressive stresses develop
immediately below the two generators to which the load is applied. A larger
portion about 5/6th of the depth is subjected to tensile stress.
It is simple to perform and generally gives more uniform results. Tensile strength
of split-tension test is almost nearer to true tensile strength than the modulus of
rupture. The split-tension test gives 5 to 12 % higher value than the direct tensile
strength.