CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER – 01
INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND

Concrete is a cheap multi-purpose composite material which has been used in almost
any type of civil structure including buildings, bridges, dams, regulators, canals, roads,
and many others. Concrete structures can be directly affected by dynamic events such as
earthquakes, storms, flooding, ground movement, etc. with possible catastrophic
sequences. Concrete structures are designed with a finite useful service lifetime.
Therefore, they can gradually lose strength, whilst quality and durability of such
structures can deteriorate year after year. Numerous concrete structures are nearing
their end of their serviceable life. Most importantly, the service lifetime of concrete will
exponentially decrease when damage has not been detected and properly treated in time
[1]
. For this reason, trained engineers are required to control and evaluate the quality and
durability of hardened concrete elements by using appropriately selected destructive and
non-destructive test (N.D.T) methods.

For several years, the quality and durability of existing concrete and reinforced concrete
structures have been tested by extracting cylindrical core samples using trepanning
techniques. The cores retrieved with the trepanning process are subsequently set to
undergo compressive loading up to the point of failure under laboratory conditions in
order to evaluate their mechanical strength. However, this testing approach involving the
removal of cylindrical cores using trepanning results in voids and possibly cracking in
[2]
the structural elements tested (e.g., a column, beam or slab) . Figure 1 shows the
reduction in the cross-sectional area of a simplified concrete component after trepanning
has been carried out and a cylindrical core has been removed for compressive testing.
Figure - 1 shows the reduction in the cross-sectional area of a simplified concrete
component after trepanning has been carried out and a cylindrical core has been
[3]
removed for compressive testing . As it is shown in figure 1, the sum of the dead and
live loads to which the structural component is exposed will have a total finite value
equal to X kN.

Before taking a core sample, the cross-sectional area of the component is equal to A 1 m2.
After the extraction of the cylindrical core with the trepanning method, there is a
reduction of the cross-sectional area from A 1 to A2 m2 (Hence A1>A2) [3]
. Therefore, stress

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CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

increments are highly undesirable in ageing concrete structures as they may have a
devastating effect
on their structural integrity and causing damage to accelerate or even result in final
failure.

Figure - 1.1 Reduction of Cross-Sectional Area after Taken a Core Sample

In addition to these, distortion and damage will arise in practically any type of
destructive tests, resulting generally to an adverse effect on the durability, quality, and
strength of a concrete structure. Effective evaluation of concrete structures based on
non-destructive methods has been a research topic of significant interest in modern
engineering. This is due to the fact that N.D.T techniques provide engineers with the
opportunity of monitoring the structural health of a concrete structure or component
without causing any form of damage to it and hence without causing any reduction to
[4]
the current structural integrity level . For the purpose of assessing the quality,
durability and detecting the presence of minor and major cracks, homogeneity, density,
discontinuities, displacement, rebar location and corrosion, bonding between concrete
[5-6]
and rebar, N.D.T testing has been frequently used in the construction industry .

1.2. NON – DESTRUCTIVE TEST METHODS

Due to the undesirable effects of destructive testing methods, it has gradually become
obsolete with focus remaining on the further improvement of appropriate N.D.T methods
as means of phasing out completely the need for trepanning. Using exclusively N.D.T

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CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

techniques for the examination of concrete structures has significantly risen in Sri Lanka
and the rest of the world in recent years. This trend is expected to continue at an even
stronger pace. Various types of equipment and accordingly N.D.T techniques can be
employed to examine the quality and durability of existing and future concrete structures
without any undesirable damage resulting. Visual inspection has been traditionally used

to detect surface cracks in concrete structures. Furthermore, the half-cell electrical

The U.P.V test is performed by using a sending transducer that sends an ultrasonic
pulse to generate a stress wave in the concrete specimen and uses a receiving transducer
to receive the wave. By knowing the distance and time that the stress wave travels
through the concrete, the U.P.V of the specimen can be calculated. Then, the properties
of the concrete can be estimated. As pointed out by many researchers, the value of the
U.P.V is affected by numerous factors, including the properties and proportion of the
constituent materials, aggregate content and types, age of the concrete, presence of
microcracks, water content, stresses in the concrete specimen, surface condition,
temperature of the concrete, path length, shape and size of the specimen, presence of
reinforcement, and so on. Therefore, using the U.P.V.T alone to predict concrete
compressive strength (fc) is not reliable.

Figure - 1.2 Compressive Strength Evaluation using U.P.V Method

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CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

The Rebound Hammer Test (R.H.T) uses the rebound of an elastic mass striking at the
concrete surface. When the plunger of the rebound hammer is pushed against the
surface and the latch is released, the spring-pulled mass rebounds back with a rebound
distance. This distance is measured on a scale numbered from 10 to 100 and is recorded
as the RN. The measurement RN depends on the energy absorbed during the impact;
therefore, it can be considered as an indicator of the concrete strength and is more likely
affected by the

near surface layer of the concrete. Additionally, the value of RN is significantly influenced
by the smoothness, carbonation, and moisture conditions of the concrete; the type of
coarse aggregate; the type of cement; cement content; age of the concrete; the size,
shape, and rigidity of the test concrete specimen; and so on.

Figure - 1.3 Compressive Strength Estimation with Rebound Hammer

The poor reliability of rebound hammer and ultrasonic pulse velocity due to different
aspects could be partially contrasted by using both methods together.

1.3. SON – REB METHOD

The Son - Reb method consists in the combination of two simple non - destructive
methods, Rebound Hammer Test (R.H.T) and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test (U.P.V.T).
This approach is mostly used for the estimation of the compressive strength values of
existing concrete elements. The method was developed by RILEM Technical Committees,
based on the research carried by the Romanian engineer [Link] in 1961 [31].
Nevertheless, the compressive strength values provided by the Son - Reb method are
more accurate, when compared to those obtained by simple methods. This combination
technique is advantageous because the rebound number (RN) obtained by the rebound

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CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

hammer test provides information about the concrete strength near the surface, whereas
the results obtained from the U.P.V.T reflects the interior concrete properties. This
technique achieves an improvement of the accuracy using various correction factors
considering the influence of different concrete mixture proportion.

The Son - Reb method of approximating the compressive strength of concrete consists in
applying the results provided by the non-destructive tests in some mathematical models.

There is a high number of available models which were proposed by different research
groups, as a result of complex experimental programs.

1.4. RESEARCH PROBLEM

Despite decades of practice and research, the interest of using N.D.T methods for an
efficient and reliable assessment of concrete compressive strength remains a
controversial issue. Because The interest of combining U.P.V and R.H test results with a
variety of mathematical expressions which are not equally sensitive to all physical and
material properties is still a matter of discussion. Some studies indicate that it improves
the assessment whereas other studies reach the opposite conclusion. [Recommendation
of RILEM TC249-ISC on Non-Destructive in Situ Strength Assessment of Concrete]

Therefore, accuracy of employed formulations available in literature which can be used to

1.5. AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to check the accuracy of mathematical models that can be used
in estimating the compressive strength values of the concrete elements between
measured parameters and to improve their prediction accuracy.

1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES

Following objectives will be implemented

1. Determination of correlation between the independent variables (R.N and U.P.V)

2. Acquire most reliable mathematical model from tested mathematical models.

3. Improve accuracy of most reliable mathematical model by modifying its

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CHAPTER - 01 INTRODUCTION

4. Validation of Modified mathematical model.  

5. Verification of accuracy modified mathematical model using concrete elements

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