STRENGTH OF CONCRETE CUBES AND CYLINDERS Ho Wei Rong1, David Ho2 Abstract The objective of this research was

to determine the relationship between compressive strength of cubes and cylinders that were produced and cured in Singapore. Two mixes were cast. One was Grade 35 concrete and the other was Grade 50 concrete. Their cubes and cylinders were tested at different ages to determine their compressive strength. The cylinder-to-cube strength ratio was found to be a value of 0.76 and is slightly lower than the average ratio of 0.87 obtained by researchers in other countries. Introduction Compressive strength of concrete is important because the main properties of concrete, such as elastic modulus and tensile strength, are qualitatively and quantitatively related to this property. It is also important because in structural design, load-bearing capacity of structures is related to the concrete compressive strength. As is well known, there are two types of standard test specimens used for the determination of compressive strength: cubes and cylinders. Cubes are generally used in Great Britain, Germany and Singapore, whereas the standard specimens in the United States, Australia, France and Canada are cylinders. In Scandinavia, tests are made on both cubes and cylinders. Cubes are either 100 or 150mm in size with aspect ratio of 1. Cylinders have aspect ratio of 2 and are either 100mm200mm high or 150mm300mm high. During testing, the platens of the loading machine restrain the lateral expansion of the concrete in parts of the specimen near its ends. (1) This restraint is dependent on the amount of friction developed. Under normal conditions, with friction, an element within the specimen is subjected to a shearing stress as well as to compression. With an increase of distance from the platen, the magnitude of the shearing stress decreases and the lateral expansion increases. This shear stress has the confining effect of increasing the axial load for failure. The restraining effect of the platens of the testing machine extends over the entire height of the cube but leaves a part of the cylinder unaffected due to this increase in aspect ratio. Therefore compressive strengths of cubes are expected to be higher than those of cylinders made from the same concrete. Neville (2) reported results on strength and obtained an increasing ratio for strength increasing from 9-52 MPa. The average value of the cylinder/cube strength ratio was approximately 0.87. (Table 1) Above 50 MPa, the cube/cylinder strength ratio increases progressively (2). However, all these results as well as the table of equivalence are derived from materials produced in Europe, where all testing and curing of concrete were done in temperatures of about 205C or lower. Results in Singapore could deviate because of the climate requiring the casting and curing to be done at a temperature of 275C or higher. The aim of this study was to confirm, or otherwise, whether this cylinder/cube strength ratio reported by Neville would be applicable to concrete produced under different climatic conditions.
1 2

Victoria Junior College NUS, Department of Civil Engineering

Table 1 Compressive strength reported by Neville (2)

Compressive Strength Cube (MPa) Psi 9.0 15.2 20.0 24.8 27.6 29.0 29.6 35.8 36.5 42.1 44.1 48.3 52.4 1300 2200 2900 3600 4000 4200 4300 5200 5300 6100 6400 7000 7600 Cylinder (MPa) 6.9 11.7 15.2 20.0 24.1 26.2 26.9 31.7 34.5 36.5 40.7 44.1 50.3 Psi 1000 1700 2200 2900 3500 3800 3900 4600 5000 5300 5900 6400 7300 Ratio of Strengths cylinder/ cubes 0.77 0.77 0.76 0.81 0.87 0.91 0.91 0.89 0.94 0.87 0.92 0.91 0.96 Difference of Strengths (cube-cylinders) MPa psi 2.1 3.5 4.8 4.8 3.5 2.8 2.8 4.1 2.1 5.5 3.5 4.1 2.1 300 500 700 700 500 400 400 600 300 800 500 600 300

Experimental Work Two mixes were produced, one of Grade 50 concrete, the other of Grade 35 concrete. The cubes were cast in steel moulds of 100mmX100mmX100mm. The cylinders were also cast in a steel mould, with a diameter of 100mm and a height of 200mm. A total of 21 cubes and 21cylinders were produced from each mix. Mix designs are shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Mix Proportions (kg/m3 ) for Grade 35 and Grade 50 Concrete Water Water Reducing Agent Sand 500 1070 650 180 1litre 360 1100 740 180 0.7litres Batch weights (kg) for 0.07 cubic metre of concrete Cement 20mm Water Water Reducing Agent Sand 35 74.9 45.5 12.6 472ml 25.2 77 52 12.6 340ml Cement 20mm

Grade 50 Grade 35

Grade 50 Grade 35

After the concrete was mixed, it was poured into moulds and placed on the vibrating tables to minimize air entrapment, which would affect the strength and cause the strength to be lower. Then, the specimens were covered with a plastic sheet to ensure a minimal amount of moisture lost from the specimens. After 24 hours, the moulds were removed and the specimens were cured in the fog room at a temperature of 27C. Specimens were tested at different ages up to 56 days. In order to obtain 2 smooth and parallel surfaces, cubes were tested on the sides with the direction of loading perpendicular to the direction of casting. The load on the cube was applied at a standard rate of 0.2 MPa/second thus ensuring the progressive increase in stress as failure approached. For the cylinders, the testing of cylinders in compression requires the top surface of the cylinder to be in contact with the platen of the testing machine. According to ASTM C 192-90a (3) and C 31-91 (4), depressions or excrescences greater than 3.2mm are not allowed. Therefore, the surfaces of cylinders were ground till they were smooth and then placed perpendicular to the platen of the loading machine. The load applied to the cylinder was at a standard constant rate of 1.57MPa/second. Results on Grade 35 and 50 concrete are presented in Tables 3 and 4 respectively.

Table 3 Curing (days)

Compressive Strength of Grade 35 concrete Cubes (M Pa) Specimen1 Specimen2 Specimen3 Average 27.83 28.75 32.71 30 41.17 41.45 38.61 40.5 38.74 40.79 42.7 40.5 49.84 49.81 43.39 47.5 49.59 47.25 52.38 49.5 51.49 51.21 47.93

Cylinders (M Pa)

3 7 10 21 28 56 Table 4 Curing (days)

S.D Specimen1 Specimen2 Specimen3 Average S.D 2.593 20.78 19.74 21.64 20.5 0.951 1.565 27.97 29.89 28.47 29 0.996 1.980 29.84 31.66 32.23 31 1.248 3.715 37.87 32.46 30.49 33.5 3.821 2.568 33.82 41.52 37.5 5.445 25.20* 50 1.979 40.06 38.52 42.57 40.5 2.044

Compressive Strength of Grade 50 concrete Cubes (M Pa) Specimen1 Specimen2 Specimen3 Average 44.36 43.05 44.91 44 56.32 37.22* 56.65 56.5 52.18 54.87 58.8 55.5 62.93 47.03* 69.78 62.91 66.41 50.81* 59.39 56.94 62.31

Cylinders (M Pa)

3 7 10 21 28 56

S.D Specimen1 Specimen2 Specimen3 Average S.D 0.676 37.21 33.18 32.45 34.5 2.563 0.233 40.72 40.43 41.44 41 0.520 3.329 41.14 40.88 41 0.183 17.46* 61.5 2.038 46.55 46.04 45.55 46 0.500 61.5 6.696 44.17 49.89 29.78* 47 4.044 66 5.282 57.76 40.95 65.62* 49.5 11.886 *Results ignored due to experimental error

Results & Discussion Figure 1 represents the average of the cube compressive strength against the cylinder compressive strength. Fig.5a shows the relationship for grade 35 concrete, fig.5b shows the relationship for grade 50 concrete. Fig.5c represents the two graphs combined. Graphs were drawn to express the relationship between the strength of concrete and its age in log days for Grade 35 (Fig 1 for cubes and Fig 2 for cylinders) and Grade 50 (Fig 3 for cubes and Fig 4 for cylinders) concrete. The line of best fit was drawn and the compressive strength values, which corresponded to the age of 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 50 days were interpolated. Tables 5 and 6 show these modified values. The values of the modified compressive strength in tables 5 & 6 were then used in Fig 6 to develop a modified relation between cubes and cylinders for (a) Grade 35, (b) Grade 50 and (c) combined results.
Table 5 Curing (days) 3 7 14 21 28 50 Modified Compressive Strength of Grade 35 Concrete Cubes Cylinders (M Pa) (M Pa) 31 38 45 46 48 52

22 27.5 33.5 35.5 37.5 40.5

Table 6 Curing (days) 3 7 14 21 28 50

Modified Compressive Strength of Grade 50 Concrete Cubes Cylinders (M Pa) (M Pa) 47 51 58 60 62 65

35.5 40 43 45.5 47 49.5

As seen in the results, the gradient suggests that the cylinder/cube compressive strength ratio is 0.76 for the materials and proportion used in this study. This is slightly lower than the average value of 0.87 as reported by Neville. This slight deviation in the ratio could arrive from the different materials used in the mix, or the curing of the concrete at 27C. Conclusion Neville (2) reported that the cylinder-to-cube strength ratio was 0.87 for concrete strength up to 50 MPa. For the materials and testing conditions (27C) adapted in this study, the strength ratio was found to be 0.76, which is about slightly lower than that reported by Neville. Acknowledgements I acknowledge the help of Associate Professor David Ho as well as the National University of Singapore for the use of the concrete lab for this research project titled Strength of Concrete Cubes and Cylinders. References 1. A.M Neville, Properties of Concrete, 4th Edition (1995), Addition Wesley Lapman Ltd England. Pg. 269-317, 359-405 2. A.M Neville, Properties of Concrete, 3rd Edition (1975), Addition Wesley Lapman Ltd England. Table 8.2: Strength of Cubes and Cylinders Pg. 544 3. ASTM C192/C195M-95 (1998) Standardization for Making and Curing Concrete Test Specimens in the Laboratory Pg. 112-119 4. ASTM C31/C31M-96 (1998) Standardization for Making and Curing Concrete Test Specimens in the Field. Pg.5-9

Grade35 Cube Compressive Strength (MPa)

Grade35 Cylinder Compressive Strength (MPa)

y = 16.08x + 24.669 R2 = 0.9208 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 0.5

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.5 1

y = 15.123x + 14.76 R = 0.9662

2

1.5

1.5

Age (log days)

Age(log days)

Fig.1 Relationship between Cube Compressive Strength and Age for Grade 35 Concrete

Fig.3 Relationship between Cylinder Compressive Strength and Age for Grade 35 Concrete

Grade 50 Cube Compressive strength (MPa)

Grade 50
R = 0.9115
2

Cylinder Compressive Strength (MPa)

80 60 40 20 0 0 0.5

y = 15.958x + 39.308

1 Age(log days)

1.5

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.5

y = 11.724x + 29.802 R = 0.9734

2

1 Age (log days)

1.5

Fig.2 Relationship between Cube Compressive Strength and Age for

Grade 50 Concrete

Fig.4 Relationship between Cylinder Compressive Strength and Age for Grade 50 Concrete

Cylinder Compressive

Cylinder Compressive

Strength (MPa)

Strength (MPa)

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Gr a d e 3 5

y = 0 .7 4 8 x R 2 = 0 .9 1 9 5

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

M od Gra de 3 5

y = 0 .7 5 9 3 x R 2 = 0 .9 6 9 6

10

20

30

40

50

60

10

20

30

40

50

60

C u b e C o m p r e s s ive S tr e n g t h ( M P a )

Fig.5a

Cube Com pr e s s ive S tr e ngth (M P a )

Fig.6a

60 Cylinder Compressive 50 Strength (MPa) 40 30 20 10 0 0

Cylinder Compressive

Gr a d e 5 0 R

60 y = 0 .7 5 x
2

M od Gra de 5 0

Strength (MPa)

= 0 .9 6 3 9

50 40 30 20 10 0

y = 0 .7 5 9 2 x R 2 = 0 .9 7 8 5

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

C u b e C o m p r e s s ive S t r e n g t h (M P a )

Fig.5b

Cube Com pr e s s ive S tr e ngth (M P a )

Fig.6b

60 Cylinder Compressive 50 Strength (MPa) 40 30 20 10 0

C o m b in e d Gr a d e 3 5 & 5 0

60 Cylinder Compressive y = 0 .7 4 9 3 x R 2 = 0 .9 6 7 2 50 Strength (MPa) 40 30 20 10 0

M od Com bine d Gr a de 3 5 & 5 0

y = 0 .7 5 9 2 x R 2 = 0 .9 8 6

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

C u b e C o m p r e s s ive S tr e n g th (M P a )

Fig.5c

Cube Com pr e s s ive S tr e ngth (M P a )

Fig.6c

Fig.5 Relationship between Compressive Strengths of Cylinders and Cubes for (a) Grade 35 Concrete, (b), Grade 50 Concrete, and (c) Combined Grades 35 and 50 Concrete.

Fig.6 Modified Relationship between Compressive Strengths of Cylinders and Cubes for (a) Grade 35 Concrete, (b), Grade 50 Concrete, and (c) Combined Grades 35 and 50 Concrete.