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ReliabilityofcoretestCriticalassessmentandproposednewapproach

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AlexandriaEngineeringJournal
Volume53,Issue1,March2014,Pages169184

OpenAccess
ORIGINALARTICLE

ReliabilityofcoretestCriticalassessmentandproposednew
approach
ShafikKhoury,AliAbdelHakamAliabdo

,AhmedGhazy

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doi:10.1016/j.aej.2013.12.005
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OpenAccessfundedbyFacultyofEngineering,AlexandriaUniversity

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Abstract
Keywords
1. Introduction
2. Impact of core test Abstract
3. Codes provisions for core analysis; st
Coretestiscommonlyrequiredintheareaofconcreteindustrytoevaluatetheconcrete
4. Research significance
strengthandsometimesitbecomestheuniquetoolforsafetyassessmentofexisting
5. Experimental program
concretestructures.Coretestisthereforeintroducedinmostcodes.Anextensive
6. Results and discussions
7. Critical assessment literaturesurveyondifferentinternationalcodesprovisionsincludingtheEgyptian,
8. Proposed model for interpreting
core
British,EuropeanandACICodes,forcoreanalysisispresented.Allstudiedcodes
9. Conclusions
provisionsseemtobeunreliableforpredictingtheinsituconcretecubestrengthfromthe
References

Figures and tables

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4

resultsofcoretests.Acomprehensiveexperimentalstudywasundertakentoexamine
thefactorsaffectingtheinterpretationofcoretestresults.Theprograminvolvesfour
concretemixes,threeconcretegrades(18,30and48MPa),fivecorediameters(1.5,2,
3,4and6in.),fivecoreaspectratios(between1and2),twotypesofcoarseaggregates
(pinklimestoneandgravel),twocoringdirections,threemoistureconditionsand18
differentsteelarrangements.Prototypesforconcreteslabsandcolumnswere
constructed.Morethan500coreswerepreparedandtestedinadditiontotremendous
numberofconcretecubesandcylinders.Resultsindicatethatthecorestrengthreduces
withtheincreaseinaspectratio,thereductionincorediameter,thepresenceof
reinforcingsteel,theincorporationofgravelinconcrete,theincreaseincoremoisture
content,thedrillingperpendiculartocastingdirection,andthereductioninconcrete
strength.TheEgyptiancodeprovisionforcoreinterpretationiscriticallyexamined.
Basedontheexperimentalevidencesthroughoutthisstudy,statisticalanalysishasbeen
performedtodeterminereliablestrengthcorrectionfactorsthataccountforthestudied
variables.Asimpleweightedregressionanalysisofamodelwithoutaninterceptwas
carriedoutusingtheSASSoftwarepackageaswellasDataFitsoftware.Anew
modelforinterpretationofcoretestresultsisproposedconsideringallfactorsaffecting
corestrength.Themodelwhencalibratedagainstlargenumberoftestdatashowsgood
agreement.Theproposedmodelcaneffectivelyestimatetheinsituconcretecube
strengthfromcoretestresults.

Keywords
StrengthDrilledcoresInterpretationCodesRegressionanalysisModel

1.Introduction
Thecompressivestrengthofconcreteisadirectrequisiteofallconcretestructuresthat
needtoresistappliedforcesofwhatevernature.Actually,theconcretecompressive
strengthisagoodindexofmostotherpropertiesofpracticalsignificance.Toensure
concretequality,standardtestspecimensareexaminedduringconstruction.These
specimens,whichgivethepotentialstrengthofconcrete,areprepared,curedandtested
accordingtorelevantstandardspecificationsandcodes.Ontheotherhand,
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determinationoftheactualstrengthofconcreteinastructureisnoteasybecauseitis
dependentonthehistoryofcuringandtheadequacyofcompactionofconcrete.
Therefore,onequestionthatdesignersfrequentlyaskiswhetherornotthestandardtest
specimenscanrepresentinsitustrengthofconcrete.Theanswertothisquestion
becomesevenmoreimportantwhenthestrengthsofstandardtestspecimensarefound
tobelowerthanthespecifiedvalue.Inthiscase,eitherthestrengthofconcreteinthe
actualstructureisloworthespecimensarenotactuallyrepresentingtheconcreteinthe
structure.Theproblemisgenerallysolvedbydrillingandtestingcorespecimensfromthe
suspectedstructuralmember.Furthermore,itmaynotbepossibletofindandtest
standardspecimensatalaterageanditmaybenecessarytoassessthecurrentstrength
ofastructuretodeterminewhetherthestrengthanddurabilityareadequateforitsfuture
usewhentheconcreteisdoubtedorthestructureisintendedtobeusedforhigherstress
conditions.Forthesespecialsituations,thecoretestisthemostusefulandreliableway
toassessthepropertiesoftheconcreteinthestructure[1].Forthesereasons,the
commonwayofdetermininginsitustrengthofconcreteistodrillandtestcores[1],[2],
[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8],[9]and[10].Althoughthemethodconsistsofexpensiveandtime
consumingoperations,coresgivereliableandusefulresultssincetheyaremechanically
testedtodestruction[2].However,thetestresultsshouldbecarefullyinterpreted
becausecorestrengthsareaffectedbyanumberoffactorssuchasdiameter,l/dratio
andmoistureconditionofthecorespecimen,thedirectionofdrilling,thepresenceof
reinforcementsteelbarsinthespecimenandeventhestrengthleveloftheconcrete[11],
[12],[13],[14],[15],[16],[17],[18],[19],[20],[21],[22],[23]and[24].

2.Impactofcoretest
Thedeterminationofcubestrengthisthemostcommonandsimpleapproachfor
evaluatingtheconcretestrengthduringtheconstructionofnewbuildingshowever,the
absenceofcuberesultsorthedoubtontheresultsmayraiseacriticalsituations.
Furthermore,duringtherehabilitationofexistingstructures,anotherapproachfor
evaluatingtheconcretestrengthisofgreatimportance.Fromthispoint,testingof
concreteelementsinexistingstructurescomesintopicture.Fromthatpoint,coretestis
commonlyrequiredintheareaofconcreteindustryandhenceisincludedinmost
internationalcodesprovisions.Infact,coretestbecomesamustinmanycritical
circumstancesandsometimesbecomestheuniquetoolforconcretequalityassessment.
Fromgeneralprospective,coretestisultimatelyneededtoassessoneoracombination
ofthefollowing:
1.

Thequalityoftheconcreteprovidedtoaconstruction(potentialstrength).

2.

Thequalityoftheconcreteintheconstruction(insitustrength),knownasactual
strength.

3.

Theultimatecapacityofthestructuretocarrytheimposedloadsactualloads,
designloads,andnewadditionalloads.

4.

Thedeteriorationinastructureduetooverloading,fatigue(bridgestructures,
machinebase,etc.),chemicalreaction(ASRorchemicalspillage,etc.),fireor
explosion,andweathering.

3.Codesprovisionsforcoreanalysisstateoftheart
Todetermineinsitucubestrength,coretestisavailablebutmostcodesgivedifferent
resultsdependedonthefactorsused.Itisgenerallyagreedthatthecompressive
strengthofextractedcorecanbeobtainedbydividingtheultimateloadbythecross
sectionalareaofthecore,calculatedfromtheaveragediameterhowever,thecritical
problemisactuallytotranslatethisresulttocube/cylinderstrengthasmentionedearlier.
Infact,thecoretestresultsmustbecarefullyinterpretedsincecorestrengthisaffected
byanumberoffactorssuchasdiameter,aspectratio(l/d),moistureconditionofthecore
specimen,directionofdrilling,thepresenceofreinforcementsteelbarsinthecore,type
andsizeaggregateandeventhestrengthleveloftheconcrete.Factorsconsideredin
codesprovisionsforcoreinterpretationaredifferent.Table1summarizesthefactors
consideredinEgyptiancode,Americancode,Europeancode,BritishcodeandConcrete
societytointerpretcorestrengthtoinsiteconcretestrength.Thetableclearlyimpliesthat
foraspecificcorestrength,theobtainedinsitustrengthisdifferentbasedonthe
consideredcode.Theapproachesadoptedinsomeofthelistedcodes/forcore
interpretationaresummarizedbelow.Moredetailsaboutothercodesapproachesfor
coreanalysismaybeseenelsewhere[14].
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Table1.
Factorsinvolvedininterpretationofcoreresultsbydifferentcodes.
List

Code/standard

Edition

FactorsConsidered
Aspect
ratio

Diameter

Reinforcing

Moisture

Damage

Direction

Egyptian
Code/Standard
Specification

2008

British
Code/Standard
Specification

2003

American
ConcreteInstitute
ACI

1998

2012

European
Standard
Specification

1998

2009

Japanese
Standard

1998

ConcreteSociety

1987

Tableoptions

3.1.CurrentEgyptianCode(2008)/standardandBritishCode(2003)
Accordingtothesecodes,theestimatedinsituconcretecubestrength(fcu)maybe
calculatedfromthemeasuredcompressivestrengthofcore(fcore)accordingtothe
followingexpression:
(1)

f c u =( F l / d ) ( F R e i n f . ) f c o r e
Turn

on

wherethefactors(Fl/d)and(FReinf.)accountfortheeffectofl/dandthepresenceof
reinforcingsteel,respectively.Thesefactorsaregiveninthecodesasfollows:
(2)
(3)
whereDistheequalto2.5forcoredrilledhorizontally(perpendiculartocasting
direction)or2.3forcoresdrilledvertically(paralleltocastingdirection),islengthto
diameterratio(l/d)afterendspreparation,risdiameterofthereinforcingbar,cis
corediameter,disdistanceofaxisofbarfromthenearestcoreend,andisthecore
lengthafterendpreparation.
Inaddition,forcorespecimencontainingtwobarsnofurtherapartthanthediameterof
thelargerbar,onlythebarcorrespondingtothehighervalueof( r *d )isconsidered.If
thebarsarefurtherapart,theircombinedeffectshouldbeassessedbyreplacingthe
term( r * d )bytheterm( r *d ).
Itshouldbepointedoutthataboveequationsusedtointerpretthecoreconcretestrength
totheinsituconcretecubestrengthhavebeendevelopedbasedonasetofassumptions
andthroughmanyconvertingprocess.Itisalsoofinteresttonotethatthedamageeffect
isconsideredinthedevelopmentoftheformulasinindirectway.Thesubjectderivation
anddetailedformulasmaybeseenelsewhere[14].
3.2.AmericanConcreteInstitute(ACI)
3.2.1.FormerACICode(2002)&CurrentASTM(2009)
ThemethodologyofcoreinterpretationgivenintheformerACIcodewasremained
withoutchangesfordecadesanduptoYear(2003).Theinplacestrengthofconcrete
cylinderatthelocationfromwhichacoretestspecimenwasextractedcanbecomputed
usingtheequation:

f c y =F l / d f c o r e

(4)

wherefcyistheequivalentinplaceconcretecylinderstrength,fcoreisconcretecore
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ReliabilityofcoretestCriticalassessmentandproposednewapproach

strength,andFl/disthestrengthcorrectionfactorforaspectratio.
TheformerACIcodedoesnotincludeanyequationtocalculatethecorrectionfactor
(Fl/d)however,thecodegivesdifferentvaluesforthistermthatisassociatedwith
differentaspectratios(l/d)asgiveninTable2.Itshouldalsobenotedthattheapproachof
currentASTMissimilartothatmentionedabove.Theonlyconsideredvariableisthe
aspectratio(l/d).Itshouldbenotedthatidenticalapproachtothatmentionedaboveis
stilleffectiveinASTMC42/C42M03[10].
Table2.
MeanvaluesforfactorFl/daccordingtoACICode(1998)andASTM.
Specimenlengthtodiameterratio,l/d

Fl/d

1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

0.87

0.93

0.96

0.98
Tableoptions

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