QUALITY

TEST FOR
CONCRETE
 For Fresh Concrete:

Slump is a measure of consistency, or relative

ability of the concrete to flow. If the concrete
can't flow because the consistency or slump is
too low, there are potential problems with
proper consolidation. If the concrete won't
stop flowing because the slump is too high,
there are potential problems with mortar loss
through the formwork, excessive formwork
pressures, finishing delays and segregation.
 For Fresh Concrete:

Air content measures the total air content in a

sample of fresh concrete, but does not
indicate what the final in-place air content will
be, because a certain amount of air is lost in
transportation, consolidating, placement and
finishing. Three field tests are widely
specified: the pressure meter and volumetric
method are ASTM standards and the Chace
Indicator is an AASHTO procedure.
 For Fresh Concrete:

Unit weight measures the weight of a known

volume of fresh concrete.

Compressive strength is tested by pouring

cylinders of fresh concrete and measuring the
force needed to break the concrete cylinders
at proscribed intervals as they harden.
 For Fresh Concrete:

Concrete hardens and gains strength as it

hydrates. The hydration process continues over a
long period of time. It happens rapidly at first and
slows down as time goes by. To measure the
ultimate strength of concrete would require a
wait of several years. This would be impractical,
so a time period of 28 days was selected by
specification writing authorities as the age that all
concrete should be tested. At this age, a
substantial percentage of the hydration has taken
place.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Rebound hammer test is done to find out the compressive
strength of concrete by using rebound hammer as per IS:
13311 (Part 2) 1992.

The rebound of an elastic mass depends on the hardness of

the surface against which its mass strikes. When the plunger
of the rebound hammer is pressed against the surface of
the concrete, the pring-controlled mass rebounds and the
extent of such a rebound depends upon the surface
hardness of the concrete. The surface hardness and
therefore the rebound is taken to be related to the
compressive strength of the concrete. The rebound value is
read from a graduated scale and is designated as the
rebound number or rebound index. The compressive
strength can be read directly from the graph provided on
the body of the hammer.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test is done to assess
the quality of concrete by ultrasonic pulse
velocity method as per IS: 13311 (Part 1) 1992.

The method consists of measuring the time of

travel of an ultrasonic pulse passing through the
concrete being tested. Comparatively higher
velocity is obtained when concrete quality is good
in terms of density, uniformity, homogeneity etc.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Compressive Strength

The most common test preformed on

concrete is for compressive strength. There several
reasons for this: (1) it is assumed that the most
important properties of concrete as directly related
to compressive strength; (2) concrete has little
tensile strength and is used primarily in
compression; (3) structural design codes are based
on compressive strength; (4) the test is relatively
simple and inexpensive to perform.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Tensile Strength

There is as yet no standard test for directly determining

tensile strength. However there are two common
methods for estimating tensile strength through
indirect tensile tests. The first is the splitting test
carried out on a standard cylinder specimen by
applying a line load along the vertical diameter. It is not
practical to apply the true line load to the cylinder
because the sides are not smooth enough and because
it would induced high compressive stresses at the
surface. Therefore, a narrow loading strip made of soft
material is used.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Another way of estimating tensile strength is the
flexural test.

A specimen beam 6 x 6 x 20 inches is molds in two

equal layers each rodded 60 times, once for each 2 in2
of top surface area. The beam may be vibrated and
should be cured in the standard way. This test tends to
overestimate the true tensile strength by about 50%.
This can be explained by the fact that the simple
flexural formula used is based on a linear stress-strain
distribution whereas concrete has a nonlinear
distribution. This is an important test because it model
how a concrete beam is normally loaded.
 For Hardened Concrete:
Modulus of Elasticity

To estimate the modulus of elasticity from the nonlinear

behavior of concrete the chord modulus of elasticity, Ec,
is measured. A standard cylinder specimen is fitted with
a strain gauge and slowly loaded, 5 lb/in^2/s. in
compression. Stress is recorded at a value of strain of
0.0005 in/in and at 40% of the ultimate load. Using
these values the chord modulus of elasticity can be
calculated. A dynamic measure of the modulus of
elasticity may be found by a nondestructive test in
which the concrete specimen is vibrated at its natural
frequency.
 QUALITY
TESTS FOR
STEEL
 Metallurgical testing is used to determine the quality of steel by
analyzing the microstructure of a sample under a microscope.
The microstructure of steel consists of grains of different
compositions and sizes. Generally, a sample of steel with fine
grains is tougher than one with large grains.
Different characteristics are produced through alloying the steel
with other substances. It is possible to determine grain size and
the size, shape, and distribution of various phases and
inclusions (nonmetallic material) which have a great effect on
the mechanical properties of the metal.
The sample can also be etched to make visible many structural
characteristics of the metal or alloy by a preferential attack on
the different constituents. The microstructure will reveal the
mechanical and thermal treatment of the metal, and it may be
possible to predict its expected behavior under a given set of
conditions.
 Hardness is not a fundamental property of a
material, but is related to its elastic and plastic
properties. The hardness value obtained in a
particular test serves only as a comparison
between materials or treatments.

The test procedure and sample preparation are

fairly simple and the results may be used in
estimating other mechanical properties. Rockwell
and Brinell are two popular hardness tests that are
widely used for inspection and control. These tests
are usually performed by impressing into the test
specimen, which is resting on a rigid platform, an
indenter of fixed and known geometry, under a
known static load.
 Hardenability is a property that determines the
depth and distribution of hardness induced by
quenching. The standardized test used is called the
end-quench hardenability test, also known as the
Jominy test.

Rockwell hardness readings are taken along the

ground surfaces at certain intervals from the
quenched end. The results are expressed as a
curve of hardness values versus distance from the
quenched end.
 Tensile test is the most frequently performed test to
determine certain mechanical properties. A specifically
prepared tensile sample is placed in the heads of a testing
machine and an axial load is placed on the sample through a
hydraulic loading system.

The tensile test is used to determine several important

material properties such as yield strength, where the
material starts to exhibit plastic or permanent deformation,
and the ultimate tensile or breaking strength.

Ductility of a material is indicated by the amount of

deformation that is possible until fracture and can be
determined by measuring elongation and reduction in area
of a tensile sample that has been tested to failure.