Concrete compressive

strengths in 5 hours
Will this new method eliminate the 28-day wait for acceptance test results?

BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF

CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION

After curing, cooling and demolding, a 3- by 6-inch(8)

cylinder is load tested in the same apparatus.

Freshly molded concrete cylinders encased in their molds are

loaded to 1500 psi(9) in the curing and testing apparatus. As
soon as they have been loaded electrical resistance heaters are
activated to cure the specimens under pressure at 298° F.

s an acceptance test the standard 28-day com- Is 5 hours fast enough?

A pressive strength test (ASTM C 39) is wanting.

It gives its verdict long after that verdict is first
needed and at a time when frequently the de-
signer, contractor and owner might almost prefer not to
know the result. Robert Philleo, of the Corps of Engi-
neers, has pointed out(1)* the absurdity and inconve-
nience of depending on this test for acceptance, citing
among several examples a 15-story hotel in which all
concrete floors were cast before the first 28-day cylinder
test result was available. The structure was almost com-
plete before any of the concrete had been accepted.
A new test has been developed that gives strength re-
sults 5 hours after the test cylinders are made. Such
strength test data also must be adjusted to provide an es-
timate of standard ASTM C 39 strength results. Even 5
hours may be longer than ideally one might want to
wait. Ne ve rt h e l e s s, it is early enough to make it much
easier to solve the problem of any strengths that are be-
low specification. The developer of the test, K.W. Nass-
er, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of
Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada lists the following ad-
vantages to the contractor:
• If the 5-hour test indicates that the concrete is sound,
the contractor can have confidence in stripping his
forms on schedule.
• If the test shows the concrete is of low quality he can
promptly take any remedial action needed, including,
if necessary, removal of the concrete while such work
can still be done fairly easily.
• If the concrete is well above the required strength the
concrete supplier can be asked to modify the mix to
reduce the cost.
Method and equipment
Essentially the method involves making three 3- by 6-
inch(8) cylinders in special heavy-duty molds, curing the
concrete under pressure at high temperatures for 3
hours and breaking the cylinders after they have cooled
for 2 hours.
The test equipment is small enough to be carried in
the trunk of a car and can be used wherever there is ac-
cess to a 110-volt electric outlet. It is said to take about
half an hour to set up for testing.
The molds in which the cylinders are cast are
equipped with electrical resistance heating elements
and thermal insulation. Pre s s u re during the curing
period is supplied by a hydraulically operated press.
This is also used later to test the cured cylinders in
compression.
Test details
Concrete is molded in three lifts per mold, rodding
each lift 25 times, as in making standard 6- by 12-inch(5)
cylinders. Each end of the mold has a removable closure
with a piston that is sealed against the inner walls of the
cylinder with an O-ring. After the three molds have been
filled the piston-closures are put in place and the molds
stacked on top of the hydraulic jack in the press. An as-
bestos plate is placed beneath the bottom cylinder and
above the top cylinder to avoid heat loss. A ball bearing
ensures proper alignment of the closures with the cylin-
ders. The hydraulic jack is then pumped to force the
containers upward against the frame head. The contain-
ers are sufficiently full of concrete so that this operation
applies pressure directly to the concrete. A pressure of
1500 psi(9) is applied, and this load is maintained by an
accumulator throughout the curing period. Heat is im-
mediately introduced by plugging in the heating ele-
ments, which raise the concrete temperature to 298 de-
grees F. (10)
After 3 hours of heating is completed, the cured spec-
imens are allowed to cool 2 hours to about 150 degrees
F(11) before the pressure of the jack is released and the
molds are removed. The cured specimens are ejected
from the molds with special components of the appara-
tus. Each separated specimen is then tested either in a
conventional testing machine or in the same apparatus
* Numbers in parentheses refer to references and metric equivalents listed with this article.
FASTEST EXISTING TESTS NOT FAST ENOUGH
Two things are needed in concrete testing: a
strength test that gives reliable results quickly and de-
sign practices that permit acceptance of concrete on
the basis of such a test.
The first requirement is met, though not as early as
some might wish, by the three alternative procedures
given in ASTM C 684, “Standard Method of Making,
Accelerated Curing, and Testing of Concrete Com-
pression Test Specimens”: the warm water, boiling
water and autogenous methods.
The first requires curing 6- by 12-inch(5) cylinders in
water at 95 degrees F(6) and gives results in 24 hours. In
the second method the cylinders are cured at 70 de-
grees F(7) for a day and in boiling water for 31⁄2 hours
and then tested. In the third method, the cylinders are
stored in a properly insulated container and tested at
an age of 2 days. Data from each of the three types of
tests must be correlated with data obtained from the
same materials in the standard 28-day compressive
strength test.
On some jobs such accelerated tests have been re-
lied on as the basis for acceptance. (Regular 28-day
tests have also been required sometimes for later ver-
ification.) The autogenous method was used for
acceptance testing in construction of the Canadian
National Tower in Toronto in 1975.(2) That testing pro-
gram is further described in a symposium volume(3)
that also documents
• use of the autogenous method on the Angostura Hy-
droelectric Plant in Mexico, 1973 to 1975
• control of concrete mix proportions by the autoge-
nous method in Tunnel Emisor Central, Mexico City,
1971 to 1975
• control of concrete mix proportions with a modi-
fied boiling water method by a ready mixed concrete
producer in Montreal
Further indication of the demand for rapid testing
and earlier acceptance is the announcement(4) that ac-
celerated strength testing is now to be used both for
control and for prediction of later-age strength by the
Corps of Engineers in major civil works projects.
Test results on these projects were obtained much
earlier than the standard 28-day test results. Ne ve r-
theless, by the time the results were obtained the con-
crete had already hardened to substantial degree in
the structure. It would have done no harm to have
had a faster reliable test.
using other special components. No capping of speci-
mens with sulfur or other capping materials is needed.
How reliable is the test?
The chart shown gives the equivalent strength at 3, 7,
 + 15 percent. Although he found that the different vari-
ables in the mix did not seem to affect the linear rela-
tionship between this test and that of ASTM C 39, he
does advise that comparisons be established for use with
local materials. A research paper on the subject, “A New
Method and Apparatus for Accelerated Strength Testing
of Concrete,” has been included in the ACI symposium
volume cited.(3)

References
(1) “Lunatics, Liars and Liability,” Journal of the American Concrete
Institute, April 1976, page 181.
(2) “The Sky’s the Limit,” Concrete Construction, April 1975, page
128.

(3) Accelerated Strength Testing, Publication SP-56, American Con-

crete Institute, Detroit, Michigan, 1978.

(4) Lamond, Joseph F., “Accelerated Strength Testing by the Warm

Water Method,” Journal of the American Concrete Institute, April
1979, page 499.

Metric equivalents
Conversion chart for estimated ASTM C 94 compressive
(5) 152- by 305-millimeter (9) 10.3 megapascals
strengths at four ages from 5-hour accelerated strengths of
(6) 35 degrees C (10) 148 degrees C
concrete made with Type I portland cement.
(7) 21 degrees C (11) 65 degrees C
(8) 76- by 152-millimeter

28 and 90 days that could be expected from the ASTM C

39 test. This chart is based on results of 300 tests with a PUBLICATION#C790607
variety of cements and aggregates, and according to Copyright © 1979, The Aberdeen Group
Nasser it predicts ASTM C 39 results with an accuracy of All rights reserved