Destructive and non-destructive testing of locally sourced concrete in Pakistan
Keywords:
Compressive strength, Quality control in concrete, Schmidt rebound hammer, In-situ strength assessment, Non-destructive testingAbstract
Assessing concrete strength is crucial for structural safety, especially when using local materials that may vary in quality and composition. This study examines the destructive (DT) and nondestructive testing (NDT) methods for evaluating the strength of locally sourced concrete in Pakistan. M15-grade concrete cubes (n=50, 1:2:4 mix, w/c = 0.6) were tested for strength after 28 days of curing. Schmidt Rebound Hammer (SRHT) in vertical and horizontal orientations served as NDT, while DT was performed using a cube compression testing (CT) machine. Regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between rebound numbers and compressive strength, with cubic models providing the best fit (R²= 0.59). Further, there was no statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between predicted and measured strengths. The developed calibration equations offer a practical, rapid, and non-destructive approach for estimating in-situ concrete strength in similar local construction contexts.
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