Theoretical and experimental evaluation of compressive strength of concretes through nondestructive tests

ABSTRACT When evaluating degraded structures, it’s common the need to determine mechanical properties of concrete structures with no project data. Properties such as compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, for example, are significant in this analysis. However, although it’s possible to extract concrete samples for laboratory evaluations of parameters of interest, from the theoretical point of view, this is not always achievable when dealing with field activities, due to time limitations, budget restraints or even the structural restrictions from the element itself. In this sense, the preference for nondestructive methods is a possibility which provides, with reasonable accuracy, the needed information regarding the required mechanical properties. It’s possible to find in the literature mathematical expressions that directly correlate sclerometrical index (or rebound index) and the ultrasonic pulse velocity to compressive strength and to the elastic modulus. Therefore, this work compared the theoretical results to the experimental ones, obtained through 26 specimens from the concrete used in Grande Vitoria, with different compositions and ages, based on this materials’ compressive strength. Thus, this study’s conclusions verified the existence of a correlation among the results obtained from nondestructive and experimental tests.