Evaluating residual compressive strength of concrete at elevated

temperatures using ultrasonic pulse velocity

Hsuanchih Yang
a
, Yiching Lin
a,
, Chiamen Hsiao
b
, Jian-You Liu
a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kung Road, Taichung 402, Taiwan
b
Department of Interior Design, National Taichung Institute of Technology, 129 Sanmin Road, Sec. 3, Taichung 404, Taiwan
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 25 February 2007
Received in revised form
22 April 2008
Accepted 1 May 2008
Available online 17 June 2008
Keywords:
Residual compressive strength
Concrete
High temperature
Pulse velocity
a b s t r a c t
In this paper, the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is used to quantitatively evaluate the residual
compressive strength of concrete subjected to elevated temperatures. A series of tests were performed
to examine the relationship between the residual UPV and strength of concrete with different mixture
proportions at elevated temperatures. Cylindrical specimens were made of concrete with watercement
ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, and heated in an electric furnace at temperatures ranging from 400 to 600 1C.
After exposing to the elevated temperature, the concrete specimens were cooled down in the ambient
air and tested on different days. For each test, the pulse velocity and compressive strength were
measured. Experimental results show that change in mixture proportion of concrete does not have a
signicant effect on the residual strength and UPV ratios of concrete subjected to elevated
temperatures. This important nding considerably enhances the feasibility of using UPV for quantitative
evaluation of the residual strength of re-damaged concrete structures. The relationship between the
residual strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio was developed and a general equation was proposed
for residual strength prediction. Finally, this paper veries the suitability of the proposed equation for
predicting the residual strength ratios of different concrete specimens with the measured residual UPV
ratios.
& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Although concrete is widely recognized as a re-resistant
material in construction industry, concrete undergoes severe
changes in its chemical composition and physical properties
when exposed to elevated temperatures. A wide range of studies
had been performed to investigate the inuence of heating rate,
maximum exposure temperature, exposure time, and the post-
re-curing on the residual strength of concrete with various
mixture proportions [14]. Experimental work by Mohamedbhai
[1] showed that exposure time more than 1h had a signicant
effect on residual strength; nevertheless, rates of heating and
cooling had no effect on the residual strength of concrete heated
to 6001C and beyond. In the studies presented by Chan and Peng
[2], the concrete specimens were heated in an electric furnace at
temperatures ranging from 400 to 12001C and the peak
temperature was maintained for 1h (exposure time 1h). It
was found that the strength was severely reduced at 6001C or
above. Poon et al. [3] investigated the effect of post-re-curing on
the strength recovery of re-damaged concrete and their test
results indicated that the post-re-curing resulted in substantial
strength recovery. Research work done by Li et al. [4] showed that
the strength reduction of concrete heated in an oil-burning
furnace was signicantly different from that heated in an electric
furnace at temperatures ranging between 200 and 4001C due to
different temperature elevation speeds, but the difference was
insignicant for temperatures 6001C and beyond.
Damage assessment is the rst and the most important job for
structural safety evaluation of a concrete building subjected to re
[5]. The use of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) for assessment of
concrete residual strength is one of the most interesting subjects
in the eld of nondestructive testing of concrete after exposure to
high temperatures. Several experimental studies had been carried
out to investigate how the pulse velocity was affected by the
damage of concrete caused by various high temperatures [610].
Their experimental results showed that the pulse velocity
decreases by increasing the exposure temperature for all the
concrete specimens with different mixture proportions. In a
previous paper by Chiang and Yang [11], neural network analysis
based on the relationship between the residual strength and pulse
velocity was used to predict the normalized residual strength of
concrete at elevated temperatures, in which the normalized
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resaf
Fire Safety Journal
0379-7112/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.resaf.2008.05.003

Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 422852416; fax: +886 422855490.

E-mail address: yiching@nchu.edu.tw (Y. Lin).
Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130
residual strength was dened as the ratio of compressive strength
of the heated specimen to that of the unheated specimen.
However, because of heterogeneous nature of concrete, it is still
hard to make use of the UPV method for quantitative evaluation of
re-damaged concrete structures based on the scattered data of
these previous studies.
In this paper, a series of tests were performed to examine the
changes in pulse velocity and strength of concrete subjected to
elevated temperatures. The experimental parameters include
concrete mixture proportion, exposure temperature, exposure
time, and post-re age. The objectives of this paper are to nd a
clear relationship between the residual strength and UPV of
concrete with different mixture proportions and to evaluate the
feasibility of using the UPV method for quantitatively estimating
the residual compressive strength of concrete subjected to
elevated temperatures.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Materials
Materials used for making specimens include cement, ne
aggregate (FA), coarse aggregate (CA), and superplasticizer. The
cement used was Portland Type I. River sand with a saturated-
surface dry (SSD) density of 2.62 and crushed stone with a
maximum nominal size of 12mm and a SSD density of 2.60 were
used as ne and coarse aggregates, respectively. The pulse velocity
of sand was measured by using the two-phase model [12] to be
about 4960m/s. The pulse velocity of the coarse aggregate was
measured to be about 5100m/s.
2.2. Experimental specimens
Table 1 shows the mixture proportions of concrete used in this
study. Two water/cement (W/C) ratios of 0.58 and 0.68 were
considered. One hundred and forty-seven concrete specimens
were produced for each mixture proportion. All the specimens
were cast in steel molds (100mm in diameter, 200mm in height)
and demolded 24h after casting. Subsequently, the concrete
cylinders were cured in water at 201C. After 28 days of water-
curing, the specimens were placed in ambient air.
At an age of 90 days, the specimens were heated in an electric
furnace. The average heating rate of the electric furnace used in
the experiments was 2.51C/min. Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration
of the temperaturetime curve showing heating time and
exposure time of the peak temperature. Two heating parameters
including the peak temperature and the exposure time were
considered in the studies. The peak temperatures of 400, 500, 550,
and 6001C, and the exposure times of 0, 1, and 2h were adopted in
experiment. The studies performed by Nassif et al. [8] investigated
the temperature distribution in a concrete core at elevated
temperature and it was found that there is no temperature
difference in the concrete core soon after the heating temperature
reaches the peak temperature. After exposing to the elevated
temperature, the concrete specimens were cooled down in the
ambient air (natural cooling) and tested at 7, 30, 90, and 180 days
after heating. For each test, the pulse velocity and compressive
strength of three specimens were measured according to the
specication of ASTM C597 and ASTM C39, respectively. For
comparison, unheated specimens also go through the test to
investigate the changes in the pulse velocity and compressive
strength of the concrete at elevated temperatures. To eliminate
the variation in pulse velocity caused by the change in moisture
content of concrete, the pulse velocity of the unheated specimens
was determined by performing test on the saturated concrete
specimens (right after 28 days of water-curing).
2.3. Experimental equipment
Through a direct transmission mode as illustrated in Fig. 2,
UPVs were measured by a commercially available pulse meter
with an associated transducer pair. The transducer pair had a
nominal frequency of 54kHz. The principle of UPV measurement
involves sending a wave pulse into concrete and measuring the
travel time for the pulse to propagate through the concrete. The
pulse is generated by a transmitter and received by a receiver. In
the experimental studies, the transmitter and receiver were
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 1
Mixture proportions of concrete specimens
No. W/C S/A
a
(%) V
paste
b
(%) Mixture proportion (kg/m
3
)
Water Cement Superplasticizer Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate
C1 0.68 44 36 241 354 723 914
C2 0.58 227 392
a
S/A (%) 100 V
FA
/(V
FA
+V
CA
).
b
V
paste
(%) 100 (V
W
+V
SP
+V
C
)/(V
W
+V
SP
+V
C
+V
FA
+V
CA
).
Time (min)
F
u
r
n
a
c
e

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Heating time
(heating rate =2.5C/min)
Exposure time
Peak temperature
Fig. 1. Temperaturetime curve for the furnace adopted during tests.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 122
placed at the top and bottom surfaces of a cylindrical specimen,
respectively. As a result, the path length of the ultrasonic pulse
was the length of the specimen, which was measured by using a
vernier with a minimum reading of 0.01mm. Knowing the path
length, the measured travel time (Dt) can be used to calculate the
pulse velocity (u) as follows:
u
D
Dt
, (1)
where D is the travel path length of ultrasound in the cylinder. The
concrete surface must be prepared in advance for a proper
acoustic coupling. Light pressure is needed to ensure rm contact
of the transducers against the concrete surface.
3. Experimental results
3.1. Residual strength and UPV of concrete at elevated temperatures
Fig. 3 shows the results obtained from the compressive
strength tests of all the concrete specimens subjected to different
high temperatures and cooled in ambient air to the 7th, 30th,
90th, and 180th day after heating. Each data point in the gure
represents the average of three measurements. Fig. 3(a) and (b)
shows the residual compressive strengths of the concrete speci-
mens with W/C ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively, for an
exposure time of 0h. In Fig. 3(a) and (b), it is shown that the
residual compressive strength of the heated specimens decreases
with an increasing temperature. In addition, reduction in
compressive strength occurs shortly after the specimens are
subjected to elevated temperatures above 4001C and the strength
does not recover apparently with the days of air-curing. Fig. 3(c)
and (d) shows the residual compressive strengths of the concrete
specimens with W/C ratio of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively, for an
exposure time of 1h. In the gures, it is clear that the residual
compressive strength still decreases as the exposure temperature
increases, and prolonging the air-curing days does not help restore
concrete strength signicantly. Similar results are also found in
the experiment for an exposure time of 2h as shown in Fig. 3(e)
and (f).
Fig. 4 shows the results obtained from the UPV measurements
of all the concrete specimens subjected to different high
temperatures. Each data point represents the average of three
measurements. Fig. 4(a) and (b) shows the UPV values of the
concrete specimens with W/C ratio of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively,
for an exposure time of 0h. In the gures, it is shown that the UPV
of heated concrete decreases with an increasing temperature, and
there is a notable reduction in UPV shortly after the specimens are
subjected to elevated temperature over 4001C. The UPV does not
have a noticeable change with an extension of air-curing days.
Similar results are also found in the experiment for an exposure
time of 1 and 2h as shown in Fig. 4(c) and (d) and Fig. 4(e) and (f),
respectively. It should be noticed that there exist very low UPV
values (slower than the sound velocity) labeled as star marks in
Fig. 4(d) and (f). It is believed that this abnormal phenomenon is
due to extensive cracks in heated concrete specimens that prevent
stress wave from propagation. The extensive cracks were observed
on the concrete specimens having a high W/C ratio (0.68)
subjected to a temperature of 6001C with an exposure time of
over 1h and placed in air more than 90 days after heating.
To investigate the effect of exposure time on the compressive
strength and UPV of concrete, Fig. 5 summarizes the experimental
results of different exposure times from Figs. 3 and 4 for
specimens tested on the 7th day after exposure to high
temperatures. Fig. 5(a) and (b) shows the inuence of exposure
time on the residual compressive strengths of concrete specimens
with W/C ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively. The gures
demonstrate that the reduction in the compressive strength of
concrete specimens mainly comes from the peak temperature
given in the experiment, and the increase of exposure time results
in a slight decrease in the residual strength. Fig. 5(c) and (d)
shows the UPV measurements of concrete specimens with W/C
ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively, which were cooled down
naturally to the 7th day after heat treatment. The reduction in the
UPV of concrete specimens at elevated temperatures is also
dominated by the peak temperature and the effect of exposure
time on the UPV reduction is insignicant. It is shown that the
reduction trend in UPV is similar to that in compressive strength.
3.2. Residual strength and UPV ratios of heated concrete specimens
To investigate the relative decrease in residual compressive
strength of concrete specimens subjected to high temperatures as
compared to the original strength before heating, the residual
strength ratio is calculated. Fig. 6(a) shows the residual strength
ratio of the specimens on the 7th day after exposure to various
high temperatures with an exposure time of 2h. In Fig. 6(a), the
solid and dotted lines represent the residual strength ratio of
concrete specimens with W/C ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively.
It is observed that both the solid and dotted lines go down as the
temperature increases, i.e., the residual strength ratio decreases
with an increasing temperature. The residual strength ratio of
concrete reduces rapidly for heating temperature more than
5001C. More importantly, it is also found that these two lines are
very close to each other. In other words, the relative reduction in
residual strength of specimens with different mixture proportions
has no evident difference.
Similarly, the relative decrease in residual UPV of concrete
specimens subjected to high temperatures is also investigated. Fig.
6(b) shows the residual UPV ratio of the specimens on the 7th day
after exposure to various high temperatures with an exposure
time of 2h. In Fig. 6(b), the solid and dotted lines represent the
residual UPV ratio of concrete specimens with W/C ratios of 0.58
and 0.68, respectively. The residual UPV ratio decreases with an
increasing temperature. It is also shown that the relative
reduction in UPV of specimens with different mixture proportions
has no big difference.
To further investigate whether there is still coincidence in the
reduction ratios of residual strength and UPV between these two
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Pulse
Generator
Time Measuring
Circuit
Receiver
Amplifier
Time Display
Unit
Transmitting
Transducer
D
Receiving
Transducer
Specimen
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of pulse velocity measurement.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 123
types of concrete specimens when subjected to elevated tem-
peratures, all the calculated residual strength and the residual
UPV ratios are plotted in Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7(a)(c) shows the
residual strength ratios for the specimens having exposure times
of 0, 1, and 2h, respectively, and the solid and dotted lines in the
gures represent the experimental results of concrete specimens
with W/C ratios of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively. Fig. 7(a) shows that,
for a specic exposure temperature, the solid and dotted lines are
getting close to each other, indicating similarity in the strength
reduction ratio of concrete having different mixture proportions.
The similar results are also observed in Fig. 7(b) and (c).
Fig. 8(a)(c) shows the residual UPV ratios for the specimens
having exposure times of 0, 1, and 2h, respectively. Fig. 8 also
shows the coincidence in the residual UPV ratio of concrete
specimens with different mixture proportions for a specic
elevated temperature.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0
Days after high temperature exposure
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =0 hr
400C
400C
500C
500C
550C
550C
600C
600C
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =0 hr
7
Days after high temperature exposure
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =1 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =1 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =2 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =2 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
40 80 120 160 200
0
Days after high temperature exposure
40 80 120 160 200
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
0 40 80 120 160 200
Days after high temperature exposure
Fig. 3. Compressive strength of concrete on different days after exposure to various high temperatures: (a) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 0h; (b) W/C 0.68 and
exposure time 0 h; (c) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 1h; (d) W/C 0.68 and exposure time 1h; (e) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 2h; (f) W/C 0.68 and
exposure time 2h.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 124
Figs. 7 and 8 clearly demonstrate that both the residual
strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio are dominated primarily
by different exposure temperatures and exposure times.
The mixture proportion of concrete does not have a signicant
effect on the residual strength and UPV ratios of the concrete
specimens subjected to elevated temperatures. This is a
very important observation that can help establish a clear
relationship between the residual strength and UPV of concrete
and, thus, enhance the feasibility of using UPV for practical
evaluation of the residual strength of re-damaged concrete
structures.
3.3. Relationship between the residual strength and UPV of concrete
at elevated temperatures
This section examines the relationship between the residual
strength and the residual UPV of concrete subjected to elevated
temperatures. The change in the mixture proportion of concrete
results in a variation of its strength and UPV. The residual strength
and UPV ratios used to evaluate the damage degree of heated
concrete are relative scales that help to mitigate the inuence
of the basic difference in strength and UPV of concrete due to
the variation in mixture proportion. Thus, in this study, the
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Days after high temperature exposure
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =0 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
Days after high temperature exposure
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =0 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =1 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =1 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.58, Exposure time =2 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.68, Exposure time =2 hr
400C
500C
550C
600C
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180 7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7 30 90 180
Fig. 4. UPV of concrete on different days after exposure to various high temperatures: (a) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 0h; (b) W/C 0.68 and exposure time 0h;
(c) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 1h; (d) W/C 0.68 and exposure time 1h; (e) W/C 0.58 and exposure time 2h; (f) W/C 0.68 and exposure time 2h.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 125
relationship between the residual strength ratio and the residual
UPV ratio is developed.
Fig. 9(a) shows all experimental data pairs (the residual
strength ratio vs. the residual UPV ratio) of the concrete
specimens with a W/C ratio of 0.58 that were subjected to various
elevated temperatures with different exposure times and tested
on different days after heating. In Fig. 9(a), a positive relationship
between the residual strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio is
clearly observed and a linear regression method was used to
correlate the experimental data. Eq. (2) is the regression equation
with a coefcient of determination (R
2
) of 0.94 for concrete
specimens with a W/C ratio of 0.58:
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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Exposure Time (hr)
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.58
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
10
20
30
40
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.58
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

(
m
/
s
)
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
1 2
0
Exposure Time (hr)
1 2 0
Exposure Time (hr)
1 2
0
Exposure Time (hr)
1 2
Fig. 5. Effects of exposure time on the strength and UPV of concrete: (a) strength of concrete with W/C 0.58; (b) strength of concrete with W/C 0.68; (c) UPV of
concrete with W/C 0.58; (d) UPV of concrete with W/C 0.68.
400
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o

(
%
)
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

R
a
t
i
o

(
%
)
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
500 600 400 500 600
Temperature (C) Temperature (C)
Fig. 6. Residual strength and UPV ratio of concrete on 7 days after exposure to various high temperatures with an exposure time of 2h: (a) residual strength ratio and
(b) residual UPV ratio.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 126
Y
0:58
1:00373 X
UPV
0:05810, (2)
where Y and X
UPV
stand for the residual strength ratio and the
residual UPV ratio, respectively, of concrete subjected to elevated
temperatures.
Similarly, Fig. 9(b) shows the regression result of all experi-
mental data pairs of the concrete specimens with a W/C ratio of
0.68 and Eq. (3) is the regression equation with a coefcient of
determination (R
2
) of 0.92:
Y
0:68
1:06208 X
UPV
0:07085. (3)
A comparison of Eq. (3) with Eq. (2) shows that the difference
between these two regression equations is not signicant. An idea
of establishing a general relationship between the residual
strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio for concrete with
different mixture proportions is proposed in this paper. Combin-
ing all the data presented in Fig. 9(a) and (b) together, one obtains
the general residual strengthUPV ratio relationship for concrete
with different mixture proportions as shown in Fig. 10. The
resulting regression equation with a coefcient of determination
of 0.93 is given as follows:
Y 1:03015 X
UPV
0:06344. (4)
Eq. (4) can be used to predict the residual strength ratio (Y) by
using a measured residual UPV ratio (X
UPV
). It should be noted
that the UPV of saturated concrete specimens without heating is
used as the denominator to obtain the residual UPV ratio. In the
following section, verication studies were carried out on
additional concrete specimens with a variety of mixture propor-
tions.
3.4. Verication of the proposed residual strengthUPV ratio
relationship
To verify the validity of the proposed residual strengthUPV
ratio relationship as presented in Eq. (4), additional 180 speci-
mens were constructed of concrete having 12 different mixture
proportions as listed in Table 2. The cement paste occupies 36% of
the total concrete volume. Three S/A ratios of 36%, 44%, and 52%
and four water/cement ratios of 0.43, 0.53, 0.58, and 0.63 were
considered. For each mixture proportion, 15 specimens including
12 heated specimens and 3 unheated specimens were produced.
The heated specimens were subjected to high temperatures of
300, 500, 600, and 8001C with an exposure time of 2h and their
residual UPV and compressive strength were measured 30 days
later after heating. The average UPV of three unheated saturated
specimens was used as a base to calculate the residual UPV ratio
of heated specimens, and so did the residual strength ratio.
The measured residual UPV ratio of each heated specimen was
used to predict the corresponding residual strength ratio with Eq.
(4) and, then, the predicted residual strength ratio was compared
to the measured one. Fig. 11 shows the comparison results of 144
heated specimens. In Fig. 11, the difference between the predicted
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Days after high temperature exposure
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =0 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =1 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =2 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
30 90 180 7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
Fig. 7. Residual strength ratio of concrete on different days after exposure to various high temperatures: (a) exposure time 0 h; (b) exposure time 1h; (c) exposure
time 2h.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 127
and measured strength ratios of most specimens (more than 93%)
is within 0.1 and the maximum difference is 0.17. As a result, the
proposed general equation is suitable for estimating the residual
strength ratio of concrete with various mixture proportions
subjected to elevated temperatures.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, a series of tests were performed to examine the
changes in pulse velocity and strength of concrete subjected to
elevated temperatures ranging from 400 to 6001C and to establish
ARTICLE IN PRESS
7
Days after high temperature exposure
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =0 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =1 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

U
P
V

R
a
t
i
o
Exposure time =2 hr
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
400C
500C
550C
600C
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
7
Days after high temperature exposure
30 90 180
Fig. 8. Residual UPV ratio of concrete on different days after exposure to various high temperatures: (a) exposure time 0 h; (b) exposure time 1h; (c) exposure
time 2h.
0
Residual UPV Ratio
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
W/C=0.58
W/C=0.58 (R
2
=0.94)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
R
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
W/C=0.68
W/C=0.68 (R
2
=0.92)
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0
Residual UPV Ratio
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Fig. 9. Relationship between the residual strength and UPV ratios: (a) W/C 0.58 and (b) W/C 0.68.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 128
the relationship between the residual UPV and strength ratios of
concrete. Based on the experimental results presented in this
paper, the following conclusions are drawn:
1. The residual compressive strength of concrete decreases as the
exposure temperature increases, and prolonging the air-curing
days does not help restore concrete strength signicantly. The
reduction in the compressive strength of concrete mainly
comes from the peak temperature, and the increase of
exposure time results in a slight decrease in the residual
strength.
2. The mixture proportion of concrete does not have a signicant
effect on the residual strength and UPV ratios of the concrete
specimens subjected to elevated temperatures. This important
nding can help establish a clear relationship between the
residual strength and UPV ratios.
3. A general residual strengthUPV ratio relationship for concrete
with different mixture proportions is established and this
general relationship has been veried to be suitable for
estimating the residual strength ratio of concrete subjected to
elevated temperatures.
Acknowledgment
This work was sponsored by the National Science Council of
Taiwan, ROC, under Grant No. NSC-91-2211-E-167-001.
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ARTICLE IN PRESS
0
Residual UPV Ratio
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
R
e
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u
a
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S
t
r
e
n
g
t
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R
a
t
i
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W/C=0.58
W/C=0.68
ALL(0.58,0.68) (R
2
=0.93)
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Fig. 10. General relationship between the residual strength and UPV ratios for
concrete with various mixture proportions.
Table 2
Mixture proportions of additional concrete specimens for verication
No. W/C S/A (%) V
paste
(%) Mixture proportion (kg/m
3
)
Water Cement Superplasticizer Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate
C3 0.63 28 36 234 372 460 1175
C4 0.58 227 392
C5 0.53 220 415
C6 0.43 202 469 0.70
C7 0.63 44 36 234 372 723 914
C8 0.58 227 392
C9 0.53 220 415
C10 0.43 202 469 0.70
C11 0.63 52 36 234 372 855 783
C12 0.58 227 392
C13 0.53 220 415
C14 0.43 202 469 0.70
0
Predicted strength ratio
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
M
e
a
s
u
r
e
d

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

r
a
t
i
o
Data Point
Line of Equality
Difference between 0.1
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Fig. 11. Verication result of using the proposed equation to predict the residual
strength ratio of 144 concrete specimens at elevated temperatures.
H. Yang et al. / Fire Safety Journal 44 (2009) 121130 129
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