j o u r n a l o f t r a f fi c a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n e n g i n e e r i n g ( e n g l i s h e d i t i o n ) 2 0 1 8 ; 5 ( 3 ) : 2 1 5 e2 2 3

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Original Research Paper

Relationship between compressive and tensile

strengths of roller-compacted concrete

Chamroeun Chhorn, Seong Jae Hong, Seung Woo Lee*

Department of Civil Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do 210-702, Republic of
Korea

highlights

Comparison of relationship between compressive and flexural strengths/splitting tensile strengths are presented.

For the given compressive strength, RCC has similar flexural strength compared to that of conventional concrete.

For the given compressive strength, RCC has lower splitting tensile strength compared to that of conventional concrete.

article info abstract

Article history: The abstract roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is a zero slump concrete comprising the
Received 13 April 2017 same materials as that of conventional concrete with different proportions. The RCC must
Received in revised form be compacted to reach its final form. The effects of hydration and aggregate interlock on its
8 September 2017 strength are considerable. For similar binder contents, the compressive strength of the RCC
Accepted 9 September 2017 is generally higher than that of the conventional concrete; however, the tensile strength of
Available online 31 May 2018 RCC may not be superior to that of the conventional concrete. Adequate tensile strength is
necessary to resist fatigue cracking, particularly in pavement applications. However, the
Keywords: compressive strength is frequently used in assessing the quality control and quality
Roller-compacted concrete assurance of pavements. Therefore, the relationship between the compressive and tensile
Conventional concrete strengths of the RCC should be analyzed. Unfortunately, only a few studies have been
Compressive strength conducted on this relationship.
Flexural strength The objective of this study is to identify the difference between the indirect tensile
Splitting tensile strength strengths of the RCC and those of the conventional concrete as well as develop relationship
equations to evaluate the compressive and tensile strengths. In this study, regression
equations are developed to estimate the indirect tensile strengths, which are known as
flexural and splitting tensile strengths, using the compressive strength of the RCC. The
results show that the flexural strength of the RCC is within the predicted values obtained
from the conventional concrete equations for a given compressive strength. In contrast,
the splitting tensile strength of the RCC is relatively lower than that of the conventional
concrete for the given compressive strength.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ82 33 640 2419; fax: þ82 33 641 1391.
E-mail addresses: chamroeun.gwnu@gmail.com (C. Chhorn), zkdlwl@nate.com (S.J. Hong), swl@gwnu.ac.kr (S.W. Lee).
Peer review under responsibility of Periodical Offices of Chang'an University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtte.2017.09.002
2095-7564/© 2018 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Owner. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
216 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223
© 2018 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on
behalf of Owner. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
1. Introduction
These roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is a zero slump con-
crete comprising the same components as that of conven-
tional concrete with different proportions. However, the
construction characteristic is quite different from that of the
conventional concrete. Because of its high stiffness, a heavy
vibratory steel drum and rubber-tire rollers are required to
compact the RCC into its final form. Although this type of
concrete is dryer than the conventional concrete, its cement/
water ratio is not necessarily lower than that of the conven-
tional concrete because of its low cement content. Generally,
the cement and water contents of the RCC are lower than
those of the conventional concrete. The RCC is widely used in
constructing low volume roads, ports and dams. For instance,
roller-compacted concrete pavement or RCCP was used in
intermodal yard paving projects at the Port of Tacoma,
Washington (Pittman and Anderton, 2009). RCC was also
employed in the railroad intermodal hub faculty for
Burlington Northern at Houston, Texas. It was the first
heavy-duty RCC pavement constructed by the private sector
in the United State (Larson, 1986).
The compressive strength of the conventional concrete is
largely influenced by the cement hydration. However, in the
RCC, the compressive strength was found to be affected by
both the cement hydration and compaction. The packing of
concrete leads to increased friction between the particles,
thereby increasing the initial load carrying capacity and
strength. Without adequate compaction or density, the
maximum strength cannot be achieved. Although the
compressive strength of the RCC can be enhanced using
compaction, the improvement of tensile strength may not be
improved. The guide for roller-compacted concrete pavement
(RCCP) states that the compressive and flexural strengths of
the RCC typically range from 28 to 41 MPa and 3.5e7 MPa at
28 d, respectively (Harrington et al., 2010). Information on the
flexural strength of the RCC is limited because of the difficulty
in obtaining in-situ specimens; moreover, there is no standard
test method to prepare the specimens in the laboratory. Thus,
uncertainty exists in the relationship between the
compressive and tensile strengths of the RCC as well as the
difference between the tensile strengths of the RCC and that
of the conventional concrete. Adequate flexural strength or
tensile strength plays an important role in resisting fatigue
cracks observed in concrete pavement. Generally, the
compressive strength is firstly determined and subsequently
an empirical relationship is used to estimate the tensile
strength to be employed in the design (Tennis et al., 2004).
With a better understanding of their relationship, a more
reliable structural design of the RCCP can be achieved. The
compacting energy in actual construction may not be
equivalent to that obtained in the laboratory test, which
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
may result in different strength readings. However, because
of the difficulty in obtaining specimens under field
conditions, only the results obtained by conducting
laboratory tests were considered in this study.
Generally, the indirect tests are used to determine the
tensile strength of concrete because of the difficulty in
performing the direct tensile test. The common indirect
tensile tests are the flexural and splitting tensile strength
tests. The flexural strength is determined by failure due to
bending stress considering the compressive and tensile
stresses at the failure section. However, the splitting ten-
sile strength is defined at the point where failure is due to
the compression load, inducing pure tensile stress along
the diameter of the specimen. For conventional concrete,
the power-type equations are used to determine the flex-
ural tensile strength by knowing the compressive strength.
Mohd et al. (2014) states that many factors influenced their
relationship such as strength levels, aggregate properties
and mineralogy, admixture types, specimen moisture
content, compaction and curing conditions, specimen
geometry, age of concrete, etc. Table 1 presents the
relationship between compressive and flexural strengths
of the conventional concrete, where fr is the flexural
strength (MPa), fc is the compressive strength (MPa).
Many relationships between the splitting tensile and
compressive strengths were developed because tensile tests
can be easily conducted yielding the most reliable results
(Raphael, 1984). In general, as the age and strength increase,
the ratio of the splitting tensile to the compressive strength
decreases (Ahmad and Shah, 1985). Table 2 presents the
relationship between the compressive and splitting
tensile strengths, where fsp is the splitting tensile strength
(MPa).
2. Experimental study
As mention previously, the direct tensile test is not commonly
in concrete applications because of the difficulty in
Table 1 e Relationship between compressive and flexural
strengths of conventional concrete.
Reference Equation
Ahmed et al. (2008) 0:3fc0:5  fr  fc0:5
Legeron and Paultre (2000) frmin ¼ 0:68fc0:5
fravg ¼ 0:94fc0:5
frmax ¼ 1:2fc0:5
ACI Committee 363 (1997) fr ¼ 0:94fc0:5
Mindess et al. (2003) 0:11fc  fr  0:23fc
Selim (2008) fr ¼ 0:034fc1:286
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223 217

splitting tensile strengths) with those of the conventional

Table 2 e Relationship between compressive and
concrete obtained from other studies.
splitting tensile strengths of conventional concrete.
Reference Equation
2.1. Materials and mix design
ACI Committee 318 (1999) fsp ¼ 0:56fc0:5
Carneiro and Barcellos (1953) fsp ¼ 0:34fc0:735 The properties of the RCC can be varied by changing the fac-
Carino and Lew (1982) fsp ¼ 0:272fc0:71
tors such as aggregate gradation, binder and water content. It
Oluokun et al. (1991) fsp ¼ 0:294fc0:69
Selim (2008) fsp ¼ 0:106fc0:948
is necessary to select the right material and proportion to
CEB-FIP Model Code for Concrete fsp
2=3
¼ 0:3fc achieve sufficient strength and workable mixture. In this
Structure (1990) study, several sand/aggregate ratios were used (Table 3).
Raphael (1984) fsp ¼ 0:313fc0:667 Normal Portland cement and fly ash were utilized as binders
Gardner et al. (1988) fsp ¼ 0:47fc0:59 (Table 4). The maximum size of the aggregate was 19 mm.
fsp ¼ 0:466fc0:66
Because of the dryness of the RCC mixture, the consistency
is very sensitive to water. Thus, aggregate moisture should
conducting the test. Thus, this test is not considered in this be analyzed thoroughly in the mixing process. In this study,
study. The RCC specimens required to conduct the compres- 28 different mixtures were prepared for the analysis. They
sive and splitting tensile strength tests and these tests can be were selected using soil compaction method, which is a
obtained by performing the vibrating table test (ASTM C1176/ typical method used for proportioning a RCC mixture.
C1176M (ASTM, 2017a)), vibrating hammer test (ASTM C1435 Aggregate gradations used in this study are given in Fig. 1.
(ASTM, 2017b)), proctor test (ASTM D1557 (ASTM, 2017c)) and Specific gravities of fine and coarse aggregates are given in
coring (ASTM C42/C42M (ASTM, 2017d)). However, there is Table 5. Poly naphthalene sulfonate (PNS) superplasticizer
no particular specification for obtaining flexural strength was mainly used for improving workability of RCC mixture
specimens under laboratory. The standard should be and the properties of this admixture are given in Table 6. By
modified to obtain the flexural strength test specimens for varying the mixtures, the strength properties of the RCC are
the RCC. The uncertainty in the tensile strength of the RCC influenced by many factors such as aggregate properties,
is analyzed by comparing the relationship between the admixtures and water content. Hence, neglecting their
compressive and indirect tensile strengths (flexural and effects may lead to less accurate estimating equations.

Table 3 e RCC mixture design.

Ref. No. Vebe Fresh unit Hardened unit Water Cement Fly ash Sand Max. 19 mm Max. 13 mm
time (s) weight (kg/m3) weight (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) gravel (kg/m3) gravel (kg/m3)
s/a30 (a) 75 2471 2360 124.8 280 0 684 1483 0
s/a30 (b) 68 2510 2385 130.5 280 0 679 1472 0
s/a30 (c) 35 2500 2360 151.0 280 0 661 1433 0
s/a50 (a) 55 2425 2310 141.1 280 0 1116 622 410
s/a50 (b) 30 2415 2270 151.0 280 0 1101 614 405
s/a50 (c) 30 2415 2270 151.4 280 0 1101 614 405
s/a58 (a) 75 2430 2300 135.8 280 0 1169 861 0
s/a58 (b) 60 2450 2315 139.5 280 0 1163 857 0
s/a58 (c) 30 2415 2290 148.4 280 0 1149 847 0
s/a70 (a) 75 2360 2240 131.8 280 0 1581 630 0
s/a70 (b) 60 2350 2225 151.6 280 0 1540 614 0
s/a70 (c) 30 2370 2212 169.3 280 0 1504 599 0
s/a30 (d) 45 2455 2366 147.0 280 0 600 1489 0
s/a50 (d) 75 2515 2387 125.0 280 0 1028 1094 0
s/a70 (d) 70 2350 2230 138.3 280 0 1415 645 0
s/a58 (d) 50 2450 2310 139.3 260 0 1173 864 0
s/a58 (e) 35 2450 2310 139.2 240 0 1183 871 0
s/a58F20 48 2355 2210 148.0 224 56 1129 858 0
(a)
s/a58F20 45 2400 2260 148.0 224 56 1129 858 0
(b)
s/a58 (f) 49 2450 2310 141.7 280 0 1150 874 0
s/a58 (g) 43 2435 2290 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
S0.3 30 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
s/a58(h) 48 2435 2290 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
NAE0.05 35 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
NAE0.1 30 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
HAE0.05 33 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
HAE0.1 30 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
AF0.15 40 e e 147.3 280 0 1285 864 0
218 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223

Table 4 e Chemical and potential composition of cement and fly ash (in % w/w).
Material SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO K2O Na2O SO3 PPC C3S C2S C3A C4AF
Cement 21.4 3.4 4.2 63.5 0.6 1.2 0.04 2.9 1.8 58.0 18.0 2.0 13.0
Fly ash 50.9 30.0 7.4 5.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

sulfonate (PNS) 0.3% of binder, NAE0.05e0.1: PNS 0.1% and

normal synthetic detergent based AEA 0.05%e0.1%,
HAE0.05e0.1: PNS 0.1% and high synthetic detergent based
AEA 0.05%e0.1%, AF0.15: PNS 0.1%, high synthetic
detergent based AEA 0.05% and anti-foam agent 0.15% of
admixtures.

2.2. Specimens preparation

Cylinder specimens with a diameter of 150 mm and a height of

300 mm were prepared by adhering to ASTM C1435 and C1176/
C1176M standard (ASTM, 2017b). ASTM C1435 standard can be
Fig. 1 e Aggregate gradation for RCC mixture. applied on stiff-to-very dry consistency concrete mixtures
while C1176/C1176M can be used on stiff-to-extremely dry
concrete mixtures. In ASTM C1435 standard, the concrete is
compacted in three layers by conducting a vibrating
hammer test to obtain the final form of the specimen. In
Table 5 e Saturated surface dry (SSD) specific gravities each layer, the mortar should fill in the annular space
and water absorption of aggregates for RCC mixtures. between the outer edge of the tamping plate and the inner
Material SSD specific Water absorption mold wall as the concrete consolidates. However, the
gravity (%) vibrating is stopped if a significant portion of the mortar ring
Sand 2.94 0.94 does not form after 20 s. A circular steel tamping plate with
Max. 13 mm coarse 2.70 e a diameter of 140 mm and a mass of 3 kg is used for
aggregate distributing the compaction energy. However, in C1176/
Max. 19 mm coarse 2.73 e C1176M, the concrete is compacted in three layers by
aggregate conducting a vibrating table test. The mortar ring will be
formed in each layer before moving on to the next one.
Nevertheless, the vibrating is terminated if a significant
portion of the mortar ring does not form after 2 min. A
Table 6 e Properties of poly naphthalene sulfonate surcharge with diameter of 146 mm and a mass of 9.1 kg is
superplasticizer. utilized for distributing the compaction energy. The two
Property Value and description methods can be used on site and under laboratory condition.
In the test methods, the obtained density was close to the
Standard Inspection
in-place density of RCC compacted under field condition
Appearance light brown light brown
(Tennis et al., 2004). Thus, the density of each specimen in
powder powder
this study should reflect sufficient identical hardened
Bulk density (kg/m3) 700 ± 50 700
PH 8 to 10 8.04 properties for the strength analysis. It would be interesting
Solid content (%) 92 92.1 to study the effect of density on strength properties of RCC.
CI (%) 0.10 e However, in this study, this factor is not considered because
SO4 content (%) 3.5 2.36 the number of experimental tests is limited. Thus, the
HCOH (%) 0.10 0.014 specimens were assumed to be at their maximum density.
By employing the same contact pressure, a new tamping
Moreover, the factors help in representing a general trend in plate with an area of 390 mm  90 mm and a mass of 6.84 kg is
the strength properties of the RCC. Chhorn and Lee (2016) used to prepare flexural strength specimens using ASTM
confirmed that aggregate gradation, compaction effort and C1435 standard. Thus, the same procedure was applied on a
curing conditions can significantly influence the beam mold (400 mm  100 mm  100 mm). Fig. 2 shows the
compressive strength of RCC. It was also suggested by fabricating technique used to prepare the cylinder and beam
Gouvas and Orfanos (2014) that the estimation of specimens of the RCC.
compressive strength RCC shall rely on the variation of
different factors such as aggregate moisture, variation of 2.3. Strength test data
aggregate quality, etc.
In Table 3, s/a30-70: sand/aggregate ratio 30%e70%, F20: The specimens were tested by adhering to the ASTM C39/
fly ash 20% in place of binder, S0.3: poly naphtalene C39M (ASTM, 2017e), ASTM C78/C78M (ASTM, 2017f) and
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223 219

Fig. 2 e Molding of RCC cylinder and beam specimens using vibrating hammer and vibrating table. (a) Molding of cylinder
specimen using vibrating hammer. (b) Molding of beam specimen using vibrating hammer. (c) Molding of cylinder specimen
using vibrating table.

ASTM C496/C496M (ASTM, 2017g) standard for compressive,

flexural and splitting tensile strengths, respectively. Table 7
lists the compressive strengths corresponding to the flexural
and splitting tensile strengths, respectively. For collecting
the data, the specimens with different RCC mixtures were
casted, and subsequently, tested at 3, 7, 28 and 56 d. To
study of the relationship between the compressive and
tensile strength (flexural and splitting tensile strength), the
following parameters were employed: aggregate gradation,
binder content, water content and admixtures (Table 7).
3. Relationship between compressive and
flexural strength
3.1. Existing equations from conventional concrete
Results in this study, the equations to evaluate the rela-
tionship between the compressive and flexural strengths
of the conventional concrete were obtained from other
studies (Table 1). They were used to compare the actual
data of the compressive and flexural strengths of RCC

Table 7 e Compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strength of RCC.

Ref. No. Compressive strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa) Splitting tensile
strength (MPa)
3d 7d 28 d 56 d 3d 7d 28 d 56 d 3d 7d 28 d
s/a30 (a) e 37.5 e e e e e e e 2.47 4.05
s/a30 (b) e 41.0 e e e e e e e 3.00 3.20
s/a30 (c) e 29.9 e e e e e e e 2.47 2.93
s/a50 (a) e 36.6 e e e e e e e 3.37 3.37
s/a50 (b) e 36.8 e e e e e e e 3.03 3.53
s/a50 (c) e 33.4 e e e e e e e 3.33 2.70
s/a58 (a) e 36.6 e e e e e e e 2.47 3.23
s/a58 (b) e 37.9 e e e e e e e 3.40 3.67
s/a58 (c) e 32.8 e e e e e e e 2.70 3.27
s/a70 (a) e 12.8 e e e e e e e 2.00 2.10
s/a70 (b) e 25.7 e e e e e e e 2.33 2.83
s/a70 (c) e 25.4 e e e e e e e 2.23 2.40
s/a30 (d) 14.7 22.6 27.8 e 3.16 3.65 4.73 e 1.30 2.40 2.40
s/a50 (d) 28.1 42.5 42.5 e 3.54 4.37 6.79 e 2.50 3.20 3.23
s/a70 (d) 14.8 28.5 36.2 e 4.29 4.21 6.96 e 2.30 3.10 3.30
s/a58 (d) 32.2 33.8 42.0 e 4.41 4.88 6.28 e e e e
s/a58 (e) 30.4 33.0 39.5 e 4.04 4.78 6.32 e e e e
s/a58F20 (a) 14.6 19.8 24.3 31.6 3.29 4.45 5.70 5.13 e e e
s/a58F20 (b) 16.3 18.3 23.8 31.6 3.34 4.33 5.29 5.52 e e e
s/a58 (f) 21.3 25.1 35.9 40.5 3.99 5.58 6.09 5.98 e e e
s/a58 (g) 30.5 33.7 42.3 e 5.48 5.78 6.50 e e e e
s/a58S0.3 32.1 34.7 40.4 e 5.10 5.48 6.37 e e e e
220 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223

Fig. 3 e Comparison between predicted conventional

concrete flexural strength and actual RCC flexural strength
Fig. 5 e Comparison between predicted conventional
for same compressive strength.
concrete splitting tensile strength and actual RCC splitting
tensile strength for same compressive strength.

(Table 7). Fig. 3 shows the comparison. The dashed lines

failure of binder. This phenomenon may explain the way in
indicate the trend lines of the relationship between the
which compaction help improving compressive strength of
compressive and flexural strengths of the conventional
RCC. However, in the flexure element, both the compressive
concrete obtained using the equations; the plain line
and tensile stresses occur at the failure section (Fig. 4).
indicates the same for the RCC. By using data from
According to Pandey et al. (2006), at least 60% of the vertical
various mixtures of the RCC, a general trend can be
shear is carried via aggregate interlock along the flexure
drawn for the strength relationship. Fig. 3 shows that the
crack and the rest in the compression zone. This indicates
flexural strength of RCC is within the range of that of the
that the aggregate interlock can help in transferring the
conventional concrete for the given compressive strength,
stress in the flexure element. The shear resistance of the
regardless of the data scattering. Therefore, the
aggregate interlock in the flexure element may be able to
relationship between the compressive and flexural
counteract the structure failure even after the occurrence of
strengths of RCC is similar to that of the conventional
the flexure crack. Hence, the flexural strength can be
concrete. This result indicates that the compaction or
increased via compaction.
aggregate interlock can help in improving not only the
compressive strength of the RCC but also its flexural
strength. Otherwise, a lower flexural strength would have 3.2. RCC regression equations
been observed for the same compressive strength in RCC
compared to the conventional concrete. Using the given data, a regression analysis was conducted on
The aggregate interlock is well known for its ability to help the relationship between the compressive and flexural
distribute the stresses. However, the aggregate grains should strengths. Among the different types of linear regression
be in contact to utilize this function efficiently. Thus, only the equations evaluated, the power equation type (Eq. (1)) was
elements under compressive stress may benefit from the found to be the most suitable. However, the coefficient of
aggregate interlock. The shear strength of aggregate interlock determination was low. Hence, it may not be ideal to use
may be able to prevent the structure from failing after the only the compressive strength for estimating the flexural

Fig. 4 e Flexural stress test. (a) Flexural stress mechanism of a beam specimen. (b) Failure state of beam specimen under
flexural stress.
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223
Fig. 6 e Splitting tensile test. (a) Splitting tensile stress. (b) Failure state view.
strength of the RCC. Many studies have shown that the age of
concrete can influence the relationship between the
compressive and flexural strengths. Thus, this factor is
considered in this study. Accordingly, this factor helped in
improving the flexural strength estimation significantly
(Eq. (2)).
fr ¼ 0:678fc0:605
The coefficient of determination R2 ¼ 0.59, and the mean
square error (MSE) is 0.070.
fr ¼ 1:143fc0:369 d0:11
where d is the number of curing days. The coefficient of
determination R2 ¼ 0.72, and mean square error (MSE) is 0.058.
4. Relationship between compressive and
splitting tensile strength
4.1. Existing equations from conventional concrete
Various equations that help in evaluating the relationship
between the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of
the conventional concrete were obtained from previous
studies (Table 2). These equations were employed in this
study to compare the actual data of the compressive and
splitting tensile strengths of the RCC (Table 7). In Fig. 5,
the dashed lines indicate the trend lines of the
relationship between the compressive and splitting tensile
strengths of the conventional concrete obtained using the
equations; the plain line indicates the same for the RCC
used in this study. The results show that splitting tensile
strength of the RCC was lower than that of the
conventional concrete for the given compressive strength.
This result indicates that the compaction or aggregate
interlock may not help in improving the splitting tensile
strength. The splitting tensile strength of the RCC is likely
221
to be lower than that of the conventional concrete for the
given compressive strength.
In the splitting tensile test, the specimen undergoes pure
tensile stress (Fig. 6). The tensile stress splits the structure or
specimen leading to the loss of contact between aggregate
grains at the failure section. As previously mentioned, the
aggregate interlock cannot function properly without the
(1) contact between the aggregate grains. Hence, it may not be
beneficial for a pure tensile element. The correlation result
between the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of
the RCC helps in strongly supporting this hypothesis. Hence,
(2) the compaction may not significantly enhance the splitting
tensile strength of the RCC.
4.2. RCC regression equations
A regression analysis was performed on the relationship be-
tween the compressive and splitting strengths. Among the
different types of linear regression equations used, power
equation (Eq. (3)) yielded the best results. The effect of incor-
porating the curing days into the regression equation was
studied; however, this was found to be insignificant. With
limited data, it can be concluded that age is not an influential
factor in estimating the splitting tensile strength of the RCC.
fsp ¼ 0:47fc0:511 (3)
where fsp is the splitting tensile strength (MPa), the coefficient
of determination R2 ¼ 0.62, and mean square error (MSE) is
0.062.
5. Conclusions
In this study, various RCC mixtures were employed, which
helped obtain a general trend in the relationship between
compressive and flexural strengths of the RCC as well as its
relationship between the compressive and splitting tensile
222 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223
strengths compared to those of the conventional concrete.
The effect of compaction on the RCC is significant as the
aggregate interlock can be improved, thereby increasing the
early and overall compressive strengths. The flexural strength
of the RCC was found within the range of that of the con-
ventional concrete estimated using various equations for a
given compressive strength. This indicated that the aggregate
interlock, along with the compressive strength, helps in
improving the strength of a flexural structure. However, the
splitting tensile strength of the RCC was found to be lower
than that of the conventional concrete estimated using
various equations for the given compressive strength. This
result indicates that the aggregate interlock may not be useful
in improving the strength of the pure tensile elements. The
power-type equation was found to be suitable in estimating
the equations of the flexural and splitting tensile strengths of
the RCC. A significant improvement was observed in the
flexural strength estimation when the number of curing days
was considered. However, considering the curing days in the
estimating equation of the splitting tensile strength was
found to be unnecessary. Further study on the effect of other
factors (strength levels, aggregate properties and mineralogy,
admixture types, specimen moisture content, compaction
and curing conditions and specimen geometry, etc.) on the
flexural and splitting tensile strengths of the RCC should be
conducted to better understand their effects and achieve more
accurate estimating equations.
Acknowledgments
This study was conducted under research project (Develop-
ment of Eco-Friendly Pavements to Minimize Greenhouse Gas
Emissions) funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport (MOLIT) and the Korea Agency for Infrastructure
Technology Advancement (KAIA). The authors would like to
thank the members of research team, MOLIT and KAIA for
their guidance and supports throughout the project. (No.
15LRPB07926102).
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ACI Committee 318, 1999. Building Code Requirements for
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American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills.
Ahmed, M., Dad Khan, M.K., Wamiq, M., 2008. Effect of concrete
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 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2018; 5 (3): 215e223 223

6th International Conference on Maintenance and Seong Jae Hong Researcher, Department of
Rehabilitation of Pavements and Technological Control Civil Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National
(MAIRE PAV 6), Torino, 2009. University, Korea. Ph.D. in civil engineering,
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Chamroeun Chhorn Road engineer, Dasan Seung Woo Lee Professor, Department of Civil
Consultant, Korea. PhD in civil engineering, Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National
Gangneung-Wonju National University, University, Korea. Vice president of Korean
2017. Society of Road Engineer. Ph. D. in civil engi-
neering, Pennsylvania State University, 2000.
Former director of Academic-Industry Coop-
eration Center of Gangneung-Wonju National
University (2010e2012). Former dean, School
of Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National
University (2013e2016).