A C I COMP*13 91 0662949 0505959 810

C O M P U T E R I Z E D

by Ken W. Day

CUSUM OF STRENGTH & DENSIN RATIOS

7

-1

-2

-3

-4
08Aun
19-Jun
I
22-!Jun
27-Jun
I
04-!-JuI
06-Jul
I
ldJul
18-Jul
I
25-h
05-AUg
I
14:Aug I
22-Aug
DATE
û 70 STR + 28D STR O SLUMP A PLANT X GRADE V GAIN/10

Compilation 13

American Concrete
Institute
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 A C 1 COiQPSL3 91 Obb2949 0505960 5 3 2

Computerized Concrete QC Using Spreadsheets and Cusum Graphs

by Ken W. Day
AC1 Compilation 13

Contents
4 Your First QC Spreadsheet 23 Automatic Checking of Compliance with
Specifications
8 Automatic Cusum Graphing
26 Multiple Grade Spreadsheets
13 Database Techniques
31 Report Preparation
16 Prediction of Test Results 36 Regulating Batch Plants

19 Analyzing Batch Plant Data 40 Early Strength of In Situ Concrete

All articles were prepared for Concrete International by AC1 member Ken W. Day, a concrete consultant from
Croydon, Victoria, Australia. A former academic and structural engineer, he has been contributing articles to AC1
since 1959.

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 A C 1 C O M P * l 3 91 W 0662949 0 5 0 5 9 b l 479 E

Preface

The AC1 Compilation Series offers an opportunity to gather together

material previously published in Institute periodicals as a compact and
ready reference on a specific topic. The material in a compilation does not
necessarily represent the opinion on an AC1 technical committee-only
the opinions of the individual authors. However, the information pre-
sented here is considered a valuable resource for readers interested in the
subject .

Joe Gutierrez
Chairman, AC1 Committee 121
Quality Assurance Systems for Concrete

Victor E. Saouma
Chairman, AC1 Committee 118
Use of Computers

Ka1 R. Hindo
Chairman, AC1 Committee 214
Evaluation of Results of Tests
Used to Determine the Strength of Concrete

American Concrete Institute, Box 19150, Redford Station, Detroit, Michigan 48219

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 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 m O b b 2 9 4 9 05059b2 305 m

INTRODUCTION

These articles were written largely during 1987 and so are no longer the latest versions of the system described.
However, they are still relevant today because they were not intended to provide readers with a ready-made system
to copy and use as it stood. Rather, the purpose was threefold. One objective was to assist the non-computer-literate
reader to learn to use Lotus 123. A second was to present new techniques of quality control and the third was to
show how Lotus could be used to implement these techniques.

It is likely that large numbers of AC1 members will be freshly embarking on the use of computer spreadsheets for
years to come. It is certain that the “new techniques’’ of QC, while now more developed and more solidly estab-
lished, have yet to spread outside the most innovative 1 Yo of the concrete industry. They are no longer new to lead-
ing theorists but they are yet to come to the serious attention of the majority of potential users.

If an individual wishes to learn from scratch how to use a computer and to go on to develop their own QC system,
these articles should at least halve the time and effort involved. It is of course possible that the newly reinvented
wheel will be a better wheel, or will at least fit better into its appointed place, but it should be realized that its cost
(of several thousand hours for a complete system) will not be competitive with the purchase of a ready-made system.

This publication is therefore commended to the readers as a textbook on the use of Lotus 123 and on available tech-
niques of concrete quality control. The first few articles will enable the rapid production of an elementary control
system which is at least more effective than most of those in current use. The implementation of the more sophisti-
cated techniques in the later articles is better handled by a compiled program (the author uses Borland “Turbo c”).
Such a program runs very much faster and is much more bullet-proof and easily learned. However, it does not show
its workings to the user and so is less educational.

The latest trends in concrete QCíQA appear to be for it to be largely left in the hands of the producer but with de-
tailed reporting, availability of data and incorporation of a small proportion of independent duplicated tests so that
users can assure themselves at minimal cost that the concrete is under effective control. The situation has been com-
pletely transformed by the availability of computer batching systems which accurately report the actual as-batched
I
quantity of every ingredient of every truckload. While such data has been available as a print-out for over a decade
now, what is new are systems which make efficient use of it. This has very significant implications on the necessary
sampling rate for conventional testing because it is now known to what extent each sample is truly representative of
the whole spectrum of concrete produced. In effect, the strength of the (unsampled) weakest truckload of concrete
produced can be calculated. A further transformation is wrought by bringing forward the age at which strength is
measured to 24 hours or less without the use of conventional accelerated curing and by extending this technique to
the determination of in-situ concrete strength. The technological basis of all these developments is presented in this
series of articles but their actual implementation in computer programs has been developed substantially since their
publication.

K.W. Day
June 1991

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 A C 1 COMP+13 91
CHAPTER 1
computer spreadsheet is like
A a very large sheet of paper
ruled into rows and columns
but with an important dif-
ference. Each intersection of a row
and column forms a box called a
cell. Each cell can contain either:
A piece of text.
A numerical value.
A formula, the answer to which is
a numerical value.
The sheet can be set up with col-
umns titled using the text facility.
For QC, each row will represent a
single batch of concrete from which
several test specimens may have
been made and on which several
tests such as slump and air content
may have been carried out.
The important difference be-
tween a spreadsheet and a sheet of
paper is seen when a formula is en-
tered in a cell. The formula does
not appear in the cell, only the nu-
merical answer to the formula, but
the formula can be seen (and re-
vised) at the top of the screen when
the cursor is positioned over the cell
containing it. The formula will re-
fer t o values already, or subse-
quently, entered in other cells on the
spreadsheet.
Another important difference is
that the computer can print out all
o r any selected portion of the
spreadsheet, and can also graph the
data.
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4 AC1 COMPILATION
0662949 05059b3 241
Selection of equipment and
spreadsheet
There is by now an almost infinite
variety of hardware and software
available. The instructions given
here relate specifically to IBM-com-
patible computers and to Lotus 1-2-
3 software, since these are the most
widely used. The techniques de-
scribed can be used on many other
computers and spreadsheet systems
(some of which may be even better)
but there may be minor differences
in detailed instructions. Most of the
techniques are available on Lotus
1A but some minor aspects require
Release 2.01. The supplementary
enhancement program Lotus HAL
also adds slightly to convenience,
but its availability will not be as-
sumed here.
Lotus comes with an excellent in-
struction manual and tutorial pro-
gram which provide much more
guidance than is practicable here. In
keeping with the assumption that
the reader may have no previous
experience with computers or statis-
tics, a few of the following para-
graphs are devoted t o absolute
basics. The Lotus manual and tuto-
rial should be consulted for more
detail.
Capacity of computer
There are two kinds of capacity:
One is the working memory or ran-
dom access memory (RAM); the
other is the filing memory, often as
hard disk capacity (if the computer
has a hard disk, which is a large in-
ternal data storage device). Mem-
ory capacity is measured in bytes:
1K (Kilobyte) = 1,OOO bytes; 1MB
(Megabyte) = 1,000,OOO bytes.
If the computer does not have
Lotus 1-2-3 built in, then it will oc-
cupy a substantial amount of the
RAM (about 120K).
The smallest useful memory for a
QC spreadsheet is 100 to lSOK,
therefore the smallest RAM you
should consider is 256K if this also
has to accommodate Lotus 1-2-3.
The author did much of his initial
work with a computer of this ca-
pacity, but it is very limiting.
Hard disks come in a range of
capacities from 20M to 60M and
larger. A hard disk does not in-
crease the size of program that can
be handled, but it does greatly ease
and speed the task of filing pro-
grams, and reduces the number of
occasions on which you will feel su-
icidal having just “lost” data or a
program that took several hours to
key in.
High capacity on a hard disk is
therefore very well worthwhile, even
though its total absence will not
prevent you doing very extensive
QC.
 A C 1 COMP*L3
For serious commercial use the
smallest computer capacity that
should be considered is a 640K
RAM and a 20MB hard disk. Such
a capacity is adequate for analysis
excluding batch quantities and can
be extended without discarding the
existing computer by the addition of
an extended memory board.
A big advantage of the AT-com-
patible over the XT-compatible is
the availability of 1.2MB floppy
disks, as opposed t o the 360K
floppy disk usually used on XTs.
The larger floppy disk greatly sim-
plifies back up and storage, al-
though of course a tape back up is
even better.
Getting started
We will assume that you have at
least read the first chapter of your
Lotus manual to avoid duplication
of this excellent presentation (ver-
sion 2; version 1 requires more
study). However, it is not necessary
to learn ail this information before
proceeding, since we shall tell you
exactly what to do and you will be-
come familiar with the essential
parts painlessly through continued
use, but the manual should be con-
sulted for more explanation.
Notation
In these articles bold-faced type will
be used to indicate what is to be
typed or what shows on the screen.
Square brackets and bold-faced
type will be used to indicate a single
key.
F2 means type F, then 2
(F2] means the key marked F2
Enter means type e II t e r
[Enter] means the key marked En-
ter (or Return, or simply having a
bent arrow on it).
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
7% = Obb2747 0505764 188
phe instructions given here relate
specifically to IBM-Compatible computers
and to Lotus 1-2-3softwarn. The
techniques described can be used on
many other computers and spreadsheet
systems.
Where a space is to be left, the
underline key will be used to indi-
cate this, but the underline is not to
be typed, only the space. With these
exceptions, everything in bold face
must be typed and spaces must not
be left except where indicated by an
underline.
Formulas entered in cells will be
referred t o as “cell contents.”
These are displayed at the top of the
screen when the cursor is positioned
on the cell in question. The numer-
ical value resulting from the cell
contents will be referred to as the
“cell display.” These are displayed
in the cell itself.
“GO to” will be used as an ab-
breviation for “move the cursor to”
and “enter XYZ in 212” as an ab-
breviation for “go to 212 and type
XYZ[Enter].”
Computers use the asterisk * as
the multiplication sign, not x .
They use the slash / as the division
sign.
Correction of errors
If you make a n error in entering
anything in the computer there are
several possible ways of rectifying
the situation:
1. If the error is only at the top of
the screen (i.e.[Enter] has not been
keyed) the cursor may be moved to
the error using the arrow keys and
deleted using the backspace key.
2. If the error is already entered in
the spreadsheet move the cursor to
it and either key [F2] (the Edit key)
and proceed as above, or do not key
[F2], but simply type the correct en-
try (this will replace the incorrect
entry when [Enter] is typed.
3. Keying [ESC]generally undoes
the last move. Sometimes it has to
be keyed several times to undo sev-
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eral steps before the READY indi-
cator appears.
4. /RE A10..213 [Enter] will erase
all entries in the rectangular area
bounded by rows 10 and 13 and
columns A and Z.
5. /RE [Enter][Enter] will erase the
contents of the one cell in which the
cursor is currently centered.
Note that the backspace key de-
letes the digit/letter to the left of the
cursor, not the digit/letter above the
cursor.
Your first spreadsheet
You are now ready to produce your
first spreadsheet. Assume you are
obtaining results from tests o n
ready mixed concrete and are tak-
ing three test cylinders and one
slump test from test samples. One
cylinder is tested at 7 days and two
at 28 days.
Go to A16 and enter DATE, to
B16 and enter DOCKET No, to
C16 and enter SLUMP, to D16 and
enter 7D. The computer will beep
and refuse to enter 7D. This is be-
cause it starts with a number so the
computer assumes it is a number
and will not accept a letter in the
middle of a number. One of the
keyboard keys has a single and a
double inverted comma on it. These
are “text marks.’’ Move the small
flashing cursor line to the start of
7D (at the top of the screen) and
type the text mark key. A single in-
verted comma appears in fqont of
the 7 telling the computer it is to be
regarded as text; now it will enter
7D in D16. However, it is better to
use the caret (the small inverted v)
as this centers the 7D in the cell.
Enter A28D1 in E16, A28D2 in
F16, AMEAN 28 in G16, AGAIN in
5
 A C 1 C O M P r L 3 91 W Obb2949 05Q59b5 O L 4

A B C D E F G H I J
7
8 4500
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16 DATE DOCKET No SLUMP 7D 28D1 28D2 MEAN28 GAIN PD28 CUSüM7
17 09-Feb 420835 3.2 3988 5873 5728 5800 1813 145 3988
18 09-Feb 420836 3.2 4133 5945 5800 5873 1740 145 8120
19 10-Feb 420878 3.6 4133 5122 5003 5062 930 120 12253
20 17-Feb 421188 3.8 4458 6122 6033 6078 1620 89 16711
21 17-Feb 421204 3.8 4278 5800 5873 5836 1559 -73 20988
22 18-Feb 421265 3.8 4495 5945 6090 6018 1523 -145 25483
23 18-Feb 421267 3.2 5873 7323 7250 7286 1414 73 31356
24 18-Feb 421285 3.2 5438 6670 6815 6743 1305 -145 36793
25 18-Feb 421292 3.2 5583 7033 7105 7069 1486 - 73 42376
26 18-Feb 421299 3.0 5 185 6788 6598 6693 1508 191 47561
10-Jan-89 10:58 AM NUM CAPS

Fig.1 - Sample spreadsheet.

H16, /\PD28 in I16 and ACUSUM7
in 516.
Now go to A17. You may enter
your own results in A17 to F17 or
copy the values from Figure 1.
In the Lotus system the date is
entered as a number. The number is
actually the number of days since 1
January 1900. The column in which
the date appears may be formatted
either before or after entering the
number in it to display the date in
any one of five alternative forms.
We shall uselRFD1 (DD-MMM-
YY, e.g. 12-Aug-88) orlRFD2 (DD-
MMM, e.g. 12-Aug).
Enter (E17 + F17)12 in G17,
+ 617 - D I 7 in H17, + E17 - F I 7
in I17 and + DI7 - D$8 + J I 6
in 517.
Now go to D8 and enter a likely
average value for the 7-day results.
The $ in front of the 8 tells the
computer that D8 is an absolute,
not a relative cell address (see later
[and your manual]). Now it re-
mains to write these formulae in the
next 100 or so rows as well as in
row 17. This is not difficult or time
consuming.
Go to cell G17. Type 1. A menu
(a row of words) appears above the
row of letters a t the t o p of the
screen. O n e of these words is
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6 AC1 COMPILATION
Copy. You can move the cursor
to it and type [Enter]. Much more
simply, just type C, which has the
same effect. Now type. (the period)
and move the cursor along to 517.
All the cells G17, H17, I17 and 517
should now be brightly illuminated.
The top of the screen will now
say Enter range to copy FROM:
617..517. Type [Enter]. The bright
area contracts to G17 again and the
message changes to Enter range to
copy TO: 617. Type . again, and
move across to 517 again. Then
hold down the [l] key. The bright
area now extends from G17 to 517
and all down columns G to J. Stop
at row 50 - or row 100 if you wish
- this enlarged bright area is called
a range. Type [Enter]. The bright
area disappears and when the indi-
cator in the top right hand corner
stops WAIT flashing and says
READY the whole area will be cov-
ered with zeros (unless you have al-
ready entered some results).
Go to 518. Note that the top line
( t h e cell c o n t e n t s ) r e a d s
+ D I 8 - D$8 + J17. The computer
has incremented D17 t o D18 and
516 t o 517 but has left D$8 un-
changed. This is the difference be-
tween absolute and relative ad-
dresses.
As results are now entered in col-
umns A to F, the zeros will auto-
matically change to show means,
gains, pair differences, and the
Cusum.
Saving the spreadsheet
In the next article we will explain
what conclusions you should be
able to reach from this first sample
analysis, especially what a Cusum is
(it stands for Cumulative Sum),
how to do a continuous, automatic,
statistical analysis, and how to get
Lotus 1-2-3 to draw a graph. But
for the present you must know how
a spreadsheet can be filed between
sessions and how to retrieve it.
Type 1. The menu appears again.
This time File is selected by typing
F, then type S (for Save). The
computer asks for a name to file it
under. The name can be only up to
8 letters long, maybe “GRADE3”
or “PROJXYZ” or “XYZ3” -
but can contain no spaces, colons,
dashes, etc. We will simply use
“FIG1” so key IFSFIG1 [Enter].
The computer will then save (ie. file
away) the spreadsheet - but the
question is where? It may be on the
hard disk or on the floppy disk (if
there is one in the slot).
You can tell the computer where
to file the spreadsheet by keying
 A C 1 COMP+L3 9%
C:FIGl or A:FIGl or B:FIGl. A
and B will be the two floppy disk
drives (if you have two) and C the
hard disk. You can semi-perma-
nently set the drive to be used by
typingMGDD (Worksheet, Global,
Default, Directory) and entering the
drive and directory you wish to use,
followed by [Enter] (eg: C:123 to
save it on the hard disk in directory
123 or A: to save it on the floppy
disk in drive A).
Retrieving your spreadsheet
Type IFR (for File Retrieve). Your
filename is probably listed above
the row of letters. If it is the only
file it is probably brightly illumi-
nated. If there are several, move the
cursor to the one you want and then
key [Enter]. If there is no list of fi-
lenames, or the one you want is not
there, the computer is looking on
the wrong disk. If you put it on
drive C and called it “FIG1,” key
C:FIGl and it will be produced.
Try this before entering more
than a small proportion of what has
been described above, so that if you
lose it during initial learning, no se-
rious amount of effort will have
been lost.
Future articles
Future articles are planned to cover
such topics as:
Predicting 28-day strength
Analysing batch quantities
Checking results against a speci-
fication
Detecting poor testing
Aggregate quality variations
Multigrade operation
Plus we would like to hear from
you. What are your problems?
Have you some smart ideas of your
own? Is Spreadsheet Topics useful
to you?
These are building blocks -
not a rigid structure
Feel free to add further columns to
the spreadsheet to include any other
data you may have. This may in-
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
O b b 2 9 4 î 0 5 0 5 î b b T50
:\
clude air percentage, unit weight,
concrete temperature, a second 7-
day test cylinder, or a 3-day test
cylinder. The objective of this series
is to demonstrate techniques to use
in building your own spreadsheet
rather than to provide a complete
spreadsheet to be exactly copied.
Some of the author’s spread-
sheets have as many as 100 columns
of data and analysis and autornati-
cally draw more t h a n a dozen
graphs, each covering up to six var-
iables. Such a system may take two
or three days of concentrated effort
to set up. But once set up, the stag-
gering amount of calculation in-
volved when new data is entered
takes no effort at all, being per-
formed automatically by the com-
puter. Not only can a non-technical (LOCALLY)
typist enter all the new data, they
can even be safely left to advise you You already know the benefits of
when a problem arises with the con- AC1 national membership. But
crete. have you considered the benefits
However, retain the original of belonging t o your local AC1
spreadsheet as well since we shall chapter? The local chapters func-
use it in subsequent examples. At tion as distribution centers for the
this stage the spreadsheet should latest information and ideas. And
only include results from a single you’ll find a group of colleagues
grade of concrete and you may wish with ready answers for local con-
to run a spreadsheet for each of cr ete problems -problems you
several grades. If doubtful whether encounter every day.
results belong on the same spread- Clip and send the coupon below:
sheet (eg. the same grade but from we’ll rush you complete information
different plants or the same grade on AC1 local Chapter affiliation.
and plant but using an aggregate
from a different supplier) put them
on the same sheet but either pro-
...........................
Send me all the facts on AC1 chapter
vide an additional column to record membership.
the difference or describe the grades
o r dockets as say “ 3 0 0 0 ~ ” and NAME
“3000y.” A later article will show
how these results can be extracted COMPANY
from the spreadsheet if necessary
and how they can be separately ex- ADDRESS
amined even without extracting
them. CITY STATE ZIP
COUNTRY
Received and reviewed under Institute publication
policies.
AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation Box 19150, Detroit, MI 48219
7
 A C 1 COVP*L3
CHAPTER 2
Automatic Cusum Graphing
T he first article in this series
explained how to set up a
simple spreadsheet. This ar-
ticle explains five additional
techniques:
Modifying spreadsheet layout
Providing automatic statistics
Drawing automatic graphs
Interpreting a Cusum
Speeding result entry
Modifying layout
It is very simple to add extra col-
umns or rows to the spreadsheet.
Move the cursor t o the location
where the column o r row is re-
quired and enter MIIC (Worksheet
Insert Column) or /WIR (Work-
sheet Insert Row). Then move the
cursor to the right or downwards to
indicate how many columns or rows
are required and key [Enter]. After
a short delay the extra columns or
rows will appear like magic.
This appears clever enough, but
the power of the technique is only
seen when it is realized that all the
formula cell entries have been auto-
matically modified to accord with
the new designations of the moved
columns/rows. However, beware!
There are a few things that do not
change. Graph macros (see later)
a AC1 COMPILATION
9L = 0662949 0505967 997
are one of them: after the change
the graph will still be automatically
drawn and still have the same leg-
ends - but the wrong columns of
data will be read into it!
Whole columns of data can be
moved around using a technique
similar to that used in Part I to
copy formulas down the sheet. The
data to be moved is similarly high-
lighted but the initial command is
IM instead of IC. Move the cursor
t o the top of the column t o be
moved, type IM. (don’t forget the
period, think of it as nailing down
one end of an elastic cursor so that
you can then stretch it to cover as
many cells as you wish).
Now move the cursor to the bot-
tom of the column and type [En-
ter]. The cursor can be moved us-
ing the [l] key but it can be moved
more quickly using the [Page
Down] key. If there are very many
rows, it is quicker still to key in the
cell address. So column X, 300 rows
long, can be moved to column Z by
keying:
IMX1..X30O[Enter]Zl[Enter]
Either one or two dots can be used
between X1 and X300. Zl..Z300
could be keyed instead of just Z1
but it is not necessary.
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The differences between the
Move command and the Copy
command are:
Copy leaves a copy behind,
Move doesn’t
Any formulas in the cells moved
change when copying and not when
moving
Any formulas elsewhere on the
spreadsheet referring to the cells
moved change when moving but not
when copying.
Convince yourself of this. Enter
6 in cell A l , + A 1 * 2 in B1, and
+ B1- 2 in C1. Move the cursor to
B1, type IC[Enter]. Go to B2 and
type [Enter]. A l , B1, and C1 all
read as they did before (6, 12, and
10) and on moving the cursor to
them are seen to contain the same
formulas. However B2 reads O and
+
contains the formula A2*2.
Now repeat, but using IM instead
of IC. B1 is now empty, B2 reads 12
+
and contains the formula A1.2,
C1 still reads 10 but the formula in
C1 is now + B2-2.
Text does not change as it is
either moved or copied (which is
why a graph [or any other] macro
does not change - it is text).
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 m Ob62949 0505968 823 m
B7: [WlO] READY

0 c D E F G H I J
7
8 4500 < replace by DS12
9 MAX> 3.8 5873 7323 7250 7286 1813 191 O
10 MIN> 3 .O 3988 5122 5003 5062 930 73 -3053
11 NUMBER> 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
12 MEAN> 3.42 4756 6262 6229 6246 1490 120 SCALE FACTOR
13 STD DEV> 0.32 658 636 664 648 233 39 1
14
15
16 DOCKET No SLUMP 7D 28D1 28D2 MEAN28 GAIN PD28 CUSuM7
17 420835 3.2 3988 5873 5728 5800 1813 145 -769
18 420836 3.2 4133 5945 5800 5873 1740 145 -1392
19 420878 3.6 4133 5122 5003 5062 930 120 -2016
20 421188 3.8 4458 6122 6033 6078 1620 89 -2314
21 421204 3 . 8 4278 5800 5873 5836 1559 73 -2792
22 421265 3.8 4495 5945 6090 6018 1523 145 -3053
23 421267 3.2 5873 7323 7250 7286 1414 73 -1937
24 421285 3.2 5438 6670 6815 6743 1305 145 -1255
25 421292 3.2 5583 7033 7105 7069 1486 73 -429
26 421299 3 . 0 5185 6788 6598 6693 1508 191 O
10-Jan-89 11:OO AM NUM CAPS
Fig.1- Sample spreadsheet,

Columns may be interchanged by @MIN(C17..Cil6HEnter] tion have no meaning, but maxi-

creating a new column, moving an
existing column into it, replacing it
with another existing column, mov-
ing the first column into the space
vacated by the second, and then de-
leting the surplus empty column us-
ing the ‘Worksheet Delete Column’
command /WDC[ Enter][Enter].
After carrying out these exercises
you can save the results by typing
IFSMYSST- to file them under the
title “MYSST”. You can then re-
trieve the original FIG1 by typing I
FRFIGl[Enter] and continue with
the next section.
Automatic statistics
The author’s practice is to automat-
ically provide statistics at the top of
all columns (it is easier to do all
than only some). The first row used
for data in this example is 17, leav-
ing the top 16 rows for headings
and statistics.
In Fig. 1 columns A and B con-
tain dates and docket numbers and
C c o n t a i n s t h e first d a t a (say
slump). Move the cursor to cell C9
and type
@MAX(C17..C116)[Enter]
Now go to C10 and type
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
Now to C11 and enter
@COUNT(C17..C116)
To C12 and enter
@AVG(C17..C116)
and to C13 to enter
@STD(C17..C116)
The top of column C will now
show the maximum, minimum, to-
tal number, average (mean), and
standard deviation of all the values
entered in the column (except that if
there are more than 100, replace
C116 by C216 or other appropriate
number).
Now go to C9 and type IC. and
move to C13 and type [Enter]. Type
. again (still in C9, t o which the
cursor will have returned automati-
cally when you typed [Enter]) and
go to say Z9 and type [Enter]. Af-
ter a short delay the same statistics
will appear at the top of every col-
umn from C to Z. Of course you
see the answers (numbers) and not
the formulas. When there is no data
the answer is ERR, except the cells
in row 11 read O.
Of course some of this data will
be useless and can be removed by
the ‘Range Erase’ command
IRE[Enter][Enter]. In Cusum col-
umns, average and standard devia-
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
mum and minimum are still useful.
Cell 512 should be labelled SCALE
FACTOR and any desired number
can be entered in 513 and used (see
later) to alter the relative scales of
several graphs.
Rows 12 and 13 will probably
contain an annoying number of
decimal places. This can be over-
come by going to D12 and entering
RFFO[Enter]D12..113[Enter]. You
may also wish to go to C12 and en-
ter RFFS[Enter][Enter] to set C12
to two decimal places.
Automatic graphs
(using macros)
The whole Lotus 1-2-3 system is
menu driven, i.e., you can proceed
by making selections from menus
(at the top of the screen) without
needing t o r e m e m b e r t h i n g s .
Graphs are no exception. By start-
ing with IG a graph menu is ob-
tained and can be followed almost
without prior knowledge. However,
although simple, the process is
painfully slow and you will not feel
like repeating it after entering each
day’s results.
9
 A C 1 COflP+L3 91
The solution is to use a macro. A
macro is a series of keystrokes en-
tered on a spreadsheet as text and
then activated at some future time
by simply pressing two keys -
rather like prerecording a message
on a telephone answering device.
A macro can be entered in a sin-
gle cell anywhere on a spreadsheet
(out of the required workspace!)
but is very indigestible (hard to fol-
low and edit) in this form. My
practice is to use a series of cells in
a vertical column:
Go to a column (say column AA,
which follows Z) off the end of the
area you wish to use as spreadsheet.
Go to AA1 and enter *A (we will
call this macro ‘A’) (see Fig. 2).
Go t o AA2 and enter ’ (a text
mark inverted comma) followed by
IGR-TLX (Graph Reset, Type:
Line). This erases any previous
graph settings in the computer
memory and tells it to get ready to
draw a linear graph of which the X
range will be ..... .
The X range is actually entered
on the next line, in AA3. It is usu-
ally the date, usually in column A,
so enter A17..A56.
Go to AA4 and enter - A . This
means [EnterlA (- is called a ‘tilde’
and means [Enter] in a macro). The
[Enter] actually refers t o the X
range entry A l 7..A56 but it is more
convenient to put it on row 4. The
A says that the next entry will be the
A range.
Now go to AA5 to enter the first
data range (the A range). Say this is
to be 7-day strength and is in col-
umn D. Enter D17..D56.
Go to AA6 and enter - 8 . Then
go to AA7 and enter the second
d a t a r a n g e , say 28-day mean
10
Obb2949 0505969 7bT
A B
’/ GRGTLX /
‘ GRGTLX
A 1 7 . .A56 A17, .A56
‘A ‘A
D 1 7 . .D56 J l 7 , .J56
’B ‘B NOTE: “nly rows 5 , ,I7 6 21
G17. .G56 K 1 7 , .K56 have been altered
‘NC “NC FROM A to B
AI Al
‘OCFGBQS S 4‘LA ‘OCFGBQSS4‘LA
7D STRENGTH 7D STRENGTH
-LB ‘LB
28D STRENGTH 28D STRENGTH
’TF ’TF
PROJECT XYZ PROJECT XYZ
-TS ‘TS
GRADE PQ STRENGTHS GRADE PQ STRENGTH CUSUMS
‘TX -TX
DATE OF CAST DATE OF CAST
‘TY TY
STRENGTH ( p s i ) CUSUM
’GBQV ‘GBQV
Fig.2- Macros for Cusurn graphs A and B.
strength, in column G. Enter says that the next entry is the main
G17..656. title.
Up to six ranges (A to F ) can be Go t o AA13 and enter PROJ-
entered, but for the example we will ECT XYZ (or any other title you
use only two. Also, the number of wish to use).
results would normally be 100 or Go t o AA14 and enter -TS.
200 (so the ranges entered would be (Next entry is subtitle).
A17..A116 or A17..A216). Go to AA15 and enter GRADE
PQ STRENGTHS.
Go to AA8 and enter
-0CFGBQSS4-LA Go t o AA16 and enter -TX.
(Next entry X axis label).
This tells the computer that you re-
quire the graphs to be displayed in Go to AA17 and enter DATE OF
CAST (or you may wish t o use
color (if you have a color monitor)
as symbols connected by lines. The docket or sample number).
Go t o AA18 and enter - T Y .
symbols will be displayed at the
foot of the graph with a legend. (Next entry Y axis label).
Go t o AA19 a n d enter
SS4 says only show the date every
STRENGTH (PSI).
4th result (otherwise they will be-
come an illegible blur). Different Go to AA20 and enter -GBQV
numbers can be substituted for 4 - (which says entries complete, dis-
you may need to use 10 or 20 if you play graph).
use 100 or 200 results. LA tells the The macro is now complete but is
computer to label the ‘A’ range not yet activated. It is an order you
symbol as whatever you next enter. have typed out but not yet issued.
G o t o A A 9 and enter ’7D Now g o t o A A 2 a n d t y p e
STRENGTH (note the text mark iR N CIA[ E n te r][ E nt e i ] (Range
before the 7). Name Create ‘A’ cell AA2).
Go to AA10 and enter -LB. As Now move the cursor to a blank
before, the tilde refers to the label cell anywhere (just in case some-
in AA9, but it is more convenient to thing goes wrong!), hold down the
combine it with the next line. [Alt] key and type A.
Go t o AA11 and enter ’28D This invokes (activates) the
MEAN STRENGTH. macro. The screen will go blank and
Go to AA12 and enter -TF. This after a very short delay the graph
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91
Fig.3- Cusum graph A.
will be drawn on it - a fascinating
experience which never ceases to
amaze and impress onlookers.
It will assist your understanding
of what the macro is doing if one
time you type out the macro 'live'
(without the text mark preceding
the IG), thereby following the key-
strokes on the menu at the top of
the screen.
Hitting any key now removes the
graph and returns to the original
display of the spreadsheet. How-
ever, Lotus has not yet forgotten
your graph and the menu at the top
of the spreadsheet indicates that it is
awaiting your instructions as t o
what to do with it. Typing V (view)
will cause it to reappear. Typing Q
will leave the graph program. Typ-
ing S will instruct the computer to
save the graph on disk or in its
RAM. The screen will prompt fi-
lename. Key FIG2 or whatever else
you wish to call it. If you want the
graph filed on the hard disk, key
C:FIGP (the hard disk will be drive
C). If o n the floppy disk, key
AFIG2 or B:FIGP. If just XYZA is
keyed, the default setting will be
acted upon. .PIC will automatically
be added to the filename by the
computer to indicate that this is a
graphics file. Such a file cannot be
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE OC
Obb2949 0505970 q8L
PROJECT XVZ
A ) GRADE PQ STRENCTHS
I " '
DATE OF CAST
0 70 STRENGTH + 28D STREIICTH
recalled to the screen but is ready
for printing. In a future article
printing the graph on paper will be
covered.
The real value of the macro lay-
out used is seen when a second
graph is required. Go to AA2, type
IC.; go to AA22 and type [Enter].
The whole macro should be brightly
illuminated by the cursor before
[Enter] is keyed and the cursor will
contract again to AA2 when [En-
ter] is keyed.
Now move to AB2 and type [En-
ter] again.
Alternate lines of the macro com-
prise operating instructions and text
or ranges on which the instructions
operate. Therefore a completely
different graph can be produced by
changing the alternate lines of text
and spreadsheet data ranges with-
out disturbing the operating in-
structions.
A second graph macro identical
to the first appears in column AB.
New data ranges, titles and legends
can now be inserted (by going t o
each in turn and using the [Edit] key
or simply overwriting) without dis-
turbing all the basic instructions on
alternate lines.
For your second graph, select the
column J of Cusums you created in
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
Part I (Le., enter J17..J116 in AB7)
and label the Y axis Cusum (in
AB19). The Cusum graphs are
probably the most important part
of your QC System.
It will be necessary to go to AB2
and create the second graph macro
(macro B) by typing IRNCIB [En-
ter][Enter]. This graph will then be
+
seen when [Alt] B is typed.
Now see if you can add a Cusum
of the 28-day mean strength as
shown in Fig. 2 (use column K for
the Cusum and AB9 for the graph
instruction).
Interpreting a Cusum
A Cusum can be interpreted from a
column of figures, but the graphi-
cal form is much more useful.
The main point to grasp is that
position has no significance on a
Cusum graph. Only the slope of the
graph has significance. Specifically,
changes in slope are the points of
interest.
A Cusurn is a cumulative sum of
differences from the initial value (in
Part I you entered the approximate
mean 7-day result in cell D8 and
used it to produce a Cusum column
in column D). If the initial value se-
lected continues to be the current
11
 A C 1 COMP*13
û9-Feb 17-Feb 18-Feb
Fig.4- Cusum graph B.
mean then, by definition, on aver-
age the Cusum of differences from
it must be zero and the graph may
be uneven but will be horizontal.
As soon as the mean changes (say
by minus 50 psi) each succeeding
Cusum will, on average, be 50 psi
less than the preceding value and
the graph will turn down at an an-
gle given by the change in mean,
i.e., after 10 results, the graph will
register approximately - 500 psi
and after 20, approximately - lo00
psi. If a single sharp change in
mean occurs (which, in the author’s
experience, is the normal situation)
the graph will be straight before and
after the change and the point of
change will be clearly visible.
Note that the situation is not get-
ting worse as the graph continues to
descend. A straight line is a stable
mean, regardless of whether the line
is horizontal or slopes up or down.
If a further strength reduction oc-
curs, there will be a further change
of slope.
The whole purpose of a Cusum
graph is to reveal these ‘change
points’ and to enable change points
in strength to be correlated with
change points in slump, or density,
or air content - or simply with the
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
12
91 m Obb2949 0505973 318
PROJECT %i2
ô> CRCIDE PQ STRENGTH CUSUFIS
DfiTE OF CQCT
0 7D STRENGTH + sL8D STRENGTH
date of delivery of a new truck of
cement or admixture, or perhaps
with the date you engaged a new
testing officer! Truly big brother is
watching when the Cusums appear
on screen, as will be seen in future
articles.
Your Cusum graph probably
dives to enormous negative values
because it extends beyond the range
of results you have entered and so is
assuming a whole row of zero
strengths. To rectify this, go to 517
and change t h e entry t o @ I F
(D17 > O,(D17 - D$12)* J $ 1 3
+ Jl6,Jl6) and copy this (IC) down
column J. See Part III for the ‘con-
ditional entry’ @IF. Note also the
use of the mean result in D12 and
the scale factor in 513 (enter this as
2 initially but try changing it to see
the effect). The scale factor is used
to balance the graph scale to avoid
high variation in one variable
masking smaller variations in an-
other.
Speeding entries
By now your spreadsheet contains
many formulas. Each time you en-
ter a single number on it, the com-
puter recalculates every single one
of these formulas. It is therefore not
m
surprising that it takes a few sec-
onds to do so. If you go on to fill
the entire memory of the computer
with a large spreadsheet, each entry
can take more than a minute.
The solution is to key IWGRM
(Worksheet, Global, Recalculation,
Manual) which switches off auto-
matic recalculation. Your computer
will now accept data as fast as you
can key it in but you have to re-
member to type the [caic] key (see
your manual for where this is,
-probably [F9]) after it is all entered.
Please tell us
Are we going too quickly or too
slowly for you? Do you have any
problems with your spreadsheet?
This series is to help you become
proficient in computer QC, and you
are welcome to ask for assistance
with any problem. Do you have a
better way of doing something? We
should like to hear about that also.
Received and reviewed under institute publication
policies.
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3
CHAPTER 3
T he first two articles in this
series explained how to set
up a simple spreadsheet,
modify the layout, obtain
automatic statistics and graphs, in-
terpret a cusum, and speed up re-
sult entry. This month’s topics in-
clude:
Coping with missing results
Database techniques
Monitoring testing quality
Missing results
It would be relatively easy to oper-
ate spreadsheet control if there were
never any missing results, but this is
rarely the case. Probably by now
you have already experienced prob-
lems with missing single 28-day
strength results upsetting the mean,
gain, and pair difference columns.
Lotus 1-2-3 is able t o accept a
conditional entry in the form “If x,
then y, otherwise 2.” Applying this
to the mean of a pair of results in
columns E and F, go to G17 and
enter:
+
@IF(F17 >O,( E l 7 F17)/2, E l 7)
This copes with both results missing
or only one result missing (provid-
ing you wish to give the remaining
result the status of pair average).
Another way of achieving the
same objective might have been to
enter @AVG(E17..F17). Lotus will
ignore empty cells, so this type of
formula would provide an average
for one or one hundred results. But
if there are no results an error mes-
sage is given, which will upset sub-
sequent attempts to analyse the
means. It would be satisfactory, but
perhaps cumbersome, to enter:
@IF(E17> O,@AVG(E17..F17),0)
Note that in the first example F17
was selected for the criterion, and in
the second E17. Also note that the
@ sign is essential - it tells Lotus
to look up the very next word in its
list of special functions.
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
91 0662949 0505972 254
Techniques
The pair difference takes us an-
other step, because we have to be
sure both results are present:
@IF(E17 >O#AND#F17>O,
@ABS(E17- F17),0)[Enter]
Here we have used the absolute
value of the difference, which is
needed to obtain an average pair
difference in the “top of the page”
statistics covered in the first article.
We could have used:
@IF(E17 >0#0R#F17 > O,
@AVG(E17..F17),ONEnter]
for the average. This would have
coped with a missing result in col-
umn E when there is still a result in
column F, but it seems an unneces-
sary complication.
Database techniques
The column of means will now con-
tain some zero values where results
are missing. Lotus does not include
blank cells in its averages, but it
does include zero values unless oth-
erwise instructed. This brings us to
our first glimpse of the very power-
ful and important world of data-
base techniques. (Lotus 1-2-3 is so
called because it can d o three
things: spreadsheet, database, and
graphing).
The concept of database extrac-
tion is that of selecting from a table
of numbers only those rows which
have (or which do not have) a par-
ticular characteristic. We shall use
the technique in later articles for
such things as separating different
grades of concrete or the character-
istics of different trucks (or driv-
ers), for printing out lists of any
problem results and for delivering
on-screen warnings of problems.
For the moment, we simply wish
to exclude zero results in a single
column. Three things are needed to
do this:
Adatabase
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
Selection of a column in the
database
A criterion
The first two are easy as the da-
tabase is only a single column. But
there is a trap: one row and only
one row of headings must be in-
cluded in the database. So if the da-
tabase is t o be column G and the
first row of data is row 17, the da-
tabase is specified as G16 to G116,
column zero. The “G116” in the
example below could be G66 or
G216 as appropriate, but if G17 is
written instead of G16, the instruc-
tion is completely ignored. It would
be possible, but pointless, to spec-
ify the database as A16 to G116,
column 6 (note that the first col-
umn of a database is column O, not
column 1).
The criterion must now be estab-
lished. Rows 6 and 7 will be conve-
nient for this. Cell G6 must contain
exactly the same as G16. It is not
enough to look the same to you. If
one cell contains “MEAN” and the
other “MEAN ” (Le., MEAN fol-
lowed by a blank space), they will
not be regarded as identical by the
computer and the criterion will be
inoperative. The only safe way,
which fortunately is the easiest way,
is to copy (IC) the G16 entry into
G6. Usually all of row 16 is copied
into row 6, just in case (Fig. 1).
+
Now enter G17>0 in G7.
The computer has now been in-
structed t o accept only entries
greater than zero from the column
headed by whatever is in G6. It re-
mains to alter the entries in rows 9
to 13 as follows:
@DMAX(G16..G116,0,G6..G7)
@ DMIN(G16..G116,0,G6..G7)
@DCOUNT(G16..G116,0,66..G7)
@DAVG(G16..6116,O,G6..G7)
@DSTD(G16..G116,O,G6..G7)
The easiest way to do this is to
write the first entry (G9) as:
13
 A C 1 COMP*13 91 = Obb2949 0505973 190 m
B5: [WlOI

B C D E F G H I J
5
6 SLUMP 7D 28D1 28D2 MEAN28 GAIN PD28 CUSüM7
7 1 1 1
8 4500 c replace by DS12
9 MAX> 3.8 5873 7323 7250 7286 1813 191 O
10 MIN> 3.0 3988 5122 5003 5062 930 73 -3053
1 1 NUMBER> 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
12 MEAN> 3.42 4756 6262 6229 6246 1490 120 SCALE FACTOR
13 STD DEV> 0.32 658 636 664 648 233 39 1
14
15
16 DOCKET No SLUMP 7D 28D1 28D2 MEAN28 GAIN PD28 CUSUMI
17 420835 3.2 3988 5873 5728 5800 1813 145 -769
18 420836 3.2 4133 5945 5800 5873 1740 145 -1392
19 420878 3.6 4133 5122 5003 5062 930 120 -2016
20 421188 3.8 4458 6122 6033 6078 1620 89 -23 14
21 421204 3.8 4278 5800 5873 5836 1559 73 -2792
22 421265 3.8 4495 5945 6090 6018 1523 145 -3053
23 421267 3.2 5873 7323 7250 7286 1414 73 -1937
24 421285 3.2 5438 6670 6815 6743 1305 145 -1255
10-Jan-89 11:03 AM NUM CAPS
Fig. 1 - Sample spreadsheets.

@ D M A X ( G $ I 6..G$116,0,
G$6..G$7)
This can then be copied into the
other four rows and DMAX altered
to DMIN, DCOUNT, etc., using
the Edit key. The $ tells the com-
puter not to change what follows
when copying it t o another cell.
Without the $, the second line
would copy as:
@DMAX(G17..G117,0,G7..G8)
and be quite useless.
It is also essential not to put the $
in front of the G (Le., $G$16..
$G$116). This would work so far
but would defeat the next move,
which is to copy these formulas all
along the top of the sheet using:
/CG7..G13[Enter]G7..17[Enter]
Note that the heading in G6 is not
copied in this way but as:
/CGIG..Jl G[Enter]GG..JG[Enter]
In some cases there will be genu-
ine zero values which you do not
wish to exclude (e.g., in gains and
pair differences). In these cases the
formula creating the pair difference
can be set to any desired default
value (e.g., 0.001):
Enter into I17 and copy down
from I17 to 1116.
@IF(E17>O#AND#F17 >O,
@ABS(E17- F17),0.001)[Enter]
14
The database can now be set to ig-
nore only the value 0.001 in column
I by entering + 117 < > 0.001. All
values for MEAN greater or less
than 0.001 will be accepted, includ-
ing zero, but the 0.001 results will
be rejected. GAIN can be handled
in similar fashion, but in this case
negative values must not be dis-
carded o r reversed, so @ABS
should not be used.
Quality of testing
It is probably not until you start us-
ing Cusum that you will realise just
how difficult it is to test concrete
well. It is the author’s experience
t h a t a low result is just about
equally likely to be due to bad test-
ing as to bad concrete. Around the
world millions of dollars are spent
investigating, and even removing
and replacing perfectly satisfactory
concrete because the testing was de-
fective and nobody knew how to es-
tablish this to the satisfaction of the
supervising engineer.
The best criterion of testing qual-
ity (compression testing, that is) is
the average pair difference which
you have just set up above. If your
testing is really excellent, your av-
erage pair difference will not exceed
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
0.5 MPa (72.5 psi). Up to 1 MPa
(145 psi) is reasonable, but if you
have pair differences greater than
this then poor testing is costing you
a lot of money in depressed mean
strength and inflated variability. (If
it is your concrete and someone
else’s testing, we suggest that you
give a copy of this article to the su-
pervising engineer.)
The author’s experience is that if
two organisations are testing the
same concrete and one has a pair
difference of d and the other of d
+ x, then the mean strength found
by the latter will be lower than that
of the former by an amount some-
times as high as 2 or 3 times x. The
apparent variability of the concrete
will also be increased.
It is not simply a matter of set-
ting up things correctly in the first
place - performance must be com-
tinuously monitored, and the Pair
Difference Cusum graph is the ideal
tool. Try using a new inexperienced
testing officer and see what hap-
pens to this graph (whilst it is likely
to turn up, it could just as likely
turn down because the new officer
is trying harder!). If you have sev-
eral testing officers, do not do this
in secret, put a graph on the wall
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COflP*iI3
showing each officer’s average pair
difference on a weekly basis. This
has been known to halve pair dif-
ferences over a period without even
saying anything to the testers other
than to explain what it is (the com-
petitive spirit is a great thing!).
If mean strength is above 50 MPa
(7,250 psi) then 0.5 MPa (72.5 psi)
can be added to the pair difference
criteria given above (i.e., up to 1
MPa [145 psi] is still very good).
This is not a concession to be inter-
polated, but rather a sharp change
a t say between 5 0 and 5 5 M P a
( 7 , 2 5 0 a n d 7 , 9 7 5 psi) possibly
caused by a difference in the mode
of failure (bond becoming more im-
portant?).
Other ways of detecting testing
problems are variations in rate of
gain from 7 to 28 days, variations in
density (especially variability of
density), and general correlation of
data (e.g., on one project slump
variability suddenly dropped to an
unbelievably low level and ceased to
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
91 Obb2949 0505974 027
correlate as well as formerly with
strength. It was found that the test-
ing officer had stopped doing slump
tests and was entering his eye esti-
mate of slump!).
Quality control has (or should
have) very little to do with the bor-
ing old routine of check testing. It is
one of the more interesting com-
puter games, in which the challenge
is t o explain why one Cusum is
doing this while another is doing
that. Everyone knows that higher
slump means lower strength, but
what if lower slump gives lower
strength? Try the cylinder density
Cusum: density will go up with
lower water content but down with
less compaction - perhaps the con-
crete is now too stiff t o get full
compaction.
You are getting into the right
league when you not only spot a
strength downturn two weeks be-
fore any low 28 day results are ob-
tained, but also know whether t o
telephone the lab or the concrete
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
supplier, and whether to believe the
latter when he tells you cement
quality is down (it isn’t if it only af-
fected some grades or affected dif-
ferent grades starting at different
dates). A cement content change of
10 lb/cu yd should be clearly distin-
guishable on a strength Cusum
graph, and you should be virtually
certain between which two samples
it was made.
Next article
In the next article Spreadsheet Top-
ics will contain a great giveaway in
which each reader will receive a
crystal ball (in other words, the
topic will be prediction of test re-
sult s).
Received and reviewed under institute publication
policies.
15
 A C 1 COMP*13 91 m 0662949 0505975 T63 m

CHAPTER 4

Prediction of Test Results

T he first three articles in this
series explained how to set
up a simple spreadsheet,
modify the layout, obtain
automatic statistics and graphs, in-
terpret a cusum, speed up result en-
try, handle missing results, manage
a database, and monitor test qual-
ity. This month’s topic is:
Prediction
It is obviously far too late to start
worrying about low 28-day test re-
sults after they have been obtained
(although if the problem is a genu-
ine failure to gain strength after 7
days, there may be little alterna-
tive!). Two alternative bases for
prediction can be distinguished: one
is prediction from early age or ac-
celerated results; the other is pre-
diction f r o m batch quantities,
slumps, temperatures, densities, etc.
Virtually no prior knowledge is
needed to do the former, but a for-
mula is required to do the latter.
Prediction from early age or
accelerated tests
Some initial assumption must be
made as to the form of the relation-
ship between the 28-day result and
the early result. Whether this as-
sumption is correct or not is less
important than ensuring feedback
from the actual results being ob-
tained in order to improve the fu-
ture accuracy of prediction. If there
are different opinions between those
in charge, it is very little extra trou-
ble to obtain several predictions and
check which gives the best results.
The author’s practice for many
years has been to assume a constant
gain from early age to 28 days. The
constant will be different for differ-
ent mixes, different cements, differ-
ent admixtures and different supply
temperatures. It is also likely to
change a little from time to time for
any particular mix. Some practi-
tioners prefer to assume a constant
percentage increase, which the au-
thor considers to be simply wrong.
Others wish to analyse the results
from time to time to obtain a cor-
relation of the form A x + B . This

E F G H I J K L
5
6 28D1 28D2 ACTUAL PRED x7D GAIN PD28 PREDICTION CUSUM7
7 1 1 1 1 1
8
9 7323 7250 7286 7362 1813 191 5 60 O
10 5122 5003 5062 5477 930 73 -3 23 -3053
11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
12 6262 6229 6246 6246 1490 120 O SCALE FACTOR
13 636 664 6 48 658 233 39 233 1
14
15 2 8 DAY STRENGTH ERROR OF
16 28Dl 28D2 ACTUAL PRED x7D GAIN PD28 PREDICTION CUSüM7
17 5873 5728 5800 5477 1813 145 -323 -769
18 5945 5800 5873 5622 1740 145 -250 -1 332
19 5122 5003 5062 5622 930 120 5 60 -20 16
20 6122 6033 60 78 5 948 1620 89 -1 30 -2314
21 5800 5873 5836 5 767 1559 73 -69 -3792
22 5945 6090 6018 5985 1523 145 -3 3 -3053
23 7323 7250 7286 7362 1414 73 76 -1937
24 6670 6815 6743 6927 1305 I. 45 185 -1255
10-Jan-89 10:55 AM NUM CAPS
Fig. 1-Sample spreadsheet @Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
16 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 9 1
may possibly be worthwhile for ac-
celerated results.
If you have retained your origi-
nal example, the best place for the
predictions is next to the actual 28-
day results in column G. Go to col-
umn H and enter /WIC[Enter]
which will cause the spreadsheet to
split, leaving column H blank. The
gain column will now have become
column I. Go to H17 and enter @IF
(D17>O,D17+ 1$12,0) and copy
this down column H (Fig. 1).
Some “housekeeping” is now re-
quired:
Enter 28 DAY STRENGTH in
G15 (it will overflow into H15).
Enter ACTUAL i n G16 a n d
PRED x 7 0 in H16. Copy these
into G6 and H6. Copy G7..G13 to
H7..H13 (you may be surprised to
find that the average values in G12
and H12 are identical but this is
necessarily so if you think about it).
The graph macro ranges will not
have been automatically changed in
accordance with the inserted col-
umn and must be manually
changed.
In order not to go 3 weeks with-
out any predictions when starting a
new spreadsheet, it may be desir-
able to provide a default value from
previous experience or a trial mix.
One way of doing this is to simply
enter one “fake” 28-day result in
E17 and overwrite it when the gen-
uine result is obtained. Another is
to select a cell such as I4 and enter
a default value for the gain. The
formula in H17 would then be-
come:
@IF(D17 >O,@ IF(i$12 >O,
+
D17 + 1$12,D17 1$4),0)
This technique could be used to
ensure that the assumed gain does
not exceed a limiting value in 14.
The entry would then be:
@lF(I$12> O#AND#I$12c 1$4,
+ +
D17 1$12,D17 1$4)
but this is unnecessary in the au-
thor’s view.
Another column, say column K,
can be set up as the error of predic-
+
tion H17 - 617, or rather
@IF(H17>O#AND#G17 >O,
H17 - G17,O.OOl).
The average error should be very
close to zero unless the gain has re-
cently changed. What are of inter-
est are the maximum and minimum
(Le., the maximum plus and the
maximum minus) and the standard
deviation. If several prediction
techniques are tried, these are the
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
= Obb29Y9 0505976 9 T T
figures which will clearly indicate
their relative merits.
Prediction from batch
quantities
If actual values of cement and waL
ter content are being obtained (e.g.,
from the printout of a computer
controlled batch plant) the strength
can be predicted from the equation:
Strength = K(25 x cement/(water
+ 0.4 x (air Yo - i ) X (cement)A
0.5) - (cement/250)A3 - 5
The cement and water figures in this
equation are in kilograms per cubic
metre, so if your figures are in
pounds per cubic yard they must
each be divided by 1.685.
The value of K is expected to be
close to 1.0, but again should be
monitored and fed back to give zero
average error. Keeping an eye on
the value of K (which will be en-
tered in a cell a t the top of the
spreadsheet and will automatically
constantly change at least slightly)
will reveal any significant changes in
cement quality but will not distin-
guish such changes from testing,
curing or specimen casting prob-
lems (however the latter should be
detectable from pair differences, 7-
day to 28-day strength gain, den-
sity, etc.).
There is no difficulty in entering
a formula of this size in a single cell
and copying it down a spreadsheet
(including t h e conversion t o
kg/cubic metre).
The above is all very well if your
batch plant provides water quantity
corrected for aggregate moisture
and no further water is added, but
this is rarely the case. In any case,
water requirement is perhaps the
most important variable to moni-
tor, other than strength itself.
A future article will deal more
thoroughly with the prediction of
water requirement, including the ef-
fect of sand grading variations (as-
suming a daily sieve analysis is
done). For the present it will at least
be o f interest t o monitor the
changes in water content which can
be anticipated due to changes in
slump, concrete temperature, and
entrained air content (which should
all be measured every time cylinders
are made). There is no satisfying
theory for these effects, only an
empirical relationship from the au-
thor’s experience:
Water requirement = W‘ + 0.36s
@Seismicisolation
- 0.0007SA2 - 6A + A A % -
@Seismicisolation
0.1T + 0.02TA2
Where W‘ is a “constant” that ac-
counts for grading and admixture
effects, and:
S = slump (mm)
A = air content (Yo)
T = concrete temperature (C)
W’ will again be automatically
monitored and fed back to give zero
average error. (Note that A is used
on a computer for “to the power
of” as well as being a text mark.)
The batch plant cement figure is
likely to be more reliable than its
water figure and can be used in
conjunction with the above predic-
tion of water content to monitor the
likely strengths.
Application to control
The control system as a whole is not
basically aimed at checking fulfill-
ment of a specification (although its
use for this purpose can be highly
effective and will be covered in a
later article), rather it is to provide
as complete a knowledge as possi-
ble of what is causing variability in
the concrete being produced. This
then provides a rational basis on
which to decide where control ac-
tivity should be concentrated and
what limits should be enforced.
For example, if the largest factor
causing variability is a wildly vary-
ing air content caused by variable
carbon content of a fly ash (PFA),
it is not going to help to concen-
trate on testing aggregates or to put
an inspector at the producing plant.
On the other hand if the problem is
a tendency for cement to hang up in
the cement hopper and give an ir-
regular dosage, this will only be es-
tablished by inspection consequent
on finding a high variability of
strength not correlating with any-
thing else (of course the batch plant
operator should tell us and a good
computer plant would tell us).
Next article
In the next article the question of
how to analyze batch plant data will
be examined a n d the use of a
printer will be explained.
Received and reviewed under institute publication
policies.
i?
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
 A C 1 COMPw13 91
CHAPTER 5
I
n Part IV of this series an em-
pirical relationship was given
for the effect of slump, temper-
ature, and air content on water
requirement. It now remains to
cover the other two terms in the au-
thor’s water prediction equation,
viz: grading and silt content.
The water content prediction
method described here was devised
by the author and has not yet re-
ceived general recognition. The
reader may regard this method in
either of two lights:
It can be accepted as “a black
box” providing an estimate of wa-
ter content.
It can be accepted as an example
of the application of spreadsheet
techniques to concrete quality con-
trol, but readers may choose to
substitute not merely their own
constants by which the parameters
set out are multiplied, but also their
own selection of significant param-
eters. For example, maximum ag-
gregate size could be introduced as
a parameter, or fineness modulus
substituted for the author’s specific
surface. If the latter approach is
adopted, it may be of considerable
interest to run the reader’s own pre-
diction in parallel with that of the
author, and indeed the author
would be very pleased to receive sets
of data on which this has been
done.
The ideal situation is to provide
on the main spreadsheet columns
for the entry of the sieve fraction of
each aggregate. It is then a simple
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
0 b b 2 9 4 9 0505978 7 7 2
matter to multiply each such frac-
tion by the absolute volume of the
aggregate in question (corrected to
exact yield) to obtain a combined
grading of the mix (which should
include cement and fly ash). Such a
grading can then be employed not
merely for the prediction of water
content using the author’s specific
surface, but also to examine the
correlation of any other parameter
that takes the reader’s fancy (such
as the proportion of the maximum
size present; the sum of departures
from a straight line grading; or
J.M. Shilstone’s “Coarseness Fac-
tor”) with water requirement,
strength, air percentage, or any
other selected parameter. The com-
bined grading can also be compared
with gradings obtained by wet anal-
ysis of the mix in question (the au-
thor has done this, and the results
are quite interesting, but unsuitable
for inclusion in this series of rela-
tively brief articles).
The enormous volume of calcu-
lation involved in carrying out the
above exercise is no problem what-
ever, since the computer does this
automatically once the system is set
up and the results are inspected
merely as graphs (usually cusum
graphs). However, what is a dis-
tinct problem is the resulting enor-
mous spreadsheet size, particularly
if, as in the author’s recent work on
aerodrome concrete, the mix in-
cludes three coarse and two fine ag-
gregates. (The reader is cautioned
that a minimum computer RAM of
1 MB, i.e. 1,000K is required for
such work .)
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
There are three possible ap-
proaches to condensing grading
data into a more manageable size of
spreadsheet:
A fixed number of rows of the
spreadsheet can be allocated to each
day. The separate aggregate grad-
ings may then all be entered in the
same column (always in the same
sequence) and each constituent pro-
grammed t o obtain its data from
the appropriate row.
The coarse aggregates (which on
the author’s theory have relatively
little influence on water require-
ment) can be assumed to have a
fixed grading and only the sand(s)
entered on the actual spread sheet.
The grading analysis can take
place on a separate spreadsheet and
only the specific surfaces (or FMs if
the reader prefers) be transferred to
the main spreadsheet.
The author now adapts the latter
course. This is presented below (for
the simplest case in which there is
only one coarse and one fine aggre-
gate):
Grading analysis
spreadsheet
The reader should by now require
only a few of the cell formulas to
set up such a spreadsheet. These
formulas are given in Fig. 1.
The factors by which the various
percentages retained are multiplied
in order to determine specific sur-
face are empirical. They have been
used by the author for many years
but have no absolute justification
and the reader is of course welcome
to insert his own values.
19
 A C 1 COMP*13 91 W Ob62949 0505979 bo9 W

EOUcBetE MVICE EowPUtEL COSIRI QC ACcB166T1 DATA PhllSIS ss SS R i A

AGcwn I2 %! : PMUT MACW S:/CPII ..Pill’Pll-/CC3..QB‘C3~/8VA6. .Q6-A7-/a~3,.P6O-S1-/~S-~ 1 TMSIEB /Ci‘Tli
HAXI11011 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 96.0 76.0 66,O (1.0 17,O 0,O 59,2 7.0 59.2 ù11..1160
IIlNlIRII 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 98.0 77.0 66.0 51.0 33.0 10.0 0.0 51.5 4,O 53.5 -A
UMltB IO IO IO IO IO IO IO IO IO IO IO IO I 10.0 10 10.0 Pll..P60
p p ~SMD AVEUCE IO O.^ 100.0 IOOJ 100.0 IO O.^ IOO,O 99.7 85.6 69.5 57.7 35.5 12.9 0.0 56.0 5.5 56.0 ‘1
PpR SABD AWACE 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.7 85.6 69.5 57.7 35.5 12.9 0.0 56.0 5,5 56.0 JI I. J60
Elm DATE SD DEVI 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0,O 0.6 5,9 4.6 1,1 2.7 2.1 0,O 1.6 0,9 1.6 -C
AS l o in IIICB SIZES s 1.5 1 3/1 112 3/8 1/4 3/16 No8 16 32 50 100 200 KI1 ,.K60
cai I MIE MM 2 6 . ~I ~~M I 11.m 9.5~1 6 . 7 ~ 1 1.75 2.36 1.18 600 300 ISO 75 ss s1m 111 ss TI
12201 01-Mar 100 100 100 100 100 100 98 88 15 55 34 II O 55,43 6 2.19 55.13 111..160
12201 & M a r 100 100 100 100 100 100 99 88 72 53 11 IO 54.30 5 2.65 51.10 ’E
12205 W a r 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 88 16 57 34 II 56.09 5 2.31 56.09 Mil.,M60
12206 04-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 IW 17 66 61 II I7 57.87 5 2.16 57.87 ’I
12209 O74ar 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 77 66 56 31 I2 51.50 4 2.56 53.50 NIl..i60
12210 08-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 77 66 57 36 I4 54.40 7 2.52 51.M -IC
32213 Il-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 88 76 57 34 II 56.09 7 2.34 56.09 GI
12211 Il-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 94 66 64 40 I5 59.22 6 2.21 19.22 -OCFC@SSCLA
32218 I6-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 88 66 56 35 I6 55,65 5 2.41 55.65 SS
12219 Il-Har 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 91 66 59 37 I6 57.01 5 2.3 51.01 ’LB
I .o0 9 1.00 2.36
MBlülA IN CELL PIZ: 1.00 9 1.00 -E
(( 100-C12)~lt(C12-~lZ)*2t(112~1Z)f1t(G12-I12)~8+~112-J12)~16 1 .o0 9 1.00 1.18
t(J1Z-Kl2)~Z74(1(12-112)f39t(L124lZ)~584(Ml2-B12)f81+ll2f105~/100 1.00 9 1.00 ‘LD
1 .o0 9 1.00 600
MBlolb 1Y CEiL 812: 1.o0 9 1.00 -11
9-(Cl2+Cl2tCI2~l1ZtJ1ZtK12~L12tW12~N12)/100 1 .o0 9 1.00 300
1.OQ 9 1.00 ‘W
Note that several of the sieve siees for which colunas 1.00 9 1.00 150
are provided are non-standard and are not used in the fonulas, 1 .o0 9 1.00 ’W
however they are provided so that all incoming infanation 1.o0 9 1.00 CBILDliiG VMlATIOUS
at least can be recorded, even if not antoiatically used, 1.o0 9 1.00 ‘TS
1.00 9 1.00 SUD SI
lote that the row of averages has been nipied into the rw belos itself 1 .o0 9 1.w ‘n
and siiilarly the specific surfaces from column Q into column R, 1 .o0 9 1.00 S 1 m SIZE (n/dcrons)
These are copied by Mcro S slim above. Tbey are “Iange valne’ copies 1.00 9 1.00 -n
and are needed because cells containing f o m l a s lose their face value 1.00 9 1.W PeBCEüT PASSIYG
when extracted by a “file cdine” conand (as we need to do,see later). 1.o0 9 1.00 T W V

Fig. 1 - Sample spreadsheet

The by now familiar “top of the Concrete data entry call AGGDATA and CONDATA)
page statistics” will be found inter- In the same manner in which grad- previously described.
esting as showing the coarsest, fin- The CONDATA information is
ing data is entered in a
est, and average gradings and the very simply transferred since it is ali
spreadsheet, it may also be found
degree of variability being required exactly as it already exists.
convenient to enter all the concrete
enced. data in its own separate spread- The command
A separate spreadsheet is re- sheet, which is essentially identical IFCCAI7..PI 1G[Enter]
quired for each aggregate (includ- to Fig. 3a, except in column loca- CON DATA[Enter]
ing sands) and a macro is used to tions, which will commence in col-
collect the data from each of these umn A. This avoids the person en- will transfer the range A17..P116
into the main spreadsheet using a tering that data being confused by a from CONDATA into MAINQC
“file combine” command. large spreadsheet and reduces the but there are a few points to watch:
file storage space required. It is then The cursor in MAINQC must be
The graphical representation of not necessary to store data in the on the cell where A17 from CON-
grading values will be found useful form of the main spreadsheet as this DATA is required to appear (Y22 in
in keeping track of grading varia- may be re-created at will. the case illustrated). If it is wrongly
tions. Unfortunately Lotus 1-2-3 located the transfer may obliterate
can only handle a maximum of six an area of MAINQC containing
graphs per display, so that a long-
Main control spreadsheet formulas, titles, etc.
graded coarse aggregate would re- (MAINQC) If there are any blank cells in the
quire two displays t o show all Part of the main control spread- nominated CONDATA range, they
sieves. With a sand it may be pref- sheet is illustrated in Fig. 3. It is no will not obliterate previous data in
erable to sacrifice the display of the longer necessary to enter any data the matching cell of MAINQC, ef-
percent passing the 3/16 in. sieve in manually in this spreadsheet. The fectively resulting in the entry of in-
favour of the SS figures (as has data is simply transferred from the correct (Le. outdated) data. There-
been done in Fig. 2).
@Seismicisolation
two subsidiary sheets (which we will
@Seismicisolation
fore it is good practice to always

I 20 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91
Fig. 2 - Sample sand grading graph.
erase the old data before transfer-
ring the new (type /REA17..P117
[Enter]).
It may be convenient to set up a
macro to perform the transfer. It
may also be convenient t o use a
named range in CONDATA. How-
ever, the cell addresses for the range
name or in the macro will have to
be updated from time to time.
T h e AGGDATA transfer is
somewhat different because one
row of AGGDATA relates to a day
or even a week whereas one row of
MAINQC relates to a sample (and
there will normally be more than
one sample per day). The AGGD-
ATA results are transferred in the
same way as CONDATA but not
directly into their final location in
the spreadsheet. A section of
MAINQC is set aside to receive the
AGGDATA transfer and the data is
then extracted from this table and
entered into its final location using
the formula:
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
= Obb2949 0505980 320
@VLOOKUP(Y22,P16..Q66,1)
This says "go to table P16..Q66
and, in column P, look for the first
date after that entered in cell Y22,
go back one row earlier and, count-
ing column P as zero, go along this
row to column 1 and copy the value
there into the cell this formula is
in."
Usually it is better to put transfer
tables and anything else not in the
main data table either to the left of
or above that table. It does not then
inhibit expansion of the table to in-
clude more columns of analysis or
more rows of data.
Having arranged the automatic
entry of data in this way, any de-
sired columns of analysis and graph
macros can be added. It is neces-
sary to activate this analysis by typ-
ing [RECALCULATE] (probably
key [F9] see your manual) since you
will have set the program not to do
automatic recalculation. Note how-
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
ever that a single recalculation is
probably not enough - for exam-
ple some cusums will be using a tar-
get value that changes after they
have been calculated.
Therefore type MIGR13[Enter] to
set 3 iterations (two is probably
enough but it is better to be sure).
Fig. 3b shows only enough of
MAINQC to explain the prediction
of strength from batch quantities.
The full spreadsheet of course in-
cludes all the features discussed in
previous articles - and almost all
columns are subjected to cusum
analysis and graphed. A major con-
densation has been to take the case
of a single coarse aggregate and a
single sand (this is rare in major
Australian cities) and to omit fly
ash (PFA) and admixtures.
Printing
Printing of computer data is very
simple once the initial arrangements
have been made - but this may be
21
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 m 0662949 050598L 2b7

AK AL AN AD AO AP AQ U AS AT AU AV AU Al Al A2 BA BB IC ID BE li! ffi BE II II IK BL
MTCB QüAITITICS <AUTO-EIIBbCTED 111011 9-I> CUBIC KC/CU II AVG exCl1 W W T E D kQ’s SILT/CLAI CALC BQ ACTUB ENOK OP PKEDICTIOIITiza DA!
COAûSE SAID TOTB SPECIIIC SüWACels 6 SILT H EW C B C CIL DEOSIR (KC/cII Hl DElAOLT [IATEB TOTAL PûEDICTeo 28D STü 28 DAI OP 28DAI STBEIIGTü SiûEliGTü
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AO22 @VUIOiioP($l22,$P$2l,.$Q$66, I)
AR22 (~22/AK$2tAL22/U$2tAN22/AN$2~A~Z2l/(I-ADZ2/1D0~/100D
AS22
AU22 @IP(AR22~0,(AS22-1122)/ATZZ~100~PZ2,O)
AV22 lIP(822>O,tM22/$bBZZ,O)
A222 ~ll(P22>0,(A1122’A022/AL$Z~AXZZ*APZZ/AN$2l*22.6/(A~22~Al22),01
BA22 @Il(ARZZ>O,~~22i0.02*AV22-6,01
1822 ~lP(ARZZ>O,MZZ+(MZZ-1)/1,0)
IC22 ~1P(ARZ2~0,(3*MZZ+O.36*ABZZ-0.0007*AB22~2tM22^1/3-M22~6~ACZZ~Z/5O-AC22/10tB5t~AQZZ-6]/3~M22/15U>~$~~9,Ol
BE22 ~Il(PdZ~>O,I1E$B*I$AV22*25/~BD22~O.4*($AUZ2-I)~$AV22~.5)-($AV22/250)^3-5),0)

3(b)
Fig. 3 - Part of main control spreadsheet.

a major qualification! The Lotus
program takes you through an in-
stallation procedure that is quite
simple to follow providing your
printer is one of the dozens listed in
the installation procedure. If your
printer is not listed, it may be able
t o emulate one of those that is.
However, be warned that really ex-
cellent new printers can drive the
uninitiated to despair when they are
not on the list. If you are new to
computing and are buying new
equipment, the question to ask your
dealer is “are you absolutely sure
Lotus has a driver for this printer?”
The best monochrome reproduc-
tion is obtained from a LASER
printcr (this is a type, not a brand
name) but to get colour printing of
graphs as well as monochrome text,
a DOT MATRIX printer is re-
quired (a plotter can be used for
graphs but is expensive and will not
also print text). There is a wide
range of price and quality avail-
able, a major factor being output
speed. It is probably well worth
while to obtain a 24-pin rather than
a 9-pin model but it is up to you
whether a full width (13 to 14 inch)
or an 8 inch size is needed. A fea-
ture you should look for is “paper
22
park” - this enables the use of cut program called PIZAZZ which is
sheet paper without removing the easy to use and does an excellent
fanfold (continuous) paper and job. Again it is necessary to ensure
saves a lot of hassle. that there is a driver for your
INKJET printers are advancing printer or an acceptable emulation.
rapidly and may well be a good so- PIZZAZ does have a very wide list
lution by the time this article is of printers but of course can be
published. They have the very de- found wanting on a new model
sirable attribute of being silent but (such as an inkjet).
are perhaps not yet quite able to The current version of PIZAZZ
compete with colour printing on does not work on either Release 2.2
cost, quality, and speed. Beware or Release 3. Both of these releases
that if there is a magnificent new have improved Printgraph pro-
model available it may not have a grams but are still slower to use
Lotus driver! than PIZAZZ.
Lotus can d o a screen dump To print out the area from A l to
(print everything on the screen) of Z50 the instruction is:
text or tables but not of graphs (ex- IPPA1..Z50-A- G -Q
cept with some computers, notably It may be convenient, if the same
Hewlett-Packard). It can also print area is often required, to set this up
out any nominated range (area) of as a macro - say macro “P.” It
a spreadsheet in either a normal or would then only be necessary to
a condensed mode. The instructions hold down the [Alt] key and type P
in the manual are reasonably easy to print out the area.
to follow, with the possible excep-
tion of the setup string if your
printer does not like the normal diet Received and reviewed under institute publication
set out there. policies.
A screen dump of graphs is a very
desirable facility but is not pro-
vided by Lotus 1-2-3. The best so-
lution if you have Release 2.01 is to
purchase a special screen dump
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AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*l3 9l = Obb2949 0505982 lT3
CHAPTER 6

T he system as described to contains @AVG(G17..G46) (‘in row Column Y

date is basically aimed at 46); the second column (say column @STD(G$17..G18)
detecting changes in con- Y) contains @STD(G17..G46); and Column Z
crete quality and establish- the third column (say column Z) + X18 - K*Y18
ing the cause of any such changes. contains + X46 - k*Y46.) These
This function is essentially indepen- formulae are copied into all rows Actual percentage defective
dent of the specification require- below row 46. Above row 46, the Basis: Same as the basis for statisti-
ments, but the system can be modi- top of the column statistics are used cal minimum strength, but assessed
fied to automatically check compli- as for the all-results option. on actual number defective without
ance with virtually any specification The top of the column statistics statistics.
basis. Some examples are: are continued across columns X and Only one column (X) is required
Y to record maximum, minimum and contains:
Statistical minimum and average values of X and s. Row 9
strength At the top of column Z, in addi- @COUNT(Xl7..X146)
Basis: “There shall be a statistical tion to maximum, minimum and Row 10
probability of at least 50 percent average, a row is set up to count the o
/‘ FAILURES
that not more than p percent of re- number of occasions on which 2 Row II
sults shall lie below the specified falls below the specified value of F. (G11 - X9)IGll 1O0
strength F.” This may be applied Two sets of database criteria will be Row I6
to: required: FAILURES
ail results from the beginning of Row 3 Row 17 (et seq)
the project, or MIN @IF(G172 F,1,O)
the last n results in any grade, or Row 4 Cell G11 counts the total number
the results over a specific time +246>0 of results and cell X9 counts the
period (say a month). Row 6 number of results greater than or
T h e requirement can be ex- MIN equal to F. Cell X10 gives the cur-
pressed in the form X > F + ks, Row 7 rent percentage defective.
where: X = the mean strength of + 2 4 6 F~
the results in question, s = the Row 9 Average of last n results 2 F
standard deviation of those results, @ MAX(Z46..2146) (current AC1 practice with n = 3)
and k = a factor obtained from Row 10 Cell entries are:
statistical tables. (For example: k = @DMIN(Z45..Z146,OY23..24) Row IO
1.28 for p = 10 percent; k = 1.65 Row I l FAILURES
f o r p = 5 percent; k = 2.23 f o r p @ DCOUNT(Z45..2146,0,23..24) Row I l
= 1 percent; k = 3.09 for p = O. 1 Row 12 @COUNT(X17..X146)
percent .) @ DCOUNT(Z46..Z146,OY26..27)
Row I6
If the all-results option is se- Row 45 FA1LURES
lected, compliance is very easy to MIN (column heading) Rown + 17
assess since X and s appear auto- Row 46 (et seq) @lF(@SUM(X17..X
matically in the top of the column + X46 - k”Y46 (17+n) <n*F,1,0)
statistics. A fifth line can be added These extra columns may be con-
to these statistics giving the current Spurious failures would be indi-
value of F automatically and con- sidered worthwhile even for the all- cated where there are missing re-
results option, since they permit sults so that the “average” resulted
tinuously.
For the last-n-results option, graphing of variations in X, s, and from (n - 1) (or fewer) results di-
three additional columns are re- X - ks. However, in this case the vided by n. If it is desired to pro-
entries will start in row 18 and are: vide against this a further column
quired on the QC spreadsheet for
each grade. (For example: if n = Column X (Y)could be used t o count the
30, one column [say column XI @AVG(G$17..G18) number of actual results in the last
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COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 23
 A C 1 COMP+L3 91
n rows using the cell entry. For ex-
ample, for row 17 @IF(G17>0,l ,O)
The cell entry in column X would
then be:
@IF(@ SUM(X17..X
+
(17 n)< @COUNT
+
(Y17..Y(17 n))*F,l ,O
The range of possible specifica-
tions is infinite but the above ex-
amples illustrate the possibilities.
The program could be set up to
sound a buzzer when a failure oc-
curs and/or to clear the screen and
display message such as “THE RE-
SULTS YOU HAVE JUST ENTERED DO
NOT COMPLY WITH THE SPECIFICA-
TION.” It is important to realise
that this system can equally well be
applied to predicted 28-day results,
and that control action should
largely be based on early age results
in this way.
Detecting problems
The examples presented t o date
have aimed only at displaying tech-
niques for building a spreadsheet.
The spreadsheets actually used by
the author are far too large to re-
produce here but a partial listing of
columns is as follows:
Basic data
1. Date
2. Docket No.
3. Slump*
4. Concrete temperature*
5. Air percent*
6. 7- and 28-day strengths*
7. 7- and 28-day cylinder densities*
8. Batch quantities (BQs) (including
water) (ex batching computer out-
Put)
9. Sand moisture contents
10. Aggregate gradings (as specific
surface) (also sand silt content)
*Where available some of these tests may be
duplicated by the concrete supplier’s lab and an
independent lab.
24
= 0662949 0505983
Calculated data
11. Yield (true number of cubic
yards[metres] for batch)
12. T r u e quantities per cubic
yard[metre] (dividing BQs by yield)
13. Calculated water requirement
14. Predicted 28-day mean strength
based on (a) batch quantities (b)
batch quantities and calculated wa-
ter (c) 7-day strength
15. Actual mean 28-day strength
16. Strength gain from 7 to 28 days
17. 28-day pair difference
18. Average cylinder density
19. Calculated density
20. Range of cylinder density (max-
imum minus minimum)
21. Error in 28-day strength predic-
tion (a, b, and c)
The above 21 items may amount
to 50 or more columns of data (e.g.
batch quantities may comprise ce-
ment, PFA, 3 coarse aggregates, 2
sands, 2 or more admixtures, water
added before and after leaving
plant, and total water including
sand moisture). Most of these items
then have their own Cusum column
and there are typically (in a full sys-
tem) five screens of graphics, each
with up to six graphs:
Graphs
1. Direct plot of 7- and 28-day re-
sults and 7 to 28 day gain
2. Strength Cusums (of [i] above)
3. Testing quality Cusums compris-
ing pair difference, mean cylinder
density, calculated density, cylinder
density range, and 7 to 28 day gain
4. Batch quantity Cusums compris-
ing cement, PFA, actual and calcu-
lated water, and w/c
5. Water Cusums comprising
slump, concrete temperature, air
percent, equivalent water factor (es-
sentially specific surface of mix),
and silt content
6. Prediction error Cusums
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03T U
Having entered the data, all calcu-
lation and graph preparation takes
place automatically (it takes about
1 to 2 minutes).
The operator then types [Alt] + A
and the strength Cusum screen ap-
pears. If no downturn is seen the
operator need go no further. If a
downturn is seen, QQ[AIt] 6 is +
typed and the testing quality screen
appears. If this does not provide an
explanation, QQIAit] C is typed+
for the batching Cusums. If this
suggests that extra water is the
+
problem, QQ[Alt] D is typed to
see the water Cusums.
If cement quantity is the prob-
lem, the batch plant must be inves-
+
tigated. QQ[AIt] E shows the pre-
diction error Cusums. This may
suggest that the 28-day strength is
below what everything else predicts
that it should be (although if so the
7 to 28 day gain Cusum should al-
ready have shown this) and so turn
the spotlight on cement quality,
curing (or testing again).
QQ[Ait] + F gives the direct
strength plot (for traditionalists!)
and reference to the top of the col-
umn statistics may be of interest.
The system also incorporates the
facility to print out a statistical re-
port (this will be covered in a future
issue). The whole operation dis-
cussed to date relates to a single
grade of concrete, but most proj-
ects will be using multiple grades
and obviously much can be learned
by comparing the performance of
different grades. This again forms
the subject of a future issue.
Received and reviewed under institute
publication policies.
AC1 COMPILATION
At the American Concrete Institute, we have the
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@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
odicals, ACI Structural Journal, ACI Materials
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..
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make a study, do an analysis or simply gain more
knowledge, AC1 is here to help you. Use the
convenient application form in this issue or, call,
write or fax for membership facts, American
Concrete Institute, Member/ Customer Services
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(313) 532-2600, FAX (313) 533-4747.
3
-
c Established 1904
Progress Through Knowledge
AMERICAN
CONCRETE
INSTITUTE
 A C 1 C O M P t 1 3 91 D Obb2949 0505985 902 U
CHAPTER 7
Spreâdsheets
A
downturn in results from all
grades of concrete being
produced clearly has more
significance than a down-
turn in a single grade. It will also be
more rapidly detectable on the basis
that a number of results are re-
quired after the downturn to con-
firm that it is genuine and not a
chance false alarm. Therefore we
would be wasting a valuable oppor-
tunity if results from different
grades were simply entered in sepa-
rate spreadsheets.
The initial multigrade entry
spreadsheet will have two quite dif-
ferent functions to perform:
To initially analyse the results to
detect any problems.
To separate the results into indi-
vidual grades for more detailed
analysis.
Analysis of multigrade data
The basic technique is to express the
multigrade data as a ratio between
the value of each result and the pre-
vious average value for the grade in
question. This applies not only to
strength data (including pair differ-
ences and 7 to 28 day gain) but also
to slumps and densities. It is not
necessarily obvious that this will re-
move all significance as to which
grade yielded the data, but experi-
ence is that cusum graphing the di-
mensionless data obtained does
usually show trend lines that are in-
dependent of grade. When one
grade stands out as not conforming
to the overall trend, this is almost
always for a very specific reason
such as a deliberate mix change at
the plant o r change in average
slump.
26
To operate the spreadsheet, a ta-
ble is required of the average values
to date for each grade. To some ex-
tent we have a “chicken and egg”
situation in that there may initially
be no data to put in the table, espe-
cially in respect of 28-day results.
This is overcome by always entering
one pair of fake 28-day results
along with the first early age result
in any new grade. The fakes may be
based on trial mix data, previous
history, or just a guess. In the met-
ric system we simply add 10 MPa
(1450 psi) to the 7-day result if we
have no better basis. In any case the
fake value is simply overwritten as
soon as the genuine value is ob-
tained.
Table of averages
Two techniques are now required,
one for extracting data from the
main spreadsheet into the table and
the other for extracting values from
the table into the main spreadsheet.
First, however, it is necessary to
settle on a basis for the designation
of the different grades. For reasons
that will become apparent, this
should be a pure number, and the
most useful number is usually the
specified strength for the grade
(whether in psi or MPa). There may
of course be several different 3000
psi mixes. Normal practice may be
t o express these as 3000P for a
pump grade or 3000/% for half
inch maximum aggregate size, etc.
These must all be tabulated and re-
placed by 3001, 3002, 3003, etc.
The entries in the table cells are
of the form:
@DAVG(A16..N500,X,Pl ..P2)
where A16..N500 is the entry area
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for results (taking care that line 16
is the row of headings, Le., the row
above the first row of results), X is
the number of the column in which
the property in question is entered
(counting column A as column O,
not column i), and Pl..P2 is the
pair of cells in which the grade cri-
terion is entered (Pi may contain-
GRADE and P2 3001. Remember
that it is absolutely essential that-
GRADE is entered identically in cell
P1 and in row 16 at the head of the
column in the table - the best way
to be sure is to copy the one to the
other).
It may appear that the 7 to 28 day
gain column is unnecessary since it
is simply the difference between two
other numbers already in the table.
This is not the case, since if the 7-
day strength changes it will cause an
apparent partly-compensating
change in 7 to 28 day gain which
may not be factual. The true gain
must be monitored independent of
current strength level, and early de-
tection of any change in it is quite
important since such a change
means that current predictions of
28-day strength will be incorrect.
It may in fact be necessary to step
in and amend the table if a change
is detected. For example, if the gain
suddenly dropped from 1500 t o
1200 psi (10 to 8 MPa) it would reg-
ister as a change point on the gain
cusum but the average gain would
change only slowly if there were al-
ready 100 samples in the spread-
sheet averaging 1500 psi (10 MPa).
The change per sample in such a
case would be approximately
(1500- 1200)/100, which is only 3
psi (20 kPa).
Having detected the change from
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 m 0662949 0505986 849 m
AN AO AP AQ AR AS AT AU AV AW
13 O 250 CURRENT AVGE VALUES 30-0ct TO 17-Mar
14 No WAITNG No of GRADE CODE MEAN STRENGTH 7/28 PAIR
15 28D RSLTSSAMPLES NAME NUMBER 7D 28D GAIN DENSITY DIFF SLUMP
16 O O 22MPa@3 220 ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR
17 O 59 25MPa 250 29.61 40.47 10.86 2339 0.86 83
18 O 79 30MPa 300 30.53 40.32 9.79 2342 0.72 81
19 O 7 40MPa 400 44.64 55.82 11.18 2410 1.07 81
20 O 6 5OMPa 500 46.00 56.33 10.33 2368 0.50 78
21 O 99 6OMPa 600 56.49 68.28 11.78 2400 0.80 93
22 O O NNN 999 ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR
23 O O NNN 999 ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR ERR
24 NB:does not include any
25 with no 7d res either MACRO S/CANl..AW13-ANl-/REAN16..AW23'
26 SO A GREATER NUMBER THAN /RVAN4..AWll-'AN16-'
27 THE ABOVE SHOULD BE EXTRACTED /DSDANl6..AW23'-PAQ16-'A-G
28 GUIDE TO CONTENTS
29 This program receives directly entered multigrade results,an
30 them as a ratio of previous mean results,and splits them int
31 separate grades for collection by further analysis programs.
32 The results of the analysis are best seen graphically-if the
09-Jan-89 1O:Ol AM CALC CAPS
Fig. 1 - Table of averages

COLUMNS A to N (entered data)

PERIOD COVERED: FROM 30-Oct-87
TO 17-Mar-88
No OF SAMPLES TO DATE: 250 (New file reqd when 380 results entered)
REPORT DATE >> 11-Jan-89
FIRST result in any new grade MUST
GRAPHS: include an estimated 28day result
G,H,I - BASIC RATIO CUSUMS (use 7day result plus 10MPa if you
L,N,P - FACTORS AFFECTING have no alternative opinion)

N0TE:grade strength is grade No/lO

NOTES DATE DATE TEMPERATURE STRENGTH CYLINDER DENSITY
LOCATION/RMKS NUMBER ENTRY DOCKET No GRADE SLUMP CONC AIR 7D 28D1 28D2 7DD 28DlD 28D2D
PF2 32080 30-0ct 417307 300 80 20 19 23.5 33.0 33.0 2280 2300 2280

COLUMNS o to Y
1.45 1.32 1.03 0.00 0.00 10.00
0.56 0.59 0.00 -6.22 -5.66 -0.51
250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250
52.25 52.25 52.25 1.00 1.00 1 .O0 SCALES:
(ex7D) 0.15 0.14 0.06 0.50 0.50 10.00
PREDICTED STRENGTH DIVISOR>
MEAN MEAN CURRENT DENSITIES CUSUMS
STRENGTH STRENGTH GRADE STRENGTH RATIO CURRENT THIS STRENGTH RATIOS
28DP 28DA MEAN 7D 28D MEAND SAMPLE RATIO 7D 28D DENSITY
33.3 33.0 40.3 0.770 0.818 2313 2287 0.989 -0.12 -0.09 -0.11

COLUMNS Z to AL
2.300 9.500 56.495 2.008 2.2
O. 300 0.000 29.610 -5.594 -8.7
250 AVG TMP~19.85348
1 .O88 O . 797
PLANT GRADE GAIN
200000 100 10 2 25 RATIOS OF 0.300 0.4
CURRENT ACTUAL/GRADE STRENGTH SLUMP CUSUM
SCALED VALUES MEAN GAIN TEMP CUSUMof CURRENT OF
PLANT GRADE GAIN PRDIFF 7D STR CUSUM CUSUM PREDx7D ACTUAL PR DIFF MEAN RATIO RATIO
2.087 3 0.95 O 30.5 -0.0691 0.0 1.1 1.1 -0.239 81.2 0.985 -0.00

Fig. 2 - Column headings and first row of data.

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COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 27
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 = 0662949 0 5 0 5 9 8 7 785 U

the cusum graph of gain, the oper- Fig. 1, 2, and 3 are extracts from six graph macros to enable the 600
ator can smartly change the entry in an actual multigrade spreadsheet samples with which the spreadsheet
the gain column of the table from (all our data is metric). Fig. 1 is the can cope to be drawn in three sets
QDAVG(Al6..N500,X,Pl..P2) to table of averages, Fig. 2 shows the of 250 results that overlap to pro-
QDAVG(A1 l6..N500,X,Pl ..P2), column headings and the first row vide continuity. The graphs are il-
which would cause the first 100 re- of data, and Fig. 3 gives the cell lustrated in Fig. 4 and 5 .
sults to be ignored. contents of the first row of the This data is from a project on
It is essential that the grades be analysis section (columns A to N which the only data obtained is that
entered in increasing order down being entered data). set out in columns A to N of the
the column, otherwise the next op- It would be too lengthy and repi- spreadsheet so that a full analysis is
eration will not work. If for any not possible (this is the usual situa-
tious to explain each cell formula in
reason this is not convenient, it is tion except on government work
detail but readers may be interested
simple to automatically copy the ta- to see an actual “live” spreadsheet. such as airfield construction).
ble to a different location and per- It will be seen that GRADE is en- In Fig. 4 the grade and plant
form a data sort (see your Lotus tered as a three digit number for the
graphs (not cusums of course) are
manual) to put them in the required metric situation, the first two being seen in the upper section and the 7
order. the strength in MPa and the third t o 28 day strength gain is also
providing for up t o 10 different shown as a direct plot (its mean
Reading from the table value being around 9 to 10MPa
mixes at each strength level. Note
Lotus provides a technique called a the use of SCALED VALUES for [1300 to 1400 psi] - variable gain
“vertical table look up” that is ex- PLANT and GRADE. These are has been a problem on this project
actly what is needed. The cell entry used in graphing so that it can be compared to other projects whose
needed in row 21 of the main anal- seen at a glance which of two sup- data we have analysed).
ysis spreadsheet is of the type plying plants (they have different It can be seen from Fig. 4 that
@VLOOKUP ranges of docket numbers which are there were substantial strength
+
( E21,AQ$I 6..AV$23,3) what are scaled in the PLANT col- changes on 12th February and in
This entry assumes that E is the umn) and which grade is involved in early March and that these appear
grade number column, the table of to be related to slump. Note that
each result.
averages is in AQ16..AV23, and the the change points are clearly seen in
average required is the one in the T h e spreadsheet draws two spite of the multi-grade nature of
3rd column of that table. graphs, although there are in fact the results; this shows that the at-
tempt to combine multi-grade data
on a single set of graphs has been
021: (F1) [W9] @IF(I2l>O,@VLOOKUP(+$E2l,AQ$l6..AV$23,3)+I2l,O~ fully effective. Some of the slump
P21: (FI) @IF(J21>0,@AVG(J21..K21),0) changes in December had no effect
Q21: (Fl) [WB] @MAX(AD21+9,@VLOOKUP(+$E21,AQ$l6..AV$23,2)) on strength because they were pro-
R21: (F3) [W7] @IF(I2l>O#AN~~AD21>O,I2l/AD21,0) duced by using a superplasticising
S21: (F3) [WB] @IF(P2lsO,P21/$Q21,0) admixture - the more basic cause
T21: (FOI [W71 @VLOOKUP(+$E2l,AQ$l6..AV$23,4) was an abnormal cool spell in Feb-
U21: (FOI [W6] @AVG(L21..N21) ruary (normally the hottest month
V21: (F3) [W7] @IF(U21>O,U21/T21,0) in Australia).
W21: (F2) [W9] @IF(R2l>O,(R2l-l)*W$l6+W2O,W20)
X21: (F2) @IF(S2l~O,(S2l-l)*X$16+X2O,X20) Splitting data into separate
Y21: (F2) [WS] @IF(V2l~O,(V2l-l)*Y$16+Y2O,Y20) graphs
221: (F3) +D21/2$17 Lotus provides a tool that can ex-
AA21: +E21/AA$17 tract data from a table according to
AB21 : @IF ( I2l>O#AND#P21 >O, (P21-1 2 1) / 10,O ) selected criteria. The technique re-
AC21: @1F(J21>0~kAND#K21~0,@ABS(J21-K21),0.001~ quires the specification of an input
AD21: (Fl) @VLOOKUP(+$E2l,AQ$16..AV$23,1) range, an output range, and a crite-
AE21: [WB] @IF(AB2l~O,(AB2l-AB$l5)/AE$l7+AE2O,AE20) rion range. In this case the columns
AF21: (Fl) @IF(G21>O,(G21--AF$14)/AF$17+AF2O,AF20) A to N of the spreadsheet are the
AG21: (Fl) [Will 10*021/$E21 input range, a n output range for
AH21: (Fl) [WlOI 10*P21/$E21 each grade is set up elsewhere on
AI21: (F3) @IF(AC2l~~O.OOl,(AC2l-AC$l5)*AI$l7+AI20,AI2O~
AJ21: (Fl) [W6] @VLOOKUP(+$E2l,$AQ$l6..$AW$23,6)
the spreadsheet by copying the row
AK21: [W6] @IF(F21>O,F21/AJ21,0)
of headings into the first row of
AL21: [W6] @IF(AK2l>O,(AK2l-l)*AL$17+AL2O,AL20) that range. The criterion range is
the heading GRADE, with the
grade to be selected entered in the
Fig. 3 - Cell contents of first row of analysis section. row below.
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28 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COflP*13 91 0662949 0505988 611 B

30-0ct Bs-Dec 14-k 22-c -Jan 08-Feb 12-Feb IS-Feb 23-Feb 29-Feb M-Raz- 07-Piar

Fig. 4 - Graphs of grade, plant, and 7 to 28 day strength gain, plus cusums of strength and slump.

ARP BWRKE PUCE

FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH RFITIOS

Fig. 5 - Cusums of factors affecting strength ratios.

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COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 29
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 Obb2949 0505989 558

BK BL BQ BR BS BT BU BV
1 ACTUAL CODE NoMACRO INITIAL EXTRACTION MACRO
2 GRADE GRADE A: /RNC220'A052..BA150-
3 22MPa@3d 220 /DQIA20..N600~CBL2..BL3~OAO5l..BAl5O~E~Q~
4 (MAX 99 RESULTS) current no>>>> 0
5 GRADE B: /RNC30O'AO152..BA300-
6 30MPa 3O0 /DQIA20,,N600"CBL5..BL6~OAOl5l,.BA3OO~E~Q~
7 (MAX 149 RESULTS)current no>>>> 79
8 GRADE C: /RNC4OO~BEl02..BQl50~
9 40MPa 400 /DQIA20..N600~CBL8..BL9~OBElOl..BQl5O~E~Q~
10 (MAX 49 RESULTS) current no>>>> 0
11 GRADE D: /RNC500-BE52,.BQ100-
12 50MPa 500 /DQIA20..N600-CBLll..BLl2~OBE51..BQlOO~E~Q~
13 (MAX 49 RESULTS) current no>>>> 0
14 GRADE E: /RNC6OO-BE302,.BQ400'
15 60MPa 600 /DQIA20..N600~CBL14..BLl5~OBE3Ol..BQ4OO~E~Q~
16 (MAX 99 RESULTS) current no>>>> 7
17 GRADE F: /RNC25O'BE152..BQ300-
18 25MPa 250 /DQIA20..N600~CBL17..BLl8~OBEl5l..BQ3OO~E~Q~
19 (MAX 149 RESULTSIcurrent no>>>> 57
20 GRADE K: /RNCXXXbBE202..BQ250*

Fig. 6 - Specifications for extracting data from a table.

BR BS BT BU BV BW BX BY
29 MACRO Z: BR30
30 /CANl,.AWl3-ANl"/REAN16..AW23' \S a525
31 /RVAN4..AWll'AN16* \T AD1
32 /DSDAN16..AW23-PAQl6-A-G \X AD5
33 /C021..Q21~021..0600~/C012..Q16~012~/CZ21..AD2\Y AG 1
34 /CR21..AL21~R21..R60O~/CR12..AFl6~Rl2~/CW2l..Y\Z BR30
35 /DQIA20..N600~CBL2,.BL3~OAO5l..BAl5O~E~Q~
36 /DQIA20..N600~CBL5..BL6~OAOl5l..BA3OO~E~Q~
37 /DQIA20,,N600~CBL8,.BL9~OBElOl..BQl5O~E~Q~
38 /DQIA20..N600~CBLll..BLl2~OBE51..BQlOO~E~Q~
39 /DQIA20,.N600~CBL14,.BLl5~OBE3Ol..BQ4OO~E~Q~
40 /DQIA20..N6OO~CBL17..BLl8~OBEl5l..BQ3OO~E~Q~
41 /CANl..AW13-ANl-/REANl6..AW23*
42 /RVAN4..AWll"AN16-
43 /DSDANl6..AW23-PAQl6-A-G
44 /cc9*.c12-c9-

Fig. 7 - Combined macro for data extraction and recalculation.

Fig. 6 shows some of the crite-
rion ranges in column BL. Column
BR sets up macros t o name the
ranges into which the results are to
be extracted and to perform the ini-
t i a l e x t r a c t i o n . I R N C means
"Range Name Create." The second
line in each case is of the form:
"Data Query, Input Range, Crite-
rion Range, Output Range, Ex-
tract."
Finally, Fig. 7 shows all these
second lines collected together into
30
one huge macro that also recalcu- tion will be given to Oracle for 123,
lates the table of averages and the a much more powerful database
analysis. (Copying a range to itself that can be added onto the stan-
is a much quicker way of obtaining dard Lotus spreadsheet.
a recalculation than simply pressing
the recalculation key and also gives
Received and reviewed under inStitUte publication
control of the order in which things policies.
are recalculated.)
The next article will tie up the
transfer of the separate grade re-
sults into individual spreadsheets
such as have already been presented
in this series. Also a brief introduc-
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 I Obb2949 0505990 2 7 T I

CHAPTER 8

T he system as presented in A B C D E F G H
the previous seven articles 1 CONCRETE ADVICE COMPUTER CUSUM QC
2 CLIENT: CIVIL 6 CIVIC
enables the majority of the 3 PROJECT: AMP BOURKE PLACE: PRONTO 30MPa GREPORT DATE>> 10-Jan-89
work involved in concrete 4 (G 300 )
QC to be performed by a non-tech- 5 MENU:
nical typist. In fact, a further devel- 6 [Alt]+L MONTHLY 6 WEEKLY SUMMARY TABLES
opment not covered in the articles is 7
8 [PageDown] BRING IN UPDATED RESULTS FOR THIS OR ANY OTHER GRADE
that data can be prepared automat- 9 (AND SEE LIST OF GRAPHICAL PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE)
ically in Lotus form by the testing 10
laboratory and transmitted in less 11 [Alt]+V AUTOMATIC PRINTOUTS AVAILABLE
than 2 minutes over a telephone 12
modem directly into the analyzing 13 TO VIEW TABLE OF GRADES IN USE AND CODES TYPE [Ctrl]+[RIGHT ARROW]
14
computer. 15 NOTE: [Alt]+X MEANS:
Your local laboratory doesn't 16 PRESSING X KEY WHILST
have a computer? Neither did mine, 17 HOLDING DOWN [Alt] KEY
but it was a simple matter to pres- 18 TO SEE MACROS
ent them with a programmed com- 19 TYPE [Alt]+M
20
puter and tell them to plug it into a 10-Jan-89 08:15 AM CALC NUM
phone socket and enter their loads,
dimensions, and weights into it. Ai- Fig. 1 - Tablelmenu screen.
though no one at the laboratory had
previously used a computer, within
a week they were saying that it A B C D E F G H
saved them time. 21 TO EXTRACT RESULTS OF ANY GRADE FROM MULTIGRADE ENTRY FILE:
It is really quite quick and simple 22
to get results into a computer, ana- 23 ENTER GRADE REQUIRED HERE >>>300 ENTRY FILE HERE >>> sst7
24 (entry must be as text.ie" '600" not just"600")
lyse them, view beautiful graphs in 25 GRAPHS AVAILABLE:
color, etc. What is not so easy is to 26 THEN TYPE : DIRECT PLOTS CUSUM PLOTS
report on the current situation to a 27 [Alt]+O TO OBTAIN ALL SAMPLES 7D 28D 7D 28D
number of people who feel they 28 OR
should be told everything in great 29 [Alt]+X TO OBTAIN LAST 30 SAMPLES A B P Q
detail. 30 OR
31 [Alt]+Y TO OBTAIN LAST 50 SAMPLES C D R S
32 OR
Separate grade 33 [Alt]+Z TO OBTAIN LAST 100 SAMPLES E F T U
34 TO VIEW GRAPH A TYPE [Alt]+A etc
spreadsheets 35 "7DAY VARIABLES">> SLUMP,TEMP,DENSITY,PLANT,PREDICTED 28DAY STRENGTH
The data input section of a separate 36 "28DAY VARIABLES">>7-28 STR GAIN,PAIR DIFFNCE,ACTUAL 6 PRED 28D STR
grade spreadsheet is identical to that 37 Note that "last 30 samples" is last 30 entries in multigrade file
38 for the grade in question. I f densities,slumps etc are being
of the multigrade spreadsheet pre- 39 entered ahead of 7day strengths, this will not give the last
sented in Part VII. It is essential 40 30 7day strength results.
that this should be so, since the data 10-Jan-89 08:16 AM CALC NUM
is simply transferred into it as a
block by a single "file import" Fig. 2 - Instructions for extracting data from multigrade file.
macro. The same program is used
for all grades and the user simply
enters the grade required. A macro be entered as text (i.e., with a text Cells D23 and H23 are to be com-
then produces the results from the mark preceding it). pleted, although the latter will
special extraction areas on the mul- Fig. 1 is the table/menu screen. change only after several months
tigrade spreadsheet, asking for them Fig. 2 gives instructions on extract- when a new multigrade file has to
by their grade number, which must ing data from the multigrade file. be started. The twelve graphical
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 31
 A C 1 COMP*L3 93 E 0662947 0505993 106 E

GUDE> 300 LAST >> 40 EUTñïES CWCTEKISTIC

PERIOD I o of SAHPLES HM STBEIIGIBS VMIABILIIY (SD) 28D STRENGTE AVG AVG AVG AVG AVG
PMH i’û HOUTE 7 DAI 28DAI 7 DAI 28DAY 7 DAY 28DAY PBBDx7D ACTUAL SLûHP 1 1 0 7-28GAII DEUSITI PAIE DIP!
01-leb-88 29-Ceb-88 Peb-88 25 25 33,36 43,88 4.96 5.88 35.69 34.11 82.2 17.5 10.52 2341 0.84
OI-llar-88 31-llar-88 Rar-88 15 15 34,13 44.02 3.02 3,28 39,66 IL60 84.7 21.3 9.88 2348 0.77
01-Apr-88 10-Apr-88 Apr-88 O O EBB Elüi EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB
Olffay-88 3I-Hay-88 nay-88 O O EBB EBB EBB EBB E B B E B B E B B E B B EBB EBB EBB
01-Jun-88 30-Jan-88 Jun-88 O O EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB EBB
01-Jul-88 Jl-Har-89 Jul-88 O O EBB EBB EBB EBBENEBREBBEBBEBB EBB EBB
89 UEEK I o (eater AS EEQD i n Pli)
31-Jan-88 06-Peb-88 -47 3 3 24,83 33.50 2,25 0,89 31.40 32.03 95,O 19,7 8.67 2313 0,33
07-Peb-88 13-Peb-88 -46 3 3 28,17 37.33 0.47 4.13 37.67 30.52 83.1 23.3 9.17 2326 2,67
14-Peb-88 20-Peb-88 -45 10 10 35.15 45.68 3.17 3.77 39.21 39+25 81.0 15,8 10.33 2344 0.55
21-Peb-88 27-Peb-88 -44 6 6 36.83 49.29 1.84 1,42 44,08 46,95 80.0 16.0 12.46 2349 0.58
28-Peb-88 05-Har-88 -43 IO 10 34.60 45,73 3.39 1,50 39.29 43,25 83,O 16,4 11.13 2355 0,65
lt]+Por Q (to select change points) CBBBhCTEüISTIC
BY SELECTED DATES BELOU Uo of SALIPLES UEAU STíüäGTES VMIABILIIY (SD) 28D STWGTE AVG AVG AVG AVG AVG
P801( ------ 7 DAY 28DAY 7 DAY 28DAY 7 DAY 28DAY PBeDxlD ACTUAL SLûHP TEHP 7-28418 DENSITI PAIE DIPP
01-l’eb-88 17-Peb-88 >>>>>>>> 8 8 27.75 37.13 3,12 4.38 32.88 29,89 87.5 20.1 9.18 2329 1.25
18-Peb-88 04ffar-88 >>>>>>>> 22 22 36.11 47.00 3.00 2,89 41.44 42.23 80.5 15.4 10.89 2348 0.59
05-Har-88 31-Har-88 >>>>>>>> 10 10 32.95 42,63 2,56 LO8 39.00 37.55 85.5 25.8 9.68 2345 0.95
01-Peb-88 31-Har-88 >>>>>>>> 40 40 33,65 43.93 4,36 5.07 36.74 35.57 83.1 18,9 10,28 2344 0.81
Fig. 3 - Summary table for a specified grade of concrete.

presentations available are listed. section is that change point dates designs, or policy. The control sys-
They comprise four different graphs should be selected from the cusum tem is aimed at reacting quickly to
each a t any of three horizontal graphs and entered in the table. change points and restoring mean
scales. (The instructions given on ail This should produce more homo- values to their design level as rap-
figures are actually in the program, geneous groups that exhibit lower idly as possible. This will reduce
largely avoiding the need for an in- standard deviations but larger calculated variability over arbitrary
struction manual.) changes in means. This effectively periods, but will not necessarily re-
Fig. 3 is the summary table which separates the two different kinds of duce the basic variability between
could be used as a monthly report variability being experienced. Gen- change points.
on the grade in question. There are erally the standard deviation be- Fig. 4 lists the automatic print-
three sections: the first divides the tween change points is a function of outs available. Fig. 3 and 5 were in
results into monthly groups, the the accuracy of the batching plant fact generated by keying [Alt] + W
second into weekly groups and third and the care with which it is oper- and [Alt] + H respectively. Fig. 5
into arbitrary groups selected by the ated, whilst the changes in mean re- shows part of the full listing of in-
operator. The intention of the latter sult from changes in materials, mix dividual data with “top of the col-
umn” statistics. Fig. 6 and 7 show
the cusum and direct graphical rep-
AD AE AF AG AH AI
258 AUTOMATIC PRINT-OUTS AVAILABLE resentations of the data.
259 So far so good. The numerical
2 60
261 [Alt]+W MONTHLY and weekly RESULT ANALYSIS TABLE
part of a monthly (or any other pe-
262 (also with facility to extract four special periods) riod) report can be rapidly pro-
263 duced and is easily photocopied.
264 However, the graphs are the quick-
265 PRINT-OUT OF BASIC RESULTS TABLE est and most powerful tools for ex-
266 (with overall statistics) amining a situation. Each graph
267
268 [Alt]+H FOR 30 RESULTS takes only a few seconds to bring to
269 the screen and examine, but de-
270 [Alt]+I FOR 50 RESULTS pending on printing equipment it
271 can take from two to twenty min-
272 [Alt]+J FOR 100 RESULTS (reqs 2 sheets for 100 results) utes to print in color (and as you
273
274 can see is not very easy to follow in
275 black and white). With a substan-
276 tial number of grades in use, and if
277 several color copies are required,
10-Jan49 08:58 AM CALC NUM CAPS graph printing can be quite time
Fig. 4 - List of available automatic printouts.
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
consuming.

32 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 C O M P * 1 3 91 m 0bb2949 0505992 O42 m

GUDE >>>> 30 üPa 1IIix 100 21.0 EBB 41.0 51.5 51,5 2380 2380 2380 51.3 51,5 14.75 2361 6.00
PERIOD: ROM 03-leb-88 üIU 70 11.0 EBB 23.0 28.5 32.5 2300 2300 2280 33,3 31,5 3,OO 2300 0.00
M IO-üar-88 Uo 4 0 4 0 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 40 40 40 40 40
HEAU 83 18.92 EBB 33.65 43.74 44.13 2350 2340 2342 43.93 43.93 10,28 2344 0.81
STD DEV 8 4.89 EBB 4,36 5.25 4.94 21 22 25 4.36 5.07 2.84 18 0.96
CHARACTEBISTIC SIBEdK;IBS 36.74 35,57 28D STR
TEHPEBblwE STWGTti CYLIUDEE DEUSITI 28D STEEUGTl I-28DAY WU PAIR
UOTES DATE DOCKET l o GRADE SIMP COUC AIR ID 28D1 2812 7DD 28D1D 281321) PREDICTED ACTüAL GAIU DEUSITII DIPI
FLOOR SLAB 03-Peb 420551 300 100 19.99 28,O 34.5 ì4.0 2340 2340 23Zû 38.3 34.3 6.25 2333 0.5
COLMU TOPS OS-leb 420656 300 90 19 23S 32,O 32.5 2300 2300 2300 33.8 32.3 8,75 2300 O,$
OS-Peb 420667 300 95 20 23,O 34.0 34,O 2320 2300 2300 33.3 34,O 11,OO 2307 O
PAD 19,lO 09-Peb 420835 300 75 24 27S 40.5 39,5 2317 238 2300 31.8 40.0 12.50 2332 I
09-leb 420836 300 75 26 28.5 41,O 40.0 2317 2300 2280 38,8 40.5 12.00 2319 1
IO-Peb 420878 300 85 19.99 28S 28.5 34.5 2317 2300 2300 38.8 31.5 3.00 2326 6
17-Peb 421188 300 90 16 33,5 44.0 44S 2311 2340 2360 43.8 64.3 10,75 2359 0.5
17-Peb 421204 300 90 16 29.5 40,O 40.5 2377
2360 2340 39,8 40.3 10.75 2359 0.5
PAD C,P 18-Feb 421265 300 90 15 31,O 41.0 42.0 2320
2320 2320 41.3 41.5 10.50 2320 1
CUUE MSE 18-Peb 421267 300 75 15 40.5 50.5 50.0 2340
2340 2360 50,8 50.3 9.15 2341 0.5
18-Peb 421285 300 75 16 37,5 46.0 47,O 2360
2360 2360 47,8 46.5 9.00 2360 1
18-Peb 421292 300 75 16 38,s 48,s 49.0 2360
2340 2340 48.8 48.8 10,25 2347 0.5
PAD 18-leb 421299 300 70 17 33,O 45.0 45,5 2360 2340 2340 43.3 45.3 12,25 2347 OS
18-Feb 421302 300 75 I7 39.0 47.5 48.0 2360 2360 2340 49.3 47.8 8.75 2353 0,5
Fig. 5 - Partial listing of data for a specified grade of concrete.

DATE
70 STR + 28D STR o SLUMP A TEMP X DENCIN P PLANT
Fig. 6 - Cusum of data for a specified grade of concrete.

It should be borne in mind that following few minutes. The dissem-
the effective part of QC occurs ination of results on a monthly or
when the latest early age results are weekly basis only has the function
first entered and the graphs brought of permitting o t h e r s t o check
to the screen. Any necessary con- whether the person operating the
trol action should be taken in the QC system has been doing their job
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation
I COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
properly. It is all too easy to find
that over 50 percent of the effort is
going into this function rather than
into the actual control. This ten-
dency should be resisted as much as
possible.
33
 A C 1 C O M P t 1 3 91 W 0bb2949 0505993 T89 W

MIP BWRKE PLME: PRONTO 3 Q n h GRADE

C> DIRLCT ~~~~~~~T 5û 3iiiWLc3

Fig. 7 - Direct plot of data for a specified grade of concrete.

Il2 PBOJECI CWCTMSTIC

SLW WICaGfl TWMP1BbRB1 7 DA! SIII1IciI 28 DAI STâBûTB 1 28 Dû! S M 6 f l 6
A I -
DUISIT! 28 DA1 smf
l
WE aoira sn DI ~lbl 1111 i o 11161sm DE M III u0 WU
no WU SR DE UAX III OI NEM sm DE ~lblnm uo WEMso DE M WI i o I UH sm DE M WII PRWD AC%
251 sep-1989 2 82.1 1.5 81 I 2 ILS 0.1 I5 11 2 21.50 1.00 21.5 21.1 2 11.18 0.18 12.0 11.8 2 6.18 0.18 6.10 6.25 2 2351 9 U60 2147 26,92 11.18

I01 sep-1989 1 81.0 6.5 95 I 1 11.2 1.8 I8 I1 1 18.10 1.51 11.5 20.5 5 31.41 1.91 38.2 28.5 1 6.15 1.70 8.00 4.00 1 2124 29 U67 2100 21.02 21,91
101 oct-1989 29 96.9 11.9 130 65 29 19.4 2.2 21 16 29 28.98 2.10 11.5 21.0 29 11.09 2.11 10.1 50.8 29 6.10 1.61 9.00 1.U 29 2126 21 2180 2267 11.12 1OJ6
101 MT-1989 I1 100.1 11.8 18 85 I l 20.0 2.1 ' 2 1 16 I1 32J9 2.11 11.1 28.0 I1 18.91 2.71 13.2 11.8 I7 6.15 1.11 9.11 3.21 I1 2311 18 2191 21M 11.11 11.48

I21 sep49119 IO 19.0 9.1 115 55 10 11.8 1.2 M 15 10 29.05 1.11 11.1 12.5 IO 16.11 7.11 11.0 16.5 10 7.28 1.31 19,OO IJO 10 2119 10 U67 2111 2L22 21.12
321 act-1989 Il I.6 1.1 IW i 0 I7 10.1 1.1 26 16 I7 12.00 3.15 19.0 26.0 I1 37.75 1.12 41.8 12.8 I7 5 3 1.86 8.11 1.21 I7 2111 I8 2111 2113 12.16 12.61
321 OOV-1989 1 88J 1.5 IW I 1 21J 1.0 211 19 1 31.12 3.19 15.5 21.5 416.10 1.71 M.5 12.5 4 1.38 1.45 6.15 1.10 1 U58 51 2120 2107 10.51 10.12
I21 dec-1989 9 82.8 6.2 9û 10 9 22,l 1.9 26 M 9 11.61 1.58 11.0 12.0 9 42.19 2-90 15.8 16.2 9 7.51 2.01 10.25 1.21 9 2187 I9 2121 2160 1 9 J 9 17.12

111 WV-1989 20 105.5 1.9 110 W lû U.8 2.1 21 19 M 11.11 1.16 12.1 12.5 10 16.21 Li2 11.0 11,å M 8.89 2.10 I1.W 1.21 HI 2119 i8 2111 2311 11.01 12.06
111 der-1989 16 I 0 6 J 10.1 110 W 16 11.1 2.1 10 19 41 16.08 1,22 11.5 27.0 16 11,19 1.52 10,2 31,5 12 1,16 2.11 12.00 2.00 16 2162 29 2110 2291 16.48 11.68

101 sep-I989 8 18,l 1.6 81 10 8 17.1 2.6 M II ô 16.88 6.011 15.5 30.0 8 4.18 3.61 51.0 12.0 8 11.91 1.06 21.00 1.11 8 2177 25 2111 2111 16.16 12.82
101 act-1989 6 129.2 52.1 110 M 6 l5J 1.6 18 11 6 42.12 1.47 47.0 31.0 6 10.38 3.74 11.5 11.11 6 7.96 6.84 21.50 2.11 6 2119 18 2107 2360 41.11 41.20
101 nov-1989 12 110.8 39.6 180 11 12 20.5 1.9 23 IT 12 11.11 1.67 41.1 39.0 I2 48.40 2.68 11.0 14.8 12 6.61 2.70 11.50 1.21 I2 2196 IO 2111 2 1 1 11.61 11.98
401 dec-I989 I1 88.9 11.1 115 W I1 21,O 1.1 II M 14 10.01 1.01 41.5 11.0 I1 49.07 J.TI 11.2 11.0 14 9.06 2.72 11.00 1.10 I4 2392 26 2421 234 UO
, S 12.84

451 sep4989 I1 100.9 51.1 180 M I1 I8,2 1.6 21 11 I1 41.18 2.42 10.0 40.5 I7 56.61 2.M 61.2 12.2 I1 9.16 2.28 11.11 1.21 Il 2381 19 2111 2110 52.61 11.00
451 art4989 16 81.1 S1,2 MI $0 I6 18,l 2.6 22 II 16 11.91 4.10 49.0 12.0 16 51.09 1.01 60.1 48J I6 9.16 1,19 M,U 1.25 16 2183 II 2411 2153 11.81 18.11
111 ~ 0 ~ 4 9 8 9 I 186.1 15.1 2W IN 1 22.7 1.2 21 22 I 11.17 0.58 11.1 14.1 1 13.113 0.61 51.1 13.2 1 8.67 0.80 9.B 1.71 I 2189 8 2191 2180 SlJ8 12.80

101 sep1989 8 132.1 59.1 MO So 11 11.2 1.1 19 14 8 51.12 2.11 11.1 16.0 8 19.22 1.111 61.8 11.0 8 8.09 1.91 11.21 1.10 8 2197 IO 2411 2181 1h.97 52.91
SOI et-1989 IO 101.1 59.1 I9 I5 IO 18.1 1.8 M 11 IO %I5 3,91 18.0 11.0 10 60.10 2.61 61.2 5 4 8IO 1.11 1.16 11.10 2.U 10 2M1 21 2111 2164 54.11 56.11
501 nor-1989 i1 111.9 S1.7 B'O 55 I1 22,9 1,l 27 14 I1 51.11 5.68 61.0 12.0 11 62.93 6.81 70.8 19.8 14 9.82 3.21 11.10 2.50 I1 2416 21 2151 2381 11.55 51.19
101 dec-1989 I I 130.11 W.2 220 50 13 21.9 2,4 I0 21 11 53.42 3.26 Sa.5 UI.0 Il 62.06 2.48 61.0 58.0 13 8.61 1.17 17.50 1.25 11 2122 15 2iM 2191 56.61 17.96

601 sep4989 1 M.O 16.11 91 60 1 17.1 0.8 18 16 4 11.88 1.61 18.0 11.5 1 65.4 2.25 68.2 61.1 4 10.56 1,11 11.25 1.50 4 2192 21 2121 2167 19.11 61.73
601 oet-1989 1 86.1 UIJ 115 50 1 19.1 2.1 21 11 1 51.86 2.95 19.5 12.5 1 64.86 1.86 61.2 61.5 1 9.00 1.62 11.25 1.75 1 2186 M 2121 2161 19.98 61.79
601 BOT-1989 6 119.2 11.1 2M 11 6 21.1 1.6 I7 22 6 11.92 1.11 63.0 13.5 6 71.01 1.91 79.8 68,O 6 15.12 1,98 21.15 9.21 6 2416 24 2413 2167 67.18 61.88
601 der-1989 1 131.9 51.5 MO 10 7 26.1 1.9 12 20 7 57.00 1.10 60.5 12.0 7 66.16 1.15 11.11 61.8 7 9.46 1.71 11.00 1.11 7 2128 I7 2141 2193 60.85 60.21

Fig. 8 - Statistics generated using the database add-in Oracle. @Seismicisolation

@Seismicisolation
34 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91
It is of course very easy to devise
more and more complicated spread-
sheets. What is really needed is
greater simplicity with little or no
loss of effectiveness. As noted ear-
lier, effective reporting is more of a
problem than effective operation.
Update report
These articles were written two
years ago and naturally there have
been changes and new develop-
ments. It has been considered better
not to revise articles, as what was
presented would not then be a com-
plete working system. However it is
now time to report on the changes.
One change for the better has
been due to the suggestion by reader
Joseph S. Burke (see Part IV in the
December 1989 issue) which pro-
duces graphs of self-adjusting scale.
Another change has been the split-
ting up of the functions of data en-
try and analysis. The system de-
scribed worked well but required
huge spreadsheets and long recalcu-
lation times.
We now have a specialised data
entry spreadsheet which does noth-
ing but read o u t a file
(DATA.PRN) that can be read by a
linking (non-Lotus) program. This
spreadsheet can cope with 2000
samples without requiring excessive
computer memory. The linking
program CHOOSE* has the single
screen shown in Fig. 9. This pro-
gram very quickly and simply ex-
tracts results for any combination
of dates, projects, supply plants (by
delivery docket number range), etc,
in three forms:
As a table of averages
As a set of multigrade data
As individual grades
The first two of these are drawn
into a multigrade spreadsheet and
the third into a single grade spread-
sheet for analysis.
*It is not practicable to provide a program listing
for CHOOSE and other non-Lotus programs
mentioned in these articles. For further
information contact the author Ken Day at
Concrete Advice Pty. Ltd., P.O.Box 352,
Croydon, VIC 3136, Australia
(Phone: 61 3 725 2199 Fax: 61 3 723 3645).
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
O662949 0505994 915
CHOOSE REQUIRED RESULTS
Enter the required Grade : all
Exclude Grade(s) LT : 200
Enter the number of most recent records to be selected : 0250
Enter a Docket No. range
Enter a Lotus Date range
Select a Project : -
OR
Exclude Project(s) 1) - 2) - 3) -
Fig. 9 - Screen for the linking program CHOOSE.
The database add-in Oracle was
mentioned in Part VII. It is a very
powerful and flexible database, but
it costs money and requires time to
add in and to load the data into it.
We found we used it only to gener-
ate a single “stats report” (Fig. 8)
and that this could be done much
more simply and quickly by a cus-
tom-written program.
A further custom program com-
pares test results from two different
laboratories testing the same trucks
of concrete (this program was de-
scribed in the author’s presentation
on “Bad Concrete or Bad Testing’’
at the Contractors’ Day program at
the 1989 AC1 Fall Convention in
San Diego).
Major new developments
The above are essentially only small
changes to enable the system to do
the same j o b very much more
quickly and easily. There are how-
ever two major developments to re-
port. The first of these is a program
which has been in use at an Austra-
lian batching plant since February
1989. This program designs and
amends concrete mixes. enters them
in the and re-
ceives a data file on every truck of
concrete produced.
The data files enable graphs of
production versus time t o be dis-
played at any time during the day.
The graphs are displayed split into
6 different categories of type of
@Seismicisolation
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EQ : GT :
From : O00000
To : 999999
From : O0000
To : 99999
concrete, delivery, location, cus-
tomer, etc. More importantly, a
single screen shows at a glance every
error in every ingredient of every
truck of concrete produced that
day. The batching data is automati-
cally combined with concrete and
aggregate test data to give a power-
ful analysis of the situation.
If so desired, this program has
the capacity to automatically re-de-
sign mixes to take account of vary-
ing aggregates and actual concrete
test results without human input.
The plant can in fact design and
control its own mixes, although it
has yet to be permitted to do so.
The second development is very
recent. It takes the control process
two stages nearer the ultimate. One
stage is that it can use a mixture of
1-day, 2-day, 3-day, and later re-
sults to predict 28-day results and so
reduce the “concrete at risk” to a
single day’s production. The second
stage is that it can also predict at 1
day the age at which any nominated
strength will be attained in the ac-
tual structure.
These developments will both be
described in subsequent articles.
Received and reviewed under institute publication
policies.
35
 A C 1 COMPlkli3 71 m 0662749 0505995 851

CHAPTER 9

T his month's topic is the reg-

ulation of batch plants us-
ing Lotus spreadsheets. It is
important to be clear that
we are not talking about the actual
batching process (for which a
spreadsheet would be quite unsuita-
ble). Spreadsheets are used to:
Design a range of concrete mixes
and prepare a file for input to the
batching system
Receive details of every batch
made and analyse these for produc-
tion control (work study, finan-
cial), same day damage control, and
combination with aggregate and
concrete test data to explain all var-
iations in mix performance and
evaluate the relative merits of dif-
ferent mixes.
The programs are commercial
property, so that what is presented
in this article is the basic concepts
rather than full program details.
Mix design
Fig. 1 is the mix design screen. This
is very crowded but it is a huge ad-
vantage to have everything on a sin-
gle screen when re-designing a mix.
The ingredients of the mix are listed
in cells A24 to A31 as cement, fly
ash, coarse aggregates 1 to 3, sands
1 and 2, and water. The specific
materials in the mix are nominated
by number in cells K34 to K40 from
a list of all available materials.
The current mix quantities are
shown in cells C24 to C31 (the ver-
sion illustrated is in metric units of
kg/m3 with strength in MPa, slump
in mm, and temperature in degrees
Cl.

--
LU
A B C D E F G H I M
1.14
J N O
71.6
P K Q
71.6
L
I. 14.
21 ]MIX CODE 400 TYPE: 40N llACTUAL1lGRADE:400 No: 8
22 SSD BATCH QUANTITIES SG LAST REVISION CONCRETE PROPERTIES
23 CURRENTPROPOSEC VALUES O 1 Jun- 9O -
DESIGN ACTUAL PROPOSE1
24 CEM 390 390 CEM 3.15 SLUMP 80 97.5 80
25 ASH O O ASH 2.3 MEAN STR 42.7 62.4 42.7
26 CA1 390 390 CA1 2.69 MSF 22.4 24.7 22.4
27 CA2 830 830 CA2 2.69 AIR%(ACT=xDENS) 1.5 0.20 1.5
28 CA3 O O CA3 2.69 WATER 185 185 185
29 s1 587 587 S1 2.64 CONC TEMP 20 22.1 20
30 52 O O S2 2.64 Fl(WATER RDN%) -6.5 6.6 -6.5
31 WATER 185 O 185 DESN-ACTL FS(STRENGTH) 1.00 1.37 1.00
32 YIELD 1000 DENSITY> 2382 2412 F3(HIGH CEM) 1.00 1.00 1.00
33 RATIOS CURRENT PROPOSED AGG NOAGGREGATE GRADING SS
34 PFA% (by Wt) O O s1 21 50.0 58.9 50.0
35 CA1% (by Vol) 32 32 CLAY% s1 6 8 6
36 CA2% (by Vol) 68 68 s2 22 56.0 55.7 56.0
37 Si% (by Vol) 100 100 CLAY% s2 6 8 6
38 CMB SND SS 50 50 CA1 10 4.0 3.91 4.0
39 PFA WTR F 0.95 0.95 CA2 11 8.0 6.78 8.0
CA3 12 15.0 24.7 15.0
ENTER AGG N o AS TEXT!
42 100-200A1 O O AEA CEMENT TYPE >>>>>3 WATER TYPE>l
43 470/100A2 O O WRDA '3 = TYPE A (NORMAL PORTLAND)
44 800/100A3 O O DARATARD '4 = TYPE C (LOW HEAT)
45 400/100A41560 1560 GRACE HS '6 = BRIGHTONLITE
46 (SITE) A5 O RHEOBLD 716 WATER >>>>(l=RECYC OK,2=PURE REQD)
47

Fig. 1 - Mix design screen. (Normal screen display shown inside box; letterhumber grid is for text reference.)
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36 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 C O M P * 1 3 91 m O b b 2 9 q ï 0505996 798 m
G:\BATCH>type 08may90.ken
28907 ,08/06/90, 7:45,”GROCON ‘I I 3
“182, 6.4 ,300,80
28907 I 32 I 1356-563 I O I 1 I 138.5313 I O I 3 I 300.3125 I O I 10 1 794.5313
I O I 21 I 801.9375 I 6 I 11 I 403.125 O
28907 I 32 I 1363 , 1 I 137.9 I 3 I 290 I 10 I 786 I 21 I 719 I 11 I 392
28907 I 32 ,-6.5 I 1 .5 I 3 I 10.3 I 10 I 8.5 21 I 82.9 I 11 I 11.1
28908 ,08/06/90, 8:08111GROCON 11 II 3
I
‘119015 ,404,60
28908 1 I 149.82 I O I 5 I 42.6 I O I 3 I 396.4 O I 11 I 1008 I O I 21 I 720
.98 I 6
28908 1 I 150 I 5 I 50 I 3 I 390 I 11 , 1008 , 21 I 724
28908 I 1 ,--2 I 5 1-7.4 I 3 I 6.4 I 11 I O I 21 1-3-1

Fig. 2 - Entries in daily batch file.

Admixtures are set out in cells
C41 t o C46 (which is off the bot-
tom of the normal screen). These
entries are used by the batching
program but are not interactive with
the mix screen. The user has to al-
low for their effect on air entrain-
ment, water reduction and strength
by amending entries in cells 4 2 7 ,
Q30, 4 3 1 and 432.
Various mix ratios and fly ash
properties are listed in cells E34 to
E40, specific gravities in cells H24
to H30, sand and coarse aggregate
specific surface and clay contents in
cells M34 to M40 and intended con-
crete properties in cells M24 t o
M32.
All this information appears au-
tomatically when the mix code
number is entered in cell C21. The
program is automatically updated
by calling in tables of average val-
ues of concrete properties (strength,
slump, density, temperature, per-
cent air, and water content) and ag-
gregate gradings. These automati-
cally enter in column O and cell
H32 and cause re-calculation of the
ratios in 030 to 032 and the MSF
(sandiness factor) in 026.
The figures in the three sections
headed ‘proposed’ are initially
identical to the figures in the cells
immediately to the right of the cell
in question.
All this appears very complicated
but so far the user has done noth-
ing but enter a single number in cell
C21. Any or all of the information
in the ‘proposed’ columns in H and
Q may then be amended. As any
change is made, the mix in column
E automatically changes to imple-
ment the decisions made. If de-
sired, the slump, strength, and MSF
figures (i.e., all the basic concrete
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
requirements) could be set to re-
main unchanged with the mix vary-
ing to accommodate changes in ag-
gregate properties and actual test
results. We would then have a batch
plant which controlled its own con-
crete.
There are two other features of
the mix system. One is that in row
20 (immediately above the normal
display) four figures appear. These
are the cost per cubic metre of the
current and proposed mixes and the
cost per cubic metre per MPa of
strength of each. These figures be-
come very interesting when consid-
ering changes such as a varied sand-
iness, a varied fly ash percentage, or
a change in admixture type (obvi-
ously the program also reads in a
file of unit costs of materials).
The remaining feature is that
graphical displays are available of
the current and proposed grading
curves against a background of lim-
iting envelopes for high and low ce-
ment content mixes. Three types of
curve are available:
Aggregates only, percentage
passing
All ingredients (including ce-
ment, water, and air), percentage
passing
All ingredients as percent re-
tained on individual sieves
If Lotus 3 or Symphony is used
rather than Lotus 2, the graphs can
be seen alongside the spreadsheet so
as to give interactive adjustment.
When satisfied with the proposed
mix, [Alt] + A (‘accept’) is keyed
and the ‘proposed’ data is copied
into the ‘current’ and ‘design’ col-
umns. It is also copied to a mix file
for transmission t o the batching
computer.
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Batch plant readout
As each truck is batched, a four line
entry is made in the daily batch file
(Fig. 2):
Line I : docket No., date, time, pro-
ject No., truck N o . , quantity,
grade, and ordered slump.
Line 2: docket No.; plus, for each
ingredient, material No., actual
batch weight per nominal cubic me-
tre, and moisture percentage.
Line 3: similar to line 2, but with
intended batch weights and no
moisture percentage.
Line 4: docket No.; plus, for each
ingredient, material No. and error
in batch weight.
Obviously one of lines 2, 3 and 4
could be omitted but it is conven-
ient to have them all (and will be
more so when the computer is de-
ciding for itself what the correct
quantities should be).
The recording of a zero moisture
content may appear superfluous for
cement and ridiculous for water and
liquid admixtures, but it is neces-
sary to enable a standard format.
Each third figure is simply a per-
centage which has been subtracted
from each second figure and added
to the reported water content.
A small non-Lotus program splits
the original batch files into ASCII
files suitable for importation into
several Lotus spreadsheets:
ERRANAL
This shows on a single screen every
error in every ingredient of every
batch produced that day up to the
point at which the file was trans-
ferred. The user can immediately
see where any important problems
are, reading the docket number
concerned off the graph. The user
can then nominate any limit desired
37
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 = Obb2949 0505997 b 2 4 U

GROLLO PRESTON
BATCHING ERRORS: 1 5 - N o v - 8 9

(20 kg/m3 and 20 ml of admixture

are a typical choice) and the pro-
gram prints out full details of every
batch with any ingredient outside
the limit (Fig. 3 and 4).

PRODUCTION GRAPH
Graphs of quantity produced versus
time. Production can be split into
DOCKET N o up to six categories on each graph
O WATER + CEMENT O PFA(FLY ASH) A COARSE AGG X SAND
and there can be several alternative
V ADMIXTURES
graphs. A category can be a deliv.:
ery category or a mix type category.
The facility is very useful in plant
GROLLO PRESTON management but has no concrete
BATCHING ERRORS: 1 5 - N o v - 8 9 technology aspects. The same data
is automatically used for invoicing
and the payment of owner-drivers
of mixer trucks (Fig. 5 ) .
BQ FILES
Each grade has a numerical desig-
nation (e.g. 351 would be a 35 MPa
pump mix and 600 a 60 MPa struc-
tural mix) and a file is automati-
cally established (e.g. BQ351) to
contain the actual batch quantities
of every batch made of this grade.
In addition to batch quantities, the
program interacts with aggregate
grading files and records an overall
mix specific surface and an actual
(as opposed to nominal) yield.

CG FILES
In a similar way to the BQ files, the
CG files contain the combined
grading of every mix made. This
Fig. 3 - Error analysis screens.
d a t a is ideal in tracking down
pumping problems. It is important

FILL ERROR EXCETIONS LIST FOR > 27-IIaï-89 LIMIT SET > 20
iDX5T DA"E/TIKE HE Y1 y2 cmi cM4(LH) PPA cw6(BL) CM0 CA14 CA7 LY20 w114 Sl(H) S2(BH) Al 112 A3 A4 A5
148% 06:28 AH 250 1 O 0 0 O 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 5 2 2 0 0 0
14897 06:38 AH 303 O O 0 0 -3 o -3 -2 O O O 1 O 1 7 8 O O O
14898 06:38 AH 250 1 o -2 o O 0 -1 -2 o o O 2 0 o 0 - 4 5 o o o
14901 07:Ol I 117 o o 20 o -11 o O O O O 0 - 6 0 O O O O O O
14912 07:& I 700 -1 o -2 -45 O 0 -1 -2 O O O -8 O O O O O O
14925 û8:UI I 700 6 o -4 -3 O 0 -1 1 o o o 96 o o o 0 . 0 o
14926 08:54 Aw 352 1 O 0 0 O 0 O 4 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 - 8 0 0 0
14959 1 1 3 1 AH 303 -39 o o . o 1 0 2 -1 O O O 5 O 2 - 1 6 O O O
14960 11:36 AH 700 -156 0 3 -4 O 0 -6 -1 o o o 5 o o o o o o
14969 12:23 E4 250 O 1 1 0 O 0 -2 -5 O O O 5 O O 26 O O O
14971 12:38 Pli 250 O O 2 0 O 0 -217 1 o o o o o o -9 o o o
Fig. 4 - Printout of full details of every batch with any ingredient outside specified limit.
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38 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 91 D 0662949 0505998 560

?ROCULT13N BY GRADES
15-Nov-89

to note that its production is com-

pletely automatic and takes seconds
rather than minutes, even though its
production using a hand calculator
would take several hours for a day's
production.
NEWQC
This spreadsheet combines a BQ file
with its equivalent G file (e.g. G351
carries the concrete test results for TIME (24HR CLOCK.DECIMAL HOURS)
the 351 grade). Three different types O 60-70MPa + LWt O B'LITE A <ZOO X 20-55MPa V TOTAL

of analysis are available on the

spreadsheet:
A large range of cusum graphs. A DELIVERIES BY PROJECT
sequence is followed of looking at 15-Nov-89
strength results t o find change JO0

points; looking at water related cus- 280

ums (e.g. slump, temperature, cal- 260
culated and batch plant water con- 240
tents, etc) to see if that was the 220
problem; looking at pair difference, 200
7 to 28 day gains, densities, etc, to
180
see if testing was the problem;
160
looking at batch quantity cusums to
see if they were the problem etc, 140

etc. 120

When the main strength change 1O0

point seen on the graphs is nomi- 80

nated, the program produces three 60
very comprehensive columns of sta- 40
tistics relating to all results, results 20
before the nominated point, and re-
O
sults after the nominated point. The 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
statistics listed are 7 and 28 day TIME ( 2 4 H R CLOCK.DECIMAL HOURS)
mean strength, standard deviation, O PROJECT 1 + PROJECT 2 O PROJECT 3 A PROJECT 4 X PROJECT 5
5 percent minimum, highest and V OTHER PROJECTS
lowest result, average 28 day pair
difference, and 7 to 28 day strength
gain; average slump, temperature, Fig. 5 - Production graphs.
percent voids, w/c (batch plant and
calculated figures), cement content,
fly ash content, water content sample that fails to satisfy both re- a persistent offender, whether small
(batch plant and calculated), den- quirements. The listing provides not loads are a more frequent problem
sity (calculated, cylinder density, only strengths, densities, slump, and etc, etc.
and cylinder range) and aggregate concrete temperature, but also time
specific surface. Of batching, truck number, volume Received and reviewed under institute publication
With this range of data automat- of concrete, water and cement con- policies.
ically listed, it is usually quite obvi- tents, yield, and combined aggre-
ous what caused the change point. gate specific surface. Again, it is
An exceptions list. Any desired 7 often clear why t h e particular
and 28 day strengths are nominated t r u c k l o a d was a n e x c e p t i o n ,
and the program reads out each whether a particular truck/driver is
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COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 39
 A C 1 COMP*13
CHAPTER 10
Early Strength of In Situ
T his month’s topic is early
strength and strength of in-
situ concrete. However, it is
also an excellent example of
the relative merits and disadvan-
tages of the spreadsheet approach
and it presents a new concept in
control philosophy as well as tech-
nique.
The program described took only
two days to produce as a spread-
sheet, whilst an almost identical
version using Turbo C language
took several weeks of a computer
professional’s time. Even this is
only part of the story, since the
spreadsheet went through a range of
revisions in a few short bursts total-
ling less than a day, which would
have more than doubled the time
for the Turbo C version had this
not simply been a translation of the
final version. The downside of the
spreadsheet version is that it runs
much more slowly and is more
readily corrupted and the formulas
are more readily misappropriated.
The basic concept of the program
is t o measure the equivalent age
(maturity) of a test cylinder using a
Coma-meter and to use this to pro-
duce a forecast value of strength at
any age and the age at which any
particular strength will be attained.
‘Age’ will be read not on a clock
but on one or more additional
Coma-meters (or electric recording
maturity meters) set in the in-situ
concrete. The concept has obvious
advantages over assuming a matur-
ity-strength curve and checking in-
situ strength when an estimated re-
quired maturity has been attained.
Whilst the initial objective was
merely to provide more accurate
control of early stripping and
stressing procedures, it soon be-
came apparent that much more than
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40
91 = 0 b b 2 9 4 9 0505999 4 T 7
that had been achieved. In fact the
age of assessment of concrete qual-
ity had been brought forward to 24
hours or less without the inconven-
ience or rigidity of an accelerated
curing regime. Initial experience
suggests that a mixture of early test
ages from less than 1 day to 5 days
will still provide a statistically ana-
lyzable situation. An initial esti-
mate of 7-day and 28-day strengths
is needed to start the program, but
great accuracy is not essential be-
cause the program is fed with ac-
tual 7-day and 28-day results and
automatically uses these to refine its
prediction equations.
Another objective in originating
the program was to assist those who
find difficulty in interpreting
graphical output. Accordingly, the
program displays a range of run-
ning means and standard deviations
and itself locates change points
which would show on cusum graphs
if they were drawn. Tabulated val-
ues of estimated cement content ad-
justments calculated to provide re-
quired grade strength are continu-
ously displayed and other warning
messages (not covered in this arti-
cle) are displayed as necessary. The
program also automatically reports
on the accuracy of its predictions to
date. All input data is recorded on
disk and can be read out into a Lo-
tus spreadsheet for graphing or fur-
ther analysis if desired (including
from the Turbo C version).
An interesting point to consider is
screen design. Most experts will ad-
vise that simple, uncluttered screens
are desirable. The author finds that
he almost invariably goes to the ex-
act opposite extreme by using every
square inch to the full. This is cer-
tainly extremely off-putting for the
initial user. However the layout
should soon become familiar to the
regular user, and the upside is that
everything is there for comparison
without needing to flick backwards
and forwards between several
screens.
There is of course a menu screen
and an initial installation screen
(Fig. l a and 2a) for each grade but
we are mainly concerned with only
two screens:
Main entry screen (Fig. l b and
2b)
Evaluation screen (Fig. IC and 2c)
There is an additional screen in
the Lotus version which the user
does not see. This screen is a copy
of part of the main entry screen. Its
function is to extract (using the Lo-
tus @VLOOKUP function) data
from the database. Values can then
be reinserted on the main entry
screen using the Range Value Copy
facility where they may be modified
and reinserted in the database using
the initial entry mechanism. This
technique is necessary in order to
avoid obliterating the data recovery
formula when entering further data.
The additional screen is not re-
quired in the Turbo C version.
The entry mechanism in the Lo-
tus version is as follows: A horizon-
tal row of cells (row 3, AF to AW,
Fig. 3) is set up in which each entry
in the entry screen is automatically
duplicated (by simply entering
+ M4 etc along the row). The first
number in the row is the sample
number and this is automatically
read into a macro (macro E, Fig. 4)
which copies the row into its posi-
tion in the database. It is of course
essential t o use the Range Value
Copy or only a formula will be
transferred and will register an in-
correct value.
The macros have been collected
AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COUPU13 91 0662949 0506000 817

D E F G H
1 CONAD COMA-METER EARLY AGE QC SYSTEM (ERLISTR)
2
3 INITIAL DEFAULT DATA INPUT
4
5 GRADE No 302
6 (KEY [Alt]+G TO RETRIEVE EXISTING FILE OF THIS GRADE)
7
8 REQUIRED STRENGTHS @EARLY AGE 22
9 CHARACTERISTIC @ 28 DAYS 30
10
into a potential macro library in the 11 ESTIMATED STRENGTHS @ 1 DAY 12
area A18-C83 (Fig. 4). Macro E is 12 @ 7 DAYS 30
13 @ 28 DAYS 38
the entry macro and macros D and 14
15 ESTIMATED AVERAGE AIR % 2
S are the ones which restore values 16
17 KEY [Alt]+I TO INITIATE
from the database to the screen for
amendment (es. addition of 7 and
28 day test results). Macro D re- K L H O P Q R S T
stores for an input docket number 1
2
CONAD EARLY AGE ANALYSIS USING C
INPUT GRADE: 302
IA-METER
OUTPUT
[.91t]+E to ENTER DATA
IAltl+P PREDICT ONLY
and macro S from an input sample 3
4 SAMPLE NO
total SAMPLE
25 26
>>>>>>[Alt]+F-to PILE DÄTÄBÄsE<<<<c<<<
PREDICTED CURRENT VALUES NO OF
number. 5 ([Alt]+S retrieves by SAMPLE NO) STRENGTH @ MEAN STD OEV RESULTS
6 DATE OF SUPPLY 11-May
It will be noted that the Turbo C 7 1 DAY 10.3 12.6 3.59 26
version is substantially more pow- a TIME SAMPLED(DEC1MAL DAY) 0O:OO
9 DOCKET 7 DAY 28.3 30.8 2.97 24
erful in the batch data analysis. It 10 W C K E T No 56027
11 ([Alt]+D retrieves by DOCKET No] 28 DAY 35.9 38.4 3.21 24
provides a yield check and adjusts 12 SLUMP 85 CALCULATED STRENGTHS TUNING
13 7.6 ex 7DAY ACTUAL STRENGTH FACTORS
its water prediction for grading and 14 CONCRETE TEMF'ERATURB 10 46.4 ex CALCULATED WATER 0.99
quantity of sand as well as for 15
16 EARLY STR RBQD/ACTL 22 23
47.4 ex ENTERED WATER
44.5 adj for slump,temp&air%
0.95

slump, temperature and air con- 17 AGE REQD STRENGTH CURRENT AVERAGE
18 COMA READING 3.93 3.53 << ATTAINED 2.87 << AGE
tent. It also incorporates provision 19 ON SITE COMA READING IN DECIMAL DAYS)
20 AIRI USED / INPUT 2.20 2.2
for fly ash and silica fume as well as 21 AIR% /FIELD DENSITY 3.42 2395 RUNNING MEANS OF ACTUAL & PRED 28D STR
cement. The running mean analysis 22
23
AIR% exCYL DENSITY 3.06 LAST >
XEARLY 32.5
3 5
34.6
10
35.4
30
37.9
is also more comprehensive and the 24 AVG CYLINDER DENSTY 2404 2400 ex 7DA 39.4
25 2390 ACTUAL 36.6 37.2 38.4
program has an inbuilt adaption for 26 2420
metric or traditional units. How- 27 2405 >>>>>>>>>> ***** WARNING * * * * * * i t * * *
28 significant downturn *
ever on the whole it is remarkable 29 ACTUAL STRENGTH 7 DAY O K val 21.30 * h a s occurred after *
30 RESULTS D val 7.59 sample number > o *
how far one can get with a Lotus 31 2 8 DAY O * PRED 28D AFTER 37.20 *
32 O ........................
spreadsheet. Virtually all the fea- 33 BATCH DATA 401.6 PREVIOUS AVERAGE CEMENT
34 CEMENT 400 164.4 WATER CALC from slump,temp&air%
tures of the Turbo C version could 35 169.1 CALC WTR adj to avg simp,tmp&air
in fact be provided on the Lotus 36
37
WATER 160 enter used CALC WATER
0.94 0.94 TUNING FACTOR
default
0.95
version but the program was be- 38 KEY [Alt]+E TO ENTER DATA
coming too large and too slow, as
well as being too fragile.
The Lotus version is particularly 1
CA CB cc CD CE CF CG
CONAD COHAMETER SYSTEM: ANALYSIS SCREEN
CH CI
suitable for Release 3 (the 3 dimen- 2 CHANGE POINT SAMPLE NOS: 28DAY STRENGTH RESULTS
3 1D STR DOWN 15 1D STR UP 9 running mean of last 3
sional version) but was actually de- 4 7D STR DOWN 15 7D STR UP 9 ex EARLY to sample No
veloped on Version 2.2. In this ver- 5
6
28D STR DOWN
SLUWP UP
16 28D STR UP
O SLUWP DOWN
1 36.05
O ex 7 DAY
24

sion, all the screens are simply se- 7

8
DENSITY DOWN
TEMPUP
O DENSITY UP
6 TEMP DOWN
O 35.69
12 ACTUAL
24
lected a r e a s of t h e s a m e 9 30.65 24
10 EQUIV PREDICTION
spreadsheet.
The conclusion of the exercise has
11 REQD CHARACTERISTIC STRNGTH:
12 CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTH
13 PROVIDED, BASED ON:
30 CËMENT
ADJUST
. . .
[KG/CMI
ERROR ANALYSIS
(pred
7DAY
actual)
28DAY
-
28DAYex7
to be that Lotus type spreadsheets 14 LAST 30 ACTUAL 28D RESULTS 32.39 -12 AVERAGE ERROR
15 LAST 10 ACTUAL 28D RESULTS 30.13 -1 0.16 -0.58 0.00
are extremely valuable for use by 16 LAST 30 1DAY PREDICTIONS 32.55 -13 STD DEVN OF ERROR
17 LAST 10 1DAY PREDICTIONS 31.13 -6 0.00 1.83 1.93
intelligent technical persons at two 18 LAST 5 1DAY PREDICTIONS 31.48 -7 No of results
levels. One level is to enable them to 19 LAST 3 1DAY PREDICTIONS 30.77
20 (ALL PREDICTIONS USE LONG TERM 28D SD
-4 24
3.21 <SD USED
24 24

invent their own systems. The other
is to use an initially purchased sys-
tem but to be able to see exactly
what it is doing and to have the ca-
pacity to amend or extend it to suit
one's own situation and ideas.
Whilst standard spreadsheets can
certainly be used for concrete QC
by lower-level clerical personnel,
compiled programs show several
advantages for such use. These in-
clude faster operation, lower mem-
ory requirement, and resistance to
accidental or intentional corrup-
tion. The Turbo C program de-
COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC
21 (DEFAULTS:limited to range 2.5-5.0,use 3.0 if no value)
Fig. 1 - Lotus version: top (a) installation screen; center(b) data entry/
prediction screen; bottom (c) analysis screen.
scribed in this article offers an in- one cannot choose to vary the input
teresting third alternative. It is a data format.
compiled program with the listed Readers should note that there
advantages of such programs but it has been no attempt to incorporate
can also read out its data into a meaningful data in the illustrations
spreadsheet so that technical per- provided. The intention has been to
sonnel can make what further or al- describe a technique rather than to
ternative use they wish of it. The examine or demonstrate findings
only rigidity of such a system is that derived from its use.
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41
 cow C O N M EARLY S"GTH CONTROL SYSTEM 110690

Enter GRADE No. a 303

Enter the required strength at EAüLY AGE ? 21

28 DAY i 30

Enter approximate strengths at 1 DAY i 12 Comparison with

7 DAYS
28 DAYS
I
I
30
38 accelerated curing
Enter units to be used (O AUS, 1 -
Enter anticipated Average Entrained Air i 2
USA) ? O
Enter default value of Standard Deviation a 3
- * It is necessary to think carefully
about why accelerated curing might
(These entriee will be ignored once the first be used. Here are some answers:
real 7 I 28 day etrengths are input) To produce a sufficiently high
Existing Grades are a
303 999 4001 6666 8888 9001
strength to establish that the con-
crete is not enormously inadequate
Pt) Input/Update P2) Delete P3) Reset Test Results Pio) Previous Screen (e.g. does not mistakenly contain fly
ash instead of cement).
To reach a flatter area of the
I com CONAD COMAMETER SYSTEH: ENTRY SCREEN 160690 strength-maturity curve so that in-
GRADE 303 IPREDICTION FROM I CURRENT VALUES I No OF accuracies in maturity will have
proportionately less effect.
To have enough strength to resist
DOCKET NO/PLANT 12345
S L U W 110
TEMP CONC/AMB 30
EARLY STR R/A 22 14
COMA READING 1.6
O
21 I
128 DAY 39.7
OTILER
STRENGTH
I 40.8
0.0 ex 7 DAY ACTUAL
29.1 ex CALCULATED WATER
132.7 ex ENTERED WATER
~ ~~
0.83 I
PREDICTIONS
TUNING ' CURRENT
FACTûRS K 23.6
1
1
4

D 10.6
damage in stripping.
To have enough strength to reach
AIRI 1.79 2.00 O 43.3 adj for slump,tenp h air%
a reliable part of the testing mach-
DENSITY CYL 2390 2390 2380 ** 3.49*<M;E REQD STR ATTAINED
1.79
ACTUAL
PIELD 2395 2400
7 DAY O
2390
O
3.44 <CURRENT AVG AGE A W D .
(on site COMA reading in decimal days)
ine's scale.
-------- 28 DAY O
BATCH WEIGHTS
O
-------- RUNNING WEANS OF ACTUAL & PREDICTED 28D STR
LAST> 3 5 10 30
To have the test result and pre-
280.0 SAVG CEMENT 280 ex BMZIY 39.7 39.5 39.1 39.1 dicted strength closer together so as
0.9 ASH/SP 4 20 O ex 7 DAY 41.1 40.1 40.1 40.1
185.0 WATER PLANT 170 ACTUAL 41.2 40.8 40.8 40.8 to reduce the effect of, and degree
YIELD> 1.038 M D E D 15 66
AGGS:CAl/CA2/FA 800 300 900
204.5 <CAM: WATER CONTENT adj VALUE> 1 4 4 . 6
0.95 <TUNING FACTOR POR CALC. WATER of reliance on, the prediction for-
mula.
Note that 'to get an earlier an-
swer' is not one of the reasons ex-
cept for the last answer, which ap-
plies especially in cold weather. In
RUNNING MEANS OP ACTUAL ú PRED 28D
LAST> 3 5 10
STR NO OF RUNNING VALUES OF STD
30 RESULTS W T >> 10 30
DEVN
ALL
warm weather, and with reasonably
ex Early 39.7
ex 7 day 41.1
39.5
40.1
39.1
40.1
39.1
40.1
6 ex Early 1.03 1.03
4 ex 7 day
1.03 high strength concrete, a non-accel-
2.02 2.02 2.02
Actual 41.2 40.8 40.8 40.8 4 Actual 0.83 0.83 0.83 erated one-day test could be used. If
ex Early 39.7 38.9 36.9 36.9 PREDICTION -RS (pred-actl) a lower maturity is used, then the
ex 7 day 40.0 37.0 37.0 37.0 7DXEARLY 28DXEARLY 28Dx7D maturity must be more accurately
--------
Actual 40.5 39.5 39.5
CHANGE POINT DETECTION
39.5
---------
Av9 Error -1.29
Error SD 1.0
-1.94
0.39
-0.65
1.28 established, and so must the test
WORSENING
DATE DOCKET
IMPROVING
DAm DOCKET
NO of ras
....................................
4 4 4
strength. Also the prediction tech-
Early str 12/6/90- 12355 12/6/90- 12345 CALCUUTED CEPIENT ADJUSTMENTS
7day str 12/6/90- 12345 12/6/90- 12355 LAST WEAN ADJifSD-3 ADJifSDo5 nique must be more precise.
28day str
Slup 12/6/90- 12355
12/6/90- 12345 30
10
39.1
39.1
-21
-21
-4
-4
Most acceleration techniques at-
Density 12/6/90- 12345 5 39.5 -23 -7 tempt to impose a rigid acceleration
Temp 12/6/90- 12355 3 39.7 -24 -7
regime so that a fixed relationship
can be assumed between accelerated
~ 7 previous
) screen F I O ) Exit I and 28-day strength. Exact adher-
ence to the regime is virtually im-
Fig. 2 - Turbo C version: top (a) installation screen; center (b) data entry/ possible, except perhaps in the pre-
Drediction screen: bottom (c) analvsis screen. casting situation, and this is the

AF AG M AI AJ A K A L M A N A O M A P AR AS AT AU AV AW AX AY
1 -> .-n-f i-A_ LAST:
SAMPLE C E " T WATER DATE DOCKET NO GIUDE SLüMP TEMP AIR% 7D 28D1 28D2 CYLl CYL2 cn.3 cn4 C W A STRENGTH CRIT
26 400 160 33004 56027 302 85 23 2.20 O O O 2400 2390 2420 2405 3.93 23 1 DAY
HEAN
SD
1DAY <LOWER BOUND CRITERIb 28DAY SLUW TEMP AIR% 7D 28D1 28D2 CYL1 On2 cYL3 CYL4 COMA STRENGTH LOG
24 22
CURRENT K VALUE
CURRENT D VALUE
17
21.30
7.59
1 15 1
85.0
85.0
1
35.5
12.0
1
3.1
2.2
1
37.5
25.0
1
44.7
32.5
1
ERR
ERR
o
2400
2400
1 1
2390
2390
1
2420
2420
2405
2405
1 1
5.5
2.7
35.5
12.0
I 1
0.7
0.4
10 TOTAL 7D RES 28D RES DOCKET NO 25 25 25 25 25 O 25 25 25 25 25.0 25.0 25.0
11 26 25 24 O 85.0 24.5 3.1 31.1 38.7 ERR 2400 2390 2420 2405 0.6
12 TYPICAL DATABASE: 0.0 4.4 0.2 3.2 3.4 ERR 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
13 NO Of BATCH DATA ENTRY CONC STRBNGTH early COMA
14 SAMPLE CE"T WATER DATE DOCKET No G R A D E S L U W TEW AIRI 7D 28D1 28D2 CYL1 Cn2 cn3 CYL4 COMA STRENGTH UN
15 1 400 160 33004 55410 302 85 23.5 3.1 31.5 39 44.5 2400 2390 2420 2405 3.45 0.54
16 2 400 160 33004 55419 302 85 28 3.10 35.5 41 41 2400 2390 2420 2405 3.46 0.54
17 3 400 160 33004 55446 302 85 22.5 3.10 28.5 34.5 44.7 2400 2390 2420 2405 0.54
18 4 400 160 33004 57136 302 85 25 3.10 31 39.5 37.5 2400 2390 2420 2405 3.76 25 0.58

Fig. 3 - Database entry system (Lotus).

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42 AC1 COMPILATION
 A C 1 COMP*L3 9L m Ob62949 050b002 b î T m

Achilles heel of accelerated curing. A B C

The influence of weekends and hol- 18 ucpos
19
idays is also a problem. 20
The proposed system does not 22
address the aspects of testing ma- 22
chine sensitivity or specimen dam- 23
21
age. Probably about 6 to 10 MPa 25 D /rnxa~$ir.. m z - c ~ g .. ~ i o a .H~-EQ
.
(1000 to 1500 psi) is a lower limit 26 (eRAiiur. 828)
from these viewpoints. The samples 27 ( m mSAWLE Il0 HAPCIIIIK;
would need to be tested at a greater 28 S /4(40. .H73-H40-/RVH40. .)E14-H2-/RpMw6-
29
age or accelerated if such a strength 30
level is not naturally obtained at the 31 r {corO)AFl-
desirable test age. The difference is 32
33 B /CAF3. .lly3-AF3-/CB34. .B44-B34-/U24-L24-/CI21. .L22-Izl-/CL20-L22-/RVp93. .8113-8
that this could be done informally
and irregularly (e.g. by leaving them
34
35
* 10-/cAPIl-AFll-/CAY15. .BWl5-AY
in a warm shed on site or placing in 36 -* 40
warm water which is not thermos- 37 -/RVBH~iUs-/RVBI5-A19-/C1128. .BC12-A28-/CAF7. .AK~-?IF~-{BRALICII839)-
38
tatically controlled). The only es- 39 /Mil.. ~444-Az15-/iiZ11-~ll-/cBL115..BtaZU-BII15-/Cûl.. S40-01-/CCA39. .C177*9-
sentials are: IO {IF C176<1)(BRANQICC79)-
Coma cylinder and test cylinder I1 m27..S32-
must be identically treated. 12
43 W 3 . .AWAP3-/CB44. .B50-B44-/RVIW. .Aw3-Ap
Reasonable uniformity of tem-
perature over whole cylinder must
41
45
* J40-/CAY15. .BZ15-AY15. .AY
be maintained (e.g. do not heat one 16 .r(r 40
side). 17 -/CBDlO. .BI12-BDlO-[CM5. .BIs-BHs-/RVB~-UE-/~~I~AI~/~l.
.i'40-K1-
I8 ( B W B56)-
Preferably do not exceed about 19
40 C (say 105 F) above which the 50
Coma-meter is optimistic and would 51
need a correction factor. 52
53
The strength of the proposed sys- 51
tem is that it does provide accurate 55
knowledge of maturity and can 56 /CB57. .B59-B57-/FX-coxA
cope with very large differences in 57 302
58 -AF15. .AY
it. Also if the initial answer is not 59 39
satisfactory, a second cylinder (e.g. 60 -R
one meant for 28 days) can be 61
tested at any desired age to confirm 62 {coTo)AF15-/W15. .AW2222-/FCC-OM
63 302
or revise the prediction. 61 . v X l - / C A F l 1 - ~ 1 l - / C ~ ~ ~ ~ / ~.BZ2222-/CAY15.
Yl7. .BZ15-AY15. .AY
It is necessary to be realistic in 65 39
considering what accuracy should 66 -/CAFE. .BZ12-AF8-/CAZl. .BM-AZI-
be anticipated. Two different regis- 67
68
tered, competent laboratories can 69
experience differences of up to 10 70
MPa (1500 psi) in strength determi- 71
12
nation by conventional cylinder 73
testing of concrete from the same 71
truck. An average difference of the 15
order of 2 MPa (300 psi) is not very 76
abnormal. Thus an average predic- n
tion error of up to 2 MPa (300 psi) 79
using this technique would be quite 80
acceptable. Initial use in Australia is 81
82
showing less than half this error. a3
Received and reviewed under institute publication
policies.
*Note: The figure 40 is the outcome of entering in the cell
the expression @STRING(74 +AF3,0).

Fig. 4 - Lotus Macro Library.

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COMPUTERIZED CONCRETE QC 43
 A C 1 COMP*:]i3 91 W Ob62949 0506003 526 =-
1991 AC/ Membership Application
American Concrete Institute P.O. Box 19150 Detroit, MI 48219-0150 (313) 532-2600 FAX (313) 533-4747

Please print or type all information requested below.

Why You Should Join
The American Concrete Institute is a
technical and educational society dedi-
cated to improving the design, construc-
Flrst Name Middle Initial Last Name (Surname) tion, manufacture and maintenance of
concrete products and structures.
Among ACl’s 20,000members are desig
Tnle Birth Date/ Year ers, architects, civil engineers, educators,
contractors, concrete craftsmen and techi
Employer cians, and representativesof materials su
pliers, testing laboratories, and manufac-
turers from around the globe.
Address P.O. Box Number

Stay On Top
city State or Province Bplpostal code Of New Developments
Your membership in AC1 includes:
Country Phone Extension A subscription to the monthly Concret6
International magazine. This widely
CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP respected periodical is filled with timely
Please check the category of membership you are applyingfor and send in the appropriate dues and informative features on the design anc
as described below. construction of concrete structures.
0 Organizational: $!¡%/year. (Includesone sei of Manual of Concrete Practice). Substantial discounts on more than 3oC
0 Individual: $ll8/year. Individuals 28 years old or above residing worldwide. technical publications.
0 Junior: $72/year. Individualsunder the age of 28 who don’t qualify for student memberships.
Two Technical Journals
Student (International or Western Hemisphere): Individualunder the age of 28 and a registered Included with your membership is a s u b
full-time student at an educational institution. Full-time students over 28 years of age may be scription to either the AC1 Structural Jour-
granted Student Membership when the request is endorsed by the student’s advisor.
nal or the AC1 Materials Journal. You may
0 Student (Western Hemisphere): $25. select, as part of your dues, whichever
0 Student (International-OutsideWestern Hemisphere): $72. publication is of the most interest to you.
The AC1 Structural Journal contains topics
SUBSCRIPTIONS such as: structural analysis, building d e
Your membership includes a free subscription to Concrete International ($34 Value) and your sign, and research on structural elements.
The AC1 Materials Journal reports on s u b

-
choice of either the AC1 Structural Journal or the AC1 Materials Journal ($34 Value).
Please indicate your preference: AC1 StructuralJournal 0 AC1 Materials Journal. jects such as: mix proportioning, bond
development, and research on materials.
0 To subscribe to both Journals please check this box and enclose an additional $34 Both journals offer the most authoritative,
($15 students) with your dues payment. Outside US.add $41 ($21 students).
state-of-the-art information from the
FEES brightest minds in the field of concrete
technoloav.
MembershipDues 0 Check ( )
Additional Journal Charge to my:
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Through AC1 you can take part in the
VISA 0 MasterCard
Donation to AC1 Concrete development of design standards and prac
Research & Education tices that affect construction worldwide. E
Foundation (CREF) Account # Exp. Date participating in one or more technical com
mittees, you’ll help develop the standards
Total (US Funda Only) that are the most widely accepted concret1
Signature Date
construction documents in use todav.
MEMBER PROFILE INFORMATION (Please check only one box in each section)
PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION EMPLOYER’S PRINCIPAL BUSINESS PURCHASE AUTHORITY
-
Problem Solving National
O 1 Design Engineering O 1 Engineering Firm o 1 specify And Local Meetings
O 2 Research Engineering O 2 Contracting Firm O 2Recommend At ACl’s spring and fall conventions you’ll
0 3 Materials Engineering 0 3 Prestressed. Precast. Block, Concrete 0 3Authorize meet prominent experts in concrete tech-
O 4 Architecture Products, Producer, Ready-Mix Concrete, 0 4 Not Applicable nology. During technical paper sessions,
O 5 Construction Cement or Aggregate Producer symposia on specialized subjects, and
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0 14 Other (Please specify)
Member#
@Seismicisolation
@Seismicisolation Anniv Date
Please feel free to copy this application form.
A C 1 COMP*L3 71 D Ob62949 O506004 4b2

NOTES

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A C 1 COMP*L3 91 0bb2949 050b005 3T9

NOTES

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@Seismicisolation
A C 1 C O M P + L 3 91 m 0662949 0506006 235 m

NOTES

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r A C 1 COMPxL3 î L Obb2949 050b007 1 7 1

NOTES

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 The AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE

was founded in 1905 as a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to

public service and to representing user interests in the field of concrete. It
gathers and distributes information on the improvement of design, construc-
tion, and maintenance of concrete products and structures. The work of the
Institute is done by individual members and by volunteer committees.
The committees, as well as the Institute as a whole, operate under a
consensus format, which assures all members the right to have their views
considered. Committee activities include the development of building codes
and specification standards; analysis of research and development results;
presentation of construction and repair techniques; and education.
Anyone interested in the activities of the Institute is encouraged to seek
membership. There are no educational or employment requirements. En-
gineers, architects, scientists, constructors, and representatives from a va-
riety of companies and organizations form the Institute membership.
All members are eligible and encouraged to participate in committee ac-
tivities that relate to their specific areas of interest. Membership information,
a publications catalog, and listings of educational activities are available.

american concrete institute

BOX 19150, REDFORD STATION
DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48219

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