A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF CORE TEST FOR HARDENED CONCRETE.

The core test is carried out to assess whether the suspect hardened concrete complies with
strength-based acceptance criteria or not. It is also a unique tool for safety assessment of
existing concrete structure. This method utilizes core cutting machine to take out concrete
cores from hardened concrete and after preparation of specimens, their compressive strength
are determined.

Fig-1 Core Cutting Machine and Core Drill Bit (Ref: 1)

Necessity of Core Test: The core test is required in following cases:

a) When the results of concrete cubes are not giving satisfactory results or show some
uncertain results.
b) In case of doubt regarding the grade of concrete used, either due to poor workmanship
or based on results of cube strength results.
c) To determine concrete strength in an existing structure for the evaluation of Structural
Capacity or safety assessment of existing structure or to assess its capacity in case of
some additional loading is proposed to be used.

When to take core from the Concrete: Core for testing of strength shall not be removed from
structure until the concrete has become hard enough to permit its removal without disturbing
the bond between the mortar and coarse aggregates. As a guideline, for grade of Concrete up
to M25, the Concrete shall be at least 14 days old before the cores are taken. For higher grades,
cores may be taken at an earlier age.
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Location of Cores: The location of core shall be decided on the following:

a) Purpose of core extraction.

b) The possible structural implications resulting from taking the core from the location.
c) Edges of Concrete joints and reinforcement shall be avoided as far as possible.
d) Cores shall be taken preferably from the middle part of the member leaving top and
bottom parts where variation can be more.
e) Core shall preferably be taken from compression zone.
f) While taking cores from the top of slab or from foundation top, the test length shall not
contain concrete from top 15 percent to 20 percent depth as top part of the core may
not have uniform distribution of aggregate (maximum up to 60 mm).
g) In case of cores which are not across full depth of member about 10 percent to 15
percent of the bottom side of core may be trimmed off as the portion near to broken
end may contain some micro cracks/fractures.

Methods of Drilling:

a) Cores shall be drilled perpendicular to the surface.

b) The drilling of the core shall be carried out using a diamond impregnated bit attached to
the core barrel.
c) The drill bit shall be lubricated with water and shall be resurfaced periodically.
d) Cores that show abnormal defects or that have been damaged in removal shall not be
used.
e) Cores may be extracted preferably from a location where there is no interference of
reinforcement.

Number of Cores: The points from which cores are taken shall be representative of the whole
of concrete concerned. In no case, however, fewer than three cores shall be tested.

Diameter and Length of Cores and their effect on compressive strength of Concrete: The
diameter of the core shall be greater than three times the nominal maximum size of aggregate.
The core diameter shall generally be 100mm to 150mm (±10mm) with preferred diameter
being 100mm for nominal maximum aggregate size up to 20mm. Other smaller diameter of
cores not less than three times the nominal maximum size aggregate may be used to reduce
the damage to the concrete element and/or to make the drilling easier. But for cores having
diameter less than 100mm, the correction factor for corrected compressive strength shall be
used. Table-1

Diameter of Core in mm (No of cores ≥3). Correction factor.

75±5 1.03
Less than 70 1.06

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Fig-2 Extraction of Cores using cutting Machine in vertical and horizontal direction. (Ref: 1)

Fig-3 Marking of Reinforcement using reinforcement detector –Cover Meter. (Ref: 1)

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 Fig-4 Placing of Core Bit within the location marked using reinforcement detector. (Ref: 1)

Fig-5 Drilling operation in progress. (Ref: 1)

The length of the core sample shall be decided based on the following:

a) The diameter of the core.

b) Whether comparison will be made with cube strength or cylinder strength.

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The preferred l/d ratio (Length/Diameter ratio) of the core shall be 2. The l/d values from 1 to 2
may also be permitted. (The length includes the capping material also.) In case of using a
specimen with length to diameter ratio smaller than 2, the test value of the compressive
strength should be corrected corresponding to a value of l/d of 2 as per the expression:

F=0.11 N + 0.78

Where

F=Correction factor.

N= Length/Diameter ratio.

Here length shall include capping.

Fig-6 Impression of Reinforcement can also be seen from where core is extracted. (Ref: 1)

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Fig-7 Visual cracks can also be observed from the location of core extraction. (Ref: 1)

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 Fig-8 Measurement of core using Vernier Caliper and Removing rough edges of extracted
core. (Ref: 1)

Storage of Cores: Cores may be tested generally in saturated condition except if specifically
required to be tested in air dry condition. For saturated condition, cores shall be soaked in
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water at 27±30 C for a minimum of 40 hours and maximum up to 48 hours before testing. Core
shall be removed from the water and tested while it is still wet but all excess surface water shall
be removed by wiping off. If the core is to be tested in air-dry conditions, it should be stored in
laboratory air for minimum of 40 hours and maximum up to 48 hours testing.

Testing of Core Specimen:

a) The core specimen shall be placed in the machine in such a manner that load shall be
applied to the top and bottom prepared surface.
b) The load shall be applied without shock and increased continuously at a rate of
approximately 14N/mm2/min until the core specimen breaks down and no greater load
can be sustained.

Fig-9 Placing of Core in Compression Testing Machine. (Ref: 1)

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Fig-10 Compressive Strength Testing Machine. (Ref-1)

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Assessment of Type of failure: The type of failure in core shall be noted. The failure patterns
which are satisfactory are given below:

Fig-11 Satisfactory failure of specimen. (Ref-2)

If the failure pattern is unsatisfactory, this fact shall be recorded and the type of failure recorded
using the pattern letter (a to m) as given in Fig. 12, closest to the observed failure.

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 Fig-12 Unsatisfactory failure of specimen. (Ref-2)

IS 516(Part-4): 2018, Hardened Concrete – Methods of Test, Part-4 Sampling, Preparing and
Testing of Concrete Cores stipulates that if cracks are observed in the core, the core should not
be tested or if cracking is observed during testing from failure pattern or from load machine
displacement curve, the core result can be discarded.

Determination of Compressive strength of Core:

a) Measured Compressive Strength of the core specimen shall be calculated by dividing the
maximum load applied to the specimen by the cross-sectional area, calculated from mean
dimension of the section.
b) The corrected compressive strength shall be calculated by multiplying correction factor
for core diameter to the measured compressive strength.
c) The correction factor according to the l/d ratio of core specimen after capping shall be
multiplied with the corrected compressive strength to derive the corrected cylinder
strength. The corrected cylinder strength is equivalent to strength of a cylinder having
height/diameter ratio of two.
d) The equivalent Cube strength of the concrete shall be determined by multiplying the
corrected cylinder strength by 5/4.

Age factor for increase of strength with age: While assessing the strength of concrete based
on cores extracted at a latter age, no age factor is generally considered.

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Factors that affect the Strength of the Cores: There are many factors that affect the strength of
the cores.
a) Place of Drilling the Core: Concrete exhibits variation of strength within the member.
Generally in-place strength of concrete at the top of member as cast is less than the
strength at the bottom.
b) Micro-cracking: Micro-cracking present in the concrete may reduce the core strength.
Micro-cracks could be seen if the core is drilled from a region of the structure that has
been subjected to stress resulting from applied load or restraint of imposed deformation.
Rough handling of core sample may also cause micro cracking.
c) Curing: Curing period and curing temperature both affect the strength. In mass concrete,
inner mass can have lower compressive strength due to high initial temperature.
Similarly, for non-continuous curing, the moisture gradient between surface and inner
mass can result in different strength in concrete, that is, lower strength in cores along
face, due to less curing and higher strength within the inner mass due to availability of
moisture for continuous curing.
d) Compaction: Entrapped air in the concrete due to poor compaction or bleeding can
reduce the strength.
e) Moisture Content: Moisture condition of cores also affects the strength. Dried Core
samples give about 5 to 10 percent more strength than saturated samples. Therefore, for
comparison with cube test results, saturated sample testing is recommended.

Due to overall average effect of factors mentioned above and other minor factors like coring
direction etc., the Core test is generally 85 to 90 percent of corresponding Cube Strength.
This aspect has been considered in Acceptance Criteria for the Core given in IS: 456.

Acceptance Criteria of Core Test results: IS: 456:2000, Plain and Reinforced Concrete Code
of practice stipulates that concrete in the member represented by core test shall be considered
acceptable if the average equivalent cube strength of the cores is equal to at least 85 percent of
the cube strength of the grade of concrete specified for the corresponding age and no individual
core has a strength less than 75 percent.
The stipulation of ACI 318-19 Building Code requirements for Structural Concrete as regard to
core test are as follows:

Concrete in an area represented by core tests shall be considered structurally adequate if (1) and
(2) are satisfied.

(1) The average of three cores is equal to at least 85 percent of specified compressive
strength of concrete.
(2) No single core is less than 75 percent of specified compressive strength of concrete.

So, from the above, it can be seen that stipulations of Indian Code (IS:456) as regard to
acceptance criteria of core test result is similar to that of ACI 318-19.
However, IS 516 (Part 4);2018 Hardened Concrete, Methods of Test, Part-4, Sampling,
Preparing and Testing of Concrete Cores stipulates various Acceptance Criteria of Core Test
results but ultimately align with the procedure of IS:456 as the International approach for
assessing the Core Strength is similar to IS:456.

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Therefore, let us discuss various methods of Acceptance Criteria of Core Test results stipulated
in IS: 516.
1) Acceptance Criteria of Core Test results where sufficient number of cores are
tested:
a) The results of core tests are expressed in term of equivalent cube strength.
Therefore, the acceptance criteria of core test results should also be correlated to
acceptance criteria of cube tests.
b) For acceptance criteria, the confidence level considered in the Indian Standard is
95 percent, that is 95 percent probability that 95 percent of the results will be
more than “fck “, within minimum 30 samples.
c) For confidence level of 95 percent, the target strength of Concrete shall be
fck+1.65 . Therefore, in IS: 456, for acceptance based on average of 4
consecutives samples i.e. 4x3=12 Cubes.

Therefore, fmin for average of 4 samples = fck + 1.65 - 1.65 S, where S= /2

So, fmin = fck + 0.825 subject to fmin= fck +3

d) For acceptance of concrete based on limited in-situ testing, little lower confidence
level is acceptable. Generally 75 percent confidence level (75 percent probability
of 95 percent results are more than fck) is considered. So mean core strength
required is fmean= fck + 1.48 .

2) Scenario where one set of cube samples (Set of 4 consecutive sample) has failed: In
this case stipulation of IS: 456 can be followed.

3) Case where overall assessment required or where large number of Cube sets have
failed say 2 consecutive sets or 3 scattered sets have failed for same grade/class of
concrete(Each set consisting of 4 consecutive samples): This is the most interesting
case. In this case minimum 10 cores will be tested. The acceptance shall be as under:

F(avg) ≥ 0.85 (fck +3)

F (i) ≥ 0.75 fck

Where F(avg) is average equivalent cube strength of all cores (minimum nine cores after
excluding outliers if any)
F (i) is equivalent cube strength of individual core.

For determining outliers, values beyond “ F(avg) +2S” may be treated as outliers . Out of
every 10 cores tested, one test result can be outlier.

The code goes further by stating that where, 10 or more than 10 cores are taken but the
results do not meet the criteria of
F(avg) ≥ 0.85 (fck +3)

F (i) ≥ 0.75 fck,

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but results of average cores from all the individual members tested have strength more than 0.85
fck and no individual core has strength less than 0.75 fck, the concrete in a particular batch or
member may be accepted for structural adequacy and contractual acceptance/penalties/deduction
may be decided as per contract provisions by project authorities.
The “Note” below the above stipulations reads as follows:
“The procedure for assessment of strength of concrete by core test as given above is generally in
line with International practice but modified to make it in line with present acceptance criteria
given in IS:456 for acceptance of Cube Test results.”

Points for discussion:

1) IS: 516(Part 4): 2018 stipulates at least three methodologies for acceptance criteria of
core test results including the method enumerated in IS:456. The code further says that
the procedure of assessment of strength of concrete by core test has been modified to
make it in line with present acceptance criteria given in IS: 456 for acceptance cube test
results. The question here is that for IS:516(Part-4), the final acceptance criteria is as
follows:
a) Average of equivalent cube strength of minimum three cores is more than 0.85
times the specified cube strength.
b) No individual core has equivalent cube strength less than 0.75 times Cube strength.

Hence, so being the case, then how this acceptance criteria for concrete core is in
tune with Clause-16 of IS: 456, the acceptance criteria of concrete cube?

2) The clause No B-2.5.2(C) of IS: 516 stipulates about the Structural Adequacy. The matter
should have been concluded there. But Code goes one step further by stating that
contractual acceptance/penalties/deductions may be decided as per contract provisions by
the project authorities.

The question here is that on what ground penalties/deductions shall be effected once
the Structural adequacy is established? What is beyond the Structural adequacy the
code is looking for?

References:
1) Core Test for Hardened Concrete by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
2) IS: 516(Part-4):2018, Hardened Concrete – Methods of Test Part-4 Sampling,
Preparing and Testing of Concrete Cores.
3) IS: 456: 2000 (Reaffirmed 2021) Plain and Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice.
4) ACI 318-19, Building Code Requirements for structural Concrete.

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