Concrete Quality Assurance:

How Concrete is Specified and

Supplied To Meet Construction
Specifications
Prepared By:
Prof. Marcia C. Belcher
Construction Engineering Technology
University of Akron

Design Criteria And Quality is

Specified by ACI
(American Concrete Institute)
ACI is a technical and educational society with 30,000 members
and 93 chapters in 30 countries.

ACI has:
more than 400 technical documents for the best use of
concrete;
conducts over 150 educational seminars each year
has 13 different certification programs for concrete
practitioners
See http://www.concrete.org/certification/cert_prog.asp

ACI Manual of Concrete Practice

ACI standards and reports are prepared by

committees

The committees gather annually to revise/update the

manual

ACI Committees
Areas

of:

materials and properties of concrete

construction practices
inspection
pavements and slabs
structural design & analysis
structural specifications
special products and processes

A complete catalog of ACI

publications is available free of
charge

American Concrete Institute

Box 19150, Redford Station
Detroit, Michigan 48219-0150 or go
to www.concrete.org

Building Code Requirements for

Reinforced Concrete

The ACI code has no legal status unless adopted by

building code governing bodies, i.e..:
Uniform Building Code (UBC)
Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA)
International Building Code (IBC)***

Building Code Requirements for

Reinforced Concrete

The ACI code provides minimum requirements

necessary for public safety

Designer may require higher standards in project

specification (see Structural Notes Handout)

Lower, standards are not permitted

Building Code Requirements for

Reinforced (Structural) Concrete
Sections include:

mixing and placing

formwork
embedded pipes, construction joints
slab systems
walls
footings
precast concrete
prestressed concrete
strength evaluation of existing structures
seismic design provisions

Drawings & Specifications

For quality control, ACI requires that the supplier provide

results from 30 28-day compressive breaks for the mix
design

The average strength and standard deviation must meet

criteria ACI R5-3 (handout & discussion to follow)

Definition: Standard deviation is the average distance

from the mean of all samples.

Standard Deviation Of The Results

A normal distribution of data
means that most of the samples
in a set of data are close to the
"average," while relatively few
samples tend to one extreme or
the other.

The standard deviation tells you how tightly all results are
clustered around the mean. When the samples are pretty tightly
bunched together and the bell-shaped curve is steep, the
standard deviation is small. When the examples are spread
apart and the bell curve is relatively flat.

Example: Specification of Concrete

Handout for EMS Project:

The project specification for an EMS Facility in

Wadsworth requires that all concrete conform with
ACI Chapter 5, Concrete Quality, Mixing and Placing.

On the foundation details, the engineer has specified

3500 psi concrete.

The supplier has submitted the test results from the

proposed mix design as follows: (see handout)

Example In Handout
Break

28-Day Compressive
Strength (psi)

Break

28-Day Compressive
Strength (psi)

3800

16

3452

3965

17

3313

3865

18

3490

3987

19

3800

5
6

3700
3854

20
21

3700
3800

3755

22

3700

3498

23

3377

3527

24

3789

10

3865

25

3588

11

3800

26

3589

12

3854

27

3270

13

3755

28

3167

14

3965

29

3279

15

3865

30

4798

Average: 3705.6

Standard Deviation: 503.8 psi

ACI R5-3: Approval of Mix Design

(Handout)

If 30 consecutive tests (meaning samples from same

mix & from same job) are submitted:
Calculate s (503.8 psi)
Calculate fc of results (3705.6 psi)
Calculate the required average compressive
strength for the job: ACI 5.3.2
Greater of: fcr = fc + 1.34s
fcr = fc + 2.33s 500 (psi)

ACI R5-3: Approval of Mix Design

For

our project, the required strength is the

greater of:
fcr = fc + 1.34s
= 3500 + 1.34(503.8) = 4175.1 psi
fcr = 3500 + 2.33s 500
= 3500 + 2.33(503.8) 500 = 4173.8

MIX DESIGN DOES NOT MEET

SPECIFICATION & ACI REQUIREMENTS

Approval of Mix Design

Often,

suppliers do not have the data

available for a particular mix

Some

basis for decision making is

needed to approve or reject a mix
design

Approval of Mix Design

When

sufficient data are not available,

ACI table 5.3.2.2 may be used as a tool
to proportion an adequate mix.

Approval of Mix Design

The

required average strength for the mix

can be determined from this table
Proportions can then be selected to achieve
the required strength.
Lab trial batches tested for average compressive
strength @ 28-days
Several field samples of mix (if available) to prove
compressive strength @ 28 days.