DISTRESS,FAILURES AND

DIAGNOSIS
•Concrete construction is generally expected to give trouble
free service through out its intended design life.
•However, these expectations are not realized in many
constructions because of structural deficiency, material
deterioration, unanticipated over loadings or physical damage.
•Physical damage can also arise from fire, explosion – as well
as from restraints, both internal and external, against structural
movement.
•Except in extreme cases, most of the structures require
restoration to meet its functional requirements by appropriate
repair techniques.
•Premature material deterioration can arise from a number of
causes, the most common being when the construction
specifications are violated or when the facility is exposed to
harsher service environment than those expected during the
planning and design stages.
Distress Identification

•Before attempting any repair procedure it is necessary to have

a planned approach to investigate the condition of concrete and
reinforcement.
•While the diagnosis of damage or deterioration in some cases
is reasonably straightforward, it may not be so in many cases.
Visual Inspection :
1. Visual examination of a structure is the most effective
qualitative method of evaluation of structural soundness and
identifying the typical distress symptoms together with the
associated problems.

2. This provides valuable information to an experienced

engineer in regard to its workmanship, structural
serviceability and material deterioration mechanism.

3.It is meant to give a quick scan of the structure to assess

its state of general health
4. The record of visual inspection is an essential
requirement for preparation of realistic bill of quantities of
various repair items.

5. Experienced engineers should carry out this work as this

forms the basis for detailing out the plan of action to
complete the diagnosis of problems and to quantify the
extent of distress.

6. Simple tools and Instruments like camera with flash,

magnifying glass, binoculars, gauge for crack width
measurement, chisel and hammer are usually needed.
Occasionally, a light platform/scaffold tower can be used
for access to advantage.
NON DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION TESTS :
•A number of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) tests for
concrete members are available to determine in-situ strength
and quality of concrete.

•Some of these tests are very useful in assessment of damage

to RCC structures subjected to corrosion, chemical attack, and
fire and due to other reasons.

• The term ‘non destructive’ is used to indicate that it does not

impair the intended performance of the structural member being
tested/investigated.

•The non-destructive evaluation have been broadly classified

under two broad categories viz ‘in-situ field test’ and ‘laboratory
test’.
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) test

Ultrasonic scanning is a recognised non-destructive evaluation

test to qualitatively assess the homogeneity and integrity of
concrete. With this technique, following can be assessed.

1 Qualitative assessment of strength of concrete, its gradation in

different locations of structural members and plotting the same

2 Any discontinuity in cross section like cracks, cover concrete

delamination etc

3 Depth of surface cracks.

•This test essentially consists of measuring travel time, ‘T’ of
ultrasonic pulse of 50-54 kHz, produced by an electro-
acoustical transducer, held in contact with one surface of the
concrete member under test and receiving the same by a
similar transducer in contact with the surface at the other end.

With the path length, ‘L’ (i.e. the distance between the two
probes) and time of travel, T the pulse velocity (V = L/T) is
calculated .
•. Higher the elastic modulus, density and integrity of the
concrete, higher is the pulse velocity.

•The ultrasonic pulse velocity depends on the density and

elastic properties of the material being tested.
Rebound Hammer Test :
•The operation of Rebound Hammer (also called Schmidt’s
Hammer) is illustrated in Fig.

•When the plunger of rebound hammer is pressed against the

surface of concrete, a spring controlled mass with a constant
energy is made to hit concrete surface to rebound back.

• The extent of rebound, which is a measure of surface hardness,

is measured on a graduated scale.

• This measured value is designated as Rebound Number (a

rebound index).

•A concrete with low strength and low stiffness will absorb more
energy to yield in a lower rebound value.
WINDSOR PROBE TEST:

•Windsor Probe’, as commercially known, is penetration

resistance measurement equipment,which consists of a gun
powder actuated driver, hardened alloy rod probe, loaded
cartridges,a depth gauge and other related accessories.

•In this technique, a gunpowder-actuated driver is used to fire a

hardened alloy probe into the concrete.

•During testing, it is the exposed length of probe, which is

measured by a calibration depth gauge. But, it is preferable to
express the coefficient of variation in terms of the depth of
penetration as the fundamental relation is between concrete
strength and penetration depth.
Pull out test:
The test measures the force required to pull out a previously
cast in steel insert with an embedded enlarged end in the
concrete. In this operation, a cone of concrete is pulled out and
the force required is related to the compressive strength of
concrete
Principle
This test is based on the principle that the force required to pull
out a cone of steel embedded in concrete is proportional to the
strength of concrete
Test Procedure

Pull out insert (shown in fig) is embedded in plain concrete during pouring. When the strength is
required to be determined, the force is applied at the embedded end. The force required to pull out
the assembly is measured.
• Pull out tests are used to:

• i) Determine in-situ compressive strength of the concrete.

• ii) Ascertain the strength of concrete for carrying out post-

tensioning operations.

• iii) Determine the time for removal of forms and shores based on
actual in-situ strength

• of the structure.

• iv) Terminate curing based on in-situ strength of the structure.

Limitations
Steel rod assembly has to be embedded in concrete during pouring and hence test
cannot be undertaken at later ages.
Repair of damaged concrete is required
 CRACK DETECTION:
• In order to determine whether the cracks are active
or dormant, periodic observations are done.

• By placing a mark at the end of the crack

• A pin or a toothpick is lightly wedged into the crack

and it falls out if there is any extension of the defect
 A strip of notched tape works similarly
Movement is indicated by tearing of the tape
 The device using a typical vernier caliper is the most satisfactory
of all.
 If more accurate readings are desired, extensometers can be used
 Where extreme accuracy is required resistance strain gauges can
be glued across the crack