Introduction

The performance of hardened concrete, in terms of strength such as the compressive and
tensile strength, is greatly affected by the curing time of the mix.

Concrete mixes are usually tested for strength at the 7, 14, and 28 day mark in order to
properly assess and estimate the full capacity of the concrete. At these marks, the strength of
the concrete is represented in percentages of the full strength, as shown in the figure below.

This shows that at the 28-day mark, the concrete is approximately at its full capacity.

In the previous experiments, only the 7 and 14 day strengths are taken and calculated. This only
represents the 65% and 85% strength of the concrete respectively. While waiting for another 7
days to do another batch of concrete testing is possible, another way of estimating the 28-day
concrete strength is through extrapolation. Using the compressive and tensile strengths taken
from the 7 and 14 day tests, the 28 day tests can be estimated and calculated. This is done by
the process of extrapolating the value of the 100% compressive strength using the 65% and
85% values, and using the relationship of tensile and compressive strengths to estimate the
possible 100% tensile strength.

The following relationship is used.

=
where

is the tensile strength;

is the compressive strength; and
is the coefficient.
 Extrapolation of the 28-day Compressive Strength

From the previous laboratory experiments of the 7-day and 14-compressive strengths of the
concrete mix sample, the following data has been procured:

Cylindrical Sample Dimensions

Diameter(mm) 100 Cross-Sectional Area(mm2) 7853.981634
Length(mm) 200

7-Day
Compressive 7-Day Tensile
Loads (N) Loads (N) Splitting Strength Compressive Strength
374900 99800 3.176732664 MPa 47.73375053 MPa
377400 118800 3.781521448 MPa 48.05206042 MPa
367500 107500 3.421831276 MPa 46.79155327 MPa
Average = 3.460028463 MPa 47.52578807 MPa

14-Day 14-Day
Compressive Tensile Loads
Loads (N) (N) Splitting Strength Compressive Strength
437300 116600 3.711493273 MPa 55.67876529 MPa
446600 85400 2.718366428 MPa 56.86287807 MPa
429600 112100 3.568253824 MPa 54.69837084 MPa
Average = 3.332704508 MPa 55.7466714 MPa

In order to extrapolate the 28-day compressive strength using the gathered data, it is assumed
that the compressive strengths for the concrete cured for 7 and 14 days are 65% and 85% of
the total compressive strength of the concrete once fully cured. This is done in order to be able
to estimate the 100% strength of the concrete at 28 days.

Using the two compressive strength averages above, the following calculations are done to get
the estimated compressive strength at 28 days:

7-Day Compressive Strength 47.52578807 Represent 65%

28-Day Compressive Strength x Represent 100%

100%
=
47.53 65%
= 73.12

14-Day Compressive Strength 55.7466714 Represent 85%

28-Day Compressive Strength x Represent 100%
 100%
=
55.75 85%
= 65.58

The compressive strength of the concrete sample at 28 days is the average between the two
solved values.
73.12 + 65.58
= = 69.35
2

The 28-Day Compressive Strength of the Concrete Sample = 69.35MPa

Prediction and Calculation of the 28-Day Tensile Strength

To calculate the tensile strength of the concrete, the following relationship between the
compressive and tensile strength is established:
=
where

is the tensile strength;

is the compressive strength; and
is the coefficient.

Calculating the coefficients for both the 7-day and 14-strengths:

Calculation of coefficient from the 7-day strengths

Tensile Strength 3.460028463 MPa
Compressive Strength 47.52578807 MPa

3.46 = 47.53
= 0.502

Calculation of coefficient from the 14-day strengths

Tensile Strength 3.332704508 MPa
Compressive Strength 55.7466714 MPa

3.33 = 55.75
= 0.446

Calculating the average of the two coefficients:

0.502 + 0.446
= = 0.474
2
Using the average coefficient to calculate the tensile strength at 28 days:
=
= 0.47469.35
= 3.95

The 28-Day Tensile Strength of the Concrete Sample = 3.95MPa