Compressive strength of reduced concrete specimens considering dimensional distortion of coarse aggregates.

Abstract

The present study investigates the mechanical behavior of small cylindrical specimens (£50 100 mm) in relation to the minimum standard size (£100 200 mm) recommended by ASTM and Brazilian codes. Statistical and dimensional analyses were performed for three different classes of compressive strength (20, 30, and 40 MPa), and four grades of coarse aggregates (Dmax 9.5, 12.5, 19, and 25 mm). To this purpose, the Student’s t-Test for two means and equations from the Similitude Theory were applied. The following evaluations were performed: a) influence of the dimensional distortion of aggregates on the compressive strength of small concrete specimens; b) analyses through hypothesis testing between strength means; c) the use of prediction coefficients with statistical reliability for correcting the dimensional distortion of aggregates; and d) influence of the wall effect for different specimen sizes and concrete mixes. The results showed that the reduced and the standard specimens have similar compressive strengths, despite the reduced ones having presented higher variability of results. Also, innovative quantitative results from Wall Effect analysis show agreement with the strength results and illustrate the phenomena from a new perspective.