Designation: C 1231/C 1231M – 09
Standard Practice for
Use of Unbonded Caps in Determination of Compressive
Strength of Hardened Concrete Cylinders1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation C 1231/C 1231M; the number immediately following the designation indicates the
year of original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last
reapproval. A superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
1. Scope* C 31/C 31M Practice for Making and Curing Concrete Test
1.1 This practice covers requirements for a capping system Specimens in the Field
using unbonded caps for testing concrete cylinders molded in C 39/C 39M Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cy-
accordance with Practice C 31/C 31M or C 192/C 192M. Un- lindrical Concrete Specimens
bonded neoprene caps of a defined hardness are permitted to C 192/C 192M Practice for Making and Curing Concrete
be used for testing for a specified maximum number of reuses Test Specimens in the Laboratory
without qualification testing up to a certain concrete compres- C 617 Practice for Capping Cylindrical Concrete Speci-
sive strength level. Above that strength, level neoprene caps mens
will require qualification testing. Qualification testing is re- D 2000 Classification System for Rubber Products in Auto-
quired for all elastomeric materials other than neoprene motive Applications
regardless of the concrete strength. 3. Terminology
1.2 Unbonded caps are not to be used for acceptance testing
of concrete with compressive strength below 1500 psi [10 3.1 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
MPa] or above 12 000 psi [85 MPa]. 3.1.1 pad, n—an unbonded elastomeric pad.
1.3 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units 3.1.2 unbonded cap, n—a metal retainer and an elastomeric
are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in pad.
each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each 4. Significance and Use
system shall be used independently of the other. Combining
values from the two systems may result in non-conformance 4.1 This practice provides for using an unbonded capping
with the standard. system in testing hardened concrete cylinders made in accor-
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the dance with Practices C 31/C 31M or C 192/C 192M in lieu of
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the the capping systems described in Practice C 617.
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- 4.2 The elastomeric pads deform in initial loading to con-
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica- form to the contour of the ends of the cylinder and are
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use. (Warning— restrained from excessive lateral spreading by plates and metal
Concrete cylinders tested with unbonded caps rupture more rings to provide a uniform distribution of load from the bearing
violently than comparable cylinders tested with bonded caps. blocks of the testing machine to the ends of the concrete or
The safety precautions given in the Manual of Aggregate and mortar cylinders.
Concrete Testing are recommended.2) 5. Materials and Apparatus
2. Referenced Documents 5.1 Materials and equipment necessary to produce ends of
2.1 ASTM Standards:3 the reference cylinders that conform to planeness requirements
of Test Method C 39/C 39M and the requirements of Practice
C 617. This may include grinding equipment or capping
1
This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete materials and equipment to produce neat cement paste, high
and Concrete Aggregates and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee C09.61 on
strength gypsum plaster, or sulfur mortar caps.
Testing for Strength.
Current edition approved Jan. 1, 2009. Published January 2009. Originally 5.2 Elastomeric Pads:
approved in 1993. Last previous edition approved in 2008a as C 1231/ 5.2.1 Pads shall be 1⁄2 6 1⁄16 in. [136 2 mm] thick and the
C 1231M – 08a. diameter shall not be more than 1⁄16 in. [2 mm] smaller than the
2
Section on Safety Precautions, Manual of Aggregate and Concrete Testing,
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 04.02.
inside diameter of the retaining ring.
3
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or 5.2.2 Pads shall be made from polychloroprene (neoprene)
contact ASTM Customer Service at [email protected]. For Annual Book of ASTM meeting the requirements of Classification D 2000 as follows:
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
the ASTM website.
*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.
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C 1231/C 1231M – 09
Shore A Classification D 2000 in 12 in. [3 mm in 300 mm]). No individual diameter of a
Durometer Line Call-Out cylinder may differ from any other diameter by more than 2 %.
50 M2BC514
60 M2BC614 NOTE 2—One method of measuring the perpendicularly of ends of
70 M2BC714 cylinders is to place a try square across any diameter and measure the
The tolerance on Shore A durometer hardness is 6 5. Table departure of the longer blade from an element of the cylindrical surface.
An alternative method is to place the end of the cylinder on a plane surface
1 provides requirements for use of caps made from material
and support the try square on that surface.
meeting the requirements of Classification D 2000, above.
5.2.3 Other elastomeric materials that meet the performance 6.2 Depressions under a straight edge measured with a
requirements of qualification tests in Section 8 are permitted. round wire gage across any diameter shall not exceed 0.20 in.
5.2.4 Elastomeric pads shall be supplied with the following [5 mm]. If cylinder ends do not meet this tolerance, the
information: cylinder shall not be tested unless irregularities are corrected
5.2.4.1 The manufacturer’s or supplier’s name, by sawing or grinding.
5.2.4.2 The Shore A hardness, and
5.2.4.3 The applicable range of concrete compressive 7. Procedure
strength from Table 1 or from qualification testing. 7.1 Unbonded caps are permitted to be used on one or both
5.2.5 The user shall maintain a record indicating the date the ends of a cylinder in lieu of a cap or caps meeting Practice
pads are placed in service, the pad durometer, and the number C 617, provided they meet the requirements of Section 5.
of uses to which they have been subjected. 7.2 Examine both sides of pads for excessive wear or
5.3 Retainers, are a pair of metal fixtures used to provide damage. Replace pads that have cracks or splits in their top or
support for and alignment of the neoprene pads and the bottom surface that exceed 3⁄8 in. [10 mm] in length regardless
cylinder ends (See Note 1 and Fig. 1). Each retainer (upper and of depth. Insert pad in the retainer before it is placed on the
lower) includes a (retaining) ring that is welded to or manu- cylinder (Note 3).
factured integrally with a base plate. The height of the retaining
NOTE 3—Some manufacturers recommend dusting the pads and the
ring shall be 25 6 3 mm [1.0 6 0.1 in.]. The inside diameter ends of the cylinders with corn starch or talcum powder prior to testing.
of the retaining ring shall not be less than 102 % or greater than
107 % of the diameter of the cylinder. The thickness of the 7.3 Center the unbonded cap or caps on the cylinder and
retaining ring shall be at least 12 mm [0.47 in.] for 150 mm [6 place the cylinder on the lower bearing block of the testing
in.] diameter retainers and at least 9 mm [0.35 in.] for 100 mm machine. Carefully align the axis of the cylinder with the
[4 in.] diameter retainers. The surface of the base plate that center of thrust of the testing machine by centering the upper
contacts the bearing block of the testing machine shall be plane retaining ring on the spherically seated bearing block. As the
to within 0.05 mm [0.002 in.]. The thickness of the base plate spherically seated block is brought to bear on the upper
shall be at least 12 mm [0.47 in.] for 150 mm [6 in.] retainers retaining ring, rotate its movable portion gently by hand so that
and at least 8 mm [0.3 in.] for 100 mm [4 in.] retainers. The uniform seating is obtained. After application of load, but
bearing surfaces of the retainers shall not have gouges, before reaching 10 % of the anticipated specimen strength,
grooves, protrusions, or indentations greater than 0.25 mm check to see that the axis of the cylinder is vertical within a
[0.010 in.] deep or greater than 32 mm2 [0.05 in.2] in surface tolerance of 1⁄8 in. in 12 in. [3.2 mm in 300 mm] and that the
area. ends of the cylinder are centered within the retaining rings. If
the cylinder alignment does not meet these requirements,
NOTE 1—Retainers made from steel and some aluminum alloys have release the load, check compliance with 6.1, and carefully
been found acceptable.
recenter the specimen. Reapply load and recheck specimen
6. Test Specimens centering and alignment. A pause in load application to check
cylinder alignment is permissible.
6.1 The specimens shall be either 6 by 12 in. [150 by 300
7.4 Complete the load application, testing, calculation, and
mm] or 4 by 8 in. [100 by 200 mm] cylinders made in
reporting of results in accordance with Test Method C 39/
accordance with Practices C 31/C 31M or C 192/C 192M.
C 39M (see Notes 4 and 5).
Neither end of a cylinder shall depart from perpendicularity to
the axis by more than 0.5° (approximately equivalent to 1⁄8 in. NOTE 4—Some users have reported damage to testing machines from
the sudden release of energy stored in the elastomeric pads.
NOTE 5—Occasionally, unbonded capped cylinders may develop early
TABLE 1 Requirements for Use of Polychloroprene(Neoprene) cracking, but continue to carry increasing load. For this reason Test
Pads Method C 39/C 39M requires cylinders to be loaded until it is certain that
they have been compressed beyond their ultimate capacity.
Shore A
Cylinder Compressive Strength, Qualification Maximum
Durometer
psi [MPa]
Hardness
Tests Required ReusesA 8. Qualification of Unbonded Capping Systems and
Less than 1500 [10] Not permitted
Verification of Reuse of Pads
1 500 to 6 000 [10 to 40] 50 None 100 8.1 Table 1 specifies the conditions under which polychlo-
2 500 to 7 000 [17 to 50] 60 None 100
4 000 to 7 000 [28 to 50] 70 None 100
roprene (neoprene) unbonded pads must be qualified under this
7 000 to 12 000 [50 to 80] 70 Required 50 section depending on the concrete strength and the Shore A
Greater than 12,000 [80] Not permitted hardness. Unbonded pads made of other elastomeric materials
A
Maximum number of reuses will be less if pads wear, crack or split. See 7.2. must be qualified using the procedures in this section.
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C 1231/C 1231M – 09
FIG. 1 Example of Retaining Ring and Base Plate
8.2 When qualification tests are required they must be made which are within 2000 psi [14 MPa] of the highest strength
by either the supplier or user of the unbonded pads. The user of level to be qualified will be included in the reuse count.
the pads must retain a copy of the current qualification test Laboratories must maintain records of the number of times
report to demonstrate compliance with this practice. See X1.1. pads are reused.
8.3 The compressive strength of molded cylinders tested
NOTE 6—Pad life depends on the hardness and type of pad material, the
with unbonded caps shall be compared with that of companion strength of the concrete, the difference between the outside diameter of the
cylinders tested with ends ground or capped to meet require- cylinder and the inside diameter of the retaining ring, the unevenness and
ments of Test Method C 39/C 39M and Practice C 617. roughness of the ends of the cylinder, and other factors. Based on available
8.4 To be acceptable, tests must demonstrate that at a 95 % information, scuffing or abrasion of the perimeter of the pad is normal,
confidence level (a = 0.05), the average strength obtained provided it does not reduce the thickness of the pad around the perimeter.
using unbonded caps is not less than 98 % of the average 8.5 Specimen Preparation for Qualification and Pad Reuse
strength of companion cylinders capped or ground in accor- Testing:
dance with 8.3.
8.5.1 Pairs of individual cylinders shall be made from a
8.4.1 When required, qualification tests in accordance with
sample of concrete and cured as nearly alike as possible: one
8.5 shall be made on initial use of an unbonded cap at both the
cylinder per pair is to be tested after grinding or capping in
highest and lowest strength levels anticipated to establish an
accordance with 8.3 and the other is to be tested using the
acceptable range of cylinder strength for use. In practice
unbonded cap system.
individual cylinders shall not have strengths more than 10 %
greater than the high strength level or more than 10 % less than 8.5.2 A minimum of 10 pairs of cylinders shall be made at
the low strength level qualified or specified in Table 1. both the highest and lowest strength levels desired or antici-
Qualification tests shall be repeated whenever there is a change pated (Note 7). The “strength level” is the average of the
in the design or dimensions of the retaining rings, or when strengths of the 20 or more cylinders whose strengths are
there is a change in pad composition or thickness, or the Shore within a range of 1000 psi [7 MPa] (Note 8). More than one
A hardness changes by more than five units. Initial qualifica- pair of cylinders can be made from a single concrete sample,
tion tests shall include verification that after the specified but cylinders must come from a minimum of two samples
maximum number of reuses the pads meet the requirements of made on different days for each concrete strength level (Note
8.4. 9).
8.4.2 When tests are made to establish a permissible number NOTE 7—If the Practice C 617 capped and unbonded capped specimens
of reuses exceeding those in Table 1, only those tests or reuses produce equal strengths, the number of pairs of cylinders that will be
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C 1231/C 1231M – 09
needed to demonstrate compliance will range from 9 to more than 60 n = number of pairs of cylinders tested for the strength
depending on the variability of test results. If the two capping systems
level,
produce equal strengths, about 10 % of laboratories will require more than
60 tests and 10 % of the laboratories will require 9 tests to demonstrate
x̄s = average strength of Practice C 617 capped cylinders
statistical compliance. for a strength level, and
NOTE 8—Note that the range of strengths permitted in qualification x̄p = average strength of unbonded cap cylinders for a
testing to define the strength level is 1000 psi [7 MPa], but that in counting strength level.
number of reuses only cylinders within a range of 2000 psi [14 MPa] are 9.2 Compute the average difference, d , and standard devia-
included in the reuse count. tion of the difference, sd, for each strength level, as follows:
NOTE 9—Cylinders for qualification tests can be from pairs of cylinders
tested in routine laboratory operations and, in most instances, special trial d̄ 5 ~d 1 1 d2 ... 1 dn!/n (2)
batches should not be required for qualification tests. 2 1/2
sd 5 [(~di 2 d̄! /~n 2 1!#
9. Calculation 9.3 To comply with this practice the following relationship
9.1 For each strength level, compute the difference in must be satisfied:
strength for each pair of cylinders, and compute the average x̄p $ 0.98 x̄s 1 ~tsd!/~n! 1 / 2 (3)
strength of the cylinders with reference caps and the average
strength of the cylinders with unbonded caps, as follows: where t is the value of “students t” for (n − 1) pairs at
di 5 xpi 2 x si (1) a = 0.05 from the following table:
x̄ s 5 ~xs1 1 xs2 1 x s3 ... 1 xsn!/n (n − 1) t(a = 0.05)A
x̄p 5 ~xp1 1 xp2 1 xp3 ... 1 x pn!/n 9 1.833
14 1.761
where: 19 1.729
100 1.662
di = difference in strength of a pair of cylinders computed A
Use linear interpolation for other values of (n − 1) or refer to appropriate
as the strength of unbonded capped cylinder minus statistical tables.
the strength of the cylinder prepared according to
Practice C 617 (may be positive or negative), 10. Keywords
xpi = cylinder strength using unbonded cap, 10.1 cap; compressive strength; concrete; concrete test;
xsi = cylinder strength using Practice C 617, elastomeric; neoprene; pad cap; rubber; unbonded cap
APPENDIX
(Nonmandatory Information)
X1. SAMPLE REPORT AND CALCULATION
X1.1 Sample Report: 3663 . 3632 ~system qualifies at 3670 psi!
Metric:
X1.1.1 Pad Material—Lot 3742, Shore A = 52, Thickness
0.51 in. 25.26 ./5 ~0.98!~25.35! 1 ~1.833!~0.328!/~10!1 / 2
X1.1.2 Retaining Ring—Set A manufactured 1-87. 25.26 . 25.03 ~System Qualifies!
X1.1.3 Concrete Cylinders: Job 1207, Nos. 1–10, January 2 Cylinder Neoprene Sulfur Difference,
to 5, 1987. Pair Pad Cap d
X1.1.4 Sulfur Mortar—Lot 3420. Compressive Strength of psi MPa psi MPa psi MPa
6985 psi [48.2 MPa]. 1 3605 24.9 3580 24.7 25 0.20
X1.1.5 All Tests 28 days age. 2 3605 24.9 3690 25.4 -85 -0.50
3 3585 24.7 3595 24.7 -10 0.00
4 3570 24.6 3625 25.0 -55 -0.40
X1.2 Summary— 5 3625 25.0 3640 25.1 -15 -0.10
6 3660 25.2 3740 25.8 -80 -0.60
xs = 3679 psi [25.35 MPa]: 7 3750 25.9 3720 25.6 30 0.30
xp = 3663 psi [25.26 MPa]; 8 3725 25.7 3720 25.6 5 0.10
sd = 46.06 psi [0.328 MPa]; 9 3700 25.5 3725 25.7 -25 -020
10 3805 26.2 3755 25.9 50 0.30
n = 10:
t = 1.833. Average xp 3663 25.26 xs 3679 25.35 d -16 -0.090
Std. Dev. sd 46.06 0.328
X1.3 Calculation—Using equation in 9.3: X1.4 Keywords—caps; capping cylinders; compressive
3663 ./5 ~0.98!~3679!1~1.833!~46.06!/~10!1 / 2 strength; pads; strength; unbonded capping system
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C 1231/C 1231M – 09
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Committee C09 has identified the location of selected changes to this practice since the last issue,
C 1231/C 1231M – 08a, that may impact the use of this practice. (Approved January 1, 2009)
(1) Revised the second sentence of Note 5 by adding reference
to Test Method C 39/C 39M for the loading requirements.
Committee C09 has identified the location of selected changes to this practice since the last issue,
C 1231/C 1231M – 08, that may impact the use of this practice. (Approved July 1, 2008)
(1) Added Fig. 1, added dimensional requirements for the
height and thickness of the retaining ring and thickness of the
base plate in 5.3, and deleted the second sentence of Note 1
Committee C09 has identified the location of selected changes to this practice since the last issue,
C 1231/C 1231M – 07, that may impact the use of this practice. (Approved January 1, 2008)
(1) Added reference to Note 5 in 7.4 and deleted the first
sentence of Note 5.
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