Concrete Maturity - Explained By Converge

May 2, 2022
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TL;DR

Concrete maturity

By concrete maturity, you refer to a method of estimating the compressive strength. In other words, it indicates how far the curing process of the concrete has gone. The maturity is an index value and shows the relation between the temperature of the concrete, the time passed and the strength that has been gained.

 

How to do maturity testing of concrete

The testing of concrete maturity can be done on-site and can be executed without any laboratory equipment or test samples of the concrete. And you can measure in real time. This makes it much easier to predict when the concrete is fully cured, and you can proceed with the project.

 

Read more: Concrete slump test.

 

Why you should test concrete maturity

There are many benefits of testing concrete maturity, for example:

 

-   You can increase the safety on-site by predicting how long it will take for it to cure. In this way, you won't risk any accident because of wrong calculations made before.

 

-   You can save money in the way of knowing when you will need workers. This means largely reducing the risk of calling in staff and having to pay them when the concrete has not cured enough for them to be able to continue their work.

 

-   You can optimize your whole project by scheduling it after the real time updates on your concrete curing process.

 

-   You can test the strength of the concrete at a time of your choosing and get an answer immediately instead of waiting for a test result from a concrete cube test or a laboratory.

 

4 times when you should do a concrete maturity test

Here are some examples of different constructions when you would benefit from doing a concrete maturity test:

 

  1. When building skyscrapers or other high buildings.
  2. When building garages for parking.
  3. When building bridges.
  4. When you have poured concrete in hot or cold weather.

 

Reading tips: What are concrete slabs, concrete vs cement and setting time for concrete.

Different types of concrete maturity standards

Europe

The concrete maturity method is in widespread use across Europe. Rather than having individual standards, countries in the European Union adhere to three EU-wide maturity standards:

  1. EN 206-1: 2002, Concrete – Part 1: Specification, performance, production and conformity.

  1. BS EN 13670: Execution of concrete structures.

  1. NEN 5970: Determination of Strength of Fresh Concrete with the Method of Weighted Maturity.

United States

  • ASTM C1074: Standard Practice for Estimating Concrete Strength by Maturity Method.

  • ASTM C918: Standard Test Method for Measuring Early-Age Compressive Strength and Projecting Later-Age Strength.

  • ACI 318- 6.2: Building Code Requirement for Structural Concrete and Commentary.

  • ACI 228.1R: In-place Methods to Estimate Concrete Strength.

  • ACI 306R: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting.

  • AASHTO T325: Standard Method of Test for Estimating the Strength of Concrete in Transportation Construction by Maturity Tests.

  • DOT: See table below for a list of states where the maturity method is one of the DOT’s accepted testing methods.

- Alabama

- Kentucky

- New Mexico

- Texas

- Arizona

- Louisiana

- North Carolina

- Utah

- Colorado

- Maine

- North Dakota 

- Virginia

- Delaware 

- Michigan

- Ohio 

- Washington

- Florida

- Minnesota

- Oklahoma

- West Virginia

- Idaho

- Mississippi

- Oregon

- Wisconsin 

- Indiana

- Missouri

- Pennsylvania

- Iowa

- Montana

- Rhode Island

- Kansas

- Nebraska

- South Dakota

South America


Chile

  • NCh 170: Hormigón- Requisitos generales
  • NCh 3565:2018: Hormigón - Estimación de la resistencia mecánica - Método de la madurez

Colombia

  • NTC 3756: Procedimiento para Estimar la Resistencia del Concreto por el Método de la Madurez.

Ecuador

  • NTE INEN 0694:2010 Hormigón y áridos para elaborar hormigón. Terminología.

Guatemala

  • NTG 41042: Práctica para la estimación de la resistencia del concreto por el método de la madurez.

Mexico

  • NMX-C-219-ONNCCE-2005: Industria de la construcción Concreto-Resistencia a la compresión a edades tempranas y predicción de la misma a edades posteriores-Método de prueba

Peru

  • NTP 339.217: Método de ensayo normalizado para la estimación de la resistencia del concreto por el método de madurez.

Canada

  • CSA A23.1/ A23.2: Concrete Materials and Methods of Concrete Construction/Test Methods and Standard Practice for Concrete

Other countries

The concrete maturity method is not yet standardized in all countries. We recommend consulting with local governing bodies if your country is not listed above, to find out whether your region is currently developing a standard for the maturity method.

If you want to save time when building

With ConcreteDNA, Converge helps you to build faster. In fact, up to 30% faster! With our product, you get live data of the curing process. You can see this from any device with our wireless sensors.

 

ConcreteDNA will help you save both money and time on your building projects. You can save time with the predictions of when the curing will be done, because you won't have to hire staff on the weekends that stand with nothing to do due to wrong calculations. You will save time by planning ahead and have the right people, at the right scene, at the right time.

 

Want a better way to track your concrete strength?

Use our AI powered concrete sensors to maintain quality whilst saving time & money.

Learn more about Converge Signal.

 

Reading tip: What concrete is made of.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

What is concrete maturity?

Concrete maturity is a method where you can estimate the compressive strength of concrete. It indicates how far the curing process of the concrete has gone and is an index value and shows the relation between the temperature of the concrete, the time passed and the strength that has been gained during that period of time.

 

Why is it important to do concrete maturity tests?

By doing maturity tests on the concrete, you can both increase the safety on-site and improve the projects with the information the tests give you.

 

Does the concrete cube test show the maturity of concrete?

No, it does not. Both the cube test and the measuring of concrete maturity shows the compressive strength, but the cube test shows results only after the test and the measuring of the maturity gives uninterrupted information when needed.

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