Compressive Strength Testing

Compressive strength testing is performed to evaluate the in-place strength of concrete. Concrete cores are extracted from the structure, prepared in accordance with ASTM C42, and loaded in compression until failure. Voss Labs utilizes a calibrated Forney test machine.

Core strength testing is commonly used when evaluating existing structures where original concrete strength is unknown, when verifying the properties of older concrete, or when investigating concrete that may have experienced deterioration or damage.

When incorporated into a condition assessment, compressive strength results provide valuable information regarding the existing material properties of the structure and can support structural evaluations, repair design, and comparisons between different areas or placements of concrete. Core locations are selected to be representative of the structure. If you are sending us cores to test, ideally the L/D ratio is greater than 1.75.