Experimental study on compressive strength of in situ concrete tested with arc pressure method

The innovative arc pressure testing method (APTM) is adopted in this study to obtain the strength of in situ concrete and reduce damage to the concrete structure. This method is related to the double shear plane of the concrete core. A specific APTM apparatus is used to apply loads in order to obtain the approximate pure shear stress and shear strength of the concrete core. Factors affecting the strength of concrete, such as aggregate type and concrete moisture, were found not to have an impact of the applicability of APTM. The compressive strength range of the tested cube concrete samples is 20–60 MPa. The reliability and repeatability of APTM are superior to in situ testing techniques such as Schmidt hammer (SRH) and pull-off testing methods. The experimental results indicate that APTM is suitable for in situ testing of concrete compressive strength of prefabricated buildings and beam–column joints in dense steel structures. Compared with other testing methods, its accuracy is much higher and the damage to the structure is minimised.