Concrete Strength Variability in Italian RC Buildings: Analysis of a Large DataBase of Core Tests

Abstract

The knowledge of the materials’ mechanical properties is a preliminary and important step in the seismic vulnerability assessment of existing buildings. In RC structures, the compressive strength of concrete can have a crucial role on the seismic performance and is usually difficult to estimate. Major seismic codes prescribe that concrete strength has to be determined essentially from in-situ and laboratory tests. In some cases such estimation can be complemented by default values in accordance to standards at the time of construction, therefore analysing the actual concrete properties typically found in RC existing buildings realized in different periods can make available useful data. To this end, in this paper attention has been addressed to public buildings, namely schools and hospitals. A large database made up of about 1500 test results on concrete cores extracted from about 300 RC public buildings located in Basilicata region (Italy), has been prepared and analysed. The relationships between the actual strength values (mean and dispersion) and the construction period of buildings have been studied. Theoretical distributions to approximate the discrete distributions of strength values in different construction periods have been determined, thus providing relevant data for the structural assessment of individual buildings and, especially, for large scale vulnerability evaluations.