Stndard Speen f ie ‘Time of Setting of Concrete Mixtures by Penetration Resistance AASHTO DESIGNATION: T 197-94 (ASTM DESIGNATION: C 403-92) 1. SCOPE 22. ASTM Standards: 5. SIGNIFICANCE AND USE € 610 Practice for Preparing LL This test method covers the de- Precision and Bias SA Since the seting of concrete is termination of the time of setting of con- Statements for Test ‘a gradual process, any definition of time crete, with slump greater than zero, by Methods of Con- of setting must necessarily be arbitrary. ‘means of penetration resistance measure- struction Materials In this test method, the times required iments on mortar sieved from the con D 1558 Moisture Content for the mortar to reach specified valves crete mixture. Penetration Resis- of resistance to penetration are used to 12 This test method is suitable for tance Relationships define times of setting. use only when tests of the mortar fraction {or Fine Grained 5.2 This test method can be used to will provide the information required. Soils determine the effects of variables, such 13 This test method may also be E.1 Specification for as brand, type and content of cementi applied to prepared mortars and grouts. as™ tious material, water content, and admix- 14 This test method is applicable Thermometers tures, upon the time of setting of con- under controlled laboratory conditions, crete. Tis test method may also be used as well as under field conditions to determine compliance with specified 15. The values stated in SI units are 3, ‘TERMINOLOGY time of setting requirements, to be regarded as the standard 53 This test method may also be .6 This standard does not purport ——3.1-_Definiions applied to prepared mortars and grout to address all of the safety problems 31. Time of Iniial Setting —the However, when the seting time of eon- associated with ts use. Iti the responsi- elapsed time, after inital contact of ce- Ft is desired, the test shall be per Vilty of the user of this standard to poet and elon recuned forthe manner formed on mortar sieved from the con- establish appropriate safety and health Geved from the concrete to reach a pene. TEt€ mixture and not on a prepared mor: Practices and determine the applicability ation resistance of 3.5 MPa (500 psi). '@F intended to simulate the mortar Of regulatory limitations prior to use. “M2 Time of Final Seving-Tihe, traction of the concrete; it has been clapsed time, after initial contact of ce- shown that the intial and final seting tment and water, required forthe mortar tes may be increased when using the sieved from the concrete to reach apene- Prepared morta. 2. REFERENCED DOCUMENTS "Mi0t sistance of27.6 MPa (4000 psi). 2 AASHTO Standards: M92. Wire-Cloth Sieves for 4. SUMMARY OF TEST 6, APPARATUS Testing Purposes METHOD T 119 Slump of Hydraulic 61 Containers for Mortar Speci Cement Concrete 4.1 A mortar sample is obtained by mens—The containers shall be rigid, wa- T 141 Sampling Freshly sieving a representative sample of fresh _tetight, nonabsorptive, nonoiled, and ei Mixed Concrete concrete. The morta is placed in a con- ther cylindrical or rectangular in cross T 152. Air Content of Freshly tainer and stored at a specified ambient section. Mortar surface area shall be pro- Mixed Concrete by temperature. At regular time intervals, vided for ten undisturbed readings of the Pressure Method the resistance of the mortarto penetration penetration resistance in accordance with T 196 Air Content of Freshly by standard needles is measured. From Section 9.2 for clear distance require- Mixed Concrete by 4 plot of penetration resistance versus ments, The minimum lateral dimension the Volumetric lapsed time, the times of initial and shall be 150 mm (6 in.) and the height Method final setting are determined. at least 150 mm (6 in.)610. 62. Penciration Needles—Needles shall be provided which can be attached to the loading apparatus and which have the following bearing areas; 645, 323, 61, 65, 32, and 16 mm? (1, Ys. ‘ho Fags ad " in2). Each needle shank shall be scribed citcumferentially at a distance 25 mm (1 in.) from the bearing area. ‘The length of the 16-mm? (g- in2) needle shall not be more than 90 mm (3'/; in). 63 Loading Apparans—A device shall be provided to measure the force Fequired to cause penetration of the nee- les. The device shal be capable of mea- suring the penetration force with an accu- racy of © 10 N (2 Tb) and shall have 8 capacity of at least 600 N (130 Ibs. NOTE 1—Switable loading apparatus can be of the spring-reaction type as described in ASTM D 1558, of of other types with a calibrated force measuring device, such as an electronic lad cell oa hydraulic presse se, 64 Tamping Rod—The tamping tod shall be a round, straight, steel rod 16 mim (% in.) in diameter “and approxi- ‘mately 600 mm (24 in.) in length. The ‘tamping end shall be rounded to a hemi- spherical tip, the diameter of which is 16 mm (0.625 in.) 63 Pipet—A pipet or other suitable instrument shall be used for drawing off bleeding water from the surface of the test specimen, 66 Thermometer—The thermome: ter shall be capable of measuring the {temperature of the fresh mortar to OS°C (+ 1°). ASTM liquid-in-glass thermometers having a temperature range from ~18 to 49°C (0 10 120°F), and conforming to the requirements of ‘Thermometer 97°C (97°F), as prescribed in ASTM E 1 are satisfactory, Other thermometers of the required accuracy, including the metal immersion type, se acceptable, oes hie we gen METHODS OF SAMPLING AND TESTING 7. SAMPLING, TEST SPECIMENS, AND TEST UNITS 7A. For tests under field conditions, three specimens shall be prepared from each sample of concrete 7.2 For tests under laboratory cond tions, the requirements depend upon the Purpose ofthe tests. 7.2.1 For evaluation or acceptance testing of a material, at least three sepa- rate concrete batches shall be made for each test condition. One time of setting test shall be made on each batch. An ‘equal number of batches for each condi- tion shall be made on any given day. ‘When it is impossible to make at least cone test for each variable on a given day, the mixing of the entire series of batches shall be completed in as few days as possible and one of the mixtures shall be repeated each day as a standard cof comparison, 72.2 For other tests, thre test speci- ‘meas shall be prepared fom one batch ‘of concrete for each test condition, 7.3. Record the time at which intial contact was made between cement and mixing water. 7.4 Obtain a representative sample of the fresh concrete in accordance with ‘T 141, Determine and record the stump (1 139) and air content (T 196 or 7152) of the fresh concrete 7.8 From the concrete mixture under test select a representative sample of con- crete of sufficient volume to provide enough mortar to fill the test container, or containers, to a depth of at least 140 um (5.5 i, 7.6 Remove essentially all of the ‘mortar from the sample of concrete by sieving it through a 4.75-mm (No. 4) sieve! onto 2 nonabsorptive surface 7.7. Thoroughly remix the mortar by hhand methods on the nonabsorptive sur- face. Measure and record the temperature of the mortar. Place the mortar in the Container, or containers using a single layer. Consolidate the mortar to eliminate air pockets in the specimen and level the top surface. This may be accom- plished by rocking the container back and forth on a solid surface, by tapping the sides of container with the tamping rod, by rodding the mortar or by placing the container on a vibrating table (see T197 [Note 2) f rodding is used, rod the mortar with the round end of the tamping rod. Rod the mortar once for each 645 mm? (1 in2} of top surface area of the speci- ‘men and distribute the strokes uniformly lover the cross section of the specimen. After completion of the rodding, tap the Sides of the containers lightly with the tamping rod to close voids left by the tamping rod and to further level the sur- face of the specimen. Upon completion of specimen preparation, the mortar sur- face shall be at least 13 mm (0.5 in) below the top edge of the container to provide space for the collection and re- ‘moval of bleeding water and to avoid contact between the mortar surface and the protective covering specified in Sec- tion 8, NOTE 2—Sieved mortar is generally of ‘uid consistency and sit pockets are readily ‘removed by the listed consolidation methods ‘The user is called upon to exercise judgment ‘nthe selection ofthe consolidation method, Rocking the container or tapping of the sides should be sufficient for eid mortars, Rod ding or using a vibrating table may be de able for tfer mortars. When wsing a vibrat- ing table, use low-amphitade vibration so that, portions of the sample ate not ejected from the container 8. CONDITIONING 8.1 The storage temperature for specimens shall be within the range 20 0 25°C (68 t0 77°F), or as specified by the user, 82. Maintain the specimens at the specified temperature of test. Measure and record the ambient air temperature at the start and finish of the test, To Prevent excessive evaporation of mois- ture, keep the specimens covered with @ suitable material such as damp burlap or 4 tight-fitting, water-impermeable cover for the duration ofthe test, except when bleeding water is being removed or pene- tration tests are being made. The speci ‘mens shall be shielded from the sun. 9. PROCEDURE, 9.1 Remove bleeding water from the surface of the mortar specimens just prior to making a penetration test by means of a pipet or suitable instrument. To facil- itate collection of bleeding water, tt the1197 METHODS OF SAMPLING AND TESTING specimen carefully 10 an angle of aboot 10° from the horizontal by placing. a block under one side 2 minutes prior to removal of the bleeding water. 9.2 Insert a needle of appropriate size, depending upon the degree of set- ting of the mortar, in the penetration resistance apparatus and bring the bear: ing surface of the needle into contact with the mortar surface. Gradually and ‘uniformly apply a vertical force down- ward on the apparatus until the needle penetrates the mortar to a depth of 25, = 1.5 mm (1 * 0.0625 in), as indicated by the scribe mark. The time required to penetrate to the 25 mum (I-in.) depth shall be 10 + 2 seconds. Record the force required to produce the 25-mm (I- in) penetration and the time of applica tion, measured as elapsed time after ini- ‘ial contact of cement and water. Caleu- late the penetration resistance by divid- ing the recorded force by the bearing area ofthe needle, and record the penetration resistance. In subsequent penetration tests take care to avoid areas where the mortar has been disturbed by previous tests. The clear distance between needle impressions shall be at east rwo diame ters of the needle being used, but not Jess than 13 mm (0.5 in.) The clear distance between any needle impression land the side of the container shall be rot Jess than 25 mm (1 in). 9.3. Plotting test results—One of two altemative procedures may be used to plot the test resulis and obtain times of setting. Appendix XI illustrates the application of these procedures 93.1 The following procedure is used to determine the times of setting bby hand-fiting a smooth curve through the data, Prepare a graph of penetration resistance, a the ordinate, versus elapsed time, a the abscissa, using a scale such that 3.5 MPa (500 psi) and 1 hour are cach represented by a distance of at least 13 mmm (0. in). Plot the values of pene- tration resistance as a function of elapsed time 93.2 The following procedure is used fo determine the times of setting by linear regression analysis of the loga rithms of the data. Using log-log graph paper, prepare a graph of penetration resistance, as the ordinate, versus elapsed time in minutes, as the abscissa, The limits of penetration resistance on the ordinate should extend from 0.069 MPa (20 psi) to 69 MPa (10000 psi), and the limits of elapsed time on the abscissa should extend from 10 t0 1000 min, If slow setting mixtures are used, the time Jimits may have to be 100 10 10 000 ‘min. Plot the values of penetration resis tance as a function of elapsed time (Note 3). NOTE 3—The procedure in Section 93.2 assumes thatthe logarithm of penetration re ‘Ssance isa linear function of the logarithm of elapsed time. The user should. verity whether the transformed data obey such 2 Straight line relationship. If the corelaton oefiient forthe straight fine is less than 0.98, the procedure in Section 9.3.1 should be used 94 For conventional concrete mix tures at laboratory temperatures 20 to 25°C (68 10 77°F), the initial test should ‘be made after an elapsed time of 3 t0 4 hours after initial contact between ce- ‘ment and water. Subsequent tess should bbe made at I-hour intervals. For conerete mixtures containing accelerators, or at temperatures higher than laboratory, itis advisable to make the initial test after an elapsed time of 1 to 2 hours and subsequent tests at ,-hout intervals. For concrete mixtures containing retarders, or a temperatures lower than laboratory, the initial test may be deferred unt an elapsed time of 4 to 6 hours. Subsequent fests may be made at I-hour intervals. Time intervals between subsequent tests may be adjusted as necessary, depending ‘upon the rate of setting, to oblain the requited number of penetrations. 9.5 Not less than six penetration re sistance determinations shall be made in ceach time of setting test, and the time intervals between penetration resistance determinations shall be such as to give a satisfactory curve of penetration resis- tance versus elapsed time, as indicated by equally spaced points. Continue the tests until one penetration resistance of at least 27.6 MPa (4000 pei) is reached, 10, CALCULATION 10.1 For cach test condition speci- fied in Section 7, separately plot the results of three or more setting tests. For ‘each plot prepared according to Section 93.1, hand fit a smooth curve through the data points. For each plot prepared oil according to Section 9.3.2, determine the best-fit straight line using the method of least-squares 102 For each curve determine the times of initial and final setting as the times when the penetration resistance equals 3.5 MPa (S00 psi) and 27.6 MPa (4000 psi), respectively. Record the set- ting times in hours and minutes to the nearest minute, 10.3 The times of initial and final setting for each test condition shall be calculated as the average values of the individual test results. Record the aver- age times in hours and minutes to the nearest five minutes. A. REPORT ILA Data on Concrete Mixture— ‘The report shall include the following. information on the concrete mixture: ILL1 Brand and type of cementi tious materials, mass of cementitious ma- terials, fine aggregate and coarse aggre- gale per cubic meter (cubic yard) of con- ‘rete, nominal maxirmum aggregate size, and water-cement ratio, 11.12 The name, type, and amount of admixture(s) used, ILL3 Air content of fresh concrete and method of determination, L4 Consistency of concrete as determined by the stump test, WLLS Temperature of mortar after sieving, ILL6 Record of ambient tempera- ture during the test period, and ILLT Date of test. 12 Time of Setting Results—The report shall include the following infor- ‘mation on the time of setting tests: 1121 A plot of penetration resis- tance versus elapsed time for each time of setting test, 11.2.2 The times of initial and final setting for each test, reported in hours ‘and minutes to the nearest minute, and 11.2.3 The average times of intial and final setting for each test condition, reported in hours and minutes to the nearest five minutes 12, PRECISION AND BIAS 12.1 The single-operator coefficient of variation for time of inital setting has ‘been found to be 7.1 percent (Note 4).612 METHODS OF SAMPLING AND TESTING Penetration Resistance Data TABLE x! Pescraton| Resistance (PR) Elapsed Time MPa tos tin 030 ay 200 076 a) 20 19 26) 260 an 0) 290 689 00) 320 B09 (2000) 350 6s 2560) 65 227 Gs20) 380 3061 440) 395 LogiPR Lot =osis de) 2308 010 © omy 2362 Rie esne | zars osm 27) 2462 089 000) 2305 10 G30) 2544 127 G40) 2502 13s G3s) 580 has Bom 2397 Therefore, the range of results obtained on three separate batches by the same ‘operator with the same apparatus, using the same materials and temperature con- ditions, on three different days should ‘ot exceed 23 percent of their average (Note 4), 12.2 The muhilaboratory coefficient of variation for time of initial setting, when results are based on the average of three tests, has been found to be 5.2 ppescent (Note 5). Therefore, results of ‘wo different laboratories using the same materials and temperature conditions should not differ by more than 15 percent of their average (Note 5) 123. The single-operator coefficient of variation for time of final setting has been found to be 4.7 percent (Note 4), ‘Therefore the range of results obtained on three separate batches by the same ‘operator with the same apparatus, using the same materials and temperature con- ditions, on three different days should not exceed 16 percent of their average (Note 4), 124 The multlaboratory coefficient of variation for time of final setting, when results are based on the average of tee tests, has been found to be 4.5, percent (Note 5). Therefore, results of {wo different laboratories using the same ‘materials and temperature conditions should not differ by more than 13 percent of their average (Note 5). NOTE 4—These numbers represent the 1S percent Timi as described in ASTM con. NOTE S—these numbers represent, 1e- spectively, the (IS percent and (25 percent) limits as deserted in ASTM C 670. 125 No statement is made about the bias ofthis test method because the bias ‘cannot be determined, APPENDIX NONMANDATORY INFORMATION XI. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. X11 The penetration resistance (PR) and the elapsed time (7) data in ‘Table X1.1 will be used to illustrate the ‘wo procedures of setting X12 Hand fi—Figure X1.1 is for determining times plot of the penetration resistance versus ‘lapsed time valves in Table X1.1. The smooth curve was drawn by hand using a flexible drawing curve. The curve was Ti97 drawn 50 as to achieve the visual best-fit to the data. Horizontal lines are drawn at penetration resistance values of 3.5 MPa (500 psi) and 27.6 MPa (4000 psi). The Intersections of the horizontal lines with the curve define the times of initial and final seting, which in this case are 289 ‘minutes and 389 minutes, respectively. X13 Regression Analysis X31 Figure X1.2 is a log-log plot of the penetration resistance versus clapsed time values. The plot shows that for this particular data there is approxi- mately a straight line relationship be- ‘ween the logarithms of penetration resi tance and elapsed time. The straight line is obtained by linear regression analysis using the logarithms shown in the third and fourth columns of Table X1.1. The equation for this lin is: Log(PR) = ~16.356 + 6871 Logit) where: PR penetration resistance. ‘lapsed time, and the correlation coefficient is 0.999, X132 Toobtain the times of setting, the equation is rewritten as: LogiPh) + 16356 Logi = EP i PENETRATION RESISTANCE MPa oa FIGURE X11 Plot of Penetration Resistance Versus Elapsed Time and Hand Fit Curve Used to Determine ‘Times of Setting a FIGURE X12 Log-Log Plot ‘Showing Straight Line to Determine ‘Times of Setting by Using Regression ‘Analysisrw METHODS OF SAMPLING AND TESTING ots 133 Fortine of sein, et cep = LOSE) + 16356 sia seer he oxy = ROT vat 186 Leg) + 16386 - a9 a ede Leg = LD 100) ca =239) ose ase om N14 Fortine fiat cing oh tee a, si eee Sb 1 = (107% = 389 min,