Quantitative Comparison of Estimation Methods for Determining the in Situ Characteristic Concrete Compressive Strength

Abstract

When assessing existing concrete structures, the estimation of the characteristic strength values from limited data is a difficult, but important task. Currently, there are different methods available in order to obtain such an estimate. First of all, the classical coverage method can be used for determining the characteristic in situ compressive strength. Otherwise, based on the ISO 12491, ISO 13822 and ISO 2394, the characteristic strength may also be determined using a prediction method which is referred to as a “Bayesian procedure with vague prior distributions”. Finally, the assessment can also be based on the rather recent European standard EN 13791. The performance of these three different estimation methods is compared and evaluated in a probabilis tic way, using numerical Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, some suggestions for improvement with respect to the European Standard EN 13791 are provided and evaluated.

Keywords::

• concrete strength
• in situ strength
• estimation
• assessment
• EN 13791
• EN 1990
• Bayes
• Monte Carlo simulations