REPAIR AND REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURES

CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF
DISTRESSED BUILDING
 CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF BUILDINGS FOR REPAIR

Assessment will determine, whether a distressed building should be

demolished to build back better or whether it will be cost-effective to either
repair or retrofit it, in the context of overall safety.

1.Factors causing Building Distress:

1.The reason for distress during service is the lack of maintenance of the
building which results in deterioration/aging of materials and structural
components leading to corrosion and cracking.

2. Buildings or structures are damaged when they are subjected to extreme

loading conditions like in severe earthquakes or cyclonic storms for which
they are not designed.

3. The buildings may also fail if the foundation is not properly designed and
constructed by not following the standard Codes of practice. An impression
exists that taller structures are seismically unsafe in comparison with low-
rise buildings. On the contrary, when properly designed and built, taller
structures are generally safer.
It is to be noted that most lives were lost in Kachchh (Gujarat) earthquake
of 2001 in one and two storeyed masonry buildings. Hence, all buildings
have to be built safe.
4. Inadequacy of design and poor quality of construction and
maintenance are the main reasons for the distress seen in buildings
during service or under natural hazards. This is because building
codes and byelaws are not conscientiously followed in design and
quality of construction.
5. The current [Indian standard (I.S.)] building codes and guidelines in
India have been tested and found effective in achieving safety of the
residents during the last six earthquakes (Uttarkashi 1991 to J & K
2005). Hence not following these codes in design and construction is
sure recipe for distress in future.
2.Condition Assessment of Buildings
Main objective of condition assessment are to place the building into
one of the following three categories:
a. The building has not shown any signs of distress and It satisfies all
the safety and serviceability requirements according to relevant
Codes of practice, hence no action is needed towards retrofitting.
b. The building is seen to be deficient (or distressed) but it can be
repaired and strengthened to satisfy the Codal safety requirements or
performance criteria set by the user.
c. The building is badly damaged. It is to be demolished and a new
building may be built, build back better.
Main steps of condition assessment will be
• To record the damage if any, and find out the causes for distress
• To assess the extent of distress and to estimate the residual strengths
of structural components and the system including the foundation.
• To plan the rehabilitation and retrofitting/strengthening of the building.

Typical visible distress detrimental to the safety of buildings

Cracks in RC beams (Fig.2), Columns (Fig 3), slabs, masonry walls

particularly if the walls are load bearing walls) (Fig. 4, 5), spalling of
concrete, sagging of beams or slabs (Fig.6), and tilting of columns or RC
frames (out of plumb) (Figs. 7) and major failure of structural members (8-
11) are the typical types of crucial damages that will require structural
repairs to bring back the lost strength.

Such actions will need to be done along with retrofitting if that is also
decided for the building in question.
Fig.2:- Diagonal cracks of the beam and failure at the column top
Fig.3:- Cracks in column
Fig.4:- Cracks in masonry wall
Fig.5:- Cracks in good quality brick wall
 Fig.7:- Failure in column-beam joint (lack of stirrups)

Fig.6:- Failure of a portion of building

(at expansion joint)
Fig.8:- Column failure (absence of Fig.9:- Column top failure (bad joint detail)
tiers, buckling of longitudinal bars)
Fig.10:- Corrosion in RC beam Fig.11:-Corrosion in the RC Column
Fig.12:- Corrosion in the RC slab (lack of control on the cover)
Main causes of such distress in buildings
Either one or more of the factors listed below may cause distress in
buildings (Figs.2-12):

• Deficiencies in design

• Poor detailing of reinforcement in RC structural members and joints

• Poor quality of construction

• Corrosion of reinforcement due to aggressive environment.

• Inadequacies in the structural system to resist lateral forces due to
natural hazards like cyclones and earthquakes.

• Settlement or differential settlement of foundation

• Extreme and unforeseen loading.
3.Methodology of Condition Assessment
Condition assessment and evaluation is generally carried out in two levels:
(i) Preliminary and
(ii) detailed.
If we get adequate information to assess the safety of the building at the
preliminary investigation level, detailed investigation, which involves
considerable cost and time, may not be recommended.

Rapid (Visual) Investigation

There are mainly three components and steps:
• Collection of information and details about the building design,
construction, utilization, and maintenance in the past

• Visual inspection of condition at site and recording details of distress

• Evaluation of safety against the provisions in building codes or

specified performance criteria
Information needed for Rapid investigation

One needs a complete record of building design details and drawings,

architectural details, construction details and drawings including the
specifications of materials used, geotechnical details of the area and
foundation particulars, details of any repair or retrofitting done from the
time of construction, details of usage of the building including the loads.

Some nondestructive testing may be required to check the strength of

concrete masonry etc.

If the above information is not available, detailed investigations have to be

conducted.
Details in visual Investigation
The main purpose of visual investigation is to observe and note down all
the items of distress or design deficiency and their locations, supported by
sketches and drawings.

The visual inspection includes:

• Verification of the accuracy of the original drawings or determination of
basic building information, if no drawings are available.
• Identification of major alterations not shown on the original construction
documents.
• Identification of visible structural damage, such as concrete cracking or
spalling, and observations on quality of construction
• Identification of potential non-structural falling hazards, including ceilings,
partitions, curtain Walls, parapets, fixtures, and other non-structural
building elements.
• Observations on the condition of soil and the foundation
• Documentation of existing conditions with photographs at key locations.
Details about any deviations observed at the site from the original
drawings have also to be recorded.
Observation of settlement or differential settlement of buildings
Ground failures due to the following causes may be observed:

• Liquefaction of soil (under moderate to severe earthquakes)

• Landsliding, under monsoon rain or earthquakes
• Surface fault rupture under the building (remote possibility)
Some types of damage to the buildings because of ground failures may be
seen in Figs. 13 and 14

Fig.14:- Diagrammatic explanation of diagonal tension crack due to differential settlement

Damage of building due to ground failure
Detailed Investigations
Need and actions
When the construction drawings about the building giving the layout and the
structural details of the system (including the specifications of materials
used) and its foundation are not available, detailed investigations have to be
conducted about the total structural system besides of course the details on
type, location, and severity of damage or distress in various members and
the system.
Measurements may have to be made on the existing building to note the
dimensions of the structural elements. Properties of structural materials,
namely, concrete, steel reinforcement and masonry, in the representative
structural members, will be necessary by conducting Non-Destructive
Testing (NDT) in the field and by carrying out laboratory investigations on
samples collected from the field.
Details of soil profile and its characterization have to be obtained by
collecting data or by conducting necessary geotechnical investigations.
These details are necessary for analyzing/evaluating the safety of the
building and to recommend retrofitting/strengthening measures.
Tests for concrete strength

Concrete strength is the most important parameter in assessing the safety

of a structure against loading. Due to lack of construction supervision,
sometimes, very low strength concrete may be encountered in existing
structures. Such locations are to be identified and suitable remedial
measures to be taken. The testing methods for concrete strength vary
from very indirect surface hardness test to the direct testing of concrete
strength by removing cores.

Non-destructive tests

These tests are based on indirect measurement of concrete strength

through measurement of surface hardness and dynamic modulus of
elasticity. Calibration curves relating these properties with the strength of
concrete are available. For surface hardness rebound of an impact from
the concrete surface is measured.
The most commonly adopted NDT methods for assessment of
strength of concrete and their principles are given in the following:
Table 1: NDT methods and principles
Rebound Hammer Test
Surface hardness measured during the test give an idea about the
soundness and quality of cover concrete. Locations having very low
rebound numbers indicate weak surface concrete and may be affected by
corrosion. The quality of concrete may be interpreted as shown in the
Table 2.
Table 2
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) technique
The dynamic modulus of elasticity of concrete is measured by measuring
the velocity of ultrasonic pulse through concrete.

The test equipment has provisions for generating ultrasonic pulse,

transmitting it to concrete, receiving and amplifying the pulse and
measuring and displaying the pulse travel time.

Good acoustic coupling between the transducers and concrete is to be

established for correct measurement of the speed.

By this technique one can assess the quality of concrete such as honey
combing & compaction.
Core tests
The core test provides the visual inspection of the interior of the
concrete and direct measurement of the compressive strength.

Other physical properties, such as, density, water absorption, indirect

tensile strength and expansion due to alkali-aggregate reaction can
also be measured.
In core testing, the determination of core size and location is a crucial
factor.
The test should be taken at points where minimum strength and
maximum stress are likely to coincide.

But, at the same time, the core cutting causes some damage to the
member and may impair the future performance of the member.

Therefore, in slender members, the core should be taken away from

the critical section.

For compression testing, the diameter of the core should be at least

three times the nominal maximum aggregate size. The accuracy of
the test increases with the ratio of core diameter to the aggregate
size.

The generally recommended length to diameter ratio of the cores is

between 1 to 2
The core samples can be used for determination of unit weight, estimation
of voids, and chemical analysis, a graphic analysis and analysis.

Broken samples from the cores can be used to determine the pH value
and the chloride content in the sample.
Partially destructive tests
• These are surface zone tests, which require access to one exposed
concrete face and cause some localized damage.
• This damage is sufficiently small to cause no loss in structural
performance.
• The strength of concrete is estimated with the help of correlation charts,
which are sensitive to lesser number of parameters compared to the
surface hardness and ultrasonic pulse velocity tests.
•Hence reliability of these tests is higher.
•The advantage compared to core test is that these are faster and less
disruptive and damaging.
•Different tests in this category are based on penetration resistance, pull-
out pull-off and break-off.
Penetration Resistance
In this test a specially designed bolt is fired into concrete with the help of
a standardized explosive cartridge.
The equipment and testing procedure have been standardized by ASTM
C803.
A consistent correlation of the depth of the penetration with the strength of
concrete has been found.
Pull-out Testing
In pull-out testing, the force needed to pull a bolt or some similar device
embedded into concrete is measured and correlated with the strength of
concrete.
The bolt may be inserted at the time of casting of the concrete or it may be
epoxy grouted into a hole drilled into hardened concrete.
The testing has high reliability and it is accepted by a number of public
agencies in some countries as equivalent to cylinders for acceptance
testing.
Chemical tests:
Chemical Analysis of concrete can provide extremely useful information
regarding the cause of failure of concrete.
Most frequently carried out tests are:
1. Depth of carbonation
2. Chloride content
3. Cement content
4. Sulphate content
5. Type of cement
6. Alkali content

Carbonation test:
This test is carried out to determine the depth of concrete affected due to
combined attack of atmospheric carbon dioxide and moisture causing a
reduction in level of alkalinity of concrete.

A spray of 0.2% solution of phenolphthalein is used as pH indicator of

Concrete.
The change of colour of concrete to pink indicates that the concrete is in
the good health.

If there is no change in colour , it indicates that the concrete is carbonation

affected concrete.

The test is conducted by drilling a hole on the concrete surface to different

depths upto cover concrete thickness, removing the dust by air blowing,

Spraying phenolphthalein with physician’s injection syringe and needle on

freshly drilled or broken concrete and observing the colour change.

The depth of carbonation is estimated based on the change in colour

profile.
The pH value can also determined by analyzing the samples of mortar
collected by drilling from the site.
Chloride content:

Chloride content can be determined from broken samples or drilled

samples of concrete.

Chloride present in concrete are fixed (water insoluble) as well as free

(water soluble).

Water soluble chloride ions are important from corrosion point of view.

The total acid soluble chlorides are determined based on the IS:14959
part III -2001.

The assessment of water soluble chloride can be determined by

obtaining the water extracts and conducting the standard titration
experiment and expressed by weight of concrete or cement.

Chloride profile across the cover thickness is more useful

measurement as this can help to make a rough estimate on chloride
diffusion rate.
Recently developed test for field testing of chloride content with the
use of chloride ion sensitive electrode.

This is commercially known as “rapid chloride test kit – 4”.

The test consisting of obtaining powdered samples by drilling and

collected samples from the different depths (every 5mm).

Mixing the sample (about 1.5 gm weight) with a special chloride

extraction liquid and measuring the electrical potential of the liquid by
chloride ion selective electrode.

With the help of a calibration graph relating electrical potential and

chloride content of the samples can be directly determined.
Guidelines for identification for corrosion prone locations
based on chemical analysis

S. Test results Interpretations

No
1 High pH value greater than 11.5 and very low No corrosion
chloride content
2 High pH values and high chloride content Corrosion prone
greater than 0.15% by weight of cement
3 Low pH values and high chloride content Increased risk of
corrosion
Assessment of corrosion potential:
1. Cover meter: Non destructive method for measuring thickness of
concrete cover, reinforcement diameter and
reinforcement spacing.
2. Half cell method: Non destructive method for measuring corrosion
potential for assessing the probability of corrosion.
3. Resistivity measurements: Non destructive method for assessing
the electrical resistivity of concrete.
4. Permeability: Assessment of permeability of concrete due to water
and air.
5. Initial surface absorption: An indicator of surface permeability.
Cover Meter survey
The necessity for providing the cover for concrete is to control corrosion.
A cover thickness survey is useful to determine existing cover thickness in
a specific location.
The cover meters are also used to identify the location and diameter of
Rebar.
 COVERMASTER and PROFOMETER are the commercially available
meters.
Interpretation of cover thickness survey

S .No Test Results Interpretations

1 Required cover thickness and good quality Relatively not

concrete corrosion prone
2 Required cover thickness and bad quality Corrosion prone
cover concrete
3 Very less cover thickness and good quality Corrosion prone
concrete cover

Half cell potential survey:

Corrosion being a electrochemical phenomenon, the electrode potential
of steel bar with reference to a standard electrode undergoes changes
depending on corrosion activity.
A systematic survey on a well defined grid points gives useful
information on the presence or probability of corrosion activity.
The same grid points are useful for the rebound hammer test and
UPV test.
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