QEST Platform 5.0 Documentation
Applies to QESTLab

The article further describes the definitions related to these specific concrete lists: Concrete Test Groups, Concrete Specimen Marks and Concrete Failure Mode.

Overview

This article describes the fields available in the list items: Concrete Test Groups, Concrete Specimen Marks and Concrete Failure Mode.

Concrete Test Groups

It is common to test specimens in the same circumstances from sample to sample e.g. one specimen tested for compression tests at 7 days, two specimens tested at 28 days. Concrete test groups allows creation of configurable templates to provide a quick way to register common specimen sets.

The following fields occur only once per test group:

Field Prompt	Description	Examples of Expected Information
Code	A short code that can be alphanumeric that is used to define the test group.	C100
Name	A description of the test group code.	4x8 Cyl. (7,7,28,28,28,H)
Product Code	When a mix is selected on a sample, a test group can automatically be selected based on that mix. To do this, enter the Product Code of the mix into the Product Code field of the test group.

Up to twenty specimens can be established in a test group with the following data initialized per specimen:

Field Prompt	Description	Examples of Expected Information	Notes
Type	The specimen type is selected from a drop-down box.	COMP100
Age	The scheduled test age of the specimen.	7	The default age is in days. To enter an age in hours, suffix the age with a 'H', 'h' or '*' (without the apostrophe). E.g. 7H.
Cure	The cure field allows four options that are useful for setting the curing for early strength specimens which are not cured in a tank or curing room.	Std - Standard curing in a tank or curing room. Site - Cured on site (not in a tank or curing room in the lab). Air - Cured in air at the lab (not in a tank or curing room in the lab). Steam	Four options are available as listed in the column to the left. A blank value is equivalent to Std (standard), so can be left blank unless non-standard curing is needed.
xSp	To denote whether the specimen was externally sampled. That is, whether another lab performed the sampling.	Yes/No
xCr	To denote whether the specimen was externally tested (externally crushed). That is, another lab performed the strength test.	Yes/No	The final strength result can be directly recorded without any specimen dimensions or load value when xCr is set to yes.
Cap	To record the type of cap used for the specimen.	B, U, G, S	For US Concrete samples: B = Bonded ASTM C 617 U = Unbonded ASTM C 1231 For Australian Concrete Samples: restrictions exist to comply with AS 1012.9 requirements. See Cap Types for AS 1012.9 section below.
Use Den	This field sets the Dens (density) field on the specimens and presents data entry fields to calculate and report hardened concrete density.	Yes/No	For US concrete samples only.
Correc	To denote whether the applicable correction factor for height/diameter is applied to the strength result by default.	Yes/No
Mrk	To denote if there are any default marks. A code is entered from the Concrete Specimen Marks list.	See Concrete Specimen Marks section below
Crt	To denote whether the specimen's test result is printed on the report(s).	Yes/No
Chg	To denote whether the specimen is charged (to the client).	Yes/No
ChgPlant	To denote whether the specimen is charged to the plant instead of the client.	Yes/No	The plant must have its own entry in the clients list.

In older versions of QESTLab the curing condition could be specified as part of the specimen test Age. For example, specifying “3S” for a 3-day site curing. This has been deprecated and the Cure column should be used instead.

Cap Types for AS 1012.9

AS 1012.9 Description	QESTLab Code	QESTLab Description
N/A	N	None
N/A	G	Ground
Filled sulphur mixtures	S	Sulphur
Portland cement mortar	M	Portland cement mortar
High-alumina cement mortar	H	High-alumina cement mortar
Cement pastes	C	Cement paste
Special gypsum plasters	P	Gypsum Plaster
Restrained natural rubber capping system	R	Rubber
N/A	O	Other (see Remarks)

Concrete Specimen Marks

A mark is a short description of an abnormality that can occur for a specimen. To mark a specimen, the code is set for the specimen. The specimen will become excluded or complete if set for the mark. If the mark is reported, the description of the mark will also be reported. An example of a common mark includes; Lost specimen, damaged specimen, abnormal curing, special preparations.

Field Prompt	Expected Information	Notes
Mark	A single character code (A-Z, 0-9)
Description	A short description of what the mark means
Exclude	Yes/No	Whether to exclude a specimen from average calculations such as strength
Complete	Yes/No	Indicates whether to flag a specimen complete if marked. This will overwrite the usual complete requirement(s) such as compressive strength calculated. For example a specimen that is destroyed on site may be marked with an X and should be considered complete, even though a strength result can not be determined.

Incomplete Specimens

Note that any incomplete specimens will not be marked as checked. A specimen is considered complete when it has a strength result or a Mark or Failure Mode with a corresponding entry in the Concrete Specimen Marks or Concrete Failure Mode lists that has been flagged to be considered complete.

Concrete Failure Mode

The use and settings on fields in this list will vary depending on the geographical region of the customer. The purpose of this list is to record the failure pattern upon completion of the concrete strength test.

Field Prompt	Expected Information	Notes
Code	A single character code (A-Z, 0-9)	North American customers will typically use Codes as per ASTM C39. Australian customers will typically use 'N" for Normal, 'S' for Shear, 'A' for Abnormal, etc.
Description	A short description of the failure mode	North American customers will typically use Descriptions as per ASTM C39.
Exclude	Yes/No	Identifies whether the concrete specimen data should be excluded from average calculations such as strength.
Complete	Yes/No	A specimen is considered complete when it has a strength result or a Mark or Failure Mode with a corresponding entry in the lists that has been flagged to be considered complete. For example a specimen that is destroyed on site may be marked with an X and should be considered complete, even though a strength result can not be determined.
Default Failure Mode	Yes/No	Allows setting of a default Failure Mode. An Australian customer will typically set 'N' (Normal) failure mode to be the default. If the failure was not normal then an alternative letter designation as per the Concrete Failure Mode list is used. The default failure mode will be set automatically for specimens when strength is calculated and no other type of failure is set.
Default E Exclusion	Yes/No	Used by Australian customers that are licensed for AS 1379 Production Assessment. The failure mode for specimens excluded due to under-strength results based on the standard AS 1379, see "Info Store E Failure" box below. Store E Failure - for AS 1379 customers Options for storing E Failure Modes are set through the QEST Administrator Console Configuration > Options> Concrete/QCS/QWS. Store E Failure Mode for COMP Specimens of Type: will store the E Failure Mode for the specified Specimen Type. Store E Failure Mode into Field: will place the E Failure Mode in the column for Failure Mode, Marks or neither.
Report Description	Yes/No	Indicates whether the Concrete Failure Mode description is reported on the concrete test report.

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QEST Platform 5.0 Documentation

Concrete Test Groups, Specimen Marks and Failure Modes

Contents

Overview

Concrete Test Groups

Cap Types for AS 1012.9

Concrete Specimen Marks

Concrete Failure Mode

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