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IS 9013:1978 is the Indian Standard (BIS) for method of test for water permeability of concrete. This standard specifies the laboratory method for determining the permeability of hardened concrete by subjecting a specimen to water pressure. The result is expressed as the depth of water penetration, providing a measure of the concrete's water-tightness.
Describes a method for determining the depth of penetration of water under pressure into hardened concrete specimens.
Overview
Status
Current
Usage level
Specialized
Domain
Materials Science — Tunneling and Underground Structures
EN 12390-8:2019CEN (European Committee for Standardization), Europe
HighCurrent
Testing hardened concrete - Part 8: Depth of penetration of water under pressure
Specifies a method for determining the depth of penetration of water under pressure into a hardened concrete specimen.
DIN 1048-5:1991DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung), Germany
HighWithdrawn
Testing concrete; testing of hardened concrete (specimens prepared in mould)
Provided the foundational method for water penetration depth testing that was later adopted and modified by the EN standard.
SIA 262/1:2013 (Annex E)SIA (Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects), Switzerland
HighCurrent
Concrete Construction - Annex E: Determination of the penetration of water under pressure into test specimens
Outlines a water penetration depth test under pressure, very similar in principle and execution to the EN standard.
Key Differences
≠IS 9013 specifies a constant test pressure of 5 kgf/cm² (approx. 0.5 MPa) for the entire 96-hour duration.
≠Equivalent European standards (e.g., EN 12390-8) use a stepped pressure regime: 100 kPa for 48 hours, followed by 300 kPa for 24 hours, and finally 700 kPa for the last 24 hours.
≠The specified water temperature in IS 9013 is 27 ± 2 °C, reflecting Indian climatic conditions, whereas EN 12390-8 specifies 20 ± 2 °C.
≠EN 12390-8 provides more detailed guidance on marking the water front and handling irregular penetration patterns after splitting the specimen compared to the simpler instructions in IS 9013.
Key Similarities
≈The fundamental principle of the test is identical: applying water under pressure to one face of a concrete specimen and measuring the depth of penetration after a set time.
≈The standard test specimen in both IS 9013 and its international counterparts is a 150 mm cube, although other shapes like cylinders are permissible.
≈The total duration of the water pressure application is 96 hours in both IS 9013 and the standard procedure of EN 12390-8.
≈The final result is reported as the maximum depth of penetration in millimeters, and the test is destructive as it requires splitting the specimen.