Concrete Laboratory

Report

______________Table of
contents_____________
Introduction

...3
Procedure
.
.....3
Calculations

...4
Compression test

5
Results

6
Discussion

6
Conclusion

7
References and Bibliography
..8

Introduction
Concrete is the most used material in construction. It is a mixture of
aggregate, cement, water and possibly admixture and/or additives. To
produce a mix, proportions of each ingredient will be taken and adjusted.
Concrete hardens and cures as long as there are present unhydrated
cement and moisture. It has been proved that the concrete achieves its
maximum strength in 28 days. Concrete is so often used because of his
great compressive strength, but it has a low tensile strength, so steel
reinforcing is used when casting the concrete to improve this attribute.
Various factors affect the strength of the concrete when it is being made.
For this lab report there will be tested the effects of different ratios of fine
aggregate on 3 different concrete mixes. It is expected to
increase/decrease directly proportional.
This report details the concrete testing which will be taken by students
during the three concrete laboratories that form part of the Engineering
Materials module. The aims of the laboratories are as follows:
1. To prepare and test standard concrete cubes in accordance with the
British Standards for testing concrete.
2. To report upon the results and compare them with other Civil
Engineering students.
All testing apparatus will be in compliance with the BS 1881-125:2013
regarding Methods for mixing and sampling fresh concrete in the laboratory.
3

Procedure
The first step is to ensure the Health and Safety procedures. The main
ways cement can cause ill health are: Skin contact; Inhalation of dust;
Manual Handling. For avoiding any Health and Safety Issues, students
were instructed to bring their PPE, most important being the hard boots
and protection glasses. To further decrease the risk of any issues, they
were given protective gloves and respiratory protective masks.
The next step is to set the ratios for all the 3 mixes regarding the coarse,
fine aggregate, cement and water. After the ratios are set, we have to
calculate the initial quantities which will be used in kg (specified in the
Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.3). After all the calculations are made, the next step is
to weight the quantities which are to be used. This is done by first
weighting the recipient used for transporting the ingredients to the mixing
surface and subtracting that value from the reading of the ingredients
weight.
Further we will mix the aggregates with the cement until we obtain a good
mix between the aggregates and the cement. After that, the water is going
to be poured gradually until we obtain a homogenous mix. This mix is
going to be poured in cube shapes (100mm x 100mm x 100mm) and left
for curing. Generally, BS 1881-125:2013 regarding Methods for mixing and
sampling fresh concrete in the laboratory was followed during this laboratory.

Cube 1

Cement

Water

Coarse

Fine agg.

Calculations
Cube 1 ( 4-2-1 ):

Ratio:

Coarse

1.440 kg

Fine aggregate

0.720 kg

Cement

0.360 kg

Water

0.144 kg

40% w/c

Total

2.664 kg

Total agg. :

2.160 kg

Water adj. :

0.022 kg
Fig. 1

Cube 2

Cement

Water

Coarse

Fine agg.

Cube 2 ( 4-3-1 ):

Ratio:

Coarse

1.260 kg

Fine aggregate

0.945 kg

Cement

0.315 kg

Water

0.126 kg

Total

2.646 kg

Total agg:

2.205 kg

Water adj:

0.022 kg

40% w/c

Fig. 2

Cube 3

Cement

Water

Coarse

Fine agg.

Cube 3 (4-1-1):

Ratio:

Coarse

1.680 kg

Fine aggregate

0.420 kg

Cement

0.420 kg

Water

0.168 kg

Total

2.688 kg

Total agg

2.100 kg

Water adj

1
40% w/c

0.021 kg
Fig. 3

Compression test
The compressive strength of concrete is one of the attributes, which refers to the
loads which may be applied to a concrete structure. Therefore, for every structure
it is important to check the compressive strength from a number of at least 3
concrete cubes cast from the same batches of concrete used to form the
structure. In the design of concrete structures, the design engineer specifies
given strengths that the final concrete products must be capable of attaining.
Compression tests (ASTM C 39) are conducted to determine the compressive
strength of concrete (or its ability to resist a crushing force). In this test, a
standard test load is applied parallel to the longitudinal axis of a pre-molded and
properly cured concrete cube of a standard size (BS 1881125:2013). When the
test is properly conducted, a maximum load is obtained at the point at which the
cube ruptures. With this maximum load, the compressive strength, measured in
kilograms per square millimetre (kg/mm2), can be easily calculated. The
equipment you will use to perform the compression test is a compression-testing
machine. An example of that machine, shown with a test cube in place, is
illustrated in figure 4.

Fig. 4
http://www.geotestusa.com/CatalogImages/FullSize/C-0130.jpeg

Results
Cube
3
600
494.5

500
400

Load (kN)

271.4

300

Valori Y
200
82.7

100
0
1.95

2.05

2.1

2.15

2.2

2.25

2.3

2.35

Mass (kg)

Cube
1

Cube
2

Fig. 5
Now we need to calculate the compressive strength of the concrete. The
formula is:
Cstrength = Load/Area
So, for the 3 cubes, the strengths are as follow:
Cube1: Cstrength = 271.4 kN / 10000 mm2 = 271400 N/ 10000 mm2 = 27.14
N/mm2
Cube2: Cstrength = 82.7 kN / 10000 mm2 = 82700 N/ 10000 mm2 = 8.27
N/mm2
Cube3: Cstrength = 494.5 kN / 10000 mm2 = 494500 N/ 10000 mm2 = 49.45
N/mm2

Discussion
Students expected that using different ratios of fine aggregate will change
the compressive strength of the concrete directly proportional. However,
during this test it was experimentally proved that this is not happening as
expected. Cube no. 3 contained 1 ratio of fine aggregate and achieved the
biggest load before rupturing as illustrated above (Fig. 5), so, the highest
compressive strength out of the 3 test cubes.

Conclusion
In the introduction it was stated that using different ratios of fine
aggregate will increase/decrease directly proportionally the compressive
strength of the concrete. However, the results of the experiment are
proving that it is exactly the opposite, as the cube with the highest fine
aggregate ratio (Cube 2) achieved the lowest load before rupturing, while
the cube with the lowest fine aggregate ratio (Cube 3) achieved the
highest load, as it can be seen in the Fig. 5.

In conclusion, the experiment proved that using different ratios of fine

aggregate will increase/decrease inverse proportionally the compressive
strength of the concrete.

http://www.gravelandgrow.ca/photos/concrete_mix.jpg

References and Bibliography

BRITISH STANDARD BS 1881-125:2013

Testing concrete. Methods for mixing and sampling fresh concrete

in the laboratory

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/cis26.pdf

Assessing and managing risks from skin exposure to chemical agents. Guidance
for employers and health and safety specialists HSG205 HSE Books 2001 ISBN 0
7176 1826 9

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/ozer/Concrete.Supp-Lab%20Manual.pdf

http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/35pr.pdf

10