COMPRESSION TEST OF CONCRETE CUBE

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
BPD 13103 (SECTION 2)

GROUP MEMBERS : NURUL SABIHAH BINTI MOHD NOORDIN (AP150061)

ROSE SHAZILAH BINTI ABDULLAH (AP 150108)
CUT NURHAYATI BINTI AMIR (AP150210)
WONG PAO SHUN (AP 150266)
CHEW ZHEN YEE (AP 150358)
HII HUA KONG (AP 150351)

LECTURERS NAME : DR YAMANI BIN YAHYA

LAB ASSISTANT : ENCIK SALLEH BIN MANSOR
GROUP NAME : CHINCHAA / GAMUDA HOLDINGS

COMPRESSION TEST ON CONCRETE CUBE

AIM
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

To prepare the test specimen.

To conduct a compression test on concrete cubes to find the ultimate crushing strength.
To determine the characteristic strength of the concrete
Cubes are properly cured and crushed at the ages of 7, 28 etc. Three cubes are crushed at
a time and their mean crushing strength is taken as the compressive strength of concrete.

APPARATUS
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

Cubical mould of length 100mm and height 100mm

Compacting rod
Hand scoop
Water tank
Compression Testing Machine

MATERIALS
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

Cement
Sand
Coarse aggregate
Adequate amount of water

A. PREPARATION OF TEST SPECIMEN

PRINCIPLE
Concrete is homogeneous mixture of cement, sand and coarse aggregate with
adequate quantity of water. The voids in coarse aggregate, fine aggregate and cement
with adequate quantity of water. The voids in coarse aggregate will be filled up by fine
aggregate and those in fine aggregate by cement paste. The cement when mixed with
water behaves as an adhesive material and binds the aggregate together to form a solid
block of concrete after a specific period curing. This is the concept of a no-void concrete.
For nominal mixes, the ingredients are mixed in a specific proportion (1:2:4, 1:1.5:3 etc.)
according to their volume or weight in volume batching or weight batching respectively.
The quantity of ingredients is determined based on the total volume of concrete required.
The freshly mixed concrete is placed in moulds of proper size and shape to prepare the
specimen for testing.
PROCEDURE
1. Calculate total density of concrete required from the volume of each test specimen
and the number of such specimen required for testing.
2. Adopting the nominal mix of 1:2:4 with w/c ratio of 0.65 calculate the volume of
coarse aggregate, fine aggregate and cement. Calculate the required quantity of
water for mixing.
3. Mix dry sand and cement well.
4. Keep the coarse aggregates slightly spread and place the sand cement mixer over
it. Add water in stages and mix the aggregate well by means of shovel to get a
homogenous uniform mixture
5. Apply grease to the inside surface of mould
6. Place the fresh concrete in the mould in three layers, each layer being tamped 25
times by a 16 mm diameter rod
7. Finish the surface clean and write the date of preparation of specimen on the top
surface by a scribe. This also helps to identify top surface of the specimen later
8. After one day, remove the specimen from the mould and keep them in water for
curing. The test is conducted after curing for the required number of days.
Concrete mix can be used in case the quantity of concrete to be prepared is large.

B. COMPRESSION TEST
PRINCIPLE

Concrete is a homogeneous mixture of cement, sand and coarse aggregate with

adequate quantity of water. Since all the physical properties of concrete are directly or
indirectly related to the crushing strength, this is the important of all the properties of
concrete. The following are the factors, which influence the compressive strength of
concrete :
i) Water-Cement ratio.
ii) Aggregate-Cement ratio.
iii) Aggregate grading and maximum size of aggregates.
iv) Compaction
v) Curing.
vi) Age of concrete.

Concrete obtains the maximum strength where complete hydration of cement takes place.
Any excess of water introduces porosity in concrete due to evaporation of the excess
water, and in turn reduces the strength of concrete. In other words, the strength of
concrete is adversely affected when the water-cement ratio increases beyond what is
necessary for the complete hydration of cement. For fixed water-cement ratio and
workability, the increase of aggregates-cement increases the strength of concrete. The
grading of aggregate is important since a properly graded aggregate will produce a mix
with maximum voids. The strength of concrete increases with the increase in the density
of concrete. It is also increases with the increase in the density of concrete. It is also clear
that the density improves with better compaction, which results in higher strength. Curing
is done during the early stages of hardening in order to keep concrete saturated until the
originally water-filled space in fresh concrete has been filled by the products of
hydration. The maximum strength of concrete is reached only after 28 days of curing.

TEST SET UP

The compression test is carried out in a standard cylindrical specimen, using the
compression-testing machine. It is placed in the machine with its axis vertical. To reduce
the effect of restraint and lateral instability the size of the specimen is standardized.
Uneven surface of the test specimen induces local stress-concentration influencing the
test results. This is rectified by providing either capping or packing with a holding
material. The load is applied gradually till structure takes place. The maximum load at
failure divided by the cross-sectional area by the specimen gives the ultimate
compressive strength. It can be seen that the ultimate compressive strength will be
roughly equal to 3 times the compressive strength. The compressometer is attached to the
specimen such that the gauge points are symmetrically about the center of the specimen
and in no case are nearer to either end of the specimen. While testing, the
compressometer reading are noted at different load levels in order to calculate the stress
and the corresponding strain. The cubes are tested on the sides since the sides provide a
uniform surface capping need not be provide. Cube test is conducted for determining the
ultimate compressive strength of concrete (cube strength).

PROCEDURE
Testing (Testing should be carried out on the 7th and 21th OR 28th day)
1

Remove specified test specimen from the curing tank. Wipe to a surface dry condition
and remove any loose sand grains for test surfaces

Determine the unit weight of the specimen by carefully weighing, and measuring the
dimensions of, each cubical specimen.

Place specimen below the center of the upper bearing block of the testing machine
ensuring the most flat and clean of the mold

Check the gauge and start the machine

Record the total maximum load as indicated by the testing machine.

REPORT
Sample concrete ratio : 1:3:6

Schedule
(7th, 21stOR

Sample
no

Result

Pictures

28th day)

7th day

CHINCHAA
A

262.9 kN

28th day

CHINCHAA
B

348.8 kN

CONCLUSIONS
Function why cube test is carried out because we want to determine the
characteristic strength of the concrete. In this experiment, we already compress two concrete
cube. First test is after seven day concrete have been harden and second test is after 28 day
concrete have been harden. From this two experiment, we found that concrete in 28 day more

strength because the result show the load that can be patch by the concrete is 348.8 kN compare
to concrete 7 day is only 262.9 kN.
Another function why cube test is carried out is to measure the workability of concrete.
The workability of the fresh concrete shall be judged by its suitability for the condition of
handling and placing so that after compaction, it surround all, reinforcement, tendons and ducts
and completely fills the formwork. Our cube strength only 348.8 kN this is because in our
mixture of concrete, volume of water is higher so that our strength of concrete is lower. To get
higher strength of concrete, volume of water must be reduced. Problem of concrete we need to
face is segregation and bleeding. Another problem is shrinkage, expansion, cracking, tension
cracking and so on.

COMPRESSION TEST CHRONOLOGY