CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

Chapter II

EQUIPMENT AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING

CEMENT

1. Blaine Air apparatus

Determines fineness of Portland

cement in terms of specific surface
expressed as total surface area in
square centimeters per gram of
cement.

2. Cube mold

3. Cement Autoclave expansion

Uses accelerated means of estimating

delayed expansion of Portland cement
caused by hydration of CaO and MgO.

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4. Prism mold

1” x 1” x 10” - cement paste

5. Gillmore apparatus

Used to determine initial and

final set times of Portland
cement, masonry cement,
hydraulic hydrated lime and
certain mortars.

6. Vicat Apparatus

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CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

7. Le chatelier flask

For determining the specific gravity

of hydraulic cement, dust, sand and
other fine materials

8. Weighing Scale

AGGREGATES

1. Organic impurities

Determines presence of injurious

organic compounds in sands used in
cement mortar or concrete. Test
serves as warning that further tests of
sands are necessary before they can
be approved for use.

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CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

2. Los Angeles Abrasion Machine

Tests for resistance to abrasion

in crushed rock, slag, crushed
and uncrushed gravel, using Los
Angeles testing method

3. Sample splitter

This splitter provides accurate

and representative samples for
a wide range of materials.

4. Moisture meter

Used to measure moisture content in

various fine and coarse-grained materials.
The prongs of the probe are inserted into
the material to be tested and the percentage
of moisture content is instantaneously
shown on the easy to read display.

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5. Specific gravity bench

To determine the specific

gravity, moisture content
and absorption of fine and
coarse aggregates

6. Conical Mold and Tamper

Used for determination of bulk

and apparent specific gravity
and absorption of fine
aggregate

To find out whether the fine

aggregates is in saturated surface
dry condition

7. Aggregate washer

Aggregate washer with 15lb.

(6.8kg) capacity removes clay,
aggregate particles and water-
soluble materials by the
decanted wash water.

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8. Density bucket
.

Machined aluminum
cylindrical unit weight
measures with handles for
determining unit weight of fine,
coarse or mixed aggregates

CONCRETE

1. Beam mold/Cylindrical mold

2. Slump cone apparatus

To measure consistency of concrete.

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CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

ASPHALT/BITUMINOUS MATERIAL

1. Flash point tester

Used to determine flash and fire points

by the cleveland open-cup method.
Consists of electric Heater with rheostat,
flash point platform with Thermometer
holder, test burner and flash cup

2. Penetrometer

Direct-reading instrument for

precision penetration measurements
of bituminous materials and cement

3. Containers/Moisture cans

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4. Softening apparatus

To test the consistency of bituminous

material for certain usage such as joint
and crack filling, including its
resistance to heat.

5. Solubility apparatus

Used to determines the total

bitumen content of asphaltic
materials, which is the actual
cementing constituent of the
material

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6. Saybolt Viscometer

Designed for Saybolt universal and

furol viscosity testing.

7. Ductility machine

To test the capacity of

the bituminous
material for elongating
and stretching

briquette

PAVEMENT

1. Rolling Straight Edge

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CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

Used to measure planeness of pavement

surfaces, such as highways, airport
runways, bridge decks, etc. Requires
only one operator to detect, register,
and dye mark high and low areas that
need to be ground down or filled.

2. Centrifuge Extractor

Used for quantitative

determination of bitumen
content in paving mixtures.

3. Marshall Stability

It measures resistance to
displacement of a compacted
bituminous mixture.

4. Laboratory Oven

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CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter II – EQUIPMENT & APPARATUS

5. Universal Testing Machine

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