Exercise 10

Materials and Methods

In this exercise, the materials used were the 100 x 200 mm cylindrical concrete specimen, the
universal testing machine (UTM), and the accessories used for split tension test.

The concrete specimen, cured for 7 days, was removed from the tank. Using a rag, the surface of the
specimen was dried so that it was in the SSD condition. It was then transferred on the UTM, between
the crosshead and the loading table. The set up is shown in Figure 10.1

Figure 10.1 Loading position for splitting tension strength test of concrete.

The load was gradually applied by adjusting the load control knob. This was done to prevent impact or
shock. The maximum load attained was recorded. The direction of the plane of tensile failure is shown in
Figure 10.2.
 Figure 10.2. Cylindrical concrete at tensile failure.

The split tensile strength of the concrete cylinder was computed using the Equation 10.1.

Eq. 10.1

The results were recorded in Table 10.1. The same procedure was done for the other two specimens
which were cured for 14 and 28 days.