The University of Texas at El Paso

CE 1301 Fundamentals of Civil Engineering

Lab 06: Concrete Cylinder Compression Testing
Background
The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the effect of different water-cement ratios
and aggregate ratios on the compressive strength and stiffness of Portland concrete. Each
group previously determined the proportions to prepare a concrete cylinder. The cylinders
will be tested for compressive strength after 28-days of submerged curing.

The process and detailed explanation of the concrete cylinder compression testing can be
found at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LDgJjbQeEo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYmil0luMEs

Procedure
Position the cylinder in the compression testing machine. The machine is programmed to
slowly increase the force on the cylinder and measure the displacement (compression) until
the specimen fails.
Results
1. Using the provided data, calculate the stress (psi) for each load (force) measurement
(Eq. 1). Determine the maximum stress before failure.
2. Using the provided data, calculate the strain (inch/inch) for each displacement
measurement (Eq. 2). Determine the maximum strain at failure.
3. Graph stress (y-axis) versus strain (x-axis) for your test cylinder using the data
previously calculated.
4. Calculate the Young´s Modulus (i.e., the modulus of elasticity) for the elastic segment
by fitting a linear regression line through only the elastic segment of the data. (The
slope of the line is the value of Young’s Modulus, which is similar to Eq. 3.)
∆
Eq. 1 𝜎 , Eq. 2 𝜖 , Eq. 3 𝐸
Report

The report should include Lab 2 (concrete mix) and Lab 6 (compression test).

Introduction
In the Introduction section, provide a brief summary of the lab experiments and the
relevance to civil engineering. Describe the context, and hypothesis, and the limitations for
this report.

Test and Evaluation: Materials and Methods

Describe the tests, provide a brief summary of the materials, methods, and procedures,
including at least one photograph of the experiments available in the literature. The
methods section should include Table 2 from the Concrete Mix handout, as well as a photo
of the cylinder under compression

Findings and Results

In the Findings and Results section, write a paragraph explaining the general and specific
results of your observations. First, include the graph of your data. (Figures should always
be introduced in the text before the figure appears in the report, and the figure should have
a caption below the figure with a number and a brief caption. Make sure that when you
paste in the graph from Excel that the font is readable.) In the paragraph above the figure,
explain what the data in the graphs means.

Conclusions and Recommendations

In the Conclusions section, briefly explain the overall conclusions of the tensile test and
provide recommendations if any.

Additional Notes: The results section should include a graph of stress versus strain which
also includes the linear regression of the elastic segment and the ultimate stress at failure.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

a. What did you learn from this test

b. What is the ASTM standard for this test?

c. Find more VIDEOS showing the test equipment and procedure.

d. What are the differences with the simplify procedure that you have applied?