1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious
materials such as aggregate , water and chemical admixtures. Concrete is one of the most durable
building materials compare other material such as wood because it provides superior fire resistance
and have a long service life.

2.0 OBJECTIVE
2.1 To study the workability of the designed mix and compressive strength of concrete cubes

3.0 EXPERIMENT OUTCOME

3.1 Able to determine the workability of concrete by slump test according to BS 1881: Part 102:
1983
3.2 Able to determine compressive strength on cubes according to BS 1881: Part 116: 1983

4.0 EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

4.1 Equipment
(i) Concrete cubes mould
(ii) Vibrating tables
(iii) Slump-test apparatus
(iv) Weighting machine
(v) Curing tank
(vi) Concrete compression machine

4.2 Materials (Concrete mix design for 5 cubes)

(i) Cement – 3.35 kg
(ii) Sand – 6.7 kg
(iii) Aggregate – 13kg

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5.0 PROCEDURE

5.1 A concrete mix is designed according to a ratio of 1:2:4 (cement: sand: gravel)

5.2 The material required is prepared to produce 5 concrete cubes consist of 2 cube with size
150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm mould and 3 cube with size 100mm x 100mm x 100mm.

5.3 The material is batched and mixed according to BS 1881: Part 125: 1983 (methods for
mixing and sampling fresh concrete in the laboratory)

5.4 The workability of the designed mix is determined by slump test with reference to BS 1881:
Part 102: 1983 (Method for determination of slump**)

5.5 3 concrete cubes are casted for compressive strength with compression machine at 7 day,
respectively with reference to BS 1881: Part 116: 1983 (Method for determination of
compressive strength of concrete cubes)

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Slump Test Procedure:

1. The mould is filled in with fresh concrete in three layers, each approximately one-third of the height
and tamped with twenty-five strokes of the rounded end of the tamping rod.

2. The strokes are distributed in a uniform manner over the cross -section and for the second and
subsequent layers should penetrate into the underlying layer.

3. The bottom layer is tamped throughout its depth.

4. After the top layer has been rodded, the concrete is struck off level with a trowel or the tamping rod,
so that the mould is exactly filled.

5. The mould is removed immediately by raising it slowly and carefully in a vertical direction. This
allows the concrete to subside and the slump is measured immediately by determining the
difference between the height of the mould and that of the highest point of the specimen being
tested.

6. The slump measured is recorded in terms of millimeters of subsidence of the specimen.

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6.0 RESULT

Grade 30
Slump Test 2cm
Water /cement ratio 0.47
Compaction Hand Tamping
Min strength of cube (N/mm2) 0.000721
Type of cement Portland Cement
Type of aggregate 20mm aggregate
Date of cast 5 December 2018
Date of Compression Test 12 December 2018
Cube reference Mass (kg) Max Load (kN) Compression Strength
(N/mm2)
1 2.3585 72.1 0.00721
2 2.3647 29.8 0.00298
3 2.4109 59.8 0.000598

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8.0 PRECAUTIONS
1. Make sure that the concrete mix is according the ratio stated

2. Compaction must be done thoroughly to make sure there are no air holes inside the concrete
cubes
3. Do not use rotten material like cement that already expose to the air in long time.

9.0 DISCUSSION
1. The slump formed after compaction is shear slump

2. From this experiment density does not affect the compressive strength.

3. The result obtained from the experiment shows that the concrete mix cannot be used for work as
the compressive strength of the concrete is lower because excessive water will lead to
increased bleeding (surface water) and/or segregation of aggregates (when the cement and
aggregates start to separate), with the resulting concrete having low quality.

4. Concrete does not compact well when put the concrete in the mould.

5. Surface of the concrete does not parallel with the compression machine also will cause the reading
of the machine low.

There are several factors which could affect the workability and compressive strength of concrete:

Workability

Water-cement ratio : Right amount of water-cement ratio is needed for better workability

Aggregate : This depends on what type of aggregate used (coarse and fine
Aggregate)

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 Fineness of cement : Fineness cement will produced better workability

Time and temperature: Higher temperature will harden the concrete mix much faster and the longer
a concrete cube is immersed in the water, the higher the workability.

Compressive strength

Water-cement ratio: additional water must be added to make the mix workable enough to be placed
inside the forms. However, this additional water should be kept to a minimum. The use of too much
of water will weaken the strength of the concrete.

Compaction factor: the reason for compaction are to ensure the requirement of strength,
impermeability and durability of harden concrete. The process of compaction consists
of elimination of entrapped air and forcing the particles into a close configuration.

10.0 CONCLUSION
From the experiment, it shows that the workability of the designed mix depends mainly on
the water-cement ratio. The compressive strength of the concrete cubes also depends on water-cement
ratio and compaction factor.

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 11.0 APPENDIX

Figure 1: 3.35kg of cement, 6.7 kg of fine aggregate and 13 kg of coarse aggregate are
prepared for concrete mix design for 5 cubes.
.

Figure 2,3, and 4: Process of batching and mixing cement, coarse and water.

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 Figure 5: Concrete is filled in
apparatus with 3 layers.

Figure 6 and 7: The layers are tamped 25 times with a steel

rod, rounded and concreted filled until top surface are flatted

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Figure 8 and 9: The concrete cone is immediately but slowly lifted and
the decrease in height of the slump is measure

Figure 10 and 11: The mould is filled up with concrete

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 Figure 12: Concrete is cured in curing tank for 7 days and the mass of the concrete
was measured.

Figure 13: Each concrete cube is then set in the compression machine to undergo compressive strength.

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