RECOMMENDED APPARATUS / EQUIPMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING COURSE

1. Weighing scale / Balance, 3 kg. cap., 0.1 acc

 the term balance and weighing scale are used when people talk about the weighing of masses. Both
expressions can be used but in practice the following definition prevails: Scales are used for weighing
larger masses like a bathroom scale or baby scale and balances are used for precise weighing of
substances, as such are used in laboratories.
2. Oven, therm. Controlled
 These general-purpose, analog-controlled temperature, bench ovens have been developed primarily for
the industrial lab. These ovens are perfect for: preheating, thermal testing, self-batch processing, part
drying, curing, baking, evaporating or dehydrating various media and soil aggregate, as well as many
other applications.
3. Sieves
 Sieves are mesh made of metal, fiber, or cloth, assembled to provide defined openings. Sieves are used
to screen and separate powder into various size fractions.
4. Specific gravity and water absorption test bench apparatus (for aggregates)
 Specific gravity test of aggregates is done to measure the strength or quality of the material while water
absorption test determines the water holding capacity of the coarse and fine aggregates.
5. Wire / Density basket
 The density basket is used to determine bulk specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregates.
6. Scoop / shovel / trowel
 Scoops are designed to handle sample materials ranging from fine dry powders to wet concrete. It
works for loading, filling and handling of any bulk material. Including asphalt, aggregates and soils.
 Shovel is a tool used to dig as well as to move loose, granular materials (like dirt, gravel, grain, or snow)
from one spot to another.
 The trowel is a handheld tool that can be used for mixing mortar, applying mortar, smoothing concrete,
patching concrete, etc. It can also be used in tile installation.
7. Slump apparatus
 Concrete slump test equipment is used to measure the consistency and workability of fresh concrete,
and indirectly, the water/cement ratio of the concrete mix.
8. Tamping rod
 Tamping Rods eliminate air voids in concrete when making slump tests, concrete cylinders or
conducting concrete air entrainment test. Hemispherically rounded on both ends and plated for
corrosion resistance.
9. Compressive testing machine / universal testing machine
 Compression Test machines are universal testing machines specially configured to evaluate static
compressive strength characteristics of materials, products, and components.
10. Centrifuge Extraction Test apparatus / Penetration apparatus with needles
 The Centrifuges are used for the determination of the bitumen percentage in bituminous mixtures.
Bitumen is an asphalt of Asia Minor used in ancient times as a cement and mortar.
 Penetration needles work with the universal penetrometers. The needles penetration measures
bituminous materials and cement.
11. Marshall Stability Test apparatus
 It is used for measurement of resistance to plastic flow of cylindrical specimens of bituminous paving
mixture loaded on the lateral surface.
12. L.A. Abrasion Test Apparatus
 The Los Angeles (L.A.) Abrasion Test is widely used as an indicator of the relative quality of aggregates.
It measures the degradation of standard gradings of aggregates when subjected to abrasion and impact
in a rotating steel drum with an abrasive charge of steel balls.
13. Gillmore or Vicat apparatus
 Standard Vicat Apparatus has a reversible stainless-steel plunger and needle assembly for 300g total
weight. It is used to determine consistency and initial/final set times of cements and mortar pastes.
14. Graduated cylinder, 200 ml
 a narrow, cylindrical container marked with horizontal lines to represent units of measurement and
used to precisely measure the volume of liquids.
15. Chase Type Air content apparatus
  It is used to quickly estimate the air content in fresh concrete as a supplement to other standard air
meter tests.
16. Cylindrical mold, 6” dia x 12”
 Single-Use Plastic/Steel Concrete Cylinder Molds are molded as single-piece units for consistent
dimensional uniformity.
17. Beam molds, 6”x 6”x 21”
 Concrete beam molds are used to test concrete flexural strength. They are made from either plastic or
steel depending on preference and standards.
18. Air tight container / vacuum Desiccator, 3 kg cap.
 A desiccator is an airtight container which maintains an atmosphere of low humidity through the use of
a suitable drying agent which occupies the bottom part of the desiccator.
19. Thermometer, 0 – 50 C
 A thermometer is an instrument that measures temperature.
20. Conical mold and tamper (for fine aggregates)
 Used for determination of bulk and apparent specific gravity and absorption of fine aggregate.
21. Specific gravity flask for fine aggregates
 The fine aggregate specific gravity test is used to calculate the specific gravity of a fine aggregate
sample by determining the ratio of the weight of a given volume of aggregate to the weight of an equal
volume of water.
22. Pycnometer top and glass jar
 The Pycnometer Top and Jar assembly is used in the determination of specific gravity of sand or fine
gravel.
23. Curing Tank / curing cabinet
 Curing involves immersing the samples in a water bath at least 8 hours after placing them into the
sample moulds. The primary purpose of curing is to ensure that all samples are similar with regards to
quality and strength.
 The Curing Cabinet is used for curing of cement, concrete cubes or other mortar specimens. It can be
used for curing cement specimens within the mould, or after removing from the mould.