CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS LAB
 

BY MESFIN D.
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Introduction
 Construction materials are those materials used
in a construction of any civil engineering
structures.
 In this lab more emphasis
emphasis will be given to
concrete making materia
materials
ls since they are the
most widely used materials of construction.
 Those materials used
used in making concrete
concrete includes
 Cement
 Sand
 Aggregate
 water

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 These construction materials must satisfy the

standard quality requirements recommended by
codes, so that the structure to be built will be
functional, safe and economical.
 There
 Therefore
fore to assure the quality of these materials ,
laboratory tests are made for each material.
 e will see each e!periment individually and they
includes the following
 "ineness of hydraulic cement
 Consistency of hydraulic cement
 Setting time of hydraulic cement
 Speci#c gravity and absorption of #ne aggregate

 Silt content test

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Experiment No1
1. fneness o hydraulic cement
Obecti!e"
  to determine the fneness o hydraulic cement by
means o No 100 (150 µ m)
m) and No 200 (75 µ m)
m) sieves.
#heory "

$ The fnenesscan
 !roduction to have
which an
cement
e"ecthas
on round durin its
the behavior o
cement durin hydration.
$ The rate o hydration increases with increasin cement
fneness which leads to hiher rate o strenth ain and

on the other
hydrate hand and
com!letely larer cement
hence !articles
retards will not
the strenth
ain.

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cont’d Exp. No1

Apparatus
   sieve No100 or No 200
 Balance
  brush

 Pan
 

3.   Measure the residual in the

the sieve (Rs).

 alculation

 !here "# $ineness o$ ce%ent in & 'hich passes the sieves

  Rs# residual $ro% the sa%ple retained on the sieve

  !# 'eiht o$ the sa%ple

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Experiment No2
2.   .

Obecti!e"
 This method is carried out to determine the amount
o water re#uired to !re!are a standard cement !aste.
#heory "
$$ement is a fnely round material o chemically
combined materials such as silica% alumina% lime etc.
$Thus when cement is mi&ed with water% it sets and
hardens in to a solid mass u!on hydration which is
used to bind two or more non adhesive materials.
$The normal consistency o hydraulic cement reers to
the amount o water re#uired to ma'e a neat !aste o
satisactory wor'ability.

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cont’d Exp. No2

 Apparatus

 alculation

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cont’d Exp. No2

 Trial
 Trial t. t. & Initial #nal )enet rema
%o of of age readi readi ratio rk
ceme water of ng ng n
nt water 'mm( 'mm( 'mm(
*
+


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Experiment No3

3...
3.
Obecti!e"
 The obective o this test is to determine the initial and fnal
settin time o cement !aste with normal consistency.
consistency.

#heory "
$$ement orms a solid and hard mass when mi&ed with water
u!on hydration. This is what we call settin o cement.
$The duration a cement !aste re#uires to undero settin is its
settin time and de!ends on wc ratio.
$  The initial settin time is the duration o !aste related to
25mm !enetration o the vicat needle in to the !aste in
*0seconds.
$ while the fnal settin time is that related to +ero !enetration

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cont’d Exp. No3

 Apparatus

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cont’d Exp. No3

 alculation$alculate the initial and

fnal settin times o the cement
rom the ollowin
 Trial
 Trial  Time
 Tim data.
e Initial #nal )ene rema
%o 'min( readi readi tratio rk
ng ng n
'mm( 'mm( 'mm(
*
+


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Experiment No 4
4. Silt content test
Obecti!e"
  The obective o this test is to determine
determine the silt content
(im!urities) o sand.

#heory "
$,and is a !roduct o natural and artifcial disinteration o
roc's and minerals.
$These sources however do not !roduce a !ure sand i%.e
they contain other materials such as dust% loam or clay
that are fner than sand.
$These im!urities decrease the strenth o mortar or
concrete

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cont’d Exp. No 4
 Apparatus
+-ml measuring cylinder
• 
• Tray
• clear water
•Small si/e spoon

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alculation

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Experiment No5
5.  Specifc gravity and absorption o fne
aggregate
Obecti!e"
 The obective o this test is to determine the bul' s!ecifc
ravity%% a!!arent s!ecifc ravity and absor!tion
ravity absor!tion o fne
areates.
#heory "
$enerally s!ecifc ravity is defned as the ratio o the mass
o a unit volume o material to the mass o the same volume
o water.
$ it de!ends on the moisture content o the areates.
$,,- s!ecifc ravity and absor!tion are based on areates
• 0alance
ater soa'in•  202/ hours.
*Apparatus )ycnometer12ask
• hot plate 18
 

 Trial
 Trial %o * +  rema
rk
* eig
eight
ht of ove
ovenn dry agg
agg.. in air
air,g
,g A
+ eig
eight
ht of pyc
pycno
nomet
meter
er #ll
#lled
ed wit
withh
water g, B
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  eig
eight
ht of #ne
#ne agg.,
agg., pycn
pycnome
omete
terr
 

cont’d Exp. No5

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