Civil Engineering Materials

TC40091E
Assignment: Concrete Group Report

University of West London

School of Computing and Engineering

Word Count: 1512

2020-21

Luis Ramey: 21428053 Jose Guillermo Correa:21397456 Scott Matthews:21405731

Andrea Yepes: 21369844 David Correa :21373677

Contents

1. Introduction .............................................................................................................

2. Description of materials and apparatus...................................................................

3. Procedure................................................................................................................

4. Results …………………………………………………………………………………….

5. Discussion ………………………………………………………………………………...

6. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..

7. References ……………………………………………………………………………….
 Introduction
Compressive strength is one of the most important properties when it comes to structural
design in engineering. When in doubt of the strength of an existing structure, an inspection
of the quality of the concrete’s structural integrity and compressive strength must be carried
out. Concrete must be initially tested for compressive strength by the casting of
cubes/cylinders from a batch of concrete that was used in the structure. These test samples
are then left to cure in good conditions until a specific date in order to obtain results as able
to be seen later on in this report..
The results obtained from the compressive strength test can provide a consultant guidance
on the properties of the material to be used such as porosity, density, compressive strength,
etc. but in our case it is serving as an introduction and the motive of this report for us
students to gain exposure to concrete mix, experimentation with different materials and
technical report writing
 DESCRIPTION OF MATERIALS AND APPARATUS USED FOR A
SLUMP TEST

The slump test is important according to relevant British Standards (BS EN

12350-2:2009) because it determines the consistency of fresh concrete. The freshly
poured concrete is compacted into a cone-shaped mould. The distance the concrete
has slumped when the cone is withdrawn upwards provides a measure of the
concrete's consistency. The slump test works on this basic principle. According to BS
EN 12350-1, a concrete sample is obtained (British Standards Institute, 2009a)

Some factors can have an impact on the concrete slump test. Cementitious materials
have properties such as chemistry, fineness, particle size distribution, moisture
content, and temperature.

· The aggregates' size, texture, combined grading, cleanliness, and moisture

content.

· Dosage, type, combination, interaction, sequence of addition, and effectiveness

of chemical admixtures.

· Concrete air content,

· Methods and equipment for batching, mixing, and transporting concrete,

· Concrete temperature,

· Concrete sampling, slump-testing technique, and test equipment condition,

· The amount of free water in the concrete, as well as

· Time since concrete mixing at the time of testing.

 Cement, aggregate, sand and water. Student ID: 21397456

APPARATUS

● 1 pc. Slump Test Apparatus IS: 7320 and BS 1881 are the standards. It is
used to determine the consistency of freshly mixed concrete with a maximum
aggregate size of 38mm. Details: One slump cone with handles and foot
pieces makes up the apparatus. The internal dimensions of the slump cone
are 20cm at the base, 10cm at the top, and 30cm in height. The clamps on
the base plate can be used to secure the foot pieces. For easy transportation,
the base plate includes a lifting handle.
● Tamping rod: One graduated steel rod 16mm diameter x 600mm long,
rounded at one end and graduated in mms included.
● Tray o container: For mixing components.
● Trowel: Use for mixing purposes.
● 3 Cube Moulds: According to IS 516. Cast iron construction (Non-ISI).
Dimensions: 100mmx100mmx100mm. These are used to cast cement
concrete test specimens for compressive strength testing. These are available
in a variety of sizes and are manufactured in accordance with Indian and
British standards. The faces of the metric cube moulds are machined flat to
+/-0.02mm accuracy and finished to within 0.02mm. The faces of inch size
moulds are machined flat to +/-0.01 inches and finished to within 0.01 in. All
moulds come complete with a base plate.
● Vibrating table: They are made of tough steel sheet and are used in
laboratories to compact concrete specimens. With a 3000
vibrations-per-minute motor-vibrator, the vibration intensity can be varied by
acting on the eccentric masses. The table's height is 410 mm. The clamping
device, pedal switch, or control panel are all compatible with all vibrating
tables.
● Measuring jug: To measure the volume of water.
● Balance: They are used to measure solids, liquids, tissue, they have a wide
range of uses.
 Student ID: 21397456
PROCEDURE

Using the electronic weighing balance we measured out our materials to create the concrete
to the ratios of 1:1.5:3. 1 being the concrete with 2130g, 1.5 being the sand aggregate as
3775g and the 3 being the fine aggregates of 6510g. We mixed the materials on a G.I. sheet
mixing with 1271ml of water by bit.

We then prepared to perform the slump test. We added ⅓ of the concrete solution to the
cylinder and gave a mix with the tamping rod 25 times and did this three times until all of the
concrete had been added. It was important when lifting up the cylinder that we did it slowly to
stop this mixture from topping over and having to start the test over again. We then
measured the slump of the concrete to be 3.2cm which was to show the concretes
consistency.

We then placed the concrete mixture in 3 different cube moulds and left each for 24 hours at
a temperature of 27 (+-2) degrees celsius.

RESULTS

This section presents the values obtained during the experiment, such as those of
the slump test results, and after removing the cubes from being water cured for one
week (compressive strength results).

1. Workability

A slump test was carried to assess the workability of the fresh concrete. The results
are plotted on table 1, as follows:
 Degree of workability Height of slump (mm)

Sample 1 Low 30

Sample 2 Low 32

Sample 3 Low 30

Table 1.

2. Compressive strength

The compressive strength results are plotted on table 2, with a pace rate of 6 kN/Sec
for each sample.

Table 2.
3. Stress

The stress values are produced for table 3.

 Table 3.

4. Overview of values

Table 4 provides a more in-depth visualisation of the values obtained for each
sample.

Height Width Depth Weight Weight Density Maximum Pace rate Stress
(mm) (mm) (mm) in air in water (Kg/m3) load (kN) (kN/sec) (N/mm2)
(g) (g)

Sample 1 100 100 100 232.8 6000 6000 163.71 6 16.37

Sample 2 100 100 100 2346.5 6000 6000 146.50 6 14.65

Sample 3 100 100 100 2341.4 6000 6000 149.38 6 14.94

Table 4.

Student: 21369844
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Having completed the experiment, the results obtained can be analysed and the
main findings can be drawn:

● The workability results from the slump test shows that the three samples had
remarkably similar height of slump (Sample 2 only varies for 2mm). This
indicates that the mixture of the fresh concrete used to separate the samples
was uniformly mixed and the degree of workability was the same for each
sample.
● The compressive strength test shows that Sample 1 had considerably higher
maximum load capacity than the other two samples. As shown in Table 4, this
sample had significantly less weight in air than the other two samples,
 indicating that the process of vibration was incorrectly carried out for Samples
2 and 3 which were not allowed to vibrate the same amount of time than
Sample 1. Another possible reason for this notable difference is the general
composition of the samples where the quantities of materials which can vary
significantly between the samples as well as the hydration process and time
allowed for the completion of it.
● The difference in weight in air between samples are reflected graphically on
Table 3 meaning that if the concrete is not vibrated correctly while casted, it
will lose an important amount of maximum load capacity and this issue may
cause severe inconveniences in the workplace.
● Having 163.71kN of maximum load capacity, the Sample 1 shows that this
figure should be the optimum capacity for a sample of concrete with the same
characteristics used in the experiment.In the other hand, Samples 2 and 3 can
be represented as an ideal example of what could happen if concrete is not
vibrated enough.

The stress test result also showed that Sample 1 supported more stress during the
experiment. As explained above, these results reflect the composition of the samples
and the figures shown are ideal references of optimum concrete casting procedures
where the errors committed in this experiment can be avoided for future analyses.

In conclusion, for the correct casting for concrete, Sample 1 figures show the correct
procedures for this purpose and the errors committed can be avoided for future
experiments.

Student ID: 21373677

 REFERENCES

Cementconcrete.org , Civil Engineering Home , 2019-2020

Slump test of concrete, slump cone for workability-procedure, apparatus
Available at: https://cementconcrete.org/how-to-guide/concrete-slump-test/2171/
Accessed: 20/04/2021

The Constructor. Concrete slump test for workability: procedure and results.
Available at: Concrete Slump Test for Workability -Procedure and Results
(theconstructor.org) Accessed: 20/04/2021

Concrete.org.Slump test. Available at: Slump test (concrete.org.uk). Accessed: 20/04/2021