OBJECTIVES

• To identify the stress and strain response of materials to a range of loading conditions.
• To determine stress/strain and deflections of beams.
• To perform 2D transformations of stresses and strains and to determine principal
values and directions.
• To evaluate deflections of a member subjected to the tortional, point and distributed
loads.

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the most used building material in the world. Concrete is a composite material. It
is made by mixing binding materials with aggregates, water, admixtures, and other
ingredients in necessary amounts. Those amounts determine the strength of the product. The
strength of concrete increases with time in a decreasing rate. However, the strength of
concrete determines its quality. The strength of concrete is what determines whether it is used
in construction or not. Generally, the strength of concrete is measured after 28 days. Concrete
can be subjected to a variety of tests to determine various properties of the material.
Tensile strength, or the capacity to withstand breaking or cracking under tension, is a
property of concrete. Even though concrete is rarely loaded in a structure under pure pressure,
knowing the tensile strength is necessary to understand the amount of the potential damage.
When tensile forces are greater than tensile strength, breaking and cracking happen.
In this practical, the compressive test is tested on a 150mm cube and a 150mm diameter
cylinder.

The tensile strength is also tested here by doing a split cylinder test.

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THEORY
Concrete's most important property is its high compressive strength. Tensile strength is low,
accounting for only 10% of compressive strength. Other desirable properties such as
durability, impermeability, and so on are also strongly related to compressive strength
Compressive Strength
Compressive strength is the ability of a material to withstand compression pressures without
breaking. For concrete in particular, compressive strength is a crucial factor in assessing how
well a material will function under service conditions. Calculating the strength of the
members requires knowledge about concrete strength. Concrete specimens are cast and tested
under compressive loads to ascertain the strength of the material. After 28 days of curing, you
may easily compute compressive strength by dividing the failure load by the area of
application of force. Concrete's strength is determined by the ratios of cement, coarse and
fine aggregates, water, and other admixtures. The ratio of cement to water is the most crucial
element in determining the strength of concrete. The water-cement ratio decreases as
compressive strength increases.
Two different types of standard concrete specimens (150 mm cubes and 150 mm (diameter) x
300 mm (length) cylinders) are used to measure compressive strength. The related numbers
are "cylinder compressive strength" and "cube compressive strength." Compressive strength
is measured using a compression testing machine. In each scenario, the specimen is subjected
to an axial load that gradually increases, and the maximum load is noted. In most cases, the
average result of three specimen tests was calculated.
Tensile Strength
A direct tensile test on concrete is not feasible due to its fragility. In contrast, indirect
techniques must be used. Tensile strength can be assessed using either the split cylinder test
or the flexural test, however in this instance, we'll utilize the split cylinder test.
A concrete cylinder that has been split vertically is used in the indirect approach known as
"split tensile strength" to assess the tensile strength of concrete. Direct tensile strength testing
cannot impart an axial load to the cube; there will always be some eccentricity. The concrete
cracks at the ends due to the pressure being put to it. Concrete is used in conjunction with
reinforcement so that the load is distributed evenly throughout the structure rather than just at
the ends.
Tensile strength of concrete formula

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APPARATUS

1. One standard concrete cube (150mm x 150mm x 150 mm).

2. Two standard concrete cylinders (150mmF × 300mm).
3. Two metal strips.
4. Compression testing machine.
5. Universal testing machine.

Figure 1: Compression testing machine Figure 2: Universal testing machine.

3 Figure 4: Cube setup in the machine.

Figure 3: Cylinder setup in the machine
PROCEDURE
Determination of compressive strength

• First, the mass and the dimensions of the cube were taken.
• Next the base plate of the testing machine was cleaned.
• Then the specimen was placed and centered on the base plate in such a manner that
the load shall be applied to the opposite sides of the cube cast.
• Next the movable portion was gently rotated manually by hand until it touches the top
surface of the specimen.
• After that a gradually increasing load was applied by the machine at a constant rate
until the specimen failed.
• Finally, the maximum value of the load at failure was recorded and noted down.
• The above steps were then again repeated for the cylindrical specimen.

Determination of tensile strength

• First the mass and the dimensions of the cylinder were taken.
• Next the bearing surface of the machine and the metal strips was wiped and cleaned.
• Then specimen was placed centrally in the machine with the metal strips carefully
positioning along the top and bottom of the plane of loading of the specimen.
• After that a gradually increasing load was applied by the machine at a constant rate
until the specimen failed.
• Finally, the maximum value of the load at failure was recorded and noted down.

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OBSERVATIONS

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6
DISCUSSION
During the testing, we were able to clearly distinguish between the compressive strengths of
the cube and cylindrical specimens. The cylindrical specimen had a compressive strength of
36.496 N/mm2, whereas the compressive strength of the cube specimen was 31.81 N/mm2.
This demonstrates how the specimen’s shape affects the compressive strength
experimentally. The cylinder strength is probably closer to the actual uniaxial compressive
strength of concrete than the cube number because there is less end constraint and a more
uniform distribution of stress across the cross-section in the cylinder than in the cube.
Despite what the recorded data indicates, the compressive strength of the cube should be
about 15% higher than the compressive strength of the cylinder. The concrete cube has a
higher compressive strength than the concrete cylinder because a conventional cube mold has
a larger contact area with the testing machine's upper platen. This increased confinement
prevents specimen expansion, which increases compressive strength.

Some difficulties faced and errors could have occurred.

• Proper and satisfactory gripping equipment to grip the test specimen was not available.
Because of that the concrete samples maybe not handled or transported properly (resulting
in cracking)
• The applied load should be eccentric. However, some eccentricity is always present in the
applied load system. Because of the eccentricity of loading, the stresses change, which can
introduce significant errors in the stresses developed regardless of the size and shape of the
specimen
• In general, the specimen tends to break near the ends, resulting in an error in the results.
This could have contributed towards and error.
• The specimens were not formed from the same concrete mixture. Here we cant assume the
proper values and distinguish the results according to the shapes.

CONCLUTION
We were able to ascertain the compressive strength of a typical concrete cube specimen and a
cylindrical specimen using this set of tests. We also realized that because concrete is fragile,
performing a direct tensile test on it is impractical; instead, the split cylinder test should be
used to assess the material's tensile strength. The split cylinder test was then used to assess
the tensile strength of a typical concrete specimen. The compressive and tensile strengths
were calculated and compared after all the data were noted down. Finally, the compressive
and tensile strengths of the concrete specimen vary depending on its size and shape.
Additionally, it might vary depending on how the concrete is mixed. The potential errors that
could have happened during this experiment were also covered.

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REFERENCES
Krishna (2019). Compressive Strength of Concrete | Cube Test, Procedure, Results & FAQ. [online]
CIVIL READ. Available at: https://civilread.com/compressive-strength-of concrete-test/.

R, S. (2021). Splitting tensile strength test of concrete – Test procedure. [online] vin civilworld.
Available at: https://vincivilworld.com/2021/06/12/splitting-tensile-strength test-of-concret

Anon, (n.d.). What is the difference between Concrete Cube and Cylinder Strength test? [online]
Available at: https://www.prodyogi.com/2017/05/concrete-cube-cylinder strength.h

The Constructor. 2022. What are Different Tests for Concrete Quality Check? - The Constructor.
[online] Available at: <What are Different Tests for Concrete Quality Check? - The Constructor>.