PAMPANGA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

Magalang, Pampanga
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING and COMPUTER STUDIES
Department of Civil Engineering

Construction Materials and Testing

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT No. 1
SLUMP TEST OF PORTLAND CEMENT

CABALLES,KEISSER LOIS March 02, 2023

Name of the Student Date

BSCE 2 – A
Year & Section Signature

Dr. Maria Cristina V. David

Associate Professor
INTRODUCTION

In this Laboratory activity BSCE 2A was given a chance to create a concrete mix and test its
slump using the slump test. The consistency of concrete mix is generally measured with a slump test
(ASTM C143). The result from this test, called slump, is also used as an indirect measure of the
characteristics of workability. A very dry mix, one with a low water content, will have a near zero
slump while a very wet mix will have a slump value close to 25 cm (10 in.). The slump of concrete
used in most structural applications varies between 51 – 178 mm (2 – 7in.).

In ensuring the consistency of a fresh concrete mix before it is poured, concrete slump tests
are a common technique. A concrete slump test analyzes a batch of concrete's consistency to
determine how smoothly it will flow. The test not only verifies batch uniformity but also looks for
flaws in a mixture, providing the operator an opportunity to fix the mixture before it is poured on
site.
The concrete slump will fall into one of four categories depending on the water-cement ratio
of the mix: True slump – the concrete generally maintains its cone form, indicating that the mix is
cohesive and its workability isn't too high. Zero slump means that the concrete entirely keeps its
form. This demonstrates how extremely dry the mix is (this kind of concrete is best used in road
construction). Shear slump: When the top half of the concrete abruptly collapses and leans to one
side, it implies that the mix is workable but not compact. The mixture can be retested after being
altered if it has too much water in it. Collapse means that the mixture completely loses all of its form.
This indicates that the water-to-cement ratio is high and has to be significantly improved.

Depending on the needs of the project, a concrete mix's water to cement ratio can be adjusted.
More water and additional cement must be added in the right amounts to achieve a more workable
and fluid mixture. When the concrete is properly hydrated and cured, it will still accomplish its
intended strength. By ensuring that the water to cement ratio is sufficient, a concrete slump test is
one of the techniques to evaluate the effectiveness and adaptability of a mix.
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the slump of a freshly mixed concrete by the standard acceptance test..

RELATED STANDARDS: ASTM C192

EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS:

1. Fabricated
Abram’s Cone

2. Tamping rod

3. Mixing board

4. Shovel

5. Straight edge
stick

6. Tape measure/
ruler

PROCEDURE TO MEASURE SLUMP TEST:

1. Mix a class “A” concrete mixture, volume proportion of 1: 2: 4
2. The test will be started 5 min. after obtaining a thoroughly mixed concrete.
3. Dampen the mold, which is called Abram’s cone, has a height of 300 mm (12 in.) and
top and bottom width of 100 mm (4 in.) and 200 mm (8 in.), respectively and placed
on a flat moist surface.
4. Hold the mold firmly in place while filling it with the freshly mixed concrete.
5. Fill the mold in three layers, each approximately one-third the volume of the mold.
6. Rod each layer with 25 strokes using a tamping rod. In filling and rodding the top layer,
heap the concrete above the mold before rodding is started.
7. Smoothen and level the concrete with spatula on to the rim of the mold.

TABULATED DATA:

SAND (fine aggregate) 50.6 kg

GRAVEL (coarse aggregate) 30 kg

PORTLAND CEMENT 13.10 kg

WATER 4.5 L

Volume of Cement, m3 0.003743 m3

Volume of Sand, m3 0.00175 m

3

Volume of Gravel, m3 0.01 m

3

Volume of Water, Liter 4.5 liter

Slump Zero slump

COMPUTATION:
 For the amount of water

S .G of Cement=3.15

w
=0.9
c

kg kg
Density of Cement=3.15 ×1000 3
=3150 3
m m

mc
Volume of Cement=
pc

13 kg
volume of cement =
kg
3150 3
m

V c =0.0004158m3 ×0.9=0.003743 m3

3 L
0.003743 m × 1000 3
=3.74 liters of water
m

3.74 liters of water

For the volume of Fine Aggregates

kg kg
Density of Fine Aggregates=2.6 ×1000 3
=2600 3
m m

m fa
Volume of fine aggregates=
p fa

50.6 kg
volume of fine aggregates=
kg
2600 3
m

3
V fa =0.01946× 0.9=0.00175 m
For the volume of Coarse Aggregates

kg kg
Density of Coarse Aggregates=2.7 ×1000 3
=2700 3
m m

mc a
Volume of coarse aggregates=
pc a

30 kg
volume of coarse aggregates=
kg
2700 3
m

V c a=0.0111× 0.9=0.01 m3
DISCUSSION OF RESULT, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The students from BSCE 2-A performed their laboratory activity of mixing concrete. To start,
they collected all the necessary materials, like a shovel, graduated cylinders, slump cone, cement,
sand, gravel, water, and, lastly, a weighing scale. After they gathered all the needed materials, they
started to weigh the cement, coarse aggregate, and fine aggregate (13.1 kg, 30 kg, and 50.6 kg,
respectively). Afterwards, students began to thoroughly mix all the aggregates while slowly adding
the 4 liters of water, but as they mixed the mixture, they observed that it was too dry for the mixture.
That is why students added another 500 ml of water to achieve the desired texture and moisture.

Subsequently, the mixture was placed inside an Abram’s cone to test for the slump; they
filled the first 1/3 of the cone while tamping it 25 times. Tamping is done to compact the low slump
concrete mix while it's still wet, making it stronger and more durable. This step is repeated two more
times until they fill the entire cone. When they are done, the filled cone is put on the ground and
flipped upside-down. To measure the slump, place the Abrams cone beside the concrete mixture, put
the tamping rod above, and then using a ruler, calculate or measure the slump. In this activity,
students had a result of no slump or zero slump because the concrete just maintained the actual shape
of the mould. This only means that the mixture is stiff, consistent, and has almost no workability.
With this result, we can conclude that the mixture that the CE students prepared indicated a low
water-cement ratio.
DOCUMENTATION

Collection of materials Weighing the cement

Weighing the Fine Aggregate Weighing the Coarse Aggregates

Discussion for
the right amount of water Mixing the cement and fine aggregates
Adding the coarse aggregate
 Adding the water

Mixing the concrete mix thoroughly

Preparing for the slump test

Filling the Abram’s Cone of mixture

Measuring the Slump