The Concrete Laboratory is used in the required basic undergraduate course of Civil Engineering Materials. The course provides a practical look at current practice in the use of fundamental materials for civil engineering applications. Students learn test procedures, design considerations, and overall evaluation methods for concrete and asphalt as well as constituent materials (aggregates and additives).

Compression test on a concrete cylinder in progress

This Laboratory shares a surface area of 1,840 square feet with the Soil Mechanics Laboratory. It is equipped with modern laboratory equipment including the following:

• Forney FX600 compression testing machine fitted with digital load monitor for determination of compressive strength of 4”x8” cylinders. Using the appropriate attachment sets, the machine can also be used for determination of concrete flexural strength on beam test specimens and for determination of mortar compressive strength on 2” cube test specimens. FX600 is calibrated for loads of up to 600,000 lb.
• Compressometer used to measure the compressive deflection of cylinder concrete specimens needed for determination of Young’s modulus of elasticity.
• Gillmore apparatus and Vicat apparatus used for determination of normal consistency, standard consistency and time of setting of cement (ASTM C-91).
• Two laboratory concrete mixers with 3 ft³ capacity each.
• Mortar mixer with 5 qt capacity.
• Two concrete test hammers.
• Two portable bench beam scales.
• Two large capacity sample splitters.
• Aggregate screen shaker used for sizing test samples of crushed stone, sand and gravel. The shaker could receive and grade up to 1 ft³ of bulk material in one operation.
• Concrete vibrator for vibrating concrete test cylinders and beams.
• Three slump test sets (ASTM C143) used to measure concrete consistency.
• Four unit weight test sets (ASTM C138) used to obtain unit weight, yield (volume of concrete produce from a mixture of known quantities), cement content and air content of fresh concrete.
• Three air content test sets for determination of air content of freshly mixed PC concrete by pressure method (ASTM C231).
• Two curing tanks.
• Four crack monitors and a crack detection microscope.

The School of Engineering has its own precision machine shop for the repair and modification of testing equipment. It also has support facilities that can help in data acquisition and result visualization to suit various industry and research needs.

 Students Mixing Concrete