Construction Materials and Testing

Kathleen Jade Balaton | PRELIM

▪ Porosity - the ratio of the volume of the

Topic Outline: spaces in the material to the overall volume
• Introduction to CMT
• General properties of materials ▪ Void ratio - the ratio between the size of
voids to the volume of solid materials
• Apparatus & equipment
▪ Water absorption - the ability of the material
• Specific weight, water absorption, abrasion, density, to absorb and retain water.
and uniformity of aggregates
▪ Weathering resistance - the ability of a
INTRODUCTION TO CMT material to endure alternate wet and dry
conditions or a long period without
Material Testing
considerable deformation and loss of
- is the measurement of the characteristics and
mechanical strength.
behavior of materials such as metals, concrete,
▪ Water permeability - is the capacity of a
ceramics, or plastics under various conditions. The
material to allow water to penetrate under
data that is obtained can be used in specifying the
pressure. Materials like glass, steel and
suitability of materials for various applications.
bitumen are impervious.
(E.g., building or aircraft construction, machinery,
▪ Frost resistance - the ability of a water-
and packaging etc.)
saturated material to endure repeated

Construction Materials freezing and thawing with a considerable

- are items, materials or supplies consumed or used decrease in mechanical strength. Under

in a construction project and incorporated into the such conditions, the water contained by the

building or structure. pores increases in volume even up to 9% on

freezing.
Types of Construction Material 2) Mechanical Properties - It is the property of material
1. Aggregates which opposes the deformation or breakdown of
2. Steel reinforcement
material in the presence of external forces or load.
3. Cement
4. Concrete ▪ Strength - is the capacity of the material to
5. Bitumen withstand the breaking, bowing, or
6. Wood
deforming under the action of mechanical
PROPERTIES OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS loads on it.
▪ Stress - is used to express the loading in
1) Physical Properties - A material undergoes
terms of force applied to a certain cross-
transition under the influence of temperature and
sectional area of an object.
pressure, and these changes are physical because
▪ Strain - is the response of a system to an
their molecules remain intact.
applied stress.
▪ Density - mass per unit volume for a material
▪ Elasticity - It is the property of a material to
▪ Unit weight - the ratio of material weight to
come back to its original size and shape
material volume
even after the load stops acting on it.
Jade | 1
 ▪ Plasticity - It is the property of a material that properties that are exhibited by a material when the
makes it to be in a deformed size and shape heat is passed through it.
even after the load stops acting on it. ▪ Thermal conductivity - Thermal conductivity
▪ Ductility - It is the property of a material that is the rate of heat transfer through a material
allows it to deform or make into thin wires in a steady state. It is not easily measured,
under the action of tensile loads plastically. especially for materials with low conductivity
▪ Tensile strength - It is the property of a but reliable data is readily available for most
material that allows it to deform under tensile common materials.
loading without breaking under the action of ▪ Thermal diffusivity - Thermal diffusivity is a
a load. measure of the transient heat flow through a
▪ Yield strength - Stress needed to produce a material.
specified amount of plastic or permanent ▪ Specific heat - The specific heat is a
deformation. (Usually a 0.2 % change in measure of the amount of energy required to
length) change the temperature of a given mass of
▪ Ultimate tensile strength - The maximum material. Specific heat is measured by
stress a material can withstand before calorimetry techniques and is usually
fracture. reported both as CV, the specific heat
▪ Hardness - The resistance to abrasion, measured at constant pressure, or CP, the
deformation, scratching or indentation by specific heat measured at constant
another hard body. This property is pressure.
important for wear-resistant applications. ▪ Melting point - The melting point is the
▪ Toughness - This is commonly associated temperature at which a material goes from
with impact loading. It is defined as the the solid to the liquid state in one
energy required to fracture a unit volume of atmosphere. The melting temperature is not
material. Generally, the combination of a usually a design criterion, but it offers
high UTS and a high-ductility results in a important clues to other material properties.
higher toughness. ▪ Glass transition temperature - The glass
▪ Fatigue strength and endurance limit - transition temperature, or Tg is an important
Fatigue failure results from a repeated cyclic property of polymers. The glass transition
application of stress which may be below the temperature is a temperature range which
yield strength of the material. This is known marks a change in mechanical behavior.
to be the most common form of mechanical ▪ Thermal expansion coefficient - The thermal
failure of all engineering components. expansion coefficient is the amount a
▪ Creep resistance - The plastic deformation material will change in dimension with a
of a material which occurs as a function of temperature change. It is the amount of
time when the material is subjected to strain due to thermal expansion per degree
constant stress below its yield strength. Kelvin expressed in units of K-1.
3) Thermal Properties - Thermal properties are those ▪ Thermal shock resistance - Thermal shock
properties of a material which is related to its resistance is a measure of how large a
conductivity of heat. In other words, these are the temperature changes a material can
withstand without damage. Thermal shock
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 resistance is important to most high- o Determining the softening point of
temperature designs. bitumen
o Determining the specific gravity of
4) Chemical Properties - The properties of materials
bitumen
against chemical actions or chemical combinations. o Determining ductility of bitumen
• Chemical resistance - The ability of a o Determining marshal stability of bitumen
• Cement
construction material to resist the effects of
o Fineness Test
chemicals like acids, salts and alkalis is o Soundness Test
known as chemical resistance. Underground o Consistency Test
o Setting Time Test
installations, constructions near the sea etc.
• Concrete
should be built with great chemical o Test of Fresh Concrete
resistance. Slump Test
• Corrosion resistance - The formation of rust Compacting Factor Test
Vebe Test
(iron oxide) in metals, when they are
K-Slump Test
subjected to the atmosphere is called o Test of Hardened Concrete
corrosion. So, the metals should be Compression Strength Test
Flexural Strength Test
corrosive resistant. To increase the
Rebound Hammer Test
corrosion resistance proper measures Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test
should be considered. Otherwise, it will • Steel Reinforcement
damage the whole structure. o Tensile Strength Test
o Bend Test
5) Aesthetic Properties - The characteristics of o Re-bend Test
construction materials that can be observed and o Shear Test
touched. o Brinell Hardness Test
o Impact Test
WHY DO WE TEST CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS? o Torsion Test
▪ As part of the quality control system. • Wood
o Static bending
▪ To verify that materials comply with the required
o Compressive perpendicular to grain
specifications. o Compressive parallel to grain
▪ To achieve certification o Shear parallel to grain
o Moisture content
▪ To demonstrate compliance with legislative
requirements, such as building regulations. EQUIPMENT USED IN TESTING OF CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
TEST PERFORMED ON CONSTRUCTION 1) Sieve – or sifter, is a device for separating wanted
MATERIALS elements from unwanted material or for
• Aggregates
characterizing the particle size distribution of a
o Sieve Analysis
o Water Absorption sample.
o Aggregate Impact Value 2) Vicat Apparatus – is used to find out the
o Aggregate Abrasion Value consistency, initial setting time and final setting time
o Aggregate Crushing Value
of the cement. In the normal consistency test, we
• Bitumen must find out the amount of water to be added to the
o Determining bitumen content cement to form a cement paste of normal
o Determining flash and fire point of
consistency. It consists of an arrangement to hold the
bitumen
o Determining penetration of bitumen plunger of 10 mm diameter and two other needles
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 which are made to freely fall into a mould filled with indicates that its penetration value lies between 80 &
the cement paste and the amount of penetration of 100. Penetration value is the vertical distance
the needs of the plunger can be noted using the traversed or penetrated by the point of a standard
vertical graduations from 0 mm to 50mm. needle into the bituminous material under specific
3) Gillmore Apparatus – used to determine initial and conditions of load, time and temperature. This
final set times of Portland cement, masonry cement, distance is measured in one-tenth of a millimeter.
hydraulic hydrated lime, and certain mortars. 9) Concrete Vibrator – is a mechanical device to
Comprised of two stainless steel needles with generate vibrations. The vibration is often generated
0.0375" (4.8mm) cylindrical flat-end needles. One is by an electric motor with an unbalanced mass on its
1/12" (2.12mm) dia. 1/4lb. (113.4g) weight for the drive shift.
initial set. The second is 1/24" (1.06mm) dia., 1lb 10) Digital Concrete Test Hammer – used to perform a
(453.6g) weight for the final set. non-destructive test on concrete structure. The
4) Slump Cone – a mould in the form of a truncated hammer gives an immediate indication of the
cone with a top diameter of 8” (203 mm), and a height compressive strength of the structural element.
of 12” (305mm), used to fabricate the specimen for 11) Specific Gravity Bench Tank – Specific gravity
slump test. water tanks are used with a specific gravity bench for
5) Mechanical Sieve Shaker – this exposes the suspended weighing of samples.
particles in a sample to all the openings in each sieve 12) High-Capacity Precision Balance – used for
in a stack. A sieve stack is the result of fitting each industrial and commercial applications. These are
sieve to a sieve used in each particle size analysis used in aggregate, pharmaceutical, chemical, and
into the one above. The sieve with the largest mesh adhesive formulation applications.
holes is at the top with each subsequent sieve of a 13) Los Angeles Abrasion Machine – is used to
tighter mesh size than the one above it. measure the degradation of mineral aggregate of
6) Ovens – laboratory ovens are for high-forced volume standard gradings resulting from a combination of
thermal convection applications. These ovens actions including abrasion or attrition, impact and
generally provide uniform temperature throughout. grinding in a rotating steel drum containing a
Process applications for laboratory ovens can be for specified number of steel spheres. The test is widely
annealing, die-bond curing, drying, polyimide baking, used as an indicator of the relative quality of various
sterilizing, and other industrial laboratory functions. sources of aggregate having similar mineral
Typical sizes are from cubic feet to 0.9 cubic meters compositions.
(32 cu. ft) with temperatures that can be over 340 14) Air Entertainment Apparatus – the intentional
degrees Celsius. creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete. A concrete
7) Marshall Stability Apparatus – is used by highway maker introduces the bubbles by adding to the mix
departments, contractors, engineers, testing an air-entraining agent, a surfactant (surface-active
laboratories and other government agencies to test substance, a type of chemical that includes
the stability of bituminous samples. It is used for the detergents). The air bubbles are created during the
measurement of resistance to plastic flow of mixing of the plastic concrete, and most of them
specimens loaded on lateral surfaces. survive to be part of the hardened concrete. The
8) Penetration Apparatus for Bituminous Material – primary purpose of air entrainment is to increase the
Used to measure the hardness or consistency of durability of the hardened concrete, especially in
bituminous material. An 80/100 grade bitumen climates subject to freeze-thaw; the secondary
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 purpose is to increase the workability of the concrete 23) Thermometer – an instrument for measuring and
while in a plastic state. indicating temperature, typically one consisting of a
15) Water Bath – laboratory equipment made from a narrow, hermetically sealed glass tube marked with
container filled with heated water. It is used to graduations and having at one end a bulb containing
incubate samples in water at a constant temperature mercury or alcohol which extends along the tube as
over a long time. All water baths have a digital or it expands.
analogue interface to allow users to set a desired 24) Stopwatch – a handheld timepiece designed to
temperature. Utilizations include warming of measure the amount of time elapsed from a
reagents, melting of substrates or incubation of cell particular time when it is activated to the time when
cultures. It is also used to enable certain chemical the piece is deactivated.
reactions to occur at high temperatures. 25) Funnels – a pipe with a wide (often conical) mouth
16) Universal Testing Device – An instrument so and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-
designed that it could exert tensile, compressive or grained substances into containers with a small
transverse stress on a specimen under test. Further, opening. Without a funnel, spillage may occur.
it can be adapted for the determination of Brinell 26) Brushes – A test tube or spout brush is a brush used
hardness, ductility, cold bend, and other properties. for cleaning test tubes and narrow-mouth laboratory
The machine consists essentially of three systems: glassware, such as beakers and flasks.
loading, weighing, and indicating, the loading being 27) Hydraulic Jack – a jack, screw jack or jackscrew is
applied either mechanically or hydraulically. a mechanical device used as a lifting device to lift
17) Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Apparatus – used for heavy loads or to apply great forces. A mechanical
quality control and inspection of concrete. It jack employs a screw thread for lifting heavy
measures the transit time of ultrasonic pulses equipment. A hydraulic jack uses hydraulic power.
through concrete for the inspection of new and old 28) Shovel – a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk
structures. materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or
18) Flow Table Apparatus - Used to determine the flow ore.
of concrete. The apparatus consists of a flow table, 29) Wheelbarrow – a small hand-propelled vehicle,
stainless steel flow mould, tamping bar. usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed
19) Graduated Beakers – used with biological and and guided by a single person using two handles at
pathological specimens but can also be used for the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow
storing industrial laboratory chemicals and reagents. by wind.
They are designed with a slight shoulder for easy
pouring and handling. Graduated in mL and ounces.
20) Pressure Gauge – Instruments used to measure
pressure.
21) Hydrometer –an instrument used to measure the
specific gravity (or relative density) of liquids; that is,
the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of
water.
22) Tamping rods – are dimensionally accurate rods
used to tamp fresh concrete into cylinder moulds and
slump cones to eliminate voids and excess air.
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