Testing of Fresh and Hardened Concrete, Tensile Testing on Steel and Polymer Samples

LO1: Identify, classify and describe the performance of construction materials through the use of analytical methods and modelling techniques to evaluate their relative performance and durability.

LO2: Investigate and define problems associated with using particular construction materials and identify constraints including environmental and sustainability limitations, health and safety and risk assessment issues.

1.To demonstrate the knowledge and understanding of fresh properties of concrete i.e. workability and mechanical properties of hardened concrete i.e. compressive strength and tensile splitting strength.

2.Monitor the development of the compressive strength cubes at 14 and 28 days

3.Monitor the density values of fresh concrete and hardened concrete.

4.To describe tests, record results, analyse findings and form conclusions

1.Explain experiment procedures, apparatus and methods used (may include sketch and photos).

2.List the amounts of components used in the concrete mix, report the level of the workability of the mix and type of slump, list whether workability of the given concrete mix increases or decreases when the relative composition of each constituent of the concrete increases. 

3.Calculate the physical properties i.e. density of fresh and hardened concrete and the mechanical properties i.e. compressive strength and tensile splitting strength.

4.Plot the compressive stress-strain curve and determine the elastic modulus of concrete by making use of the average of compressive strength test results for cubes at 28 days.

5.Compare the compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete, explain the behaviour and failure mechanism of the samples under compression and tension loads, compare the compressive strength of concrete samples at different ages and explain the possible gain in the compressive strength of concrete with age.

1.To observe simple tensile test on steel samples, understand the mechanical properties of steel under tension using Load/Extension and Stress/Strain graphs.

2.To describe tensile test, record results, analyze findings and form conclusions

1.Explain experiment, apparatus and method used (with labelled sketches and/or photos).

2.Explain the behaviour of the samples under the applied tensile load up to and including the point of fracture. Highlight the important points and values for stress- strain curve.

3.Calculate the maximum load and the deflection at this point. Select a minimum of three points on the elastic region and calculate the modulus of elasticity. Comment on the value obtained against the values that might be expected.

4.Find the Yield point. Use the yield, the maximum and the failure points on the stress- strain curve to calculate the Modulus of Resilience and the Modulus of Toughness

5.Classify the failure mechanism and fracture of the steel samples. Find the ductility Level.

1.To investigate the tensile strength and mechanical behavior of various types of polymers.

2.Observe various modes of failure

3.To describe tensile test, record results, analyse findings and form conclusions

1.Explain experiment procedures, apparatus and method used (may include sketch and photos)

2.Plot the stress vs strain curves obtained for each polymer type and calculate the stress and strain at the maximum load

3.Classify the behaviour and failure mechanisms of the samples under the applied tensile load up to and including the point of fracture (i.e. brittleness, ductility, etc)

4.Identify the possible application of each polymer type in practice.