PRACTICAL NO.

3
Object: To determine the Compressive Strength of the Cement Mortar Cube.

Required Equipment (Apparatus):

 UTM (Universal Testing Machine)

Specimens:

 Three casted cubes of Cement-Mortar.

Given (Specifications):

 Dimensions: 5 x 5 x 5 cubic centimeters.

Testing Standards: ASTM C109 / C109M

Theory:
Compressive Strength
Compressive strength is defined as the maximum compressive load a body can
bear prior to failure, divided by its cross sectional area.
Importance:
Cement is usually subjected to compressive stresses when used in the form
of concrete or mortar. Mortar is a mixture of cement and sand in a specified ratio
on which the strength of the mortar depends. If the mortar is weak then also its
compressive strength is very low but if the mortar is a strong one then
its compressive strength is also very high.

The mixture of sand and cement in water is generally weak in tension and is
strong in compression that is why when the concrete is subjected to tensile forces
then it is provided with steel rods in area of tension that is why it is then called
as reinforced concrete. Therefore it is obvious the mortar will be strong
in compression as compared to tension.

Mortar is generally used for brick masonry and plastering. In first case
the mortar is subjected to very high compressive loads such as the load of the
wall above it, therefore it is very much necessary to test the mortar for its
compressive strength. For this purpose required cement-sand mixture is prepared
before its use and after certain period of curing it is tested. The strength of the
mortar depends upon the fineness of cement, the gradation of sand and the most
important factor which water-cement ratio.
This Strength of Casted Cement Mortar, when undergoes compression is tested
by using standard machine known as UTM, which is described below,

UTM: (Universal Testing Machine)

“A machine which is designed to perform tension, compression, shear and bend
test is called universal testing machine. The universal testing machine mainly
consists of two parts:

One part of UTM is called the straining unit. In this unit stress is applied on the
steel bar.

The other part is called the load measuring machine. In this unit the load applied
is measured electronically and also it will give the peak value.

The UTM also have a compression additional setup. For compressive test the
machine is fitted with the compression unit which consists of two round plates
between which the test cube is placed. In addition to these two units, there
are certain accessories such as for griping the test piece, recorders, bending table
etc

Procedure:

 First the properly casted and cured cement mortar cubes are brought to
the UTM site for testing.
 Now place the Test Specimen in the Compression Test Apparatus of UTM.
 Now carefully start the machine, and Note the value of Load being
subjected on block when in contact with the compression plates, denote
this value with “i”.
 After the Block has been completely cracked and crushed out, Note the
value of Load, and denote it with “f”.
 Take out the Crushed Cube and clean the Compression plates for the next
test.
 Continue the above procedure for the remaining two cubes.
 Note those values as well, and take out the difference of Contact-Load(i)
 and Crushing Load (f) for all three specimens. i.e. L=f-i
 Take the Average of these three Values(L AVERAGE = L1 +L2+L3/3)
 Finally obtain the value for compressive strength by dividing the
average load with the subjected area i.e. 2500 sq. mm ( 4 sq. in)

Observations:

Cube 1
i f

Cube 2
i f

Cube 3
i f

Calculations:

L1=___________________
L2=___________________
L3=___________________
L AVERAGE = L1 +L2+L3/3 =_________________

Average Compressive Strength= L AVERAGE/Subjected Area=________________

Results:

The average value of Compressive strength of Cement Mortar cubes cured for
_____days is _______MPa.