CONSTRUCTION

MATERIALS LAB

BY MESFIN D.

Introduction
Construction materials are those materials used
in a construction of any civil engineering
structures.
In this lab more emphasis will be given to
concrete making materials since they are the
most widely used materials of construction.
Those materials used in making concrete includes
Cement
Sand
Aggregate
water
2

 These construction materials must satisfy the

standard quality requirements recommended by
codes, so that the structure to be built will be
functional, safe and economical.
Therefore to assure the quality of these materials ,
laboratory tests are made for each material.
We will see each experiment individually and they
includes the following
Fineness of hydraulic cement
Consistency of hydraulic cement
Setting time of hydraulic cement
Specific gravity and absorption of fine aggregate
Silt content test
3

Experiment No1
1.
fineness of hydraulic cement
Objective:
to determine the fineness of hydraulic cement by
means of
No 100 (150m) and No 200 (75m) sieves.
Theory :

The fineness to which cement has ground during its

production can have an effect on the behavior of
cement during hydration.

The rate of hydration increases with increasing cement

fineness which leads to higher rate of strength gain and
on the other hand larger cement particles will not
hydrate completely and hence retards the strength
gain.

contd Exp. No1

Apparatus
sieve No100 or No 200
Balance
brush
Pan

3. Measure the residual in the sieve (Rs).

Calculation

Where F= fineness of cement in % which passes the sieves

Rs= residual from the sample retained on the sieve
W= weight of the sample
6

Experiment No2
2. .
Objective:
This method is carried out to determine the amount
of water required to prepare a standard cement paste.
Theory :
Cement is a finely ground material of chemically
combined materials such as silica, alumina, lime etc.
Thus when cement is mixed with water, it sets and
hardens in to a solid mass upon hydration which is
used to bind two or more non adhesive materials.
The normal consistency of hydraulic cement refers to
the amount of water required to make a neat paste of
satisfactory workability.
7

contd Exp. No2

Apparatus

Calculation

contd Exp. No2

Trial
No

Wt.
Wt.
of
of
ceme water
nt

%
age
of
water

1
2
3

Initial
readi
ng
(mm)

final
readi
ng
(mm)

Penet rema
ratio rk
n
(mm)

10

Experiment No3
3..
Objective:
The objective of this test is to determine the initial and final
setting time of cement paste with normal consistency.
Theory :
Cement forms a solid and hard mass when mixed with water
upon hydration. This is what we call setting of cement.
The duration a cement paste requires to undergo setting is its
setting time and depends on w/c ratio.
The initial setting time is the duration of paste related to
25mm penetration of the vicat needle in to the paste in
30seconds.
while the final setting time is that related to zero penetration
11

contd Exp. No3

Apparatus

12

13

contd Exp. No3

Calculation:Calculate the initial and
final setting times of the cement
from theTrial
following
data.
Time Initial
final Pene rema
No

(min) readi readi tratio rk

ng
ng
n
(mm) (mm) (mm)

1
2
3

14

Experiment No 4
4. Silt content test
Objective:
The objective of this test is to determine the silt content
(impurities) of sand.
Theory :
Sand is a product of natural and artificial disintegration of
rocks and minerals.
These sources however do not produce a pure sand i,.e
they contain other materials such as dust, loam or clay
that are finer than sand.
These impurities decrease the strength of mortar or
concrete
15

contd Exp. No 4
Apparatus

250ml

measuring cylinder

Tray
clear water
Small size spoon

16

Calculation

17

Experiment No5
5. Specific gravity and absorption of fine
aggregate
Objective:
The objective of this test is to determine the bulk specific
gravity, apparent specific gravity and absorption of fine
aggregates.
Theory :
generally specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the mass
of a unit volume of material to the mass of the same volume
of water.
it depends on the moisture content of the aggregates.
SSD specific
gravity and absorption are based on aggregates
Balance
after soaking
20-28 hours.
Apparatus

Pycnometer/flask
18
hot plate

Trial No
1 Weight of oven dry agg. in air,g A
2 Weight of pycnometer filled with
water g, B
19
3 Weight of fine agg., pycnometer

3 rema
rk

contd Exp. No5

20

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