CEPT University | Concrete Technology Laboratory

The CEPT Concrete Technology Laboratory offers top-notch testing capabilities for the materials used in construction. This laboratory is a platform facilitating teaching, research, and professional consultancy at CEPT University. The laboratory enables student to understand the relation between the theoretical design parameters and the actual performance of the designed mix concrete. The laboratory staff is well-trained to conduct the experiments. To maintain the integrity of the results, all instruments and equipment in the laboratory are periodically calibrated. The materials and tests which can be performed as per Indian Standards in the laboratory are listed below:

1. Concrete Technology Lab Major Instruments

2. Concrete Mixture - Drum Type This drum-type tilting Concrete mixture is used to mix materials like cement, coarse and fine aggregates, water, etc. to make a concrete mix as per the concrete mix design. The capacity of this mixture machine is 0.75 cement bags.

3. Compaction F actor A pparatus This equipment is used to measure the workability of fresh concrete. A compaction factor test is conducted to determine the workability of the concrete. The compaction factor test is generally conducted on concrete samples having very low workability .

4. Flow Table A flow table test on concrete is done to determine the fluidity of concrete. This also indicates the workability of the concrete. The top diameter of the mould used in this test is 17 cm and bottom diameter is 25 cm. The drop applied is 12.5 mm during the test. The base plate diameter is 76.2 cm.

5. Air Entrainment Meter This instrument is used to determine the air content of fresh concrete. It consists of a pressure-tight flanged cylindrical measuring bowl fitted with a removable flanged and a conical cover assembly with a seal in between. The conical cover has an air valve and a pet cock for bleeding off the water. A cylindrical standpipe, which is graduated in percent air content, is fixed on the conical cover assembly. The required pressure is applied to the specimen with the help of a pressure bulb. This instrument has a capacity of the measuring bowl of 0.005 cubic meters (5kg), suitable for aggregate sizes up to 38mm.

6. Concrete Permeability Test Apparatus with Air Compressor This apparatus is used to determine the depth of penetration of water under pressure in concrete specimens. The test is performed on the specimen either cubic (150 mm) or cylindrical (150 mm dia. X 160 mm high). It is fitted with an assembly to hold an end pressure gauge of 15kg/cm 2 (15 Bar) and a chamber pressure gauge of 20 kg/cm 2  (20 Bar) with another pressure gauge of 15 kg/cm 2 (15 Bar) on the chamber to show the inlet pressure. The specimen is put into the test chamber, and then a known water pressure is applied on the specimen’s surface for a prescribed time as per the respective standard, by using a suitable air compressor. The water penetration is measured by breaking the specimens.

7. Rebound Hammer Rebound Hammer is a Non-destructive testing instrument that provides a rapid indication of the compressive strength of the concrete. It measures compressive strength in the range of 10 to 60 N/mm 2 .

8. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Tester Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) test is used to determine the integrity and quality of structural concrete. This instrument can measure the travel time of sonic waves between 0.1µs to 9999 µs. It is accompanied by transducers of 54 kHz & 150 kHz frequency with a cable length of 1.5m.

9. Accelerated Curing Tank T he equipment is used for curing cube and cylinder concrete specimens. In the equipment, stable temperature is maintained, and specimens cure in high temperature water.

10. Digital Pan Mixer Pan type mixer is suitable for mixing concrete in the laboratory . It is designed to give efficient mixing of both dry and wet materials. The digital pan mixer has a capacity of 100 kg. It has a planetary type of scrapper motion. The pan diameter and height are 800mm x 425mm and a RPM of 36.

11. Pan Mixer The equipment is used for mixing small quantities of concrete used in the preparation of concrete cubes for testing in the laboratory. The purpose of the mixer is to smear mechanically the aggregate surface with cement paste uniformly and produce a mix of uniform consistency. This in turn will give consistent quality of cube specimens when casted in moulds. The capacity of the equipment is 40 Liters (Approx).

12. eBT-2 Mobile Rheometer The concrete tester is a rheometer for fresh concrete. The unit can be operated in two different modes, which are called P-mode and V-mode. This allows to measure the rheological parameter of fresh self-consolidating concrete or of fresh very stiff concrete as well. The specimen volume is 19.6 or 40 liters. The resolution angle is 2048 pro rotation.

13. Rapid Chloride Penetration Test Apparatus The RCPT Apparatus is a reliable device to determine chloride permeability characteristics of concrete. Each RCPT cell will be made up of transparent acrylic material of 150mm * 150mm * 50mm thick as per ASTMC 1202. DC supply can be varied from 0-60 volts continuously. The concrete specimen of 100mm diameter 50mm thick can be hold.

14. Electronic Extensometer with Hardware and Software for UTM Machine-EE2 This equipment is basically used with Universal Testing Machines for steel tensile strength. It is used for measuring young’s modules, proof stress or yield stress. The extensometer requires an electronic signal conditioning PCB to interface it with the UTM electronic panel.

15. Specific Gravity and Water Absorption Test Apparatus with Digital Scale The specific gravity of an aggregate is a measure of strength or material. The specific gravity test helps in identification of stones. The specific gravity values of aggregates are used for making weight volume conversions and for calculating the void content in compacted mixes. Water absorption gives an idea of the strength of rock. The equipment consists of a balance capacity of 10 kg, to weigh accurately to 0.5 gm.

16. Vibrating Table The vibrating table is primarily used for compaction of concrete and to remove the voids from cubes and cylinders, during casting. The mechanical arrangement is of the pitch-pulley type. The variable pitch pulley arrangement permits the variation of frequency between 2600 to 3600 vibrations per minute .