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Have questions about your materials testing equipment? We have the answers to these questions and much more right here! Check back monthly for long-form blog posts, how-to guides and infographics. We’ll address industry insights, the operation and maintenance of specific equipment, and our product line recommendations, all designed to better serve you.
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Knowing how to properly test and verify asphalt binders is essential to understanding how asphalt will react to various climate conditions. This guide covers the methods used to classify asphalt binders and how to perform these tests to ensure optimal pavement performance and longevity.
More than a century ago, Duff Abrams established a simple ratio to define the strength, quality, and workability of concrete mixtures. The water to cementitious material (w/cm) ratio is universally used in mixture design and batching, but accurate determinations for on-site acceptance of fresh concrete have remained elusive until now. The Phoenix method provides accurate and repeatable w/cm measurements in the lab or field in minutes.
If surface moisture evaporates from freshly poured concrete too quickly, the concrete surface dries out and plastic shrinkage cracking can occur. Learn how to monitor and mitigate plastic shrinkage for optimum concrete results.
Determining relative density, or specific gravity, allows accurate conversion of volumes to gravimetric weights for proportioning materials. Learn more about relative density/specific gravity test methods and the equipment used to perform this laboratory test.
While Part 1 of this blog series discussed nondestructive concrete testing methods and equipment, Part 2 will cover equipment used to detect location, orientation, and corrosion of reinforcing steel, the effects of moisture, and how to document concrete quality.
The dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) is an efficient tool used to perform soil strength assessments of fine-grained soils, pavement base courses, and more. Learn about the advantages of this tool compared to other penetration testing methods and how to perform penetration tests using the dynamic cone penetrometer.
Concrete slump testing is the most common test performed on fresh concrete for any application. It is a significant factor when evaluating a concrete batch's compliance with the approved mix design and an eleventh-hour check of its suitability for placement. For this post, we focus on the slump test, how to perform it properly, and the best testing equipment to use.
If you regularly perform asphalt theoretical maximum specific gravity (Rice) tests, the Gilson Rice Shaker is a time-saving tool to have in your lab. Find out why this unit is the key to determining accurate specific gravity determinations for asphalt, aggregates, and soils.
The two most popular types of end treatment for cylindrical concrete specimens are sulfur mortar capping and neoprene compression pads. Both have their advantages. Neoprene pads are convenient and reusable many times over. Sulfur mortar is economical when testing large numbers of cylinders, and is often the preferred end treatment for cylinders because of its long history of use. Reliable strength results and consistent display of fracture patterns are predictable and well understood. In this article, we go over the equipment and techniques used for sulfur mortar capping.
Unconfined compressive strength is a standard geotechnical test performed on cohesive soil samples in construction materials testing laboratories. Straightforward sample preparation and a rapid, uncomplicated procedure makes unconfined compression tests cost-effective when fundamental strength values are adequate for design.
