Practical no#6

Object: Casting of concrete cube to check compressive

strength.
Instruments: Sample tray, Steel float or trowel, Compacting bar;
Cleaning rags, a bucket or barrow for transporting the samples, Curing
tank Permanent Marker, Mould for making test cube, Spanner, Scoop,
weight machine, mixer machine.

Material: cement, fine aggregate, course aggregate, water.

Theory: IS-456 has laid down the acceptance criteria of quality
concrete. In all the cases, the 28-days compressive strength shall alone
be the criterion for acceptance or rejection of the concrete. 7 days
compressive strength of concrete can be carried out in order to get a
relatively quicker idea regarding the quality of concrete.

NO OF CUBES: 3 no of Cubes of 150mm x 150mm x 150 mm size

shall be cast, for 7-days testing. A sample consists of 3 cube specimens
and their average compressive strength represents the test result of that
sample. Ratio is 1:1.5:3, water cement ratio of 0.5.

Procedure: The concrete sample shall be filled into the cube moulds
in 3 layers, each layer approximately 5 cm deep. In placing each
scoopful of concrete, the scoop shall be moved around the top edge of
the mould as the concrete slides from it, in order to ensure a
symmetrical distribution of the concrete within the mould. Each layer
shall be compacted either by hand or by the vibration. Each layer of the
concrete filled in the mould shall be compacted by not less than 35
strokes by tamping bar. The strokes shall be penetrating into the
underlying layer and the bottom layer shall be rodded throughout its
depth. Where voids are left by the tamping bar the sides of the mould
shall be tapped to close the voids.
Material weight calculation:

Weight of concrete= volume *density

Density of plain concrete = 145 pcf