BRITISH STANDARD BS 6319-3:

1990

Testing of resin and

polymer/cement
compositions for use in
construction —
Part 3: Methods for measurement of
modulus of elasticity in flexure and
flexural strength

Confirmed
December 2011
BS 6319-3:1990

Committees responsible for this

British Standard

The preparation of this British Standard was entrusted by the Cement,

Gypsum, Aggregates and Quarry Products Standards Policy Committee
(CAB/-) to Technical Committee CAB/17, upon which the following bodies were
represented:

British Adhesives and Sealants Association

British Cement Association
British Railways Board
Building Employers’ Confederation
Cement Admixtures Association
Concrete Repair Association
Concrete Society
County Surveyors’ Society
Department of the Environment (Building Research Establishment)
Department of Transport
Department of Transport (Transport and Road Research Laboratory)
Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors
FeRFA
Institution of Highways and Transportation
Institution of Structural Engineers
Plastics and Rubber Institute
Sprayed Concrete Association

This British Standard, having

been prepared under the
direction of the Cement,
Gypsum, Aggregates and
Quarry Products Standards
Policy Committee, was
published under the authority of
the Board of BSI and comes
into effect on
31 December 1990

© BSI 03-1999 Amendments issued since publication

First published January 1983
Second edition December 1990 Amd. No. Date Comments

The following BSI references

relate to the work on this
standard:
Committee reference CAB/17
Draft for comment 89/14067 DC

ISBN 0 580 19184 2

 BS 6319-3:1990

Contents

Page
Committees responsible Inside front cover
Foreword ii
1 Scope 1
2 Definitions 1
3 Principles 1
4 Apparatus 1
5 Test specimens 2
6 Procedure for measuring modulus of elasticity in flexure 2
7 Calculation of modulus of elasticity in flexure 3
8 Procedure for measuring flexural strength 3
9 Calculation of flexural strength 3
10 Test report 3
Publication(s) referred to Inside back cover

© BSI 03-1999 i
BS 6319-3:1990

Foreword

This Part of BS 6319 has been prepared under the direction of the Cement,
Gypsum, Aggregates and Quarry Products Standards Policy Committee. It
supersedes BS 6319-3:1983 which is withdrawn. This Part describes methods for
measurement of modulus of elasticity in flexure and flexural strength and is one
of a series of Parts describing methods for measuring basic physical properties of
resin based and polymer modified materials.
In this revision of the 1983 edition, flexural strength is now measured under a
four point loading system on longer specimens and a new test for modulus of
elasticity in flexure using the same loading system has been added.
This Part of BS 6319 should be read in conjunction with Part 1 which provides
general information and describes a method for preparing test specimens.
A British Standard does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a
contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.
Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity
from legal obligations. In particular, attention is drawn to the Health and
Safety at work etc. Act 1974.

Summary of pages
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i and ii,
pages 1 to 4, an inside back cover and a back cover.
This standard has been updated (see copyright date) and may have had
amendments incorporated. This will be indicated in the amendment table
on the inside front cover.

ii © BSI 03-1999
 BS 6319-3:1990

1 Scope Hence the modulus of elasticity in flexure (E) is given by:

This Part of BS 6319 describes methods for the M 2

measurement of modulus of elasticity in flexure and E = K  ------ L (3)
 I¸
flexural strength of specimens of polymer based
mortars and polymer/cement based mortars in the 2.3 secant modulus in flexure
form of rectangular prisms. modulus of elasticity in flexure determined from the
These methods are not applicable to unfilled slope of a particular line on the load versus
systems. deflection relationship. This line passes through the
NOTE 1 The procedure described in BS 2782: Method 335A is origin and a point on the curve corresponding to the
suitable for unfilled systems. deflection necessary to cause a specified strain in
NOTE 2 The titles of the publications referred to in this the extreme tensile fibre of the beam at the section
standard are listed on the inside back cover.
considered
2 Definitions NOTE To determine the deflection of a beam corresponding to
a specified strain on the extreme tensile fibre, use may be made
For the purposes of this Part of BS 6319 the of the relationship:
definitions in BS 6319-1 apply, together with the MD
& = ----------- (4)
following. 2 EI
where
2.1
D is the depth of the rectangular specimen;
elastic modulus & is the strain on the extreme tensile fibre at the section
ratio of stress to corresponding strain below the considered.
proportional limit, where the proportional limit is Substituting in (1), the relationship between deflection and
strain is given by:
the greatest stress which a material is capable of
2
supporting without any deviation from the 2 KL (5)
¸ = -------------- &
proportionality of stress to strain (Hooke’s law) D

2.2
modulus of elasticity in flexure 3 Principles
elastic modulus determined from the relationship The principle of the test for modulus of elasticity in
between load and the deflection induced by that load flexure is the subjection of a test specimen of a
in a simple freely supported beam defined geometry and in the form of a simple, freely
NOTE According to the classical theory of pure bending the
supported, beam to controlled four point loading and
deflection (¸) may be expressed in terms of the curvature  1
---
relating the applied load to the deflection induced by
according to the following relationship:  r that load.
1 2 The principle of the flexural strength test is the
¸ = K  --- L (1)
 r subjection of a test specimen of a defined geometry
where
and in the form of a simple, freely supported, beam
K is a constant depending upon the configuration of loading. to four point loading until failure of the specimen
For a beam in four point bending and loaded at the third occurs. Measurement of the apparent surface stress
23 ;
points, K has a value of ---------- in bending is carried out to determine flexural
216 strength.
L is the span of the beam between the supporting rollers.
The curvature may be expressed as:
4 Apparatus
1 M
--- = -------
r EI
(2) 4.1 Flexural testing machine, of suitable1) capacity
for the test. It shall be capable of applying the load
where as specified in 6.2.3 and shall comply with
M is the applied bending moment at the section considered; BS 1610-1 with regard to repeatability and
E is the elastic modulus; accuracy.
I is the second moment of area of the section.

1)
The capacity of a testing machine is suitable when the expected load at failure of the specimen lies above the lower one-fifth of
the range of the machine being used.

© BSI 03-1999 1
BS 6319-3:1990

The testing machine shall be equipped with a pair of 6 Procedure for measuring modulus of
steel rollers to support the specimen and two further elasticity in flexure
steel rollers to apply the load. All four rollers shall
be at least as long as the width of the specimen and 6.1 Number of specimens
shall have a nominal diameter of 10 mm Test a minimum of three specimens at a time from
or 0.25 times the width of the specimen, whichever each batch of material for each prescribed set of test
is the greater. They shall be positioned so that their conditions.
axes are normal to the specimen under test. The 6.2 Testing
distance between the axes of the supporting rollers
shall be: 6.2.1 Temperature
a) for specimens not more than 25 mm Carry out the test at 20 ± 1 °C unless, for a specific
wide: 300 ± 1 mm; purpose, an alternative temperature is deemed
b) for specimens more than 25 mm wide: 12.0 more appropriate. Maintain the test specimens at
the test temperature for not less than 16 h before
times the width of the specimen ± 0.04 times the
testing commences.
width.
The loading rollers shall be located at the third span 6.2.2 Placing the specimen in the testing
points between the supporting rollers and shall be machine
free to rotate in the vertical plane through their Wipe clean the bearing surfaces of the rollers and
axes. Load shall be applied through a steel spreader the sides of the specimen to remove any loose grit or
beam spanning over the two loading rollers and at a other material. Locate the specimen symmetrically
point mid-way between them. The parallelism in the equipment for the determination of flexural
tolerance for the horizontal axis of one supporting modulus with the upper face, as cast, parallel to the
roller with respect to the horizontal axis of the movement of the testing machine crosshead and
second supporting roller as datum shall be 0.04 mm with the two moulded faces perpendicular to the
wide. upper face, in contact with the metal rollers.
NOTE Parallelism may be achieved by allowing one of the 6.2.3 Loading
supporting rollers to be free to rotate in the vertical plane
through its vertical axis. Apply the load without shock and at a uniform rate
4.2 Moulds, complying with BS 6319-1 and of a size while continuously monitoring the deflection of the
to produce rectangular prisms in accordance with tensile face at mid-span. The rate of deflection shall
clause 5 of this standard. be 1 mm/min. The maximum load, N1, to be applied
should be one-third of that necessary to cause
4.3 Deflection transducer, capable of continuously
monitoring the central deflection of the beam to an failure in the flexural strength test described in
accuracy of 0.01 mm. clause 8. In the absence of such information, the
maximum load, N1, to be applied should be that
5 Test specimens necessary to cause a strain on the extreme tensile
fibre of 0.0022 for polymer mortars or 0.00022 for
5.1 Dimensions of specimens polymer/cement mortars.
Specimens shall be rectangular prisms of Record the applied load, N1. Smoothly remove and
size 25 mm × 25 mm × 320 mm unless the material re-apply the load at least twice to ensure that the
contains an aggregate that, when sampled in specimen and rollers are well seated and that the
accordance with BS 812-1, will not pass through a transducer is indicating consistently.
test sieve of 5 mm aperture size complying with If the individual deflections are not within a range
BS 410. For such materials the width and depth of of ± 10 % of their mean value at N1, centre the test
the prisms shall be at least 5.0 times the nominal specimen again and repeat the procedure. If it is not
size of the smallest aperture of a sieve complying possible to reduce the differences to within this
with BS 410 through which 90 % of the aggregate range, do not proceed with the test on that
will pass. The length to width ratio of the prisms specimen. Select another specimen from the same
shall be 13 : 1. batch and continue until three acceptable specimens
5.2 Preparation of specimens have been found.
Prepare the specimens, including the conditioning, Zero the transducers (or the recorder) while the
proportioning and mixing of materials, and the specimen is under a load, N2, approximately 10 % of
conditioning and filling of moulds in accordance that previously applied. Measure the eight changes
with BS 6319-1. in deflection as the load is increased and decreased
four times between loads N2 and N1.

2 © BSI 03-1999
 BS 6319-3:1990

7 Calculation of modulus of elasticity 9 Calculation of flexural strength

in flexure
Calculate the flexural strength, Öu, (in N/mm2) of
2
Calculate the secant modulus, E, (in GN/m ) of each each specimen using the following equation:
specimen using the following equation:
WL-
Ö u = ------------
3 2 (7)
23 PL BD
E = ---------------------------- (6)
3
108 BD ¸ where
where W is the maximum load recorded prior to
P is the difference between the two levels of fracture (in N);
applied load (N2 – N1) (in kN); L is the span of the specimen (in mm);
L is the span of the specimen (in mm); B is the breadth of the specimen at its point of
B is the breadth of the specimen (in mm); fracture (in mm);
D is the depth of the specimen (in mm); D is the depth of the specimen at its point of
fracture (in mm).
¸ is the mean of the eight deflection changes
(in mm). Calculate the mean flexural strength obtained for a
minimum of four specimens originating from the
Calculate the mean secant modulus for a minimum same batch and express the value to the
of three specimens originating from the same batch nearest 0.2 N/mm2.
and express the value to the nearest 0.1 GN/m2.
NOTE If 12 or more specimens are tested, a standard deviation
may be calculated and recorded.
8 Procedure for measuring flexural
strength 10 Test report
8.1 Number of specimens 10.1 The following information shall be included in
Test a minimum of four specimens at a time from the report on a test for modulus of elasticity in
each batch of material for each prescribed set of test flexure and on a test for flexural strength:
conditions. a) date and site of specimen preparation;
8.2 Testing b) date of test;
8.2.1 Temperature c) ambient conditions during the preparation,
curing and testing of the specimens and their age
Control the temperature in accordance with 6.2.1.
when tested;
8.2.2 Placing the specimen in the testing d) a complete identification of the material tested
machine including type, source, manufacturer’s code
Place the specimen in accordance with 6.2.2. numbers and history;
8.2.3 Loading e) type of test machine used.
Apply the load without shock and at a uniform rate 10.2 The following information shall be included in
such that the specimen fractures in 60 ± 30 s. the report on a test for modulus of elasticity:
Measure the deflection of the specimen at mid-span a) cross-sectional area at the centre of the test
during loading. specimen;
NOTE 1 A rate of platen movement 1 mm/min to 5 mm/min will b) upper (N1) and lower (N2) load levels used in
usually be appropriate.
the testing cycle;
Record the maximum load applied. Measure the
c) mean deflection;
breadth and depth of the specimen at the point of
fracture to the nearest 0.1 mm. If the line of fracture d) secant modulus of elasticity of each test
occurs between a supporting and loading roller, do specimen;
not use the result for calculating the flexural e) arithmetic mean secant modulus of elasticity;
strength but declare the result in the test report. f) type of transducer used.
Conduct repeat tests at the same rate of loading.
NOTE 2 If the deflection before fracture exceeds one-fifteenth of
the span of the specimen, the test should be discontinued on the
grounds of insufficient rigidity of the material for a meaningful
value of flexural strength to be measured.

© BSI 03-1999 3
BS 6319-3:1990

10.3 The following information shall be included in

the report on a test for flexural strength:
a) nominal sizes of each specimen prior to testing
and the dimensions at the site of any fracture as
a result of testing;
b) flexural strength of each specimen;
c) arithmetic mean flexural strength;
d) breaking loads, including those results
excluded from the calculations because of the
location of the fracture;
e) details of specimens excluded from the results
due to excessive deflection (see note 2 to 8.2.3).

4 © BSI 03-1999
 BS 6319-3:1990

Publication(s) referred to

BS 410, Specification for test sieves.

BS 812, Testing aggregates.
BS 812-1, Methods for determination of particle size and shape.
BS 1610, Materials testing machines and force verification equipment.
BS 1610-1, Specification for the grading of the forces applied by materials testing machines.
BS 2782, Methods of testing plastics.
BS 2782-3, Mechanical properties.
BS 2782:Method 335A, Determination of flexural properties of rigid plastics.
BS 6319, Testing of resin compositions for use in construction.
BS 6319-1, Method for preparation of test specimens.

© BSI 03-1999
BS 6319-3:
1990
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