TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES

938 Aurora Blvd., Cubao, Quezon City

College of Engineering and Architecture

CE 405A - Construction Materials and Testing

LABORATORY REPORT NO. 1

INSPECTION OF MATERIALS TESTING LABORATORY AND

LEADER:
GANTANG, ALLANA RAIN M.
MEMBERS:
ANI, XYREZS AUBREY R.
BONGALOSA, CHRIS DENYLLE L.
BORJA, ROSE ANN D.
Student

December 4, 2020
Date Submitted

ENGR. GERARDO DB ABESTILLA

INSPECTION OF MATERIALS TESTING LABORATORY AND

ITS EQUIPMENT AND APPARATUS

Honor Code: “I accept responsibility for my role in ensuring the integrity of the work submitted by the group in

which I participated”.

PURPOSE

To familiarized with the material testing laboratory and the available equipment and apparatus and to study

the operation of universal testing machine.

PROCEDURE

1. Under the supervision of the instructor visit the laboratory and observe where the equipment and

apparatus are located. List down the major equipment and apparatus available.

2. Inquire on the operation of the Universal Testing Machine.

REPORT

1. Prepare a brief description including the function of each testing machine and apparatus.
Material Testing Laboratory apparatus and equipment

1. Sieve Set – A sieve, or sifter, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted materials or

for characterizing the particle size distribution of a sample of (aggregates, sand, and other soil

particles).

2. Balance – used to measure weight of objects.

3. Graduated beaker – used to measure amount of liquids and for transferring liquids.

4. Calculator – used for calculation of values.

5. Slump cone – A metal mold in the form of a truncated cone. It is used to fabricate the specimen for a

slump test (a test performed to measure the consistency of the concrete).

6. Various molds – Used for preparation if concrete specimen. It has three types; cube mold, cylinder

mold, and beam mold.

7. Hydrometer – an instrument used to measure the specific gravity (or relative density) of liquids; that

is, the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of water.

8. Universal testing machine – an instrument so designed that is capable of exerting a tensile,

comprehensive, or transverse stress on a specimen under test further, it can be adapted for

determination of hardness, ductility, cold bend, and other properties.

9. Concrete mixer – a device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel,

and water to form concrete.

10. Pressure gauge – used to measure pressure.

11. Tamping rod – used to tamp fresh concrete into cylinder molds and slump cones to eliminate voids

and excess air.

narrow, hermetically sealed glass tube marked with graduations and having one end a bulb containing

mercury or alcohol which extends along the tube as it expands.

13. Vibrator – a vibrator is a mechanical device to generate vibrations. The vibration is often generated

by an electric motor with an unbalanced mass on its driveshaft.

14. Vicat apparatus – used to find out the consistency, initial setting time and final setting time of the

cement.

15. Electric oven – laboratory ovens are ovens for high-forced volume thermal convection applications.

These ovens provide uniform temperatures throughout.

16. Stop watch – used as a timer.

17. Electric fans – used to cool down heated materials / specimen.

18. Funnels – a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom used to properly guide

liquid / powder into a small opening.

19. Wire basket – used a storage for smaller equipment.

20. Brushes – used for cleaning apparatuses.

21. Hydraulic jack – a device used to lift heavy loads by applying force via a hydraulic cylinder.

22. Tensile test machines - also known as tension test machines, are universal testing machines

specially configured to evaluate the tensile strength of specimens. Our tensile testers will measure

characteristics such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and modulus.

23. The Los Angeles (L.A.) Abrasion Testing machine – used for L.A abrasion test that is widely used as

an indicator of the relative quality of aggregates. It measures the degradation of standard grading of
 aggregates when subjected to abrasion and impact in a rotating steel drum with an abrasive charge of

steel balls.

24. Compression Machines - are used to determine compressive, splitting and flexural strengths,

usually applied to materials of high compression but low tensile strength, in which the specimen is

subjected to increasing compressive forces until failure occurs.

SKETCH/DRAWING

1. Draw floor plan of the testing laboratory and indicate the location of the Universal Testing Machine

and label its parts.

This Laboratory experiment gave us and idea of how structures and their components, fail because of

deformation. Through the use of various machines and equipment, engineers and designers attempt to prevent

such failure by estimating how much stress can be anticipated, and specifies materials that can withstand

expected stresses. A stress analysis, accomplished either experimentally or by means of a mathematical model,

indicates expected areas of high stress in a machine or structure. Mechanical property tests, carried out

experimentally, indicate which materials may safely be employed. Materials testing, measurement of the

characteristics and behavior of such substances as metals, ceramics, or plastics under various conditions. The

data thus obtained can be used in specifying the suitability of materials for various applications, for example a

building or aircraft construction, machinery, or packaging. A full- or small-scale model of a proposed machine

or structure may be tested. Alternatively, investigators may construct mathematical models that utilize known

material characteristics and behavior to predict capabilities of the structure.

As a conclusion, Material testing is an important knowledge in engineering. Materials testing is performed for a

variety of reasons and can provide a wealth of information about the tested materials, prototypes or product

samples. The data collected during testing and the final test results can be very useful to engineers, designers,

production managers and others. Reasons why material testing is important are as follows: to meet

requirements of regulatory agencies, to select appropriate materials and treatments for an application, for

evaluation of product design or improvement specifications, and lastly for verifying a production process

Through the experiment, we learned that having the knowledge about the equipment that we have can basically

help decrease the amount of effort required to get a certain activity done. Apart from it, having 0 knowledge

about the uses of the different laboratory equipment or tools can be a bit dangerous for the tasks we are in.

Each materials or equipment has its functions and each of them can work and will show accurate data when

utilized effectively. The equipment are not just the main thing that we get careful into, but into the environment

itself as well. Following precautions or safety measures inside laboratories should be maintained and followed

to avoid accidents. One tool that we specifically put our attention to is the Universal Testing Machine. It is a tool

that we use to test mechanical properties like tension and compression of a given test specimen. The UTM can

also be used to test variety of materials like concrete, steel wires, cables and can also be a kind of tool that

provides quality control and most likely to achieve the most accurate data. These things should all be inspected

beforehand so that it can perform in their perfect state.