CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING c.

Steel and metal reinforcement – single or

bundled reinforcing bars, ties, stirrups, bend bars,
TOPIC 1 dowel bars, GI wire, etc
d. Timber, lumber, and wood materials – fine or
Construction-
straight grained, crooked or cross grained, plank, board,
Is the process of constructing a building infrastructure. timber, surface or dressed lumber, etc
Construction starts with planning, design and financing; e. Forms and scaffolding – galvanized iron sheet,
and continues until the project is built and ready for purlins, etc
use. f. Architectural finishes- tiles, hardware, painting
works, and other auxiliary works

There are three sectors of construction Construction materials

1. Buildings
Familiarization of the basic construction materials is one
- Building constructions is usually further the basic knowledges a civil engineer needs to know.
subdivided into residential and non- residential. When
Comprehending with characteristics and properties of
we say non- residential, those are
construction materials through systematic laboratory
commercial and institutional structures.
tests conforming to standards helps to analyze
2. Infrastructure underlying principles in the design of the structure.
- Is often called heavy civil or heavy engineering.
it includes large public works such as dams,
bridges, high ways, railways, water ,waste water Testing of materials
,and utility distribution.
3. Industrial Before any construction materials are incorporated into
- It includes refineries, processed chemicals, any type of structures, standard specifications must be
power generation mills, and manufacturing plants. followed and in every specification, a test must be
There are ways to break industry into sectors or market. done. Testing of materials is done to ensure the highest
quality of work and extend the service life of any
Building construction projects typically include various structure by constructing according to the prescribed
common elements, such as design, financial, estimating plans and specifications.
and legal considerations. However, many projects of
varying sizes reached undesirable end such as structural Material testing is a measurement of the characteristics
collapse, cost overrun, and or litigation. For this reason, and behavior of such substances as metals, ceramics, or
those with experience in the field make detailed plans plastics under various conditions. The data thus
and maintain careful oversight the preparation of obtained can be used in specifying suitability of
materials and constructing materials during the project materials for various applications.
to ensure a positive outcome.
Without testing either in the field or laboratory, no one,
not even the experts can state definitely if the standard
of quality pf certain material is satisfied.
Construction materials
If quality control is done by slight or other means
Is any material which is used for construction purposes. without benefit of laboratory test, that is purely or
Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, simply guessing.
rocks, sand and wood, event twigs and leaves, have
been used to constructed structures.

The engineering structures are composed of materials. Since material testing is well established technique to
These materials are known as engineering materials or determine the physical and mechanical of raw materials
building materials or materials of construction. It is and components……we have the standard national and
necessary for the civil engineer to become conversant international bodies. This is where standard
with the properties of such materials. specifications came from.

1. ASTM international – formerly known as

American Society for Testing and Materials, is an
Principal materials used in building structures are
international standards organization that develops and
a. Concrete- coarse and fine aggregates, cement, publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a
water, etc wide range of materials, products, systems, and
b. Masonry- fine aggregates, cements, water, services. – including construction materials.
CHBs , etc
2. ISO -International Organization of Standardization – quality materials is essential
for the construction of safe and robust
buildings. ISO has more than 100 standards
 related to raw materials used in construction,
such as concrete, cement, timber, and glass.
These include standards on terminology, testing
procedures and assessment of safety levels.
TOPIC 2
3. Bureau of Philippine Standards of the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI- BPS) – They UNIVERSAL TESTING MACHINE PARTS AND FUNCTIONS
serve as the National Standard s Body (NSB) of the
UTM or UNIVERSAL TESTING MACHINCE
Philippines and is mandated to develop, promulgate,
and implement standards for all products in the - From the name itself, this machine is used to
Philippines, to promote standardization activities in the conduct numerous test on various materials from steel,
country, and to ensure the manufacture, production, concrete, and even wood.
and distribution of quality products for the protection - A UTM is an electric machine used in
of the consumer. Under the BPS is the Standards Engineering where the main mechanical
Development Division that develops Philippine National properties of a given specimen of a construction
Standards (PNS). material are being tested.
4. DPWH Blue Book- it contains all the standard - The usual process of UTM is pulling,
specifications of all item of work. This includes the right compressing, and vending or stretching materials until
terminology in every structure or description, the pay they break.
item number, unit of measurement per item, its
construction methodology, material requirement that
includes the required test and number of samples in a
given test.

We don’t need to test all the item one by one.

Sampling and testing

These tests performed by UTM is called as
Samples are taken to represent the total, to know the
1. Compressive Strength Test (ASTM C39)
distinct characteristics. There is no substitute for
2. Flexural Strength Test (ASTM C78)
sampling if the aim is to get an idea of quality. Sampling
is standardized so as to minimize the effect of human 3. Tensile Strength Test (ASTM C1557)
error.

Testing refers to the process of making test son samples Compressive Strength Test and Flexural Strength Test
submitted to determine the degree of compliance of are usually done to concrete specimen samples, and
delivered or constructed materials with the Tensile Strength Test is usually done for reinforcing
specifications. steel bars samples.

Thru this test we can determine the mechanical

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING properties like tenson, compression, bending, and
shearing of non – metal and metal materials.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ----LABORATORY TEST----
ANALYSIS OR RESULT The universal testing machine is used primarily by
laboratories that manufacture or mold various plastics.
To sum it up, it is important that future civil engineers
like you have the basic knowledge on the various These different test determine the quality of the
materials as well as how suitable it is for particular use.
construction materials, their properties and suitability
when used in the project also the laboratory test,  The quality of the material as well as how
standard procedures and equipment to be used and suitable it is for particular use can de easily determined
finally be able to analyze the results of the laboratory by using UTM. In addition, knowledge in the Standard
tests which certifies the suitability of the tested Specification provided by the national and international
construction materials. bodies is a great importance.

UTM – there are two main parts ; HOST MACHINE, and

CONTROLLER MACHINCE.

The HOST MACHINE is cylinder-underneath, hydraulic

loading, and hydraulic clamping specimen, operates
easily and reads correctly. The host machine represents In order to avoid affecting the reading value of machine
where the exact section the test should be conducted. when the specimen is broken, the host machine (figure
B), control machine and computer (figure C) is
separately set-up, and then connected by transverse
link and highpressure hydraulic host.
PARTS AND USES OF UNIVERSAL TESTING MACHINE
The MACHINE CONTROLLER processes the test data,
storages, displays and drawing curves (graph and As laboratory technician/civil engineer, before
illustration) by the computer. The printer can print the operating the machine, you should know first what are
test report and draw the test curve. Perfect statements the use of those piece, what part are you holding at or
operation realizes the archiving capability. maybe when and where to be use this kind of piece.

To be able to familiarize to its function, let’s start with

the figure D. Figure D represents where the exact
PARAMETERS OF THE UTM
section should test be conducted.
When we say parameters, generally it states a limit that
For the Tensile Strength Test, it should be conduct at
affects how something can be done
the tension section (upper part of the host machine)
using twoflat/round grip plate, upper and lower clamp.
While Compressive And Flexural Strength Test, should
Main Parameter be conducted at the compression and flexural section
(lower part of the host machine) using upper and lower
Before conducting experiment in laboratory, technician
plate, wheel load and bending platform.
and operator must view the tables presented below
first, to familiarize with the specification and limits of
the machine.

Like any other machine we cannot avoid errors.

When we say relative error, it is not the specific or

actual error but a ratio of the absolute error and
experimental value.

Absolute error is the difference between the actual

value and the calculated value.

HRC, Hardness Rockwell C. how hard the material is.

The
cylinder (see figure E) was fixed on bottom support with
bolts. The piston was fixed on work table, while work
table supports column. When piston is moving; work
table, column and upper crosshead also moves. Screw
cross over work table, down end was fixed on bottom,
up end was connected with up crosshead

There is a remote box / controller button at the lower

crosshead so it is easy to adjust the original test space
and can clamp the upper and lower clamp automatically
and column lift upper crosshead, so achieve tensile,
compression and bending test

On the left-upwards side of the control machine (see

Figure F), there are two power switches additional, the
bigger one with mushroom head (Stop Button) is the
emergency stop switch, and the other one (Start/Stop WORKING CONDITION
or On/Off Button) is the power switch.
Before using Universal Testing Machine, certain
The two hand wheels of “Load and Unload are used to condition that are listed below should be observe first
control loading and unloading hydraulic oil. “Pump” is to ensure the safe of operator.
oil pump switch to startup oil pump motor unit (inside
1. Room Temperature at least 10ºC to 35ºC.
controller cabinet). The button of “Jaw” is tensile grip
switch, the tensile grip and remote box will be able to 2. Relative humidity not more that 80%.
work after pressing Jaw Button.
3. No quaky or vibration condition
When clamping samples, take a note that the upper grip
should first clamp and then lower grip will be next, 4. No caustic medium around
otherwise the hydraulic clamps will not work well. 5. Level installation on steady base, level degree no
When doing tensile test, please turn off the tensile grip more than 0.2 /1000 .
button (Jaw) to keep the electrical valve could working
more long time. 6. Power Supply: 3-Phase 220V, 50/60Hz, 2.5KW.

Common Faults and Troubleshooting

In some instances, problems may occur anytime,

particularly when it comes in operating. In UTM, the
main reasons of common faults and troubleshooting are
as follows:

1. Reading value of testing force is unstable.

a. There is air in oil cylinder and oil pipe. Put the air out.
Start the oil pump, meanwhile, rise the cylinder by
software without any loading. The oil cycles for a
moment and the air will be out.

b. Check the joint of oil pipe is permeate the oil. If it

permeates, fasten it firmly or change washers.

2. Oil leakage in tubing joint. Methods for eliminating:

Make the piston go back to the bottom of the cylinder,
and then turn off the oil pump and power supply. If oil
leakage remains after tightening the connector, you
should change combination sealing ring or o-shape seal
ring.