Concrete Cylinder Testing Equipment
Shop for high-quality concrete cylinder testing equipment that helps you prepare cylinders for testing, ensure even surfaces, and capture accurate concrete data.
Shop for high-quality concrete cylinder testing equipment that helps you prepare cylinders for testing, ensure even surfaces, and capture accurate concrete data.
A concrete cylinder is the most common type of specimen used in concrete testing. Concrete cylinders are cast by pouring a sample of fresh concrete (after testing wet properties) into cylindrical molds.
Once the concrete sets and cures in a safe, controlled environment on the job site for up to 48 hours, the cylinders can be transported to the lab. There, they are stripped from the molds and placed into the final curing environment before testing.
Cylinder testing is the process of casting, curing, preparing and testing cylindrical specimens to determine compressive strength and other values. This process requires a variety of equipment in the field and the lab in order to ensure the cylinders are smooth, uniform and tested according to standards.
Forney’s concrete cylinder testing equipment conforms to all applicable construction materials testing standards and testing protocols, including ASTM, AASHTO, BS EN, ISO, and more.
When preparing a cylindrical concrete test core, you need smooth and even surfaces on the ends of the cylinder. If these ends are not perfectly uniform and parallel to each other, the measured strength will be decreased due to stress within the cylinder. Cylinder testing equipment needed to prepare cylinders for testing include:
Compression testing machines are commonly used for high-strength concrete cylinder testing. By applying compressive pressure to the test specimen, compression testing machines determine a material’s behavior under crushing loads. They are also capable of testing for Modulus of Elasticity/Poisson’s Ratio, Proppant Crush Resistance, and Tensile Splitting tests.
Forney compression testing machines are fabricated from solid steel into a one-piece welded unit that exceeds ACI frame rigidity requirements, and the hydraulic cylinder assembly is mounted to the bottom crosshead of the load frame. Forney Connected machines offer one-push test starts, in which the machine performs the complete test, including piston retract. It accurately controls the rate of load at the desired setting, ensuring repeatable, precise results and freeing the operator to do other tasks while testing is in progress. Integrated with CMT software, Forney Connected machines validate specimens with smart checks before the test runs, then automatically transfers results and calculations to where they are needed – ensuring a fully connected, transparent and accurate CMT workflow.
A sound compression testing machine must also include safety features to protect both the operator and testing machine, including maximum capacity protection, overextension protection, and a fragment safety guard. Remote support is also a helpful feature to keep downtime to a minimum.
Compressometers and extensometers measure the average deformation and strain of concrete cylinders during compression testing to determine modulus of elasticity (MOE) and Poisson’s ratio.
Concrete cylinder testing is an important part of validating concrete strength and compliance with industry standards. It’s critical to have high-quality equipment – and knowledge of best practices with preparing and testing cylinders. Here are some helpful resources related to cylinder testing: