Equipping a Cement & Concrete Testing Laboratory: The Essential Equipment

Whether you are setting up a site laboratory for a construction project, a QC lab at a ready-mix or precast plant, or a teaching laboratory, the equipment list follows the tests you need to run. This guide organises the essentials by test. Always check the exact requirements of the standards your project specifies.

Cement testing

• Consistency and setting time: Vicat apparatus (EN 196-3, ASTM C191).
• Fineness: Blaine air-permeability apparatus (EN 196-6, ASTM C204), plus sieves.
• Soundness: Le Chatelier moulds and a water bath (EN 196-3), or autoclave expansion for ASTM C151.
• Mortar strength: mortar mixer (EN 196-1, ASTM C305), prism or cube moulds, a jolting or tamping arrangement as required, a curing cabinet, and a compression/flexural testing machine.

Aggregate testing

• Test sieves and a sieve shaker for grading (ASTM C136, EN 933-1).
• Balances and drying ovens for moisture content and specific gravity.
• Abrasion testing (for example Los Angeles abrasion) where specified.

Fresh concrete

• Workability: slump cone, rod and base plate (ASTM C143, EN 12350-2).
• Air content: pressure-type air meter (ASTM C231, EN 12350-7).
• Specimens: cube, cylinder and beam moulds.

Hardened concrete

• Curing: curing tanks or a curing room with temperature control.
• Compressive strength: a compression testing machine sized for your specimens and strength classes (ASTM C39, EN 12390-3).
• Flexural and tensile strength: flexural fixtures (EN 12390-5, ASTM C78) and splitting tensile jigs (EN 12390-6, ASTM C496).
• In-situ assessment: rebound hammer (EN 12504-2, ASTM C805), ultrasonic pulse velocity tester (EN 12504-4, ASTM C597) and core drilling equipment.

Reinforcing steel

Rebar is tested for mass per metre, rib geometry and mechanical properties. Automated systems such as Psaron’s RIB3D measure rib geometry quickly and repeatably; tensile and bend tests require a suitably sized universal testing machine.

Supporting equipment

• Balances, ovens, thermometers and timers.
• Capping or grinding equipment for cylinder ends, where required.
• Calibration arrangements for force-measuring equipment.

Planning tips

• Start from the specification: list every test and its standard, then the equipment each requires.
• Size the compression machine for your highest strength class and largest specimen.
• Plan curing capacity for your daily specimen volume.

We supply cement testing equipment and concrete testing equipment across Pakistan. Send us your test list and we will prepare a complete equipment proposal.