Faculty of Engineering

Civil Engineering
Laboratory of construction materials
Guide #4: The Project
Professor: Oscar Gutiérrez-Junco

The Project.

Procedure

Each student group will make a test cylinder to compete with other groups. The mix design
for the cylinders should be obtained from a study of the literature and the results of testing
trial mixes. The rules of the competition are:

 Cylinders will be judged by strength. The strongest cylinder wins.

 All materials are permitted provided the cylinder sets by reaction with water
(hydration).
 Any curing method and duration can be used.
 Full details of the methods and materials used (and the reasons for using them) must
be presented in the report.

Forming a Group

This is a group project. Students will not be assigned to groups, they should form their own
and will be required to provide a list of group members when the cylinders are submitted.
The maximum permitted group size is 5 and the minimum is 3.

Lab Work

If you want to make your cylinders in the labs please note:

1. All lab work must be booked in advance with the technicians in the laboratory diary in the
workshop (see the head technician for this).
2. The technicians will let you know what apparatus is available and help you use it. They
will not design experiments for you.
3. If you leave it too late the technicians will probably not be able to help you. You must
advise them of your requirements in good time. They have other duties apart from this
project.

Questions/assistance

At the tutorial sessions.

Submission – one per group.

1. The written report…

Introduction

Review of factors affecting concrete strength and data from the literature that will contribute
to your analysis and discussion.

Experimental Method

Laboratory testing of the materials – this should describe the procedure for YOUR testing.
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 Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering
Laboratory of construction materials
Guide #4: The Project
Professor: Oscar Gutiérrez-Junco

Results and Analysis

Details of your results.

Mix Design calculations – this should use YOUR results.

Discussion

Discussion of reasons for selecting chosen design.

Suggestions for further improvement in the mix design.

The report should be a high quality word-processed document (do not use a font size
greater than 12 point) and should be fully referenced using the APA or ICONTEC system.

2. The cylinders. These will form part of the submission and will be tested. Only one
cylinder will be required. The cylinder must be clearly marked with the initials of a group
member and submitted at the time of testing.