So I just pulled a picture off of my phone from a concrete lab....

Basically we prepared samples to test, like done in the field....

This was tension controlled beam that we made, unfortunately we test it on accident about 14 days early and it broke through shear at around 40Ksi, which is a decent amount and everyone knows that concrete is better under compression and weak in shear....

Picsssssss
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...d&id=504395094

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...7&id=504395094

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...7&id=504395094


Forgot to add that we test this in a compression machine, and we tested concrete cylinders and watched them explode at about 80ksi, which was awesome, I was actually hit by part of it flying off, but it had no force behind it when it got to me... But it was fun none the less.... We reloaded another beam and loaded it to complete failure, which looked like someone just cut cheese as the end of the beam fell to the ground.... so much fun...

 

Looks cool. We did testing like this in a welding course I took in college. We had to take two dissimilar metals and weld them together. We tested different edge preparations, filler metals, and amperage levels. It was fun watching most of the class fumble around with a welder!

 

Yea labs are pretty funny, speaking of welding, I should be "learning" soon as we assemble the steel bridge....

Funniest part about the concrete lab is there is a girl, and the teacher tells her she doesnt have to lift or mix anything, so she hops right in and tries to do it all....