Papworths Construction Testing Equipment

Laboratory ovens are designed and built for drying a range of materials like concrete, rock, soil, asphalt, and aggregates. They come in various litre capacities, with temperatures control ranging from ambient to 250°C. The interior of a high-quality soil drying oven is made from stainless steel , and the exterior is crafted from sheet steel then finished in a powder-coated paint. It functions with forced convection or fan-circulation and is equipped with an analogue over-temperature protection thermostat and a digital control unit for direct reading. Proper usage and safety precautions must be observed when using a soil drying oven, as it poses health and fire hazards to users and its immediate surroundings. The following are some of the hazards you must be aware of: Health hazard – Volatilised substances can pose chronic or acute respiratory hazards. Burn hazard – The oven chamber becomes extremely hot, causing surfaces and materials to be dangerous when ...

The purpose of the direct shear test is to find soil’s shearing strength. A special type of apparatus is required to evaluate sandy soil’s shearing strength, which will help predict the material’s suitability for building foundations and for supporting retaining walls, slab bridges, sheet piling, and pipes. The test should also be able to identify the value of internal friction’s angle and soil cohesion when designing structures. One of the most advanced direct shear test apparatus is an automatic direct and residual shear testing machine , which comes with a carriage assembly, load hanger, and the integral 10:1, 11:1, and 9:1 lever loading device. A high-end direct shear test apparatus is designed to be floor mounted and motorised. A beam loading device is supplied to strengthen the shear box assembly’s vertical load, and it can handle up to 50kg. The total load on the specimen can reach up to 5kM. The machine is compatible with various round and square shear box assemblies,...

Soil testing is conducted to determine a particular soil's suitability for a construction project. Testing can be used to classify the soil and provide crucial information whether the soil possesses the integrity and the properties that are necessary to keep a structure stable. Soil testing is used in most construction projects including roadwork. Here are five soil testing-related trends you should consider for the most common applications: Plate load test – This test is commonly done at the foundation level of the soil. It is usually done according to local standards and specification to determine the soil's bearing capacity. The use of CBR test machines – The California bearing ratio test measures the strength of re-compacted sample of highway sub base, subgrade soil, and the subgrade using a penetration test. It is usually ideal for testing cohesive materials that have a particle size of less than 19mm. Soil triaxial...