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 ...

A pull-off tester measures coating adhesion to rigid substances like wood, concrete, and metal. It relies on a hydraulic system to pull away a test disk which is glued to the substrate material. The tester records the force applied when failure occurs. The pull off adhesion tester is widely used in quality assurance in construction to save time, as it is a reliable means to make sure that there is enough adhesion between the substrate and the coating. Here’s how the device works: Manual mode - The tester is available in both automatic and manual modes. The manual hydraulic pump applies continuous and smooth pressure using a single stroke. Use the pull rate indicator to monitor and adjust the rate of pull manually. The internal memory can store the maximum pull-off pressure, test duration, rate of pull, and the dolly size for a maximum of 200 pulls. A manual pull off adhesion tester is compatible with PosiSoft software , so you can interpre...

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,...

The Los Angeles test determines the rate of degradation of the mineral aggregates of a standard grading as a result of the combination of actions including abrasion, grinding, and impact. It is conducted with a steel drum, which can be rotated and contains a specific amount of steel spheres. A Los Angeles abrasion testing machine is a conventional method for indicating abrasion characteristics and aggregate toughness. To produce high-quality Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) it is crucial to identify aggregate abrasion characteristics by ensuring the constituent aggregate can resist disintegration, crushing, and degradation. The performance of aggregates must be determined before they are used in road base applications and paving. The Los Angeles abrasion machine evaluates resistance to wearing and fragmentation caused by friction. A sample of the aggregate is placed in a drum and tumbled inside for a fixed amount of revolutions. High-quality testing machinery comes with a safety stop on t...

The Schmidt Hammer is a valuable instrument for testing concrete. Inside the hammer is a sensor that measures the rebound value of the test impact with repeatability and high resolution. The hammer is also known as a ‘rebound hammer’, with ‘rebound’ pertaining to the effective, non-destructive way to measure the compressive strength of concrete to within a 20 percent range, and the control of uniform concrete quality in prefabricated structures and in-situ concrete. Certain steps must be followed to ensure accuracy and proper use of the Schmidt Hammer . Here are some of the guidelines to consider: Refer to ASTM C805-13 – The standard test method with a Schmidt hammer is listed under ASTM. The latest standard provides the procedures for the test method for rebound number of hardened concrete.   Calibrate the hammer – A good supplier offers equipment with calibration certificates and recalibration services.   Make sure the concrete i...

When reinforcing steel corrodes inside concrete, an electro-chemical process occurs and its characteristics can be identified with a half-cell potential (HCP) measurement, also known as a ‘half cell potential test’. HCP measures metallic corrosion to determine the regions of potential corrosion and the risk it can impose on the structure. Date interpretation is nuanced and specific to particular sites, but generally a more negative potential means a risk of corrosion occurring in unsaturated marine exposed concrete. To conduct the test, an electrode is used to form one part of the bimetal cell, while the reinforcing steel within the concrete serves as the other half. Silver/silver chloride in a potassium chloride solution or a simple Copper/Copper Sulphate cell is the ideal reference electrode for use on-site. An electrode that is made of copper/copper sulphate is widely used, too. An advanced half cell potential meter is a great instrument to have for a more reliable way to ...

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is state-of-the-art equipment used for exploring the subsurface of the earth. The cutting-edge imaging technology found in high-end GPR systems measures electromagnetic wave propagation and echo from the subsurface, which images and identifies changes in the magnetic and electrical properties beneath the surface of the earth. Hence, GPR systems are useful in locating underground utility lines in earth or post tensioning and reinforcing in concrete. Ground penetrating radar is surprisingly versatile for many other applications, including forensic research, land surveying, detecting unexploded land mines, conducting groundwater studies, and monitoring the structural integrity of airplane runways. GPR is useful in many different fields. It is used to study ice, groundwater, soil, and bedrock under earth sciences and it may be helpful in finding diamonds and gold nuggets in alluvial gravel beds. In that case, ground penetrating radar is used to fi...