Proportioning studies are conducted to optimize the proportions of cement, gravel, sand, water, and admixtures. Since different ingredients change concrete's properties, it is important to test concrete made from proposed source materials to gather information about the concrete's fresh and hardened properties. This facility is typically used to determine optimum mixture proportions for specialty concretes, such as mass concrete, roller compacted concrete, underwater concrete, and high performance concrete. Equipment available for conducting mixture studies includes a 21 ft 3 automated mixer, a 9 ft 3 manually operated mixer, and several different types of smaller mixers. The mix room is temperature and humidity controlled.
Storage space is available for aggregates, cement and pozzolan, and admixtures.
This area is available for special studies requiring a large working space, and for temporary storage of large items. This facility houses a wide variety of equipment that is used to evaluate concrete repair materials, concrete-polymer materials, and cement and chemical grout materials. The lab is equipped with special mixers for studies of concrete repair and concrete-polymer materials and several types of grout pumps, for studies of grouting materials and for use in actual grouting applications. Equipment is available to perform quality evaluations on proposed concrete repair materials, including tests on shrinkage, compressive strength, and durability. Tests on quality control of polymers and monomer safety, including tests on inhibitor concentration, catalyst requirements, and polymerization characteristics can be performed using equipment in the lab.