Construction Materials Laboratory

Director: Dr. Mike Baseheart

This laboratory is located in 435 Baldwin Hall.  The strength testing that requires significant force (e.g., ASTM tensile testing of standard metal specimens) are performed with a 20-kip or a 50-kip MTS closed loop universal testing machine, or a 60-kip or  400-kip Tinius Olsen closed-loop universal testing machine, all located in the Structural System Testing Laboratory.  Appropriate extensometers, both mechanical and electronic, and other necessary instruments are available to measure stress/strain relationships for both concrete and metals.  The laboratory has three data acquisition stations, each with 32 channels of data acquisition and also houses a test stand for testing beams in flexure up to 12 ft. in length using computer servo-controlled hydraulic actuators with options for either force or displacement control.  Equipment is available to make standard specimens and to perform standard ASTM or AASHTO tests for permeability, abrasion, creep, shrinkage, freeze/thaw, and chloride penetration for concrete.