St. Thomas Construction Materials Lab

The St. Thomas Construction Materials Lab
This lab is a teaching and research space equipped to test a wide variety of construction materials, including concrete, aggregate, steel, wood, masonry, and asphalt. This lab is spread across two adjacent rooms: the dedicated 1000 sq ft Construction Materials Lab, and the Concrete Production space housed in the High Bay. The St. Thomas library provides full access to ASTM and AASHTO testing standards

Real World Learning
Students in the Construction Materials class use the Construction Materials Lab to gain hands on knowledge of how material properties they will use as engineers are determined. They also get experience running tests, such as concrete field tests, that can help them land an internship. This lab also supports student competition activities, such as the Concrete Canoe, Concrete Bowling Ball, and Concrete Cornhole.

Applied Research
The Construction Materials Lab is home to research projects related to materials for infrastructure and construction. It also supports research in the High Bay, with the two spaces often functioning as a single lab. Projects in these labs have been funded by the National Road Research Alliance, American Institute of Steel Construction, and NASA.

Concrete Production Capabilities

• Concrete mixers – 12 cu ft and 3 cu ft
• Bench top mortar mixers – 5qt and 12qt
• Dedicated washout to responsibly contain and treat washout water before discharge
• Walk in cure room (120 sq ft)
• Cure chamber with a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions (155 cu ft)
• Cure tanks

Concrete Testing Capabilities

• 500,000lb high stiffness compression tester with digital control and readout, with accessories for split tensile, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, displacement control testing
• Dedicated beam breaker
• Standard fresh testing – air content via pressure meter and slump
• Specialty fresh testing – air content via volumetric meter, super air meter, box test, J-ring, L-box, and column segregation
• Coefficient of thermal expansion
• Freeze-thaw resistance
• Digital Image Correlation for non-contact strain field visualization

Aggregate Testing Capabilities

• Sieve shakers and larger sieve screen
• Ovens
• Specific gravity and absorption capacity
• Unit weight
• Proportional calipers

Metals Testing Capabilities

• 67,000lb Universal Test Machine
• Charpy Pendulum Impact Tester
• Rockwell Hardness
• Guided bend tester

Other Materials Testing Capabilities

• Mortar mixing and cube testing
• Brick prism testing
• Brick and masonry block testing
• Basic wood testing – tension parallel and perpendicular to grain, elastic modulus