ConcTest

Project "ConcTest" data sheet

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 Project objective

Cementitious materials are used in virtually all construction and engineering projects and the far reaching consequences of poor quality control cannot be underestimated. This is illustrated by the numerous examples of structural failure in buildings and civil engineering projects and the disastrous failure of the cement of the Maconda oil well in 2010 causing the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and explosion killing 11 people and injuring 17 others, plus enormous environmental damage. There are a large variety of tests that are applied to cements and concretes including slump tests, compactability, flow table tests, density and air content. These tests yield results in a short period of time so a batch that does not meet the specification can be identified quickly. However, the direct measurement of strength according to standards BS EN197-1:2011/EN196-1 (cement) and BS EN 206:2013/ BS EN 12390-1:2012 (concrete) requires that samples are cured for 28 days. Concrete and cement manufacturers, concrete suppliers and their customers all experience long delays waiting for confirmation of the strength of cementitious building products. Our ConcTest technology alleviates such uncertainty. The handheld instrument rapidly and reliably predicts the ultimate strength whilst the concrete (or cement) is in the wet state. This provides the whole value-chain with high levels of confidence regarding the strength that will be achieved allowing better stock management. Out of specification batches can be identified and corrected immediately, and building and construction projects can assess the quality of concrete on the day of pouring, avoiding the need for remedial works if the product fails the 28 day tests. This project application relates to commercialisation of a truly novel and ground-breaking device which will be used for the rapid quality assurance of cementitious products through the whole value-chain.