Cement Testing for the Best Caroline

Group 4 started our journey of making the Caroline by creating cement cylinders. These cement cylinders were used to decide the best ratio of polystyrene foam beads to cement to use in the Caroline.

To make the cement cylinders, we mixed together 300 grams of Quikrete and 1 gram of polystyrene foam beads with a water to concrete ratio of 0.30. This cement mixture was then added to plastic cylinder molds.

After the cement cylinders were allowed to dry out and set for a week, we tested the tensile and compression strength of the cement cylinders. These tests later allowed us to calculate both the average tensile and average compression maximum strength along with the average strains at the maximum tensile and compression strengths.

Our data combined with the data from the rest of the groups in Engineering 113, Section J was used to determine the best cement mixture that could be used for the Caroline.

Group 4 Testing the Tensile and Compression Strength of Their Cement Cylinders

Photographer: Shynu Philip