ADMET is a leading manufacturer of material testing systems, indicators, and controllers. One of the industries we proudly work with is the concrete and construction industry.
ADMET data acquisition indicators were the first to include features such as the storage of date, time, concrete specimen size, age, weight, and cylinder break type with each compressive strength result. Our concrete testing equipment portfolio also includes advanced fixturing and controllers.
Mechanical Testing of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete
ASTM C1609 is a testing method that is used to evaluate the flexural performance of fiber-reinforced concrete, which is defined as a concrete mixture that is reinforced with dispersed, randomly oriented fibers. Mechanical properties determined from the test include peak load, peak stress, deflection, residual loads and strengths at specified deflections, toughness, and flexural strength ratio. Watch our How-To video here for more information on the testing procedure.
ASTM C1609 Fixture with Displacement Transducer
ASTM C1609 test data is obtained from the load-deflection curve by compressively loading a simply supported beam on a specialized three-point bend fixture. The standard specifies the dimensions of the bend fixture and indicates that the material testing system must be a closed-loop, servo-controlled system to maintain the required low rates throughout this testing.
eXpert 2657 – With ASTM C1609 fixturing and optional computer
ADMET is one of a select few of testing machine manufacturers that offers equipment to perform the excruciatingly demanding ASTM C1609 tests. The Standards Committee has recently updated the requirements for the bend fixture used in ASTM C1609 testing. Our Engineering and Product Development teams were quick to make the changes in our offerings to accommodate the needs of our customers. The yoke and the displacement transducers are not affected by the revised design.
Changes to the ASTM C1609 three-point bend fixture include:
- Loading nose to be designed per ASTM C78
- Bottom brackets to be designed according to ASTM C1812
Overall, these parts are now designed to reduce friction when testing. The roller design is intended to provide a consistent and relatively low value of effective coefficient of friction at the beam supports.
ASTM C1609 Fixture
With construction materials such as steel heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we may be seeing more construction projects utilize fiber-reinforced concrete. Examples of projects that have used fiber-reinforced concrete include SoFi Stadium, the home stadium of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, and highway rehabilitation in Fowler, Indiana. Read more about the material here.
Did you know?
ADMET not only offers the testing system configured to ASTM C1609 but also the controller and software package as well as the fixture assembly with the transducer to retrofit your existing testing machine to run ASTM C1609 fiber-reinforced concrete testing. Contact us to discuss options.
