What are the benefits of cube testing?

Making concrete is a much more complicated business than just mixing cement, aggregates and water together. Different projects require different grades of concrete in order to achieve the desired results. 

In many cases, it’s important that you can demonstrate that your completed mix is exactly within the specification of what has been requested. For instance, if your finished concrete is going to be used to support a heavy load or provide foundations for a building, you need to know that it will have the compressive strength to do so safely.

One common way of checking the quality of a concrete mix is to carry out what is known as ‘cube testing’.

At Stewart Brothers Concrete, we can offer a professional and reliable cube testing service – and in this blog, we’ll go into detail about what it is and how it can benefit your construction project.

What is cube testing?

Cube testing involves taking a sample of freshly mixed concrete, allowing it to cure and then testing its compressive strength using a specialist machine. This is usually – but not always – done after 7 and 28 days. If the sample meets the required standard, the project will be able to proceed.

The compressive strength of a material such as concrete is measured by the pressure it can withstand before cracking, bending, reducing in size or otherwise being forced out of shape. It is usually measured in Newtons per square metre, the Newton being the international metric unit of force.

Concrete should achieve full comprehensive strength after 28 days and approximately 65% after seven days, so this early test will allow you to ensure that your particular mix is developing in the way you would expect.

Tests can also be carried out after 14 days – at which point the concrete should have got to about 90% of its intended final compressive strength – and 56 days, which is the point at which a blended mix achieves full strength.

What are the benefits of cube testing?

Cube testing concrete brings significant benefits to a construction project, both for the supplier and the customer. These include:

Verifying the quality of the concrete

Cube testing provides tangible evidence to the customer that the concrete you are supplying to them is within the specifications of the desired mix design and meets their requirements. By keeping to BSI Kitemark standards, it allows the supplier to refer to their product with a legal assurance of quality and accuracy.

Compliance with regulations

When employing commercial concrete in a construction project, cube testing will often be a regulatory requirement to ensure the safety of the finished building or structure.

Professional concrete cube testing by an accredited company can provide the documentation that will allow project managers to demonstrate that their structure meets the required safety standards.

Quality control in all industries is a vital element in providing confidence in the safety, reliability and effectiveness of a product, and cube testing is one of the most accurate indicators of quality in the concrete and construction industries. 

For more information on What are the benefits of cube testing? talk to Stewart Brothers Concrete