Building Structures Geotechnics and Concrete Laboratory

• ceramic/silicate/concrete/AAC masonry units
• precast concrete products (paving bricks, concrete slabs, lintels, floor slabs and wall panels, manhole covers etc.)
• beam and block floor systems
• masonry structures made with traditional, thin and polyurethane mortars
• masonry structures made of prototypical items
• building mortar
• brackets and suspension members for masonry structures
• supporting items of suspended ceilings
• reinforcement bars and meshes
• balcony connectors
• expansion pins
• composite bars and mats
• precast stairs and attic ladders
• plain and ribbed reinforcing steel

II wires and lays for prestressed structures

• metal sheets for wall and roof covering
• hatches and gullies
• drain ducts and trays
• installation tubes for cables
• electricity and lighting poles
• prototypical and large-size products (e.g. prestressed reinforced concrete posts, steel three-dimensional trusses)
• precast wood items
• steel structures and sections
• spot-fixing items for glass
• bearing capacity of wastewater treatment plants
• wall and ceiling sandwich panels

• metal expansion and bonded fasteners, channel bars
• metal fasteners for wooden structures
• bonded reinforcement bars
• plastic expansion fasteners
• bolts, screws, and nails
• anchors, brackets
• construction nails
• fixings and connectors for suspended ceilings

• properties of lightweight, normal-weight and heavy-weight concrete
• concrete mix: density, consistency, air content, temperature
• concrete additives and admixtures
• cements
• steel and polymer fibres for concrete
• natural stone and aggregates
• hydrophobising agents
• rheology of cement grouts
• total porosity and porosity distribution
• microstructure observations using classic and electron microscopy

We identify the following:

• physical properties (granulometric composition, humidity, consistency limits, linear shrinkage, total specific area and sorption volume, specific density, volumetric density)
• maximum and minimum bulk density
• organic matter content
• optimum water content and maximum dry density (Proctor apparatus)
• consolidation and compressibility parameters
• swelling pressure and swelling index
• coefficient of permeability
• strength parameters (shear strength, coherence and internal friction angle in a direct shear apparatus, using the UU method of tri-axial compression without consolidation and drainage, and CU and CD methods, with saturation and consolidation, residual strength, determination of the shear modulus based on the measurement of the speed of acoustic waves and probe-mounted sensors)
• water permeability in a vertical direction to the product surface
• water flow capacity in the product plane
• index flux
• characteristic pore size
• long-term protective efficacy of geotextiles in contact with geosynthetic barriers