Quick answer. The first decision on this page is which workability method suits your mixes, because the five fresh-concrete instruments are not alternatives at different prices. Slump suits medium workability; the Vee-Bee consistometer suits stiff and very stiff mixes; compaction factor suits low to medium workability in the laboratory; the Kelly ball is a quick check on placed concrete; and the penetrometers measure setting and stiffening rather than initial workability. A method used outside its range produces a number that means nothing. Buy to the mixes you test and the standard your customers name, then give the curing tank the same care as the compression machine.
About forty items, coded CTM-0001 onwards, following concrete from the mixer to the failed cube. Fresh concrete: slump test apparatus, a Vee-Bee consistometer, a compaction factor apparatus, a Kelly ball penetration apparatus, pocket concrete and mortar penetrometers, a Southard viscometer, air entrainment meters and a sand absorption cone with tamper. Making and curing specimens: a motorised laboratory concrete mixer, a vibrating table, curing tanks in metal and plastic, moulds and a gauging trowel. Hardened concrete: an analogue compression testing machine, a longitudinal compressometer, a lateral extensometer, a demountable mechanical strain gauge, density apparatus for fresh and hardened concrete, and a three-cell permeability apparatus. A melting pot for capping compound completes the set.
Five instruments in this listing measure the workability of fresh concrete, and buyers routinely assume they are alternatives at different prices. They are not. Each suits a different range of consistency, and a method used outside its range produces a number that means nothing. This is the most useful thing to understand before ordering from this page.
| Method | Suits | Fails when |
|---|---|---|
| Slump | Medium workability concrete - the everyday site test, quick and understood by everyone | A very stiff mix barely slumps and a flowing mix collapses, so at both ends of the range the reading stops discriminating between mixes |
| Vee-Bee consistometer | Stiff and very stiff mixes, where slump has given up. The result is a time, not a height | Flowing mixes, which pass through in seconds |
| Compaction factor | Low to medium workability, especially in the laboratory. Gives a ratio of partially to fully compacted density | Very wet mixes, which compact fully under their own weight |
| Kelly ball penetration | A quick site check on a placed surface, with no need to fill a cone | Mixes with large aggregate, and any situation needing a formally specified result |
| Penetrometers, mortar and pocket type | Setting time and stiffening of mortar and placed concrete, rather than initial workability | As a workability measure - they answer a different question |
So buy to your mixes and to the standard your customers name, not to the catalogue. A laboratory testing stiff precast mixes needs the Vee-Bee; one testing ready-mixed site concrete needs slump; one teaching the subject properly wants slump and compaction factor so students can see that two methods rank mixes differently.
Standard compressive strength is defined on specimens cured in water at a controlled temperature for a stated age. That makes the curing tank a measuring instrument in all but name: a twenty-eight day result on specimens cured in a bucket at whatever temperature the room reached is not a standard result and cannot be compared with a specification.
So ask about the tank as carefully as about the machine: capacity in specimens, not litres; the heater and thermostat, the control tolerance and whether temperature is recorded; whether circulation is provided, since a still tank stratifies and the specimens at the bottom cure at a different temperature from those at the top; the material and whether it will corrode; and how it is drained and cleaned. Ask also about the moulds - dimensional tolerance and the flatness of the faces are specified by the standard, because a specimen that is not a true cube or cylinder with plane parallel ends fails early and under-reports the concrete - and about how moulds are checked in service, because they wear and distort.
The melting pot in this listing is for sulphur capping compound, which is the traditional way of giving a cylinder plane parallel ends. Two things worth knowing: molten capping compound is hot and gives off fumes, so it needs extraction and a defined procedure; and ground ends or neoprene pad caps are the modern alternative and avoid the hot work entirely, so ask which your standard permits before buying the pot.
The compression machine itself is specified in detail in our universal testing machines listing - capacity, accuracy class and the verification certificate that an assessor will ask for first. Two details specific to concrete belong here.
The rate of loading is part of the method. Standards specify it, and loading faster than specified gives a higher strength. On an analogue machine the rate is set by the operator watching a gauge, which makes it a skill; on a servo-controlled machine it is set and held. Ask how the rate is controlled and how it is verified.
The platens and the spherical seat. The upper platen sits on a spherical seat so that it can align itself with a specimen that is not perfectly parallel. If that seat is stiff with age, rust or paint, it stops aligning, the specimen is loaded unevenly, and the result is low - a quiet fault that gets blamed on the concrete. Ask whether the seat is serviceable, how it is maintained, and what the platen flatness specification is.
Three instruments here measure deformation rather than failure, and they are what a laboratory needs to report modulus of elasticity and Poisson ratio rather than just strength. A longitudinal compressometer measures axial shortening over a gauge length, a lateral extensometer measures the diametral expansion that goes with it, and a demountable mechanical strain gauge measures strain between fixed points on a structure or a large specimen.
Three questions. What gauge length does each use, and does it match your standard - the gauge length is part of the measurement, not a convenience. How is the instrument clamped to the specimen, and does the clamping mark or restrain it. And - the practical one that costs money - is the instrument removed before the specimen is loaded to failure? A cylinder failing with a compressometer attached will damage it, so the method normally loads to a fraction of the expected strength for the modulus determination, unloads, removes the instrument and then takes the specimen to failure. Ask us for the procedure with the instrument, and budget for the spare parts that get broken when it is not followed.
The air entrainment meters measure the air content of fresh concrete, which matters wherever concrete will freeze: entrained air gives the water somewhere to go when it expands. The pressure method is the usual one, and it needs calibrating with water before use and a correction for the aggregate. Ask which method the meter implements, what the calibration procedure is and how often it should be repeated.
The three-cell permeability apparatus addresses durability from the other direction - how readily water passes through hardened concrete, which governs how quickly chlorides and carbonation reach the reinforcement. Ask what pressure it applies, how flow or penetration is measured, how long a determination takes and what specimen size it accepts. For a department teaching durability rather than just strength, this and the air meter are the two instruments worth having beyond the compression machine.
The standard and version each item is built to; for workability apparatus, the consistency range it suits; mould dimensional tolerance, face flatness and whether a certificate is supplied; curing tank capacity in specimens, heater, thermostat tolerance, circulation and temperature recording; compression machine capacity, accuracy class, verification certificate, rate-of-loading control and platen and spherical seat condition; gauge lengths and clamping for the deformation instruments, with the loading procedure and spare parts; air meter method and calibration procedure; permeability pressure, measurement method and test duration; consumables with prices - capping compound, moulds, gaskets, filter media; services at the position including water and drainage; mass, footprint and floor loading; nominal voltage, frequency and plug pattern; and the warranty, commissioning and local service position. For any certification stated here, contact us for the latest copies of the relevant certificates before you tender on it.
Related ranges: cement testing equipments for the binder itself, soil testing machines and bitumen testing instruments for the rest of a materials laboratory, civil engineering lab equipments for soil strength testing and surveying, and universal testing machines for the load frames. The full set is listed under testing machines. For a quotation, tell us the destination country, the standards your customers name, the consistency of the mixes you test and whether you need modulus of elasticity as well as strength.
It depends on the consistency you test. Slump is the everyday site test for medium workability, but a very stiff mix barely slumps and a flowing mix collapses, so it stops discriminating at both ends. The Vee-Bee consistometer takes over for stiff and very stiff mixes and gives a time rather than a height. Compaction factor suits low to medium workability and fails on very wet mixes. A precast laboratory testing stiff mixes needs Vee-Bee, a ready-mix site laboratory needs slump, and a teaching laboratory benefits from slump and compaction factor together, so students see two methods rank mixes differently.
Because standard compressive strength is defined on specimens cured in water at a controlled temperature for a stated age, which makes the tank a measuring instrument in all but name. A twenty-eight day result on specimens cured in a bucket at room temperature is not a standard result. Ask for capacity in specimens rather than litres, the heater and thermostat with its control tolerance, whether temperature is recorded, whether water is circulated - a still tank stratifies, so bottom and top specimens cure differently - the tank material and corrosion resistance, and how it is drained and cleaned. Metal and plastic tanks are both listed.
Only if your standard calls for sulphur capping. The melting pot in this listing melts capping compound, the traditional way of giving a cylinder plane parallel ends, which matters because a specimen without true ends fails early and under-reports the concrete. Two cautions: molten capping compound is hot and gives off fumes, so it needs extraction and a written procedure; and ground ends or neoprene pad caps are the modern alternatives that avoid the hot work entirely. Ask which method your standard permits before buying the pot, and if you do buy it, budget capping compound as a consumable.
Three quiet faults are named on this page. The rate of loading is part of the method: loading faster than specified gives a higher strength, and on the analogue compression testing machine the rate is set by an operator watching a gauge, so ask how it is controlled and verified. The upper platen's spherical seat must move freely; if it is stiff with age, rust or paint, the specimen loads unevenly and reads low. And moulds wear and distort, so ask about dimensional tolerance, face flatness and how moulds are checked in service. Full machine details sit in our universal testing machines listing.
Follow the loading procedure. The longitudinal compressometer measures axial shortening, the lateral extensometer measures diametral expansion, and together they give modulus of elasticity and Poisson ratio. The method normally loads the cylinder to a fraction of its expected strength, unloads, removes the instrument and only then takes the specimen to failure - a cylinder failing with a compressometer attached will damage it. Also ask what gauge length each instrument uses and whether it matches your standard, and how it clamps without marking or restraining the specimen. Ask us for the procedure with the instrument, and budget for spare parts.
Beyond the compression machine, the page points to two. The air entrainment meter measures the air content of fresh concrete, which matters wherever concrete will freeze, because entrained air gives expanding water somewhere to go; the usual pressure method needs calibrating with water before use and a correction for the aggregate, so ask which method the meter uses and how often calibration is repeated. The three-cell permeability apparatus shows how readily water passes through hardened concrete, which governs how fast chlorides and carbonation reach reinforcement; ask the applied pressure, how flow is measured, test duration and accepted specimen size.
Ray Export is a manufacturer and exporter of laboratory, scientific and educational equipment based at Plot No. 449, HSIIDC Industrial Area, Saha, Ambala, Haryana 133104, India. Enquiries: [email protected], +91-9817319615.
Written by Palak Mall, Senior Content Writer. Technically reviewed by Arvind Kumar, Lab Equipment Specialist, 12+ years in laboratory and testing instrumentation. Last updated: 17 October 2026.
Specifications for each item - the standard and version it is built to, consistency range, mould tolerance, tank control tolerance, machine capacity and loading-rate control - are confirmed in writing on the quotation. For verification or calibration certificates, standards or approvals, contact us for the latest copies of the relevant certificates. No price is quoted on this page. Listing note: the page gives the range only as about forty items from CTM-0001 onwards with no closing code; the sand absorption cone with tamper is a fine aggregate test grouped under fresh concrete; and the Southard viscometer is listed but not described.
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