Category: Building Stones

The advantages of artificial stones are as follows:

Different types of materials are combined, and a variety of stones are manufactured. Some of the types of artificial stones are discussed below. 1. Cement Concrete Blocks These are made using cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water similar to that of concrete. They may be cast-in-situ or cast-in-moulds in the required shapes. Sometimes they…

Artificial stones are known as cast stones or reconstructed stones. In many localities natural stones are not available at a reasonable cost. In such cases, these stones are useful. However, because of their high cost, they can not be treated as a substitute for natural stones.

This test is conducted for the use of stones in regions where the temperature goes below the freezing point. The test consists of keeping a specimen of stone in water for 24 hours and then placing it in a freezing mixture at –12°C for 24 hours. The specimen is taken out and thawed (warmed) to…

This is a geologist’s test. In this test, a thin section of a stone is taken and placed on a microscope to study the following properties:

This test is different from the field hardness test and the attrition test. This test is carried out in Dorry’s testing machine. A cylinder of 25 mm of the stone is rubbed against a steel disc spindled with coarse sand. The specimen is subjected to a pressure of 1.25 kg/mm2. After 1000 revolutions in the…

The toughness of a stone is determined by the impact test using an impact testing machine. Here, a stone specimen of 25 mm diameter and 25 mm height is placed on the machine. A steel hammer of 2 kg weight is allowed to fall down axially on the cylinder from 1 cm height for the…

This test is performed on the stones which are to be subjected to compressive stress. In this test a cubical specimen of 40 mm side is tested in a compression testing machine. The maximum load at which the stone specimen fails by crushing is noted. Then the crushing strength of the stone is the ratio…

This is also called the abrasion test. This test is performed to determine the percentage of the wear of stones that are used for road construction. This test is carried out in Deval’s Attrition Testing Machine. In this test, a certain quantity of stone is placed on Deval’s Attrition cylinder. The cylinder is rotated about…

Laboratory tests on stones comprise of the attrition test, the crushing test, the freezing and thawing test, the hardness test, the impact test and the microscopic test.