{"id":4655,"date":"2026-06-23T17:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/concrete-compression-test-en-12390-3-astm-c39\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:07","slug":"concrete-compression-test-en-12390-3-astm-c39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/concrete-compression-test-en-12390-3-astm-c39\/","title":{"rendered":"Concrete Compression Test (EN 12390-3 \/ ASTM C39): Method &#038; Apparatus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>concrete compression test<\/strong> is the primary measure of hardened concrete quality, determining the compressive strength used to verify mix design and structural acceptance.<\/p>\n<h2>What the Test Measures<\/h2>\n<p>Compressive strength is the maximum axial load a specimen carries divided by its cross-sectional area. EN 12390-3 uses 150 mm cubes (or cylinders); ASTM C39 uses cylinders. The result confirms whether concrete meets its specified characteristic strength class.<\/p>\n<h2>Apparatus Required<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Compression testing machine of adequate capacity and stiffness<\/li>\n<li>Cube\/cylinder moulds and a curing tank<\/li>\n<li>Capping or grinding equipment for cylinder ends<\/li>\n<li>Calibrated load and platen system<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>NL Scientific manufactures the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/product\/computerized-compression-machine-3000-kn-fully-automatic-touch-screen-display-2\/\">Computerized Compression Machine 3000 kN<\/a> and the full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/product-category\/concrete\/\">concrete testing range<\/a>, built to ASTM, EN, BS and AASHTO requirements with ISO\/IEC 17025 accredited calibration.<\/p>\n<h2>Test Procedure<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Cast and cure specimens under controlled conditions (commonly 28 days).<\/li>\n<li>Measure specimen dimensions and check the bearing faces are plane.<\/li>\n<li>Centre the specimen on the lower platen of the machine.<\/li>\n<li>Apply load at a steady rate (0.6 \u00b1 0.2 MPa\/s for EN 12390-3) without shock until failure.<\/li>\n<li>Record the maximum load and note the failure pattern.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Calculation &amp; Reporting<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Compressive strength f<sub>c<\/sub> = Maximum load &divide; Cross-sectional area<\/strong>, reported in MPa (N\/mm\u00b2). Report individual and mean strengths and the specimen age.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptance Criteria<\/h2>\n<p>Acceptance is judged against the specified characteristic strength class (e.g. C25\/30) using the conformity rules of EN 206 or the relevant code. Satisfactory failure patterns confirm a valid result.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<h3>Cube or cylinder \u2014 which is correct?<\/h3>\n<p>EN practice commonly uses 150 mm cubes; ASTM uses cylinders. They give different numerical strengths, so always report the specimen type and standard.<\/p>\n<h3>Why does loading rate matter?<\/h3>\n<p>Loading too fast overstates strength and too slow understates it. A controlled rate keeps results comparable; computerised machines hold the rate automatically.<\/p>\n<p><em>Need the right equipment for your laboratory?<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/contact-us\/\">Contact NL Scientific for a quotation<\/a> &mdash; Asia&#8217;s leading manufacturer of civil engineering and material testing equipment, shipping worldwide.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to run the concrete compressive strength test to EN 12390-3 and ASTM C39: specimens, loading rate, calculation and acceptance criteria.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nlscientific.com\/en_ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}