Produced with funding from CONSTRUCT and filmed at Imperial College London.

This video shows the behaviour of a high-strength cement cylinder in compression. This cylinder is made using grade 52.5 cement.

Tests such as this one are one of the standard ways of testing the compressive strength of a brittle material. The test demonstrates:

• That cement is a brittle material
• That cement has a high compressive strength
• The mechanism of brittle failure
• The difference between the behaviour of cement and concrete

Students can use the information provided in the video to calculate the ultimate strength of this testing sample.

Students should compare the behaviour of this high-strength cement cylinder with the behaviour of a high-strength concrete cylinder.

Download the datasheet for this demonstration:

• Compressive behaviour of a high-strength cement cylinder (PDF, opens in new tab)