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

This video shows the behaviour of a concrete cylinder in compression. The concrete in this sample is made using Ordinary Portland Cement.

Tests such as these are a standard way of testing the compressive strength of concrete. The test shows:

• That concrete is a brittle material
• The mechanism of brittle failure
• The ultimate strength of this type of concrete

Students can use the information in the video to calculate the strength of this sample. This test is the standard test for measuring concrete strength.

To compare the compressive behaviour of this sample with other types of cylinders, see the following videos featured in this section:

• Cylinder (high-strength concrete) – compression failure
• Cylinder (high strength cement) – compression failure

To compare the compressive and tensile strength of concrete see the following video featured in this section:

• Brazilian test – tensile failure of concrete

Download Data for this Test

Download the datasheet for this demonstration:

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