What are concrete cube molds?
Cube molds are basically used for the preparation of the various test pieces of concrete. These cube molds are found in different sizes and also of different standards. You have Indian and British standards in selecting cube molds. Some of its features are:
~ They are useful for observing the strength of Portland Cement or to examine the lime strength.
~ Also, there are certain shrinkages during winters so to make the concrete shrinkage free.
But these cube molds are usually very helpful when you have to do the compression testing done. This is done for getting high standard concrete materials.
The standard size of a concrete cube is 150 mm and these will not be suitable for concrete aggregate size of 40mm. The molds need to adhere with a certain policy to be covered with a certain dimensions and parallelism. The mold has a certain base and then there is a separate metal plate with springs or with clamps. Also these are prepared in a particular way. So here is the way of how they are prepared.
First, you need to make sure there is not such piece of mortar which is hardened or has a bit of dirt on the faces of it. This is done to prevent the sections from fitting perfectly.
And then you make sure the faces should be very thinly coated with a particular oil used for molds. This is done so that there is no leakage while filling the mold. Also, a same oil film or a layer must be given between the contact surfaces of the bottom side of the mold.
The inside of the mold should also be coated with oil so as to avoid any kind of concrete to stick to it. The molds must be held very firmly on the base plates so as to conceal the concrete.