Crushing Strength Test:

For conducting this test, specimen of size 40 × 40 × 40 mm is build from parent stone. Then finely the sides are dressed and placed in water for three days. The saturated specimen is provided having a layer of plaster of Paris on its bottom and top surfaces to get even surface so that load applied is uniformly distributed. Uniform load distribution may be obtained satisfactorily by providing a pair of five mm thick plywood instead of by using plaster of Paris layer also. The specimen so placed in the compression testing machine is loaded at the rate of 14 N/mm² /minute. The crushing load is noted. Then crushing strength is equivalent to the crushing load divided by the area over which the load is applied. At least 3 specimens should be tested and the average will be taken as crushing strength.