Measurement of Modulus of Rupture (MoR) of Some Locally Available Tile Samples in Nigeria using a Developed MoR Testing Machine

Measurement of modulus of rupture (MoR) of brittle materials is one of the important tasks that must be carried out on the materials in order to predict their likelihood to fail under an applied load or force. Accurate determination of this property requires reliable and well-calibrated testing machines. Meanwhile, the machines with which MoR of materials can be measured are not readily available in our institutions and research laboratories in Nigeria. This paper therefore presents the design, construction, calibration, and performance evaluation of a Modulus of Rupture (MOR) testing machine intended to be used for measuring the flexural strength of some tile samples available locally in Nigeria. The developed machine comprises of sturdy metallic framework, arduino board (Atmega 328), a motorized loading system incorporated with standard load cell, load cell amplifier, dc motor, dc motor controlling unit, IR sensor, a 20x4 I2C liquid crystal display (LCD), switches, veroboard, connecting wires and automatic data acquisition unit. The constructed machine was tested, calibrated and used to measure the modulus of rupture of six different samples of tiles. Calibration results demonstrated excellent measurement accuracy, with a maximum percentage error of only ±0.20%, indicating that the load cell and force measurement system provide reliable and precise load measurements over the operating range of 500N. The measured modulus of rupture of the tile samples ranges from 32.13 MPa to 44.93 MPa for 3-point bending test method and 22.55 MPa to 29.00 for 4-point bending test method. The results of the measurements using 3-point bending test method are higher than those obtained using 4-point bending test method. The differences agree with the literatures on the relationship between the two methods. The successful construction of the modulus of rupture machine provides an affordable alternative for educational institutions and small-scale laboratories, facilitating effective material strength testing and research applications.

modulus, rupture, strength, machine, calibration, bending, tiles.

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