TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Uzoegbo, H.C. A1 - Bella, N. A1 - Rongai, G. A1 - Kühne, Hans-Carsten A1 - Diergardt, T. T1 - Cement testing in Africa - Conclusions from the first africa-wide proficiency testing scheme N2 - African cement infrastructure is quite complex. Apart from Northern Africa and South Africa in particular, cement plants are scarce resulting in highly unstable cement pricing. Clinker and cement are imported from overseas, e.g. from Portugal, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China. Imports are typically determined by the lowest price, and as a result the countries of origin of products vary regularly yielding large scatter of properties. Quality control and a good quality infrastructure are thus of utmost importance for the safety of the populace, an issue, which is actually often neglected. With funding of the German Metrology Institute (PTB) and support of the SPIN project, a proficiency testing scheme for cement testing according to EN 196 was set up for African laboratories. Proficiency testing schemes, also called round robins, are inter-laboratory performance comparisons allowing participants to evaluate themselves against pre-established criteria. They are a powerful tool to help laboratories improve their performance as well as demonstrate their competences to accreditation bodies or customers. 26 laboratories from 20 nations, 18 of which from Africa, participated. The BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing acted as coordinator and provider of the scheme. The aim of the round robin was to interpret the submitted data further beyond the pure statistic analyses. The data provided a positive picture of the performance of the participants in general, but it also exhibited a number of technical fields that need improvement. The paper provides the general results of the scheme and analyses identified strengths and weak points based on the submitted and non submitted data as well as on discrepancies from the EN 196 procedures during measurements. The application of EN standards for material testing is critically discussed and since quality infrastructure is also always an issue between industrial and political stakeholders, suggestions for the mitigation of the identified shared problems are given. KW - Round robin KW - Quality control KW - Cement testing KW - Proficiency testing PY - 2013 SN - 2225-0514 SN - 2224-5790 VL - 4 SP - 54 EP - 58 PB - International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works CY - New York, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-29933 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram T1 - Start of round-robin test for cement testing in Africa / Start für Ringversuch zur Zementprüfung in Afrika KW - Africa KW - Cement KW - Concrete KW - Proficiency testing KW - Round robin PY - 2012 UR - http://www.bft-international.com/de/artikel/bft_2012-08_Start_fuer_Ringversuch_zur_Zementpruefung_in_Afrika_1468912.html SN - 0373-4331 SN - 1865-6528 N1 - Sprachen: Deutsch/Englisch - Languages: German/English VL - 08 SP - 54 EP - 55 PB - Bauverl. CY - Gütersloh AN - OPUS4-26429 LA - mul AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Priebe, Nsesheye Susan A1 - Kühne, Hans-Carsten T1 - Optimising the rheology of concrete for sub-Saharan African boundary conditions / Optimierung der Rheologie von Beton für Rahmenbedingungen in Subsahara-Afrika N2 - Die Zement- und Betontechnologie in Afrika hat keine ähnlich lange Tradition wie viele Länder der nördlichen Hemisphäre. In vielen afrikanischen Ländern ist die Bauindustrie jedoch von Wachstum gekennzeichnet und hier werden Zement und Beton zukünftig zweifelsohne an Bedeutung gewinnen. KW - Africa KW - Cement KW - Concrete KW - Proficiency testing KW - Round robin PY - 2012 SN - 0373-4331 SN - 1865-6528 N1 - Sprachen: Deutsch/Englisch - Languages: German/English N1 - Geburtsname von Priebe, Nsesheye Susan: Msinjili, N. S. - Birth name of Priebe, Nsesheye Susan: Msinjili, N. S. VL - 78 IS - 09 SP - 60 EP - 67 PB - Bauverl. CY - Gütersloh AN - OPUS4-27338 LA - mul AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -