Faculty

1.0

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

INTRODUCTION

Setting time refers to the stiffening of the cement paste or the change from a plastic state to a solid
state. The setting time refers to changes of the cement paste from fluid to rigid. Setting is usually
described in two levels which is the initial setting and final setting time. Initial setting is the
beginning of the noticeable stiffening in the cement paste and it is corresponding to the rapid rise
temperature, wheareas final setting time refers to completion of setting which correspond to the
peak temperature in the cement paste. As the volume of the gel increases, the stiffening of cement
paste increases and the stage at which is completed, the final hardening process begins. The setting
time can be determined with the Vicat apparatus. The Vicat test requires sample of cement using
the amount of water required for normal consistency according to a specified procedure.

2.0

OBJECTIVE
2.1

To determine the amount of water required for normal consistensy according to a specific
procedure

3.0

EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

EQUIPMENT

i)

Analytical balanve

ii) Measuring cylinder

2.2

MATERIAL

i) 3500g cement
(8 times tyring)

iii) Vicat set

Ladle

vi) Vicat set Time Apparatus

Page | 1

Faculty

4.0

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

PROCEDURE

4.1

400g of cement was deliberated and mixed while 120ml of water was infused slowly

4.2

The cement was mixed using two ladle then the cement was putted in the vicat mould.

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Faculty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

4.3

The cement surface was flattening once using the ladle.

4.4

The 10mm diameter of plunger was degrading so that surface was touched before its free.

4.5

The amount of penetration was measured. The penetration process was repeated with the
different water label which 125ml, 130ml, 135ml and so on until the consistent standard
cement paste was yielded when the vicat plunger was penetrate at the 5mm from the base
mould.

4.6

The graph of water against penetration plunger level from the base of mould was plotted

4.7

Standard consistent was defined as the percentage of water which can yield the cement paste
with locality of plunger at 5mm from the vicat mould

4.8

The value of standard consistent , temperature and the air moisture while the experiment

4.9

The factors that influence the exactly result was discussed

Page | 3

Faculty

5.0

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

RESULT

No.

6.0

Cement

Water

Percentage

Vicat Reading

Penetration

Weight(g)

Amount (ml)

Water (%)

Initial

Final

(mm)

400

120

30.00

40.0

39.0

1.0

400

125

31.25

40.0

37.0

3.0

400

130

32.50

40.0

35.5

4.5

400

135

33.75

40.0

33.0

7.0

400

140

35.00

40.0

30.0

10.0

400

145

36.25

40.0

16.0

24.0

400

150

37.50

40.0

6.0

34.0

400

155

38.75

40.0

2.5

37.5

ANALYSIS OF DATA

6.1

The percentage of water was calculated by using the formula:

6.2

The value of penetration was calculated by using the formula:

Page | 4

Faculty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

Graph of Percentage Water against Penetration Level

38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Penetration (mm)

6.3

From the graph above, it can be seen that as percentage of water in cement increases, the
value of penetration increases.

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Faculty

7.0

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

PRECAUTIONS

7.1

While measuring the volume of water using the measuring cylinder and taking the value of
initial and final vicat reading, our eye level is made sure to be perpendicular to the scale to
avoid parallax error.

7.2

8.0

For every trial using the vicat apparatus, the force acted upon the mould should be the same.

DISCUSSION

There are a few factors that can influence the result.

8.1

Valid analysis

As in the other forms of analysis described above, valid analysis of stratified means requires careful
use of weights. Because appropriate weighting needs to take into account stratified variances as
well, this definitely goes beyond the scope of what can be discussed here.

8.2

Mortar rheology

The rheological properties of mortars containing different types of fine aggregates, i.e., fine
aggregates from crushed bedrock, have been evaluated with a viscometer suited for coarse particle
suspensions. The fine aggregates displayed different grading curves, particles shapes, specific
surface area of the fines fraction and SE-values. The mortars were analysed both with and without
addition of a superplasticizer and at different paste volumes by utilising an artificial paste. In one
set of experiment the grading curve of a few selected fine aggregates were standardized, i.e., made
similar, in order to study the influence of the particle shape. Furthermore, the amount of fines was
varied in order to study their influence on the rheology of the mortar.

8.3

Influence of different fine aggregates

Page | 6

Faculty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

The results clearly show that the properties of the fine aggregate strongly influence the yield stress
and plastic viscosity of the mortars. These results are consistent with the results found in the
concrete tests within the research programme, where the slump value of the concretes varied
between 5 mm and 200 mm depending on the used fine aggregate. In the mortar tests the yield
stress and plastic viscosity varied in the range between 96 Pa and 550 Pa and 1.3 Pa s and 8.8 Pa s,
respectively. It can also be concluded that the mortars with fine aggregate from crushed bedrock
generally display both higher yield stress and plastic viscosity than the reference mortar with the
natural fine aggregate. This is a result of both the higher amount of fines and the more irregular
particle shape shown by the crushed fine aggregate. The strong influence of the fine aggregate
properties on mortar rheology where the water demand varied over a twofold range depending on
the properties of the fine aggregate. The variation in water demand was primarily related to the
variations in the surface area of the fines fraction. According to the same author an increase in
fineness of the fine aggregate (sand) mainly results in an increased yield stress, while an increased
fine aggregate content results in both a higher yield stress and plastic viscosity of the mortar.

However, since the fine aggregates used in this investigation displayed large variations in the
amount of fines, specific surface area and particle shape it is difficult to find clear correlations
between these parameters and the rheological properties of the mortar. Regarding the SE-value, it
was not possible to find any correlation between the rheological parameters and SE-values above
75%. But for lower SE-values, i.e., 75%, a significant increase in the yield stresses and, thus, water
demand could be observed with decreasing SE-values. In Saudi Arabia the SE-value must be 75%
in order to fulfil the regulations for fine aggregate used in concrete for bridges and road
constructions.

The relationship between the SE-values and the plastic viscosity was more unclear. However, all
the crushed fine aggregates contained relatively large amounts of fines and consequently have a
larger surface area which needs to be wet in order for the mortar to be workable. The large amounts
of badly shaped fines are believed to be the major reason for the higher water demand of the
mortars with crushed fine aggregates, i.e., higher yield stress and plastic viscosity.

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Faculty

8.4

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

Influence of particle shape

In order to evaluate the influence of particle shape on the rheological properties of mortars the
grading curves of a few fine aggregates were standardized. This was done by combining different
fractions of the fine aggregates to a grading curve similar to the one for fine aggregate. The
rheological parameters yield stress and plastic viscosity of mortars containing the fine aggregates
with standardized grading curve.

The results show that the major difference between the mortars with glaciofluvial fine aggregate
(N1) and the crushed fine aggregate can be seen in the plastic viscosity. The difference can be
considered to be a particle shape effect, i.e., the higher viscosity of the mortars with crushed fine
aggregate is a result of increased particle interference between non-spherical particles. It is well
known that any deviation from a spherical particle shape results in an increase in viscosity if the
measurement is done at the same phase volume [15]. A correlation analysis between the plastic
viscosity and the different. However, how these differences in plastic viscosity of the mortar affect
the workability and rheology of concrete is a subject of further research.

8.5

Influence of fines content

Moderate amounts of fines generally have a positive effect on the properties of concrete, i.e.,
consistency and workability. Increasing amounts of fines increase the required amount of water to
wet the particle surfaces adequately and to maintain a specified workability.

The effect of the fines content on the rheological properties. Consequently, above this fines content
the water demand of the mortars increases due to the change in the total surface area of the fine
aggregates.

The effect of the fines content on the plastic viscosity of the mortars appears to be more
complicated than the effect on the yield stress. For the mortar with fine aggregate virtually no

Page | 8

Faculty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

effect could be observed within the studied range of fines content. For the mortars with crushed fine
aggregates the results indicate that the plastic viscosity pass through a minimum at a certain fines
content, which seems to differ with the type of fine aggregate.

Similar effects have been observed for concrete, where the fines content at which the viscosity
passes through the minimum has been found to depend on both the w/c ratio and the aggregate to
cement ratio (a/c ratio). This suggests that the effect found in the mortars would be more
pronounced at a higher a/c ratio.

However, the phenomenon could be explained in terms of particle friction. At the lowest fines
content there is not enough fines to fill out the voids between the larger aggregate particles which
results in a high internal friction and thus a high viscosity. As the fines content increases the friction
between the larger aggregate particles decreases and consequently, the viscosity is reduced. When
the fines content increase even further the plastic viscosity may increase due to the increase in the
total surface area of the fine aggregates. The magnitude of the increase might also depend on the
particle shape of the fines. The fines which resulted in the most significant increase in plastic
viscosity displayed the lowest f-aspect value and also contain the highest amount of biotite.

8.6

Influence of paste volume

Concrete with crushed aggregate often requires slightly higher cement content in order to reach the
same workability as a concrete with glaciofluvial aggregate. The effect of increased cement content
at constant w/c-ratio on the rheological properties of mortars. In this experiment an artificial paste
was used instead of a real cement paste in order to simulate the effect of increased cement content.
The results show that the importance of the fine aggregate characteristics, i.e., the shape, specific
surface area and grading curve, becomes less important with increasing paste volume. This is a
consequence of reduced particle interference with the increased interparticle distance and the
simultaneous reduction of the aggregate volume. Similar results have been reported for micromortar
and concrete. The results also show that for some of the mortars, a slight increase of the paste
volume is sufficient to bring down the yield stress to the same level as the initial value of the mortar

Page | 9

Faculty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :

Structure and Materials Engineering

Title

Vicat Test

with fine aggregate, while others require a higher paste volume than 62%. The required increase in
paste volume in order to bring down the plastic viscosity seems to be slightly larger.

9.0

CONCLUSION

From the graph that had plotted, the percentage of water for normal consistency for the given
sample of cement is 38.75%.

10.0

REFERENCES
Neil Jackson, Ravindra K .Dhir: Civil Engineering Materials, Fifth Edition, Palgrave,1996

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