PROPERTIES OF CEMENT

Physical properties of cement

The cement to be used in construction must have certain given qualities in order to play its part
effectively in a structure.

When these properties lie within a certain range, the engineer is confident that in most of the
cases the cement performance will be satisfactory.

 Fineness
 Setting time
 Soundness
 Compressive strength
 Standard sand
 Heat of Hydration
 Specific Gravity
 Hydration of Cement
 Water Requirement for Hydration

Fineness

The fineness of cement is a measure of the size of particles of cement and is expressed in terms
of the specific surface of the cement.

It is an important factor in determining the rate of gain of strength of cement and uniformity of
quality.

For a given weight of cement, the surface area is more for fine cement than for coarse cement.

The finer the cement, the higher is the rate of hydration, as more surface area is available for a
chemical reaction.

The fineness of cement is determined by

i. Sieve test; Not often in used

 ii. Blains’s air permeability test : It is used to fine the specific surface which is expressed as
the total surface area in Sq.cm/g

CONSISTENCY TEST ON CEMENT

The test is conducted to find the setting time of cement using a standard consistency test.

Cement when mixed with water forms paste which gradually becomes less plastic, and finally a
hard mass is obtained.

In this process of setting a stage reached when the cement paste is sufficiently rigid to withstand
a definite amount of pressure. The time to reach this stage is termed setting time. The setting
time divides into two parts, namely, the initial and the final setting times

Apparatus – Vicat’s apparatus

Vicat’s apparatus is used to determine the initial and the final setting time of cement.

i. Initial setting time: This is the time taken for a needle of 1mm to penetrate (33 – 35)mm
paste depth after 3minutes of mixing cement and water
ii. Final setting time: This is the time at which the needle does not penetrate more than
0.5mm after the paste has attained hardness

SOUNDNESS TEST OF CEMENT

It is the ability of a hardened cement paste to retain its volume after setting.

Apparatus: Le Chatelier’s apparatus is used to conduct this test

Le Chatelier’s apparatus is used to detect the presence of uncombined lime and magnesia in
cement.

The unsoundness of cement is cause by the undesirable expansion of some of its constituents,
sometimes after setting.

The large change in volume accompanying expansion results in disintegration and severe
cracking. The unsoundness is due to the presence of free lime and magnesia in the cement.

NOTE: free lime and magnesia causes cracks and expansion on walls
The unsoundness may reduce by

 Limiting the MgO content to less than 0.5%.

 Fine griding.
 Allowing the cement to aerate for several days.
 Thorough mixing.

STRENGTH OF CEMENT

This is also called the compressive strength of concrete. The strength is determine base on the
specific number of days ( 3days, 7days, 14days and 28days strength).

Heat of Hydration

Where an amount of water is added to cement, it liberates a considerable amount of heat. This
liberation of heat is called the heat of hydration.(Exothermic chemical reaction between the
cement and water)

The study and control of the heat of hydration are important for the construction of concrete
dams and other mass concrete construction.

The heat of hydration is measure in calories using calorimeter in gram of joules per gram. The
heat of hydration depends upon the chemical composition of the cement.

For ordinary portland cement, the heat of hydration is of the order of 120 cal/gm or 500 joule’s
gram.

About 50% of the total heat liberates between 1 and 3 days, about 75% in 7 days, and 83 to 91%
in six months.

It is estimated that about 120 calories of heat are generated in the hydration of 1 gm of cement.

When concrete is a poor conductor of heat and it acts as an insulator. Hydration results in a large
rise in temperature in the interior of mass concrete.

The exterior of mass concrete loses heat. This establishes a steep temperature gradient. During
subsequent colling, microcracking of the interior takes place which leads to a loss in the
durability of the hardened concrete mass.
TENSILE STRENGTH OF CEMENT

This test is carried out by a cement-mortar briquette in a tensile testing machine. A 1:3 cement-
sand with water content of 8% is mixed and moulded into the briquette in the mould. The
mixture is cured for 24hrs at a tempreture of 25oC and in an atmosphere of 90% relative
humidity.

The average strength for six briquettes tested after 3 & 7 days is recorded

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION TEST

Different tests are conducted to determine the amount of various constituents of cement. The
requirements are based on IS:269-1998. Is as follows

 The ratio of the percentage of alumina to that of iron oxide should not be less than 0.66
 Lime Saturation Factor (LSF): The ratio of the percentage of lime to that of alumina,
iron oxide and silica should not be less than 0.66 and not be greater than 1.02

 Total LOSS ON IGNITION: should not be greater than 4%

 TOTAL SULPHUR should not be greater than 2.75%
 WEIGHT OF INSOLUBLE RESIDUE should not be greater than 1.05%
 WEIGHT OF MAGNESIA should not be greater than 5%
Constituents of Ordinary Portland Cement
The principal raw materials used in the manufacture of Ordinary Portland Cement are:

1. Argillaceous or silicates of alumina in the form of clays and shales.

2. Calcareous or calcium carbonate, in the form of limestone, chalk and marl which is a
mixture of clay and calcium carbonate.

The ingredients are mixed in the proportion of about two parts of calcareous materials to one part
of argillaceous materials and then crushed and ground in ball mills in a dry state or mixed in wet
state. The dry powder or the wet slurry is then burnt in a rotary kiln at a temperature between
1400 degree C to 1500 degree C. the clinker obtained from the kiln is first cooled and then
passed on to ball mills where gypsum is added and it is ground to the requisite fineness
according to the class of product.

The chief chemical constituents of Portland cement are as follows:

Lime (CaO) 60 to 67%

Silica (SiO2) 17 to 25%
Alumina (Al2O3) 3 to 8%
Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 0.5 to 6%
Magnesia (MgO) 0.1 to 4%
Sulphur trioxide (SO3) 1 to 3%
Soda and/or Potash (Na2O+K2O) 0.5 to 1.3%
The above constituents forming the raw materials undergo chemical reactions during burning and
fusion, and combine to form the following compounds called BOGUE COMPOUNDS.
Compound Abbreviated designation
Tricalcium silicate (3CaO.SiO2) C3S
C2S
Dicalcium silicate (2CaO.SiO2)
C3A
Tricalcium aluminate (3CaO.Al2O3)

Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3) C4AF

The proportions of the above four compounds vary in the various Portland cements. Tricalcium
silicate and dicalcium silicates contribute most to the eventual strength. Initial setting of Portland
cement is due to tricalcium aluminate. Tricalcium silicate hydrates quickly and contributes more
to the early strength. The contribution of dicalcium silicate takes place after 7 days and may
continue for up to 1 year. Tricalcium aluminate hydrates quickly, generates much heat and makes
only a small contribution to the strength within the first 24 hours. Tetracalcium alumino-ferrite is
comparatively inactive. All the four compounds generate heat when mixed with water, the
aluminate generating the maximum heat and the dicalcium silicate generating the minimum. Due
to this, tricalcium aluminate is responsible for the most of the undesirable properties of concrete.
Cement having less C3A will have higher ultimate strength, less generation of heat and less
cracking. Table below gives the composition and percentage of found compounds for normal and
rapid hardening and low heat Portland cement.

Composition and compound content of Portland Cement:

Portland Cement Normal Rapid hardening Low heat

(a) Composition: Percent
Lime 63.1 64.5 60
Silica 20.6 20.7 22.5
Alumina 6.3 5.2 5.2
Iron Oxide 3.6 2.9 4.6
(b) Compound: Percent
C3S 40 50 25
C2S 30 21 35
C3A 11 9 6
C3AF 12 9 14
Ferric oxide

Aside from adding strength and hardness, iron oxide or ferric oxide is mainly responsible for the
color of the cement.

Free lime

Free lime, which sometimes present in cement, may cause expansion.

Alkalis

The amount of potassium oxide K2O and sodium oxide Na2O determine the alkali content of the
cement. Cement containing large amounts of alkali can cause some difficulty in regulating the
setting time of cement.

Alumina
Cement containing high alumina has the ability to withstand frigid temperatures since alumina is
chemical-resistant. It also quicken the setting time but weaken the cement.

Properties of Ordinary Portland Cement

Table 2 : Properties of OPC cement

Properties Values
Specific Gravity 3.12
Normal Consistency 29%
Initial Setting time 65min
Final Setting time 275 min
Fineness 330 kg/m2
Soundness 2.5mm
Bulk Density 830-1650 kg/m3
Manufacture of OPC cement
Majorly there are 5 steps involved in the manufacture of OPC cement,

1. Crushing and grinding of raw material

In the first step of the manufacture of cement, the raw materials are crushed and grinded into
small suitable size particles. There are 3 type of manufacture process of cement

 Dry Process
 Wet Process
 Semi wet Process

Crushing and grinding process varies depending upon the type of manufacturing process. For dry
process the raw materials are dried up before crushing.