cement General Natural cement is obtained by burning and crushing the stones containing clay, carbonate of lime and

some amount of magnesia. It is brown in colour and sets very quickly after addition of water. It is not so strong as artificial cement. Artificial cement is obtained by burning at a high temperature a mixture of calcareous and argillaceous materials and grinding the burnt material to a fine powder adding some gypsum. Various verities of artificial cement are available nowadays for use in the construction. 1. Composition of ordinary cement 2. Varieties of cement 3. Manufacturing process of cement by Wet process 4. The Requirement of Good Portland cement 5. The uses of Cement 6. Tests of cements 7. Storage of cement 8. Admixtures Composition of ordinary cement. Ordinary cement contains two basic ingredients, namely argillaceous and calcareous. In argillaceous materials, clay predominates and in calcareous materials, calcium carbonate predominates. A typical chemical analysis of a good ordinary cement is as follows. Ingredient percentage Lime 62 Silica 22 Alumina 5 Calcium sulphate 4 Iron oxide 3 Magnesia 2 Alkalies 1 Sulphur 1 Total 100 Lime: Important ingredient which is responsible for the strength characteristics of the cement.

Silica:

Responsible for imparting strength to the Cement.

Alumina

Responsible for the setting action of the cement. prolongs the initial setting action of the cement.

Calcium sulphate or gypsum: Iron oxide: cement.

Imparts colour to the cement. Helps to increase strength and hardness of

Magnesium oxide: Imparts strength and hardness (Sulphur Soda Potash) present in raw materials which are mostly driven out by the flue gases during burning. varieties of cement. 1. Acid resisting cement 2. Blast furnace cement 3. Coloured cement 4. Expanding cement 5. High Alumina cement 6. Hydrophobic cement 7. Low Heat cement 8. Pozzolana cement 9. Quick setting cement 10. Rapid hardening cement 11. Sulphate resisting cement 12. White cement Acid resisting cement

In this acid resistant aggregates such as quartz, quartziites etc, are used. It is used for acid-resistant and heat-resistant coatings of installations of chemical industry.

Blast furnace cement

For this cement slag as obtained from blast furnace is used. Its strength in early days is less hence it requires longer cutting period. It proves to be economical as slag which is a waste product is use its manufactures.

Coloured Cement

Cement of desired colour may be obtained by intimately mixing 5% to 10% mineral pigments with ordinary cement. Chromium oxide gives green colour. Cobalt imparts blue colour. Iron oxide in different proportions gives brown, red or yellow colour . Manganese dioxide is used to produce black or brown Coloured cement. Coloured cement are widely used for finishing of floors, external surfaces etc. Expanding Cement This type of cement is produced by adding an expanding medium like sulpho-aluminate and a stabilizing agent to ordinary cement. Hence this cement expands whereas other cements shink. Expanding cement is used for the construction of water retaining structures and also for repairing the damaged concrete surfaces. High alumina Cement This type of cement is produced by grinding clinkers formed by calcining, bauxite and lime. Initial setting time is more than 31/2 hours. Final setting time is about 5 hours. It therefore allows more time

for mixing and placing operation. Its strength after 1 day is about 40 N/mm2 and that after 3 days is about 50N/mm2 and it is costly. It sets quickly and attains higher ultimate strength in short period. It can not be used in mass construction as it evolves great heat. Hydrophobic Cement This type of cement contains admixtures which decrease the wetting ability of cement grains. The usual hydrophobic admixtures are acidol, naphthenesoap, oxidised petroleum etc. These substances form a thin film around cement grains. The fine pores in concrete are uniformly distributed and thus frost resistance and water resistance of such concrete are considerably increased. Low heat Cement Considerable heat is produced during setting action of cement. In order to reduce the amount of heat this type of cement is used. It contains lower percentage of tricalcium aluminate and higher percentage of dicalcium silicate. This cement possesses less compressive strength. Initial setting time is about one hour and final setting time is about 10 hours. It is mainly used for mass concrete work. Pozzolana cement Pozzolana is a volcanic powder. It is cheap, attains compressive strength with age, offers great resistance to expansion and possesses lighter tensile strength. It is used to prepare mass concrete of lean mix works and for laying concrete under water.

Quick setting cement This cement is produced by adding a small percentage of aluminium sulphate and by finally grinding the cement. The setting action starts within five minutes after addition of water and it becomes hard like stone in less than 30 minutes or so. This cement is used to lay concrete under static water or running water. Rapid hardening cement Initial and final setting times of this cement is the same as those of ordinary cement but it attains high strength in early days. It is because of the increased lime content very fine grinding and burning at high temperature. Its compressive strength at the end of the day is about 1.15N/mm2 and that at the end of three days is about 2.1 N/mm2. Structural members constructed with this cement may be loaded earlier. Sulphate resisting cement In this cement percentage of tricalcium aluminate is kept below 5 to 6 percent and it results in the increase in resisting power against sulphates. This cement is used for structures which are likely to be damaged by severe alkaline conditions such as canal linings culverts, syphons etc. White cement This cement is just a variety of ordinary cement and it is prepared from such raw materials which are

practically free from colouring oxides of iron manganese or chromium. It is white in colour and it is used for floor finish, plaster work, ornamental work etc. It should be stored in closed container. It is more costly than ordinary cement. Manufacturing of cement by wet process Portland cement can be manufactured by two methods. Dry Process Wet process The two process are essentially alike except for the difference that the raw materials are grinding, and mixed and fed into the burning kiln in a day condition in the dry process, whereas they are in the form of a slurry in the wet process when they go through these operations in the manufacture of Portland cement. Dry process: This is usually employed where the raw material is hard such as cement rock or blast furnace slag. Calculated proportions of fully dried raw materials are mixed and then pulverized in tube mills to such fineness that 90-95% of it Passes through a 100 mesh sieve. The finely ground mixture is stored in big silos and then fed into the kiln for burning. Wet process: This wet process is generally used if the raw materials available are soft. e.g. Chalk and clay. Wet process ensures a more efficient control of the composition of raw material in the cement and as such it is used almost universally. In this process, the raw materials are crushed and then

ground with 30% to 40% water in ball mills & a tube mills. The slurry thus produced is stored in separate tanks which are equipped with agitators. From these tanks, the material in the form of slurry is taken in fixed proportions to the mixing tank. Samples at regular time intervals are drawn from the tank and analyzed. If the slurry is not found to have required proportions, it is corrected by adding more of the deficient material. Slurry from the mixing tank is fed into the burning kiln. Burning. The dry mixture (or fine slurry) is burnt in a long rotary kiln lined inside with refractory bricks. The rotary kiln is a mild sheet steel cylinder. 1.8 to 3.6m in diameter and 30 to 152m in length with a slight inclination of 1 in 20 to 30 towards the discharging end. The kiln is supported on rollers such that it can rotate about its own axis at the rate of one revolution per minute. The fuel used is dry pulverized coal, oil, or gas. As the charge descends down the cylinder, it meets successively higher temperatures in drying, per-heating and burning zones. In the drying zone where the temperature is (450-500F) the water from the cold slurry evaporates. As the dried slurry descends towards the burning zone, its chalk content is converted into a small lumps called nodules. The nodules then pass down through zones of rising temperature and finally they are subjected to the intense heat in the burning zone. The temperature in the burning zone is as high as 2800 deg. F. In the burning zone lime and clay in the slurry get chemically fused to form hard balls of Portland

cement called clinker. The clinker has a glassy structure and unless the iron content is very low, is dark brown in colour. The clinker, as it comes out of the burning zone, is white hot, and is cooled by passing it through cylinders at the lower end of the kiln called coolers. The coolers are of 6m length. The cold air draught is used in the coolers for cooling the clinkers. The cooled clinker is delivered to the clinker storage bins by means of conveyor belt. Grinding: The grinding of the clinker is done first in ball mill to have preliminary grinding and then in tube mill for fine grinding. The grinding mill contain graded steel balls which grind the clinker to a fine powder. Finally powdered clinker set very rapidly and as such some retarding agent must be used to control the setting time of cement. The standard retarder used for this purpose is gypsum. Gypsum is added in small quantity usually 1 to 3 % during grinding to lengthen the setting time of cement to suit different conditions. The ground cement as it emerges from the grinding mills is forced by compressed air, into the silos or bins for storage. From the silos, cement is packed in to jute bags by packing machine. Each bag of cement contain 50 kg of cement. Requirement of Good Portland Cement Initial setting time should be not less than 30 minutes. Final setting time should be not more than 10 hours. Compressive strength after 3 days not less than 16 N/mm2 .

Compressive strength after 7 days not less than 22 N/mm2 . Tensile strength after 3 days 2 N/mm2 . Tensile strength after 7 days 2.5 N/mm2 . By I.S.90 micron sieve residue by weight should not exceed 10%. By Le-chatelier method expansion not more than 19mm. Uses of cement At present cement widely used in construction of various engineering structures. Following are various possible uses of cement. Cement mortar for masonry work, plaster, pointing etc. Concrete for laying floors, roofs and constructing lintels, beams, weather sheds, stairs, pillars etc. Construction of bridges, culverts, dams, tunnels, storage reservoirs, lighthouses, docks etc. Construction of water Tanks, Walls, Tennis courts septic tanks, lamp posts, roads, telephone cabins etc. Making joints for drains, pipes etc. Manufacture of pre-cast pipes, piles, garden seats, artistically designed patterns flower pots, dust bins, fencing posts etc. Preparation of foundation, water tight floors, footpaths etc. The various Tests to conducted on cement Exhaustive tests are carried out in laboratory to decide precisely the quality of Cement Following procedure is adopted.

1. Chemical Composition 2. Fineness 3. Compressive strength 4. Tensile Strength 5. Consistency 6. Setting times 7. Soundness. 1.Chemical composition of Cement For this, detailed chemical analysis is done. The following are the requirements of chemical composition. Ratio of percentage of alumina to that of iron oxide should not be less than 0.66 Rate of percentage of lime to those of alumina, iron oxide and silica should not be less than 0.66 and it should not be greater than 1.02. Total loss on ignition should not be greater than 4 percent. Total Sulphur content should not be greater than 2.75 percent. Weight of insoluble residue should not be greater than 1.50 percent. weight of magnesia should not exceed 5 percent. 2. Fineness This test is carried out the check for proper grinding of cement. Fineness of cement particles may be determined either by sieve test or by permeability apparatus test. In sieve test, cement weighing 100 gm is taken and it is continuously passed for 15 minutes through

standard IS sieve No.9. The residue is then weighed and this weight should not be more than 10 percent of original weight. In permeability apparatus test, specific surface area of cement particles of average size. Specific surface area of cement particles are calculated. This test is better than sieve test and it gives an idea of uniformity of fineness. Specific surface acts as a measure of the frequency of particles of average size. Specific surface of cement should not be less than 2250 cm2/gm. 3. Compressive strength This test is carried out to determine the compressive strength of cement. Following procedure is adopted. Mortar of cement and sand is prepared. Proportion is 1:3 which means x gm of cement is mixed with 3xgm of sand. Water is added to the mortar. Keeping the percentage of water as p/4 + 3.5 where p is the percentage of water required to make a paste of standard consistency. The mortar is placed in moulds. The specimens are in the form of cubes with side as 70.6mm. Moulds are of metal and they are constructed in such a way that specimens can be easily taken out without being damaged. For 70.6mm cubes, cement and sand required are 185 gm and 555 gm respectively. The mortar after being placed in the moulds, is compacted in vibrating machine for 2 minutes. The moulds are placed in a damp cabin for 24 hours.

The specimens are removed from the moulds and they are submerged in clean water for curing. The cubes are then tested in compression testing machine at the end of of 3 days and 7 days. Testing of cube is carried out on their side made without packing. Thus three cubes are tested each time to find out the strength at the end of 3 days and 7 days. Average value is then worked out. During the test, load is to be applied uniformly at the rate of 35 N/mm2. Compressive strength at the end of 3 days should not be less than 11.5 N/mm2 and that at the end of 7 days should not be less than 17.5 N/mm2. 4. Tensile Strength Mortar of cement and sand is prepared . Proportion is 1:3 which means that x gm of cement is mixed with 3 x gm of sand. Water is added to the mortar. Keeping the percentage of water as p/5 + 2.5 where p is the percentage of water required to make a paste of standard consistency. The mortar is placed in briquette moulds. Mould is filled with mortar and then a small heap of mortar is formed its top. It is repeated down by a standard spatula till water appears on the surface. Same procedure is repeated for the other face of briquette. Twelve such may be 600 gm for 12 briquettes. The briquettes are kept in a damp cabin for 24 hours. The briquettes are carefully removed from the mould and they are submerged in clean water for

curing. The briquettes are tested in testing machine at the end of 3 days and 7 days. Six briquettes are tested in each test and average is found out. During the test, load is to be applied uniformly at the rate of 3.5 N/mm2. It may be noted that cross sectional area of briquette at its least section is 64.5 mm2. Hence, ultimate tensile stress of cement paste is obtained from the following relation. Ultimate tensile stress= failing load/64.5 mm2. Tensile stress at the end of 3 days should not be less than 2N/mm2 and that at the end of 7 days should not be less than 2.5 N/mm2. 5. Consistency Test The purpose of this test is to determine the percentage of water required for preparing cement pastes for other tests. Take 300 gm of cement 30 percentage by weight or 90gm of water to it. Mix water and cement on a non-porous surface. Mixing to be done thoroughly. Fill the mould of Vicat apparatus. The interval between the addition of water to the commencement of filling the mould is known as time of gauging and it should be 3 to 5 minutes. Vicat apparatus consist of a frame to which is attached a movable rod. An indicator is attached to the movable rod. This indicator moves on a vertical scale and it gives the penetration. Vicat mould is in the form of a cylinder and it can be split in to two halves. A square needle is used for initial setting

time test, plunger is used for consistency test and needle with annular collar is used for final setting time test. Plunger is attached to the movable rod of Vicat apparatus. The plunger is gently lowered on the paste in the mould. The settlement of plunger is noted. If the penetration is between 5 mm to 7 mm from the bottom of mould water added is correct. If penetration is not proper process is repeated with different percentages of water till the desired penetration is obtained. 6. Setting Time This test is used to detect the deterioration of cement due to storage. It may however be noted that this is purely a conventional type of test and it has no relation with the setting of hardening of actual concrete. Test is carried out to find initial setting time and final setting time. 1. Initial Setting Time 2. Final setting Time 6. a. Initial Setting Time Cement weighing 300gm is taken and mixed with 85 percentage of water as determined in consistency test. Cement paste is filled in Vicat mould. Square needle of cross section 1mm x 1mm is attached to the moving rod of Vicat apparatus. The needle is quickly released and it is allowed to penetrate the cement paste. In the beginning, the

needle penetrates completely. It is then taken out and dropped at a fresh place. The procedure is repeated. The needle should penetrate up to about 5mm to 7mm measured from bottom. Initial setting time is the interval between the addition of water to cement and the stage when needle penetrate to a depth of 5mm to 7 mm measured from bottom. The time should be about 30 minutes for ordinary cement. 2. Final setting Time 6.b.Final Setting Time Cement weighing 300gm is taken and mixed with 85 percentage of water as determined in consistency test. Cement paste is filled in Vicat mould. The needle is with annular collar is attached to the moving rod of Vicat apparatus. This needle has a sharp point projecting in the centre with annular collar. The needle is gently released. The time at which the needle makes an impression on test block and the collar fails to do so is noted. Final setting time is the difference between the time at which water was added to cement and time as recorded. This time should be about 10 hours for ordinary cement. Soundness The purpose of this test is to detect the presence of uncombined lime in cement. This test is performed with the help of Chatlier apparatus. It consists of a brass mould of diameter 30 mm and height 30 mm. There is a split in mould and it does not exceed o.5mm. On either side of split, there are

two indicators with pointed ends . Thickness of mould cylinder is 0.50mm. Following procedure is adopted. Cement paste is prepared taking 85 percentage of water as determined in consistency test. The mould is placed on a glass plate and it is filled by cement paste. It is covered at top by another glass plate. A small weight is placed at top and the whole assembly is submerged in water for 24 hours. Temperature of water should be between 24 degree C to 35 degree C. The distance between the points of mortar is noted. The mould is again placed in water and heat is applied in such a way that boiling point of water is reached in about 30 minutes. Boiling of water is continued for one hour. The mould is removed from water and it is allowed to cool down. The distance between the points of indicator is again measured. The distance between the two readings indicates the expansion of cement and it should not exceed 10mm. Storage of Cement Important points to be considered in storing of cement Storage cement: Cement should be stored carefully. Otherwise it may absorb moisture from the atmosphere and may become useless for structural work. Following precautions are to be taken for storage of cement. Moisture: If moisture is kept away from cement, it is found that cement will maintain its quality for

indefinite period. An absorption of one to two percent of moisture has no appreciable effect on quality of cement. But if moisture absorption exceeds 5 percent cement becomes totally useless. Hence, when cement is to be stored for a long period, it should be stored in air-tight containers. Period of Storage: Loose cement may be stored indefinitely in air-tight containers. But it is advisable to avoid storing of cement in jute bags for a period longer than 3 months. If it is unavoidable, cement should be got tested to ascertain its properties. Piles: Cement bags are stacked in piles. It is economical to form a pile of 10 bags of cement. A distance of about 300 mm should be kept between the piles of cement bags and exterior walls of building. Passages of width about 900 mm should be provided between the piles. For long storage, top and bottom of piles should be covered with tarpaulins or water proof paper. Quality of Cement: Cement which is finely ground is more active and consequently, it absorbs moisture rapidly from the atmosphere . Hence extraordinary precautions should be taken to store finely ground cement. Removal of Cement: When cement bags are to be removed from piles of sufficient height, steps should be formed by taking out two or three bags from front piles, It is also advaisable to remove cement in order of its storage period ie cement which is stored previously should be taken out first. In other words, rule of first in, first out should be followed. Storage of sheds: For storing cement for sufficient long period, storage sheds of special design should be constructed, walls, roof and floor of such sheds should be of water-proof construction.

Few small windows should be provided and they should be kept tightly shut. Floor should be provided to drain water collected in vicnity of such shed. For determining the size of storage shed, it is found that 20 bags of 1 ton of cement will require about 1 cube .m. of space. cement Admixtures Admixture is a material other than cement, water and aggregates used as an ingredient of concrete. It is added to the batch immediately before during mixing. Admixture, is used to modify properties or ordinary concrete so as to make it more suitable for any situation. Admixtures imparts many desirable characteristics and effects economy in concrete construction. Sometimes they affect the desirable properties adversely. Hence care should be taken in the selection and predicting the effect of admixtures. The following are some groups of admixtures. Air entraining agents Pozzolanas Accelerators Retarders Gas-forming agents Air-detraining agents Workability agents Corrosion inhibiting agents Bonding agents Colouring agents. cement