CE264

CEMENT

Cement - an ultrafine gray powder, binds sand and rocks into a mass or matrix of concrete.

Natural cement was produced by burning a naturally occurring mixture of lime and clay.

HYDRAULIC CEMENT

A cement which possesses the property of hardening in combination with water.

Types of hydraulic cement:

Portland cement

Pozzolan

PORTLAND CEMENT

It is the product obtained by pulverizing clinker consisting of hydraulic calcium silicates to which some
calcium sulfate has usually been provided as an interground addition. The density of Portland cement
particles is about 3.15Mg/cu.m.

Who is Joseph Aspdin?

In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, a bricklayer and mason in Leeds, England, took out a patent on hydraulic cement
that he called Portland cement because its hydration product resembled a building stone quarried on
the Isle of Portland off the British coast. Aspdin's method involved the careful proportioning of
limestone and clay, pulverizing them, and burning the mixture into clinker, which was then ground into
finished cement.

Main Constituents in a Typical Portland Cement

1.Tricalcium silicate (C3S). Hydrates and hardens rapidly and is largely responsible for initial set and
early strength. Portland cements with higher percentages of C3S will exhibit higher early strength.

2.Dicalcium silicate (C2S). Hydrates and hardens slowly and is largely responsible for strength increases
beyond one week.

3.Tricalcium aluminate (C3A). Hydrates and hardens the quickest. Liberates a large amount of heat
almost immediately and contributes somewhat to early strength. Gypsum is added to portland cement
to retard hydration. Without gypsum, hydration would cause portland cement to set almost
immediately after adding water.

4.Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF). Hydrates rapidly but contributes very little to strength. Its use
allows lower kiln temperatures in portland cement manufacturing. Most portland cement color effects
are due to C4AF.

What causes hardening of HYDRAULIC CEMENT?

When Portland cement is mixed with water its chemical compound constituents undergo a series of
chemical reactions that cause it to harden (or set) which is called HYDRATION. These chemical reactions
all involve the addition of water to the basic chemical compounds.

What was the earliest use of Portland Cement?

The first use of Portland cement was in mortars. It was but a short step from its use exclusively in
mortar for stone masonry to its use with stones broken into small fragments and mixed with mortar in
concrete.

CODES AND SPECIFICATIONS

• NSCP – National Structural Code of the Philippines

• ASTM – American Society of Testing and Materials

• AISC – American Institute of Steel Construction

• ACI – American Concrete Institute

• AREA – American Railway Engineering Association

• AASHTO – American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

• AWS – American Welded Society

• ASEP – Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines

STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS FOR CEMENT

ASTM C150 – Standard Specification for Portland Cement. It provides 5 types of Portland Cement.

Type I - Ordinary Portland Cement

General-purpose cement suitable for most purposes.

Type II - Moderate Heat Cement / Moderate Sulfate Resistance

- The cement possesses moderate resistance to sulfate attack because of certain limitations on
composition. If moderate heat of hydration is desired, however, the optional limit on heat of hydration
should be invoked when specifying or ordering.

Type III - High Early Strength Portland Cement

Used when high early strength is needed. It is often produced by grinding Type I clinker
finer or by altering the chemical composition of cement. Strength gain is double that of Type I
cement in the first 24 hours.

Type IV - Low Heat Portland Cement / Moderate Sulfate Resistance

 - Used when hydration heat must be minimized in large volume applications such as gravity
dams.

Type V - High Sulfate Resistance

- Used as a precaution against severe sulfate action - principally where soils or groundwaters
have high sulfate content. It gains strength at a slower rate than Type I cement.

In addition, portland cement can also be specified under ASTM C1157 (Standard Performance
Specification for Hydraulic Cement)

Type GU – General Use

Type HE – High Early strength

Type MS – Moderate Sulfate Resistance

Type HS – High Sulfate Resistance

Type MH – Moderate Heat of Hydration

Type LH – Low Heat of Hydration

POZZOLAN

– a siliceous and aluminous material in finely divided form react with calcium hydroxide at
ordinary temperatures to form compounds having cementitious properties. There are both natural
and artificial pozzolan.

What does POZZOLAN do in concrete?

As the definition implies, a pozzolan combines with calcium hydroxide to form calcium silicate similar
to that produced by hydration of portland cement.

Most of the other pozzolans decrease the water demand.

Pozzolans reduce bleeding because of fineness, reduce the maximum rise in temperature when used
in large amounts (more than 15% by mass of cementitious material) because of the slower rate of
chemical reactions.

BLEEDING

-appearance of water on the surface of concrete after it has consolidated but before it is set.

If the bleed water is remixed during the finishing on the top surface, a weak top surface will result. To
avoid this, the finishing operations can be delayed until the bleed water has evaporated.

CAUSES:

1. Lack of fines
 2. Too much water content in the mix

PROBLEMS DUE TO BLEEDING:

1. Delays the finishing operation

2. High water cement ratio
3. Poor bond between layers
4. Poor pump ability

SOLUTIONS:

1. More fines by using pozzolan

2. Adjust grading of aggregates
3. Introduce Entrained air
4. Reduce water content

Entrained Air- creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete

- The bubbles are introduced into the concrete by the addition to the mix of an air
entraining agent.
- To increase the durability of the hardened concrete and also increases the
workability of the concrete while in the plastic state.

CONSISTENCY OF CEMENT

-relative mobility or ability of freshly mixed cement to flow. It includes the entire range of
fluidity from the driest to the wettest possible mixtures.

PLASTIC CONSISTENCY

- Indicates a condition where applied stress will result in continuous deformation without
rupture. A plastic mixture possesses cohesion and does not crumble. It flows sluggishly
and without segregation.

WORKABILITY

- The property of freshly mixed concrete that determines the ease with which it can be
mixed, placed, consolidated and finished to a homogeneous condition.
- Synonymous with “placeability”.