Testing of Cements

TESTING OF CEMENT
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Page 1
METHODS OF TESTING
 FIELD TESTING
 LABORATORY TESTING

Page 2
FIELD TEST
 Open the bag and take a good look at the cement,
then it should not contain any visible lumps.
 Colour of cement should be greenish grey.
 Should get cool feeling when thrusted.
 When we touch the cement, it should give a smooth

&not a gritty feeling.
 When we throw the cement on a bucket full of water

before it sinks the particles should flow.
 When we make a stiff paste of cement & cut it with

sharp edges & kept on a glass plate under water there
wont be any disturbance
Free to the shape& should get
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Page 3
strength after 24hours.
LABORATORY TESTS
 Fineness test
 Standard consistency test
 Setting time test
 Strength test
 Soundness test
 Heat of hydration test
 Chemical composition
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Page 4
FINENESS TEST
• The fineness of cement has an important bearing
on the rate of hydration, rate of gain of strength,
evolution of heat.
• Finer cement offers greater surface area.
• Disadvantage of fine grinding is that it is

susceptible to air set & early deterioration.
• Maximum no. of particles in a sample of

cement<100microns.
• The smallest particle should have a size if

1.5microns.
• Large particle should have a size of 10microns.
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Fineness of cement is tested in two ways.
• By sieving.
• By determination specific surface by air permeability

Page 6
SIEVE TEST
• Take correctly 100grams of cement on a

standard IS sieve No.9
• Break down the air-set lumps & sieve it

&weigh it.
• This weight shall not exceed 10% for

ordinary cement.
• Sieve test is rarely used.
• The weight of the residue

should not exceed 10% for
ordinary cement.
Page 7
STANDARD PERMEABILITY TEST
 Principle of air permeability method is in observing

the time taken for a fixed quantity of air to flow
through compacted cement bed of specified dimension
and porosity.
PROCEDURE:
 cement required to make a cement bed of porosity
0.475 is calculated.
 pass on the air slowly at constant velocity.
Adjust the rate of air flow until the flowmeter shows
a difference in level of 30-50cm.
Repeat these observation for constant h1/h2.
specified air flow.

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Page 9
STATNDARD CONSISTENCY TEST
The standard consistency of a cement paste is

defined as that consistency which will permit
a Vicat plunger having 10 mm diameter and
50 mm length to penetrate to a depth of 33-
35 mm from the top of the mould.
USE
Used to find out the percentage of water
required to produce a cement paste of
standard consistency.
This is also called normal consistency
(CPNC).

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•For first trial, take about 500gms of cement &
water of r%.
•Fill it in Vicat’s mould with in 3-5min.
•After filling, shake the mould to expel air.
•A standard plunger, 10 mm diameter, 50 mm long

is attached and brought down to touch the surface of
the paste and quickly released.
•Note the reading according to depth of penetration

of the plunger.

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•Conduct trials continuously by taking
different water cement ratios till the plunger
penetrates for a depth of 33-35mm from top.
• This particular percentage is known as

percentage of water required to produce
cement paste of standard consistency.
This is usually denoted as ‘P’.
SUITABLE CONDITIONS:
Conducted in a constant temperature of
27º±2ºC.
Constant Humidity 90%.

Page 12
SETTING TIME TEST
An arbitraty division has been made for the

setting time of cement as
 Initial setting time
 Final setting time.

Page 13
INITIAL SETTING TIME
 The time elapsed between the moment that the

water is added to the cement, to the time that the
paste starts losing its plasticity.
 Normally a minimum of 30min has maintained

for mixing & handling operations.
 It should not be less than 30min.

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FINAL SETTING TIME
 The time elapsed between the moment the

water is added to the cement, and the time
when the paste has completely lost its
plasticity and has attained sufficient firmness
to resist certain definite pressure.
 It should not exceed 10hours.

So that it is avoided from least vulnerable to
damages from external activities.

Page 15
PROCEDURE:
 Vicat apparatus is used for finding the setting time
 Take 500gms of cement and add about 0.85p
 The paste should be filled within 3-5 minutes.
 Initial and final setting time is noted.

Page 16
STRENGTH TEST
 This is the most important of all

properties of hardened cement.
 Due to excessive shrinkage and cracking

the strength tests are not made on neat
cement paste.
 Standard sand is used for finding the

strength of cement.

Page 17
 Take sand and cement (i.e., 1:3 ratio of cement
and sand) Mix them for 1min, then add water of
quantity(P/4)+3.0%.
 Mix three ingredients thoroughly until the

mixture is of uniform colour.
 The time of mixing should not be<3min and

>4min.Then the mortar is filled into a cube mould of
7.06cm. Compact the mortar.
 Keep the compacted cube in the mould at a

temperature of 27°C ± 2°C and at least 90 per cent
relative humidity for 24 hours.
 After 24hours the cubes are removed & immersed

in clean fresh water until taken for testing.
Page 18
SOUNDNESS TEST
 It is very important that the cement after setting
shall not undergo any appreciable change of
volume.
 This test is to ensure that the cement does not

show any subsequent expansions.
 The unsoundness in cement is due to the presence

of excess of lime combined with acidic oxide at the
kiln.
 This is due to high proportion of magnesia &

calcium sulphate.
 Therefore magnesia content in cement is limited

to 6%.
Page 19
Page 20
HEAT OF HYDRATION
 cement with water is an exothermic reaction
 Heat of hydration will be found out using thermos flask
 About 120 calories of heat is generated in the hydration

of 1 gm of cement
 Temperature rise of about 50°C is observed and this

causes serious expansion of the body of dam.

Page 21
To avoid this :
 Lean mix
 puzzolanic cement
 Artificial cooling materials
 incorporation of pipe system in the body of dam and
applying cold brine solutions.
Tests :
 To be carried out only in low heat cement

 vaccum flask method for short duration and
adiabatic calorimeter for longer period
 should not exceed 65 cal/gm at 7 days and should be
less than 75 cal/gm at 28 days
Page 22
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION TEST
Ratio of percentage of lime to percentage of silica,alumina

and iron oxide when calculated by
Cao-0.7So3
—————————————
2.8SiO ₂ +1.2Al ₂ O ₃+0.65Fe ₂ O ₃
Should not be greater than 1.02 and not less than 0.66
This is called LIME SATURATION FACTOR PERCENT

Page 23

Testing of Cements

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TESTING OF CEMENT

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 Colour of cement should be greenish grey.

 Should get cool feeling when thrusted.

 When we touch the cement, it should give a smooth

 When we throw the cement on a bucket full of water

 When we make a stiff paste of cement & cut it with

 Standard consistency test

 Setting time test

 Heat of hydration test

• Finer cement offers greater surface area.

• Disadvantage of fine grinding is that it is

• Maximum no. of particles in a sample of

• The smallest particle should have a size if

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• Take correctly 100grams of cement on a

• Break down the air-set lumps & sieve it

• This weight shall not exceed 10% for

• Sieve test is rarely used.

• The weight of the residue

 Principle of air permeability method is in observing

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The standard consistency of a cement paste is

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•Fill it in Vicat’s mould with in 3-5min.

•After filling, shake the mould to expel air.

•A standard plunger, 10 mm diameter, 50 mm long

•Note the reading according to depth of penetration

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• This particular percentage is known as

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An arbitraty division has been made for the

 Initial setting time

 Final setting time.

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 The time elapsed between the moment that the

 Normally a minimum of 30min has maintained

 It should not be less than 30min.

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 The time elapsed between the moment the

 It should not exceed 10hours.

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 Vicat apparatus is used for finding the setting time

 Take 500gms of cement and add about 0.85p

 The paste should be filled within 3-5 minutes.

 Initial and final setting time is noted.

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 This is the most important of all

 Due to excessive shrinkage and cracking

 Standard sand is used for finding the

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 Mix three ingredients thoroughly until the

 The time of mixing should not be<3min and

 Keep the compacted cube in the mould at a

 After 24hours the cubes are removed & immersed

 This test is to ensure that the cement does not

 The unsoundness in cement is due to the presence

 This is due to high proportion of magnesia &

 Therefore magnesia content in cement is limited

 cement with water is an exothermic reaction

 Heat of hydration will be found out using thermos flask

 About 120 calories of heat is generated in the hydration