SOUNDNESS TEST ON CEMENT By Le-Chatelier Method

BS: 196-3:2005 (British Standard)

Importance:
• Soundness refers to the ability of cement paste to retain its volume after it has hardened
• Unsoundness in cement is due to the present of excess of lime
• This is due to inadequate burning of insufficiency in fineness of grinding or through
mixing of raw materials.
• It is also likely that too high proportion of magnesium content or calcium sulphate
content may cause unsoundness in concrete. For this reason, the magnesium content
allowed in cement is limited to 6 %.
• Deficiency of lime makes the cement set quicker and affects property of cement. If
excessive amount of lime makes cement unsound, due to which cement expands more
when hardened.
Required Material and Apparatus:
• Le-Chatelier Apparatus
• 2 Glass Plates
• Weighing Balance
• Trowel
• Mixing Pan
• Cement
• Graduated Cylinder
• Water Bath
Procedure:
• Before conducting the test, lightly oil the Le-Chatlier Apparatus.
• Take 500 g of cement.
• Prepare the cement paste with the water as required in standard consistency test.
• Mix the cement paste well using trowel.
• Place Le-Chatlier mould on the glass plate and insert the paste into the mould. While
placing cement paste, hold the edges of the mould gently.
• Now place another glass plate on the mould and additional mass if necessary.
• Place the whole assembly in water bath for 24 hrs and relative humidity not less than
90% at 20±1℃ . After 24 hrs, remove the assembly and measure the distance between
indicator to the nearest 0.5mm. Record this value as L1.
• Now place the mould in the water bath and boil water till boiling point. Keep the
assembly in the mould for 3 hrs.
• Take out the mould and let it cool at room temperature.
• Now measure the distance between the indicator points and say it L2.
• The difference between L1 and L2 gives the indication value if the cement is sound or
not. If L2 – L1 gives the value greater than 10, then the cement is unsound.
Observations and Calculations:
Standard Consistency of Cement=
Amount of Cement (kgs)=
Amount of water (ml)=

Group No. L1 (mm) L2 (mm) L2 - L1 (mm) Avg. Value

(mm)

Comments: