CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS

Cementitious materials include the many products that are mixed with either water
or some other liquid or both to form a cementing paste that may be formed or
molded while plastic but will set into a rigid shape. When sand is added to the
paste, mortar is formed. A combination of coarse and fine aggregate (sand) added
to the paste forms concrete.

TYPES OF CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENT - that is responsible for the setting or hardening of the cement.

CALCIUM SILICATES AND ALUMINATES - constitute the most important group of modern cements.
Included in this group are the portland, aluminous, and natural cements.

LIMES - Their principal function today is to plasticize the otherwise harsh cements and add resilience
to mortars and stuccoes. Use of limes is beneficial in that their slow setting promotes healing, the
recementing of hairline cracks.

CALCINED GYPSUM - The gypsum cements are widely used in interior plaster and for fabrication of
boards and blocks

OXYCHLORIDE CEMENTS CONSTITUTE - a class of specialty cements of unusual properties.

special uses, such as the production of sparkproof floors, they cannot be equaled.

MASONRY CEMENTS OR MORTAR CEMENTS - are widely used because of their convenience.
While they are, in general, mixtures of one of more of the above-mentioned
cements with some admixtures.

PORTLAND CEMENTS - the most common of the modern cements, is made by carefully
blending selected raw materials to produce a finished material meeting the requirements
of ASTM C150 for one of eight specific cement types.

CONCRETE, - the most common use for portland cement, is a complex material
consisting of portland cement, aggregates, water, and possibly chemical and mineral
admixtures
 Introduction to Cement

Cement refers to material which acts as a binding substance. In construction and civil engineering
cement is used to bind structural members for construction of buildings, pavements, bridges,
tunnels, roads and highways etc.

How should cement be stored?

1. Cement bags should not be stored in an enclosed area where the walls, roof and floor is not
completely weatherproof.
2. Cement bags must not be stored in wet surroundings and humid conditions.
3. Stack cement bags on wooden planks or concrete floor and do not stack the against the wall.
4. Cement bags should be piled close together.
5. It is better to arrange the cement bags in a header and stretcher fashion.
6. Cement bags that were stored first must be used first.
7. Cement bags must not be piled up in the field at work site, instead they should be piled up on a
raised platform and covered with a sheet.

Properties and tests on cement

Properties of cement

Concrete is a compound material made from sand, gravel and cement. The cement is a mixture
of various minerals which when mixed with water, hydrate and rapidly become hard binding the
sand and gravel into a solid mass. The oldest known surviving concrete is to be found in the
former Yugoslavia and was thought to have been laid in 5,600 BC using red lime as the cement.

The first major concrete users were the Egyptians in around 2,500 BC and the Romans from 300
BC The Romans found that by mixing a pink sand-like material which they obtained from
Pozzuoli with their normal lime-based concretes they obtained a far stronger material.

The pink sand turned out to be fine volcanic ash and they had inadvertently produced the first
'pozzolanic' cement. Pozzolana is any siliceous or siliceous and aluminous material which
possesses little or no cementitious value in itself but will, if finely divided and mixed with
water, chemically react with calcium hydroxide to form compounds with cementitious
properties.

The Romans made many developments in concrete technology including the use of lightweight
Aggregates as in the roof of the Pantheon, and embedded reinforcement in the form of bronze bars,
although the difference in thermal expansion between the two materials produced problems of
spalling. It is from the Roman words 'caementum' meaning a rough stone or chipping and 'concretus'
meaning grown together or compounded, that we have obtained the names for these two now
common materials.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR PORTLAND CEMENTS

Type I - general-purpose cement, is the one commonly used for many structural
purposes.

Type II - is a modified cement for use in general concrete where a moderate

exposure to sulfate attack may be anticipated or where a moderate heat of hydration
is required.

Type III - cement attains high early strength. In 7 days, strength of concrete made
with it is practically equal to that made with Type I or Type II cement at 28 days.

Type IV - is a low-heat cement that has been developed for mass concrete construction.

Type V - is a portland cement intended for use when high sulfate resistance is
required.

CHEMICAL TESTS

TEST ON IGNITION

The Loss on Ignition Test is a very simple test which indicates the amount of volatile matter
including moisture in the cement. The test is carried out by heating a one (1) gram sample of porcelain or
platinum crucible for 15 minutes at 900 to 4’c, either in a muffle furnace or in Bunsen burner flame.

PHYSICAL TESTS

SOUNDNESS

Soundness in cement implies the absence of those qualities tend to destroy its strength and durability.
The test is out by placing 24 hour old neat cement pats of normal in an atmosphere of saturated steam
above boiling for 5 hours.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY

The specific gravity of cement is not of particular because for most purposes a specific gravity of 3.15
assumed. However, this tests which is very easily carried detect adulteration or under burning of the
cement.
 SETTING

The time of setting tests determines the time which elapses the paste ceases to be fluid and plastic (initial
set) also the time required for it to harden to a certain degree.

FINENESS

The course particles in cement are inert. The finer the faster it will undergo hydration, thus resulting in any
strength and more rapid generation or heat.

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Compressive strength tests best judge the value of the cement as the condition or the tests are
more nearly similar to the conditions met by the material in sue.

ALUMINOUS CEMENTS - These are prepared by fusing a mixture of aluminous and calcareous
materials (usually bauxite and limestone) and grinding the resultant product to a fine powder.

NATURAL CEMENTS - Natural cements are formed by calcining a naturally occurring mixture of
calcareous and argillaceous substances at a temperature below that at which sintering takes
place.

LIMES - These are made principally of calcium oxide occurring naturally in limestone,
marble, chalk, coral, and shell. For building purposes, they are used chiefly
in mortars.

HYDRAULIC LIMES
These are made by calcining a limestone containing silica and alumina to a temperature
short of incipient fusion

QUICKLIMES
When limestone is heated to a temperature in excess of 1700_F, the carbon dioxide
content is driven off and the remaining solid product is quicklime.

MASON’S HYDRATED LIME

Hydrated limes are prepared from quicklimes by addition of a limited amount of
Water.
FINISHING HYDRATED LIMES
Finishing hydrated limes are particularly suitable for use in the finishing coat of
plaster.

LOW-TEMPERATURE GYPSUM DERIVATIVES

When gypsum rock is heated to a relatively low temperature, about
130_C, three-fourths of the water of crystallization is driven off.
.

OXYCHLORIDE CEMENTS
oxychloride cement, or Sorel cement. It isparticularly useful in making flooring compositions in which it is
mixed with colored aggregates.

MASONRY CEMENTS
Masonry cements, or—as they are sometimes called—mortar cements, are intended
to be mixed with sand and used for setting unit masonry, such as brick, tile, and
stone.

FLY ASHES
is generally used as a cementitious material as well as an admixture.
Natural pozzolanic properties.

SILICA FUME (MICROSILICA)

Silica fume, or microsilica, is a condensed gas, the by-product of metallic silicon
or ferrosilicon alloys produced by electric arc furnaces.