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

1. Chemical Constituent - that is responsible for the setting or hardening of the
cement
2. Calcium Silicates and Aluminates - constitute the most important group of
modern cements; included in this group are the Portland, aluminous, and natural
cements
3. 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
4. Calcined Gypsum - the gypsum cements are widely used in interior plaster and
for fabrication of boards and blocks
5. Oxychloride Cements Constitute - a class of specialty cements of unusual
properties; special uses, such as the production of spark proof floors, they cannot
be equaled
6. 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
7. Portland Cement - 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
8. Concrete - the most common use 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.

HOW SHOULD CEMENT BE STORED?

 1. Cement bags should not be stored in an enclosed area where the walls, roof and
floor are 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

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

1. Type I - general-purpose cement; one commonly used for many structural
purposes
 2. 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
3. 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
4. Type IV - is a low-heat cement that has been developed for mass concrete
construction
5. 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.
TYPES OF CEMENTS
1. 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
2. Natural Cements - formed by calcining a naturally occurring mixture of
calcareous and argillaceous substances at a temperature below that at which
sintering takes place
3. Limes - made principally of calcium oxide occurring naturally in limestone,
marble, chalk, coral, and shell. For building purposes, they are used chiefly in
mortars
4. Hydraulic Limes - made by calcining a limestone containing silica and alumina to
a temperature short of incipient fusion
5. 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
6. Mason’s Hydrated Lime - prepared from quicklimes by addition of a limited
amount of water
7. Finishing Hydrated Limes - finishing hydrated limes are particularly suitable for
use in the finishing coat of plaster
8. Low-Temperature Gypsum Derivatives - when gypsum rock is heated to a
relatively low temperature, about 130 degrees Celsius, three-fourths of the water
of crystallization is driven off
9. Oxychloride Cements - oxychloride cement, or Sorel cement; is particularly useful
in making flooring compositions in which it is mixed with colored aggregates
10. Masonry Cements - 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
11. Fly Ashes - is generally used as a cementitious material as well as an admixture

NATURAL POZZOLANIC PROPERTIES

1. Silica Fume (Microsilica) - is a condensed gas, the by-product of metallic silicon
or ferrosilicon alloys produced by electric arc furnaces