SOUNDNESS TEST ON CEMENT

By Le-Chatelier method

Introduction:
Soundness is the ability of cement paste to retain its volumo after it has
hardened,

Expansion may take place duo to the delayed or slow hydration, or other reactions,
of some
compounds present in the hardened cement, namoly free lime (CaO), magnesia (MgO)
and calcium
sulfate (CaSO,).

If the raw materials fed into the kiln contain more lime than can combine with the
acidic oxides, or if
burning or cooling are unsatisfactory, the excess lime will remain in a free
condition. This hard-burnt
lime hydrates very slowly and, because slaked lime occupies a larger volume than
the original free
calcium oxide, expansion may take place. Cements which exhibit this expansion are
described as
unsound.

A cement can also be unsound due to the presence of MgO, which reacts with water in
a manner
similar to CaO. However, only periclase, i.e. dead-burnt crystalline MgO, is highly
reactive. Up to
about 2 per cent of periclase (by mass of cement) combines with the main cement
compounds, but
excess periclase generally causes expansion and can lead to slow disruption.

Calcium sulfate is the third compound responsible for expansion. In this case
calcium sulfoaluminate
is formed. If gypsum is present in excess of the amount that can react with CsA
during setting,
unsoundness in the form of slow expansion will result. For this reason, standards
limit very strictly the
amount of gypsum that can be added to clinker.

The Le Chatelier test detects unsoundness due to free lime only. Soundness of
cement is also
checked by autoclave test, which is sensitive to both free magnesia and free lime.
No test is available
for the detection of unsoundness due to an excess of calcium sulfate, but its
content can easily be
determined by chemical analysis.

Code Followed:
BS: 196-3:2005 (British Standards) (Appendix-1 Page: 60)

189-49 but it was withdrawn in 1956 and replaced with

ASTM C151 (Standard Test Method for Autoclave
Expansion of Hydraulic Cement).

1.1. CONTENTS

Code Description

a
b. Scope of Experiment
c. Apparatus
d. Procedure
¢. Observations & Calculations
f Comments

1.2. CODE DESCRIPTION:

For determining the soundness of cement paste we will

primarily use British Code BS-196-3 published in 2005,
This test was also published by ASTM under code

BS-196-3 is same as European Standard EN 196-3

(Methods of Testing Cement: Determination of Setting,
Times and Soundness,” European Committee for
Standardization, Brussels, 2000)

1.3, SCOPE OF EXPERIMENT:

‘This experiment is used to determine the soundness of

cement paste (determine if the cement is free from
impurities exceeding the maximum limits imposed by
material quality regulatory codes),