MAPÚA UNIVERSITY

School of Civil, Environmental, and

Geological Engineering

Experiment 4: Soundness Test of

Portland Cement

Submitted by:
Bagaforo, John Dominic L.
2016142382
CE152P-2 / E01

Submitted to:
Engr. Nald Ruzle Esmeralda
CE152P-2 Course Instructor

Date of Submission:
September 17, 2022
 Experiment 4: Soundness Test of Portland Cement
John Dominic L. Bagaforo
(School of Civil, Environmental, and Geological Engineering, Mapúa University, Philippines)

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

Type of Cement Portland Cement
Weight of Cement (g) 500g
The volume of Water at 160 mL
Normal Consistency (mL) (33% Consistency)
Time of Making the 4:53 pm
Cement (H:M)
Trial Number 1
Cracking ✓
Disintegration ✓
Distortion ✓
Conclusion Cracking, Disintegration, and Distortion are present in the sample.

Figure 1: Sample Cement

 The trial ended having some cracking, mild disintegration, and mild distortion, as seen in
Figure 1 on the previous page(s). The visible cracking almost extended on both ends of the
sample, splitting it in half. The disintegration is only visible on the edge of the sample. At the
same time, the distortion was caused by the cracking and the disintegration of the sample sides,
making the shape slightly different from the expected result.

DISCUSSION
The experiment is observational and requires observations on the said specimen after it
was removed from the steam cement pot. The first one is cracking whether the cement pat
cracked after. Then, disintegration should not have a similar warp thing—lastly, suitability. The
trial has 500 grams as the weight of the sample and 160 mL as the volume of water used for the
test. The time duration on the data sheet was obtained from the third experiment.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXPERIMENT

Lime, silica, alumina, magnesia, alkaline, sulfur trioxide, iron oxide, and calcium sulfate
are the cement’s mineral composition of 60-70% lime. If the lime content of cement is lower than
its standard content, it enables it to set quickly and affects its property. On the other hand, if the
lime content is higher than usual, it will make the cement unsound; thus, the quality will be
affected due to its unsoundness. This test ensures that the cement will not undergo expansion,
or anything related to excess lime.

CONCLUSION
This method helps determine if the cement has enough lime present, whether it has an
excess or not, as it causes it to expand when it has an excess amount. The sample cement
used is not suitable for concrete use because of the cracking, disintegration, and distortion
present in the sample.

APPLICATION
- The soundness of cement refers to the stability of the volume change in the setting
and hardening process. If the volume change is unstable after setting and hardening,
the concrete structures will crack, affecting the quality of buildings or even causing
severe accidents, known as poor dimensional stability.
- In the soundness test, a specimen of hardened cement paste is boiled for a fixed
time to speed up and detect any expansion tendency. Soundness means the ability
to resist volume expansion.
- Soundness test determines the disintegration of aggregates due to weathering. This
includes freezing, thawing, marine condition, etc. However, the weak and porous
aggregate shows a change in weight during this soundness test. Aggregates are the
significant factor that contributes adequate strength to concrete.