BRITISH STANDARD BS EN ne | 196-3: 1995 Methods of testing cement Part 3. Determination of setting time and soundness ‘The European Starland EN 196-3 1994 has the status of a Sritish StandardBS EN 196-3: 1995 ‘to Sana, hase seeder the ‘he tana Bear ad se BSE reerenes, telat the ea th tion (¢ + Whose supervision wed, comprises the national standards nanizations of the following countries: Austria esterreichisches Non Delgium Institut behge ek Dansk France 2 n frangaise de normalisation Germany. os Institut fiir Normunyg eV Onganization for alization HInstitute of leeland Standards Authority of Ireland zionale Italiano di Unifieazione on du Travail et des Mines jo-institunt Norway Norges Standardiseringsforbund Portugal to Portus da Qualidade Spa on y Cenific sweden Standandiseringskommissionen i Sverixe Switzerland Association suisse de normalisation United Kingdom British Standards Institution, Amendments issued si And, So] DatePea Cooperating onsiniz ‘ational foreword Foreword Text of EN 146-3 National annexes Inside front ever NA. (informotive) Determination of standard consistence wo NB (informative) Committees responsible Inside back cover NC Crose-references Inside back cover National foreword This British Standard has been prepared under the direction of Tec! Committee B’516, Cement and lime. It is the English language version of EN 196-3 : 1994 Methods of testing cement Part 3 : Determination of setting time and soundness published by the European Committee for Standantization (CEN). EN 196-3 was drawn up by CEN Technical Committee 51, Cement and building limes, as Part 3 of a series on testing cement which was originally accepted by CEN on 15 November 1985 and made available on 12 May’ 1987 ‘The UK gave a negative vote at the final voting stage and, under the CEN Rules then in force, was not obliged to implement this Part. A second formal voté was taken in November 1992 when the UK again gave a negative vote but, under the CEN Rules now in force, is obliged to implement this Part. This British Standard supersedes BS 4550 : Sections 3.5 : 1978, 3.6: 1978 and 3.7 = 1 which are withdrawn, ‘The methods described in this standard retain the use of the familiar Vieat and le Chatelier »pparatus. The UK negative votes on this Part were due to the fact that the draft European Standard contained certain errors, some of which Femain in the 1994 text, e.g. the minimum laboratory relative humidity in 4.1 should be 50 % to accord with EN 196-1, Furthernore, the requiremer in 7.1.3 for a minimum relative humidity of 98 % is inappropriate as val-ies at this level can neither he measured nor controlled with any precision. The engths of the standard consistence plunger and of the setting time needles are. not critical where the Vicat apparatus is calibrated in advance of the test (see 5.2.3 and 6.2). However, for convenience in use, they should same length within 4 1mm, Hence, in the typical ill ins shown in figure 1, the needle lengths in (d) and (¢) should be shown to the upper shoulder of the cone. ‘The Vicat sould is specified in 5.1 to be of hard rubber but ‘moulds of metal may be used provided that .... they can be shown to give the same test results’ Such data are available in the UK enabling metal moulds to be used. In the test for standard consistence, 5.2.3 requires repeat tests “with pastes containing different water contents until one is found to produce a distance between plunger and hase-plate of (6 + 1) mm’, The UK procedure for meeting this requirement is given in national annex NA. ection 3.7 : 1978 included a soundness test cement, based on immersion in cold water, whi This procedure is being retained in an appe ‘Compliance with « British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations.EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 196-3 NORME EUROPEENNE EUROPAISCHE NORM December 1984 Set ee Teeenqtees: Cements tests, determine, setting tine, consistence, stability English version Methods of testing cement — Part 3: Determination of setting time and soundness Méthodes d’essai des ciments — Priifverfahren far Zement — Partie 3: Détermination du temps de prise et Teil 3: Bestimmung der Erstarrungszeiten und de la stabilité der Raumbestindigkeit ‘This European Standard was approved by CEN on 1994-12-12, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Upto-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the Central Secretariat or to any CEN member. This European S:andard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Central Secretariat has the same status as the official versions. CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. European Committee for Standardization Comité Européen de Normalisation Europiisches Komitee fr Normung Central Secretariat: rue de Stassart 36, B-1050 Brussels © 1994 Copyright reserved to CEN members Ref. No. EN IPage 2 EN 196-3 : 1994 Foreword Contents Foreword Scope ormative references ‘Test principh General requirements for testing Methods of testing ces 2 Standard consistence test ‘Chemical analysis of cement Setting time test Methods of testing coment — Part 3 Soundness test Determination of setting soundness ENV 196-4 Methods of testing cement — Part 4 Quantitative determination of constituents EN 196-5 Methods of testing cement — Part 5 Pozzolanicity test for pozzolanie coments EN 186-6 Methods of testing cement — Part Determination of fineness Methods of testing cement — Part Methods of taking and preparing ‘samples of cement Methods of testing cement — Part 2 Determination of chloride, carbon dioxide and alkali content of cement ropean Standard shall be given the status of andard, either by publication of tical text or by endorsement, at the latest by’ June 1995, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by June 105, ‘This European standard supersedes EN 196-3 1st Acconting to the CEN:CENELEC Inte Regulations, the following countries are hound te Teeland, Ireland, Italy, Lux Netherlands, Norway, Portuga switzerland, United Kingdom.1 Scope This European Standard describes th determining setting time and sou coments, Cis applicable to all cements covered by ENV 17-1 This standard describes the reference procedure; it allows the use of alternative procedures as indicated in notes provided that they do not affect the results significantly. In the event of a dispute, only the reference procedure described in this standard shall be used, excluding any alternatives. 2 Normative references ‘This European Standard incorporates by dated oF undated reference, provisions from other publications. These normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text and the publications are listed hereafter. For dated references, subsequent amendments to oF revisions of any of these publications apply to this European Standard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated references, the latest edition of the publication referred to applies. EN 196-1 Methods of testing cement — Part 1: Determination of strength Cement — Composition, specifications and conformity criteria — Part 1: Common cements 3 Test principles ‘The setting time is determined by observing the penetration of a needle into cement paste of standard consistence until it reaches a specified value. ‘The soundness is determined by observing the volume expansion of cement paste of standard consistence as indicated by the relative movement of two needles, ‘Cement paste of standard consistence has a specified resistance to penetration by a standard plunger. The water required for such a paste is, a ws of pastes with 4 General requirements for testing 4.1 Laboratory ‘The laboratory in which specimens are prepared and tested shall be maintained at a temperature of (20 £ 2) °C and a relative humidity of not less than 65 %, 0403 Page 3 EN 196-3 : 1994 4.2 Apparatus 4.2.1 Balance, capable of weighing to the nearest Ve 4.2.2 Graduated entinder or burette, capable of ‘uring to the nearest 1% of the volume 4.3.1. Distilled or deionized water shall be used for king, storing and boiling specimens. eid that ea esa togve the same tet ets, 4.3.2 Cement, water and apparutus used to make and test specimens shall be at a temperature of £2)°C. 5 Standard consistence test 5.1 Apparatus Use the Vieat apparatus as shown in figure 1(a) and 1(b) with the plunger shown in figure 1(c) ‘The plunger (figure 1(c)) shall be of non-corrodible ‘metal in the form of a right cylinder of (60 £ 1) mm effective length and of (10,00 + 0,05) mm diameter. The total mass of moving parts shall be (300 + 1) g. Their movement shall be truly vertical and without appreciable friction, and their axis shall coincide with th; the plunger. ‘The Vicat mould (see figure 1(a)) to contain the paste under test shall be of han rubber. It shall be of truncated conical form (40,0 + 0,2) mm deep and shall have internal diameters at top and bottom of (70 £ 5) mm and (80 + 5) mm respectively. It shall be adequately rigid and shall be provided with a plane glass base-plate langer than the mould and at least 2,5 mm thick, NOTE, Moule of metal or plats or of elidel form may be tise povided that they peciied depth and that they can be shown to give the sume tet rela the specified hha rubber mould of truncated conical frm, 5.2 Procedure 5.2.1 Mixing the cement paste Weigh, to the nearest 1 g, 500 g of cement. Weigh a quantity of water, e.g. 125 g, in the mixer bowl or measure the water from the graduated cylinder or burette and place it into the mixer bowl, ‘Add the cement carefully to the water in onler to avoid loss of water or cement. The time of addition ‘shall be not less than 6 8 nor more than 10 x, Note the time of completion of the addition as zero from which later measurements of time shall be made. Start the mixer immediately and run at low speed for 90 s. ofPage 4 EN 196-3 : 1994 02 40 25 oN 70:5 A 4 8025 . (2) Ste view with mould in upright postion fori setting time (8) Front view with meu inverted fr fina ‘termination seting time dete 1. tard rubber mould Platform for correcting weights 3. Glass plate Dimensions in millimetres NOTE, The specified dimensions have to be olnerved. Ifthe plunger, needle and needle with attachment a have the same mash ef (0 05) g, one correcting weight Is sufficient for each apparatus. Figure 1. Vieat apparatus for determining the standard consistence and setting time of cement all adjusted to9 10,00 - 095, Enlarged view ¢ Setermining fn (©) Plunger for standart consistence (4) Needle fo initial set (6) Needle and attachment for final set 4. Airvent Dimensions in malieetret NOTE. The specified dimensions have to be observed. Ifthe plunger, needle and needle with attachment are all adjusted to have the same mass, e.g. (9 £ 0,5) g, one correcting weight is sufficient for each apparatus. Figure 1. Vicat apparatus for determining the standard consistence and setting time of cement (concluded)Page 6 EN 196-3 : 1994 Stop the machine after 90 s for 1 s during which remove with a suitable seraper any paste adhering to the bow! outside the mixing zone and return it to the mix. Restart the machine and run at Tow speed for a further 90s. The total mixer running time shall be 3 NOTE. Any other a he eel pide sults asthe specified et, hand, Cg the sae 5.2.2 Filling the mould ‘Transfer the paste immediately to the mould, which has previously been placed on a lightly greased plane glass base-plate, and fill it to excess without undue compaction or vibration, Remove the excess by a gentle sawing motion with a straight-edged implement jin such a way as to leave the paste filling the mould and having a smooth upper surface, 5.2.3 Penetration test Calibrate the Vicat apparatus with the plunger (figure 1(c)), attached in advance of the test, by lowering the plunger to rest on the base-plate to be used and adjusting the pointer to read zero on the scale. Raise the plunger to the stand-by position. Immediately after levelling the paste, transfer the mould and base-plate to the Vicat apparatus and position it centrally under the plunger. Lower the plunger gently until it is in contact with the paste. Pause in that position for between 1 s and 2 s in ‘order to avoid initial velocity or forced acceleration of the moving parts. Then release the moving parts quickly and allow the plunger to penetrate vertically into the centre of the paste. The release of the plunger shall occur 4 min after zero time. Read the scale when penetration has ceased or 30 after the release of the plunger, whichever is the earlier. Record the scale reading, which indicates the distance between the bottom face of the plunger and the base-plate, together with the water content of the paste expressed as a percentage by mass of the cement. Clean the plunger immediately after each penetration, Repeat the test with pastes containing different water contents until one is found to produce a distance between plunger and base-plate of (6 £ 1) mm. Record the water content of that paste to the nearest 0,5 % as the water for standard consistence. 6 Setting time test 6.1 Apparatus 6.1.1 Room or humidity cabinet A room or a humidity cabinet of wlequate size and ‘maintained at (20 £ 1) °C and not less than 90 % relative humidity. NOTE. Provided that it can be shown ta give the same test results a water-bath capable of maintaining fled moulds in Sater at (25 1) °C may be used, 0408 6.1.2. Vicat apparatus for initial set Remove the plunger and replace it by the needle (figure 1(4)) which shall be of steel and in the form of a right eylinter of effective length (50 £1) mm and diameter (1,13. £ 0,05) mm, The total mass of moving parts shall be Ye. Their movement shall be truly vertical and without appreciable axis shall coincide with that of the needle. NOTE, Automate setting th xia sind aye eed pe Timcesre, 6.2 Determination of initial setting time Calibrate the Vicat apparatus with the needle (figure 1(@), attached in advance of the test, by lowering the necdic to rest on the hase-plate to be used and adjusting the pointer to read zero on the scale. Raise the needle to the stand-by position, Fill a Vicat mould with paste of standard consistence and level it, in accordance with 5.2.1 and 5.2.2. Place the filled mould and base-plate in the room or humidity cabinet specified in 6.1.1 and, after a suitable time, transfer to the Vicat apparatus and position under the needle. Lower the needle gently it is in contact with the paste. Pause in that position for between 1 s and 2 s in order to avoid Initial velocity or forced acceleration of the moving parts, Then release the moving parts quickly and allow the needle to penetrate vertically into the paste. Read the scale when penetration has ceased, or 30s after the release of the needle, whichever i the earlier Record the scale reading, which indicates the distance between the end of the needle and the base-plate, together with the time from zero. Repeat the penetration test on the same specimen at conveniently spaced positions, not less than 10 mm from the rim of the mould or from each other, at conveniently spaced intervals of time, e.4 at 10 min intervals, Between penetration tests keep the specimen in a room or humidity cabinet as specified in 6.1.1. Clean the Vicat needle immediately after each penetration. Record the time measured from zero at which the distance between the needle and the base-plate is (4 £ 1) mmas the initial setting time of the cement to the nearest 6 min, The required accuracy may be #ssured by reducing the time interval between penetration tests near the end-point and observing that successive results do not fluctuate excessively.6.3 Determination of final setting time Invert the filled mould used in 6.2 on its so that the tests for final set are of the specimen originally in cor ase-plate. Fit the needle with (Figure 1(¢) to facilitate accurate observation of small penetrations, Use e described in 6.2. The intervals of time between penctra tests may be increased to 0.8. 30 min, Between penetration tests keep the specimen in a rom or humidity cabinet as specified in 6.1.1, Clean the Vieat needle immediately after cach, penetration, Record, to the nearest 15 min, the time measured from zero at which the needle first penetrates only 0, to the specimen as the final setting time of the cement. This time is that at which the ring attachment first fails to mark the specimen and be accurately established by reducing the time interval between tests near the end-point and, ng that successive test results do not fluctuate excessive 7 Soundness test 7.1 Apparatus 7.1.1 Le Chatelier apparatus, The mould shall be of spring brass with indicator needles and shall have the dimensions shown in figure 2(a), The resilience of the mould shall be such that the action of a mass of 300 g applied as shown in figure 2(c) shall increase the distance between the indicator ends of the needles by (17,5 + 2,5) mm without permanent deformation. A pair of plane glass base and cover plates shall be provided for each mould. Each plate shall be larger than the mould. The cover plate shall wei least 75 g; an additional small mass may be places na thin plate to satisfy this requirement 7.1.2 Water-bath, with means of heating, capable of containing immersed Le Chatelier specimens and of raising the temperature of the water from (20 £ 2) °C to boiling in (30 £ 5) min. 7.1.3 Humidity cabinet, of adequate size and maintained at (20 £ 1) °C and not less than 98 relative humidity. 7.2 Procedure Carry out the test simultaneously on two specimens from the same batch of cement paste, Prepare a cement paste of standard consistence. Place a lightly olled Le Chatelier mould on the lightly oiled base-plate and fill it immed the hands and a straght-eged implement, if desired, to level the top surface, During fi prevent the split in the mould from decides opening 0. by gentle pressure with the fingers or by tying or by use of a suitable rubber band, mass, iT necessary, 4 the complete (20 £1) °C. humility. Nove 1 nel not less than $8 % relative "vided that ta be shone tthe sa st vet ts gle platen. with aerate a (under ter for 24 2 05) hat (20 1) At the end of the (24. £ 0,5) h period m distance (A) between the indicator points to the nearest 0,5 mm. Then heat the mould gradually to oiling during (30 5) min and maintain the water-bath at boiling temperature for 3 £ 5 min, rasure the At the end of the boi between the incl the nearest 0,5 mm, Allow the mould to cool to (20 £ 2) °C, Measure: the distance (C) between the indicator points to the nearest ng period the distan or points may be a ‘cord the measurements 4 nulate the difference © — fe the mean of the two values of © Aw the nearest 0 7.3 Interpretation ‘The main purpose of the soundness test is to assess the possible risk of late expansion due to hydration of uncombined calcium oxide and/or magnesium oxide. For this purpose report the mean difference CHA. NOTE, Where it can be shown that the coniitin a the test lead 40 on signin difference between measurements and Cothe difference #)—A may he reported since this ees the tie needed forthe test 7.4 Retest Should the fresh cement fail to comply with the specified soundness requireme be retested after storage. For this purpose, spread out the cement in a layer of 7 em thickness and store it for alimosphere maintained at (20 £ 2) °C il not less than 65 % relative humidity, The st the cement according to 7.2,Page 8 EN 196-3 : 1994 (2) Le Chatetier apparatus 1. spit 2 Glas plate =— : x atthe 10) 12, (0) Arrangement of loops for demoulding NOTE. Provision ofthe two loops shown soldered tothe upper half ofthe mould, on each side of the ‘central split, faciitates demolding of the hardened paste specimen after test, dey PY. increase in separation of indicator end 2x'= 75225) 0m ' 3009 (c) Resence test arrangement Dimensions in milimetres Figure 2. Le Chatelier apparatus for the determination of soundness of cementsBS EN 196-3 : 1995 National annex NA (informative) Determination of standard consistence In order to meet the requirement of 5.2.3 to find a maste which produces a distance between plunger ne baseplate of ( £1) mm, the following procedure should be adopted, Follow the procedure in 5.2 using a paste consisting of 500 4 of the cement and a selected quantity of water, e.g. 125 g. If this gives a distance from the base-plate of (6 £ 1) mm recort the water content of this paste to the nearest 0.5 sas the water for standard consistence, If the first paste gives a distance from the base-plate outside the range (6 £1) mm, prepare another paste with a greater ler quantity of water as appropriate. If this gives a distance from the hase-plate of (6 + 1) mm record the water content of this second paste to the nearest 0, as the water for standard consistence. If this second paste gives a distance from the base-plate outside the range of (6 £ 1) mm, prepare a third paste with a greater or smaller ‘quantity of water as appropriate. If this gives a distance from the base-plate of (6 + 1) mm recon the water content of this third paste to the nearest 0.5". as the water for standard consistence. If this third paste gives a distance from the dase-plate outside the range of (6 + 1) mm, interpolate, from the three readings already obtained (providing at least one lies at each end of the range of (6 1) mm), the water content required for a distance from the base-plate of 6 mm and record this value to the nearest 0,5 % as the water for standard consistence. Any test in which the plunger falls to peneteate the ‘or penetrates the paste to rest om the baseplate, should be inne Previous pageBS EN 196-3 : 1995 Nationa! annex NB (informative) Committees responsible ‘The United Kingdom participation in the prep: ion of this European Standard was entrusted by ioe W516, upon which the following bodies ‘Technical Con emernt and Lime were represented: tee BG British Cement Association British Civil Engineering Test Equipment Man British Ready Mixed Concrete Association Ce jous Slag Makers’ Assoc Departimes rere’ Association, of the Environment (Building Res ‘h Establishment) Electricity Association Quality Ash Association Society of Chemical Industry National annex NC (informative) Cross-references ‘The British Standards corresponding to the European Standards referred to in the text are identical in number and title with those given in clause 2.BS EN 196-3 : 1995 BST WO Chiswick High Rose Londen WAAL RR WD RSI is the independent national body responsible for | Standards. 1 presents the UK view on standards i international level, It is incorporated by Ro epearing British sane at the Contract requireme A British Standard does not purport te include a untract, Users of British Standards re resp pplication, provisions of a ihe for their correct | Revisions British Standards are updated by amendment or revision. 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