CE:242A – CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS

Department of Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Uttar Pradesh - 208016

LECTURE – 2
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PORTLAND CEMENT

Instructor: Dr. K.V. Harish (Assistant Professor)

Office: Room No. 334 Faculty Building, IIT Kanpur
Email: kvharish@iitk.ac.in, Phone: 0512-259-6427

Other Classifications of Cement 1

Chemical properties of portland cement

• Chemical properties of portland cement usually

refers to its chemical composition and/or
compound composition
• Chemical composition of cement refers to its oxide
composition or contents
• Compound composition primarily refers to the
Bogue’s compounds and other minor
compounds
• The reactions in the hydration of portland cement
is due to the reaction of the compounds and not the
oxides individually

Physical and chemical properties 2

Cement chemist notations

Physical and chemical properties 3

Chemical composition of OPC
• The proportion of raw materials used during the cement
production significantly affects its chemical composition
• Determined using XRF Spectroscopy technique
• Used to determine compound composition of cement
using Bogue’s equation and burnability of clinker

Physical and chemical properties 4

Compound composition of OPC

o These compounds contain impurities like MgO, Na2O,

K2O and others: they are different from the pure
compounds

Physical and chemical properties 5

Estimation of compounds
• Bogue’s equations (potential composition)

• Microscopy (point count)

• Quantitative X-ray Diffraction
• Microscopy (point count) provides most accurate
estimate of the compounds
Physical and chemical properties 6
Physical properties of portland cement

• Specific gravity (Sg = 3.15)

- higher Sg indicates higher C4AF content in cement
• Fineness (S or SSA)
- S = 300-350 m2/kg (for ASTM Type I cement)
- S = 400-550 m2/kg (for ASTM Type II cement)
- Fineness is measured using several methods:
o Blain’s apparatus (resistance to air flow)
o Wagner’s turbidimeter (resistance to passage of
light)
o X-ray sedigraph
o Laser Particle Size Analyzer
o % retained on 45 micron sieve (#325 sieve)

Physical and chemical properties 7

Importance of fineness of portland cement

• Higher the cement fineness

o Hydration reactions become faster (strength gain is
faster)
o Permeability of paste decrease faster
o Water-demand is higher
o More chemical admixtures are adsorbed
o Higher amounts of heat-of-hydration are generated
o Larger grains never completely hydrate

• Higher gypsum contents are required to offset

the reactivity of C3A
• The pore size distribution generated is very
susceptible to freezing-thaw deterioration

Physical and chemical properties 8

• Particle size distribution (PSD) of cement
- Avg. particle size (D50) of normal Type I Cement is in
the range of 15 to 20 microns
- For two cements with same fineness (i.e., SSA),
cements with
o Uniformly distributed PSD have higher water demand
than with well-graded PSD

D50 = 19 mm

Physical and chemical properties 9

• Color
- Color of normal portland cement is grey
- Primarily due to Iron present in C4AF and some
traces of Manganese
- White cement (for architectural purposes)
- Pigments may be added to make colored cements

Physical and chemical properties 10

Characterization tests for portland cement

• Tests on cement pastes

o Setting time behavior (ASTM C191)
o Autoclave expansion (ASTM C151)
o Heat of hydration (ASTM C186)

• Tests on cement mortars

o Compressive strength test (ASTM C109/C109M)
- Equivalent IS 516 specification
o Air content of mortar (ASTM C185)

Physical and chemical properties 11

 CE:651 - SPECIAL CONCRETES
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Uttar Pradesh - 208016

CLASSIFICATION OF PORTLAND
CEMENT

Physical and chemical properties 12

 (C) IS Classification
Compressive strength based specification
o Grade 33 – IS 269: 1989
o Grade 43 – IS 8112: 1989
o Grade 53 – IS 12269: 1987

Physical and chemical properties 13

 Standard Chemical requirements

Source: M.S. Shetty, “Concrete Technology – Theory and Practice”

Physical and chemical properties 14

 Standard Physical requirements

Source: M.S. Shetty, “Concrete Technology – Theory and Practice”

Physical and chemical properties 15

Physical and chemical properties 16