Cement

Cement, one of the most important building materials, is a binding

agent that sets and hardens to adhere to building units such as
stones, bricks, tiles etc. Cement generally refers to a very fine
powdery substance chiefly made up of limestone (calcium), sand or
clay (silicon), bauxite (aluminum) and iron ore, and may include shells,
chalk, marl, shale, clay, blast furnace slag, slate.

Cement, in general, adhesive substances of all kinds, but, in a

narrower sense, the binding materials used in building and civil
engineering construction. Cements of this kind are finely ground
powders that, when mixed with water, set to a hard mass.

07/01/21 1
 Cement

07/01/21 2
 Cement
• Cements in general are adhesive and cohesive
materials which are capable of bonding together
particles of solid matter into compact durable
mass.

• The force of cohesion is defined as the force of attraction between molecules of the
same substance. The force of adhesion is defined as the force of attraction between
different substances, such as glass and water.

07/01/21 3
 Cement
• Clay as cementing material – Assyrians and Babylonians
• Lime and gypsum as binder material – Egyptians used in
pyramids
• Calcareous cements, limestone material – Romans
• Joseph Aspedin of Yorkshire (UK) in 1824 formed Portland
cement by heating a mixture of limestone & fine clay
expelling carbonic acid gas
• Isaac C. Johnson in 1845 invented cement by burning
limestone and clay to form clinker

07/01/21 4
 Cement (history)
Throughout history, cementing materials have played a vital role and were used
widely in the ancient world. The Egyptians used calcined gypsum as a cement and
the Greeks and Romans used lime made by heating limestone and added sand to
make mortar, with coarser stones for concrete.

The Romans found that a cement could be made which set under water and this
was used for the construction of harbours. This cement was made by adding
crushed volcanic ash to lime and was later called a "pozzolanic" cement, named
after the village of Pozzuoli near Vesuvius.

In places where volcanic ash was scarce, such as Britain, crushed brick or tile was
used instead.

The Romans were therefore probably the first to manipulate systematically the
properties of cementitious materials for specific applications and situations.

07/01/21 5
 Cement (history)
After the Romans, there was a general loss in building skills in Europe, particularly with
regard to cement. Mortars hardened mainly by carbonation of lime, a slow process. The
use of pozzolana was rediscovered in the late Middle Ages.

Cement history and the Industrial Revolution: The Renaissance and Age of
Enlightenment brought new ways of thinking which led to the industrial revolution. In
eighteenth century Britain, the interests of industry and empire coincided, with the need
to build lighthouses on exposed rocks to prevent shipping losses.

The constant loss of merchant ships and warships drove cement technology
forwards.Smeaton, building the third Eddystone lighthouse (1759) off the coast of
Cornwall in Southwestern England, found that a mix of lime, clay and crushed slag from
iron-making produced a mortar which hardened under water. Joseph Aspdin took out a
patent in 1824 for "Portland Cement," a material he produced by firing finely-ground clay
and limestone until the limestone was calcined. He called it Portland Cement because the
concrete made from it looked like Portland stone, a widely-used building stone in England.

6
 Cement (history)
From the turn of the 20th century, rotary cement kilns gradually replaced the
original vertical shaft kilns, used originally for making lime. Rotary kilns heat the
clinker mainly by radiative heat transfer and this is more efficient at higher
temperatures, enabling higher burning temperatures to be achieved. Also, because
the clinker is constantly moving within the kiln, a fairly uniform clinkering
temperature is achieved in the hottest part of the kiln, the burning zone.

The two other principal technical developments, gypsum addition to control setting
and the use of ball mills to grind the clinker, were also introduced at around the
start of the 20th century.

7
 Cement
• Clay as cementing material – Assyrians and Babylonians
• Lime and gypsum as binder material – Egyptians used in
pyramids
• Calcareous cements, limestone material – Romans
• Joseph Aspedin of Yorkshire (UK) in 1824 formed Portland
cement by heating a mixture of limestone & fine clay
expelling carbonic acid gas
• Isaac C. Johnson in 1845 invented cement by burning
limestone and clay to form clinker

07/01/21 8
 Cement(uses)
• Portland cement is so named because a paste of cement
with water, after it sets hard, resembles in color and
hardness a Portland stone, a limestone quarried in Dorset
(a county in South West England).
• Uses of cement
– Masonry work, plastering, pointing, joints for pipes & drains.
– Used in concrete for laying floors, roofs, constructing lintels,
beams, stairs, pillars/columns etc.
– Used in manufacturing of precast pipes, piles, fencing posts etc.
– Important engineering structures e.g. bridges, culverts, dams,
tunnels, etc.
07/01/21 9
 Ingredients of cement

1. Silica (SiO2)
2. Alumina (Al2O3)
3. Iron oxide (Fe2O3)

07/01/21 10
 Ingredients of cement
Silica (SiO2)
• It imparts strength to the cement due to
formation of dicalcium silicate (2CaO SiO2 or C2S)
and tricalcium silicate (3CaO SiO2 or C3S).
• Silica in excess provides greater strength to the
cement but at the same time it prolongs its setting
time.

07/01/21 11
 Functions of ingredients of cement
Alumina (Al2O3)
• It imparts quick setting quality to the cement.
• It acts as a flux (rate of flow of energy) and lowers
the clinkering temperature.
• Alumina in excess reduces the strength of cement.

07/01/21 12
 Functions of ingredients of cement
Iron oxide (Fe2O3)
• It provides color, hardness and strength to
cement.
• It also helps the fusion of raw materials during
manufacture of cement.

07/01/21 13
 Harmful ingredient of cement
• Alkali oxides (K2O and Na2O): if the amount of
alkali oxides exceeds 1%, it leads to the failure of
concrete made from that cement.
• Magnesium oxide (MgO): if the content of MgO
exceeds 5%, it causes cracks after mortar or
concrete hardness.

07/01/21 14
 Cement Manufacturing
• Steps
– Grinding & mixing . Raw materials are ground and mixed in right
proportions.
– Burning. Burning at 1300 to 1900oC and obtaining clinker from
kilns.
– Grinding. Grinding of clinker to fine powder.
• Processes
– Dry process. Dry mixing and grinding of constituents. Difficult
for composition control, slow, costly.
– Wet process. Wet mixing and grinding into slurry which turns
into clinker on burning in kiln.
07/01/21 15
 Cement Manufacturing

07/01/21 16
 Cement Manufacturing

07/01/21 17
 Cement Manufacturing Process

07/01/21 CE-115 Civil Engineering Materials - Concrete 18

 Cement Manufacturing Process

07/01/21 CE-115 Civil Engineering Materials - Concrete 19

 Rotary Kiln (Furnace)

07/01/21 20
 Wet process
• Collection of raw materials:
– Calcareous materials (limestone, marl, chalk, etc.) are quarried by
blasting. Argillaceous materials (clay, slate, etc.) are transported to the
site.
• Crushing, grinding & mixing of raw materials:
– Chalk: chalk is finely broken up and dispersed in water in a wash mill.
The clay is also broken up and mixed with water in similar wash mill.
The mixture is passed through a series of screens. The resulting cement
slurry flows into storage tanks.
– Limestone: limestone is crushed & fed into a ball mill with the clay
dispersed in water. After grinding, the resulting slurry is pumped into
storage tanks.
– Slurry: it is a liquid of creamy consistency, with water content between
35-40%

07/01/21 21
 Wet process (contd.)
• Crushing, grinding & mixing of raw materials:
– Slurry is kept in storage tanks. The sedimentation of suspended
solid is prevented by mechanical stirrers or bubbling of
compressed air.
– The slurry is passed into silos where proportioning is finely
adjusted to ensure correct chemical composition.
• Burning
– Slurry is pumped into upper end of the rotary kiln set at a slight
gradient. It is 4 m in diameter and upto 150 m long. It rotates
slowly about its axis. The slurry is fed at the upper end while
pulverised coal is thrown in by an air blast at the lower end. Oil
and natural gas can also be used instead of gas.

07/01/21 22
 Zones of Rotary Kiln

07/01/21 CE-115 Civil Engineering Materials - Concrete 23

 Wet process (contd.)
• Burning
– When slurry moves down the kiln, it encounters progressively
high temperatures.
– At first water is driven off, and CO2 is liberated. The material
becomes dry.
– The dry material undergoes a series of chemical reactions until
finally, in the hottest part of kiln, 20-30 % of the material
becomes liquid, and lime, silica and alumina recombine.
– The mass fuses into balls, 0.3-2.5 cm dia, known as clinker.
– The clinker drops into coolers.
– A large kiln can produce 700 tonnes of cement a day

07/01/21 24
Clinker

07/01/21 25
 Clinker Gypsum

Source: PCA, 2003

07/01/21 26
 Wet process (contd.)
• Grinding
– The cool clinker is crushed with 3-4% of gypsum (CaSO4) in
order to prevent flash setting of cement.
– Once the cement has been satisfactorily ground it is ready for
packing in bags.
– Each bag contains 50 kg of cement.

07/01/21 27
07/01/21
Source: PCA, 2003CE-115 Civil Engineering Materials - Concrete 28
 Cement Clinker Composition
• Tri-calcium silicate – 3CaO SiO2 or C3S (Alite)
– Best cementing material. About 40%. Main cause of hardness
and early strength
• Di-calcium silicate – 2CaO SiO2 or C2S (Belite)
– About 32%. Resistance to chemical attacks. Hardens slow and
takes long to add to strength
• Tri-calcium aluminates – 3CaO Al2O3 or C3A (Celite)
– About 10%. Rapidly reacts responsible for flash set, volume
changes, cracking and high heat of hydration
• Tetra-calcium alumino ferrite – 4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 or C4AF
(Felite)
– About 9%. Responsible for flash set.
07/01/21 29
 Cement Properties
• Fineness: Finer cements react quicker with water and
increase shrinkage and cracking of concrete.
• Soundness: Change in volume of concrete after setting. It
may cause cracks, distortion and disintegration of concrete.
• Setting time: Initial setting time is that stage after which any
cracks that may appear do not reunite. Final setting is that
stage when it has attained sufficient strength and hardness.
• Compressive strength of cement and sand mortar should not
be less than
– 115 kg/cm2 after 3 days
– 175 kg/cm2 after 7 days

07/01/21 30
 Setting and hardening of cement
• The chemical reaction between cement and water is called
hydration of cement.
• When cement is mixed with water (25-35% by weight), a stiff
and sticky paste is formed which remains plastic for a short
period.
• With passage of time, the plasticity disappears and the cement
past becomes stiff due to initial hydration of cement. This
phenomenon of plastic cement changing into a solid mass is
known as setting of cement.
• On setting, cement binds the aggregates into a solid mass which
gains strength as the time passes, till hydration of cement is
complete.

07/01/21 31
 Setting and hardening of cement
• The phenomenon by virtue of which the cement paste,
which is finally set, develops strength is known as
hardening of cement.
• Heat of hydration: The reaction of cement with water
evolves heat known as heat of hydration.
• The rate of setting and hardening of cement, the rate of
evolution of heat and resistance to chemical attack are
affected by the proportions of different cement
components.

07/01/21 32
 Testing of Portland cement
• Fineness test
• Consistency test
• Setting time test
• Soundness test
• Tensile strength test
• Compressive strength test

07/01/21 33
 Fineness of cement
• Finer cements will
– React more quickly
– React more completely
– Improve mix cohesion (or make ‘sticky’)
– Reduce bleeding
– Deteriorate more quickly
– Be more susceptible to cracking
– Generally require more water
• Fineness of cement does not alter the total quantity of
heat liberated but it changes the rate of development due
to change in surface areas.

07/01/21 34
 Fineness test
• Excessive fineness is not desirable because
– Cost of grinding to achieve fineness increases
– Excessively fine cement deteriorates more quickly
– Greater fineness requires more gypsum for proper retardation
– Water required for standard consistency increases for finer
cements.
• The fineness of cement is tested by
– Sieve test
– Surface area test

07/01/21 35
 Fineness test
• Sieve test: The maximum residue after sieving through 90-
micron sieve should be limited to
– 10% by weight for ordinary Portland cement
– 5% by weight for rapid hardening Portland cement
• Sieve test does not give any idea of smaller grains retained on
sieve.
• Surface area test: also known as specific surface test.
– Specific surface is the total surface of all particles of cement per unit
weight.
– Determined by air permeability method or Wagner’s turbidimeter.
– Less than 2250 cm2/g of cement (air permeability) or 1600 cm2/g of
cement (Wagner’s method).

07/01/21 36
 Cement Types
• Portland Cement
– Ordinary Portland Cement
– *Rapid Hardening or High Early Strength Portland Cement
– * Low Heat Portland Cement
– Sulphate Resistant Portland Cement
– Water Repellent Portland Cement
– Water Proof Portland Cement
– *Air Entraining Portland Cement
– * Pozzolana Portland Cement

07/01/21 37
 Cement Types
• Other Varieties of Cement
– * High Alumina Cement
– * Quick Setting Cement
– * Blast Furnace Slag Cement
– * White Cement
– * Colored Cement
– Expanding Cement
– Hydrophobic Cement

07/01/21 38
 Cement Types
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
•Ordinary Portland cement is the most widely used
type of cement which is suitable for all general
concrete construction. It is most widely produced
and used type of cement around the world with
annual global production of around 3.8 million cubic
meters per year.  This cement is suitable for all type
of concrete construction.

07/01/21 39
 Cement Types
• Rapid Hardening or High Early Strength Cement
– Gains strength faster than OPC. In 3 days develops 7 days
strength of OPC with same water cement ratio
– Initial and final setting times are same as OPC
– Contains more tri-calcium silicate and finely ground
– Emits more heat during setting, therefore unsuitable for mass
concreting
– Lighter and costlier than OPC. Short curing period makes it
economical
– Used for structures where immediate loading is required e.g.
repair works

07/01/21 40
 Cement Types
• Quick Setting Cement
– Sets faster than OPC
– Initial setting time is 5 minutes
– Final setting time is 30 minutes
– Used for concreting in underwater or running water
– Mixing and placing has to be faster to avoid initial
setting prior to laying

07/01/21 41
 Cement Types
• High Alumina Cement
– Black chocolate color cement produced by fusing bauxite and
limestone in correct proportion, at high temperature
– Resists attack of chemicals, sulphates, seawater, frost action and also
fire. Useful in chemical plants and furnaces
– Ultimate strength is much higher than OPC
– Initial setting time is 2 hours, followed soon by final set
– Most heat emitted in first 10 hours so good for freezing temperatures
in cold regions (below 18°C)
– Develops strength rapidly, useful during wartime emergency
– Unsuitable for mass concrete as it emits large heat on setting

07/01/21 42
 Cement Types
• Portland Slag Cement
– Produced by mixing Portland cement clinker, gypsum
and granulated blast furnace slag
– Cheaper than OPC, blackish grey
– Lesser heat of hydration. Initial setting 1 hour and final
setting 10 hours
– Better resistance to soils, sulphates of alkali metals,
alumina, iron and acidic waters
– Suitable for marine works, mass concreting
– Due to low early strength, not suitable for RCC

07/01/21 43
 Cement Types
• Low Heat Cement
– Low percentage (5%) of tri-calcium aluminates and silicate
and high (46%) of di-calcium silicate to keep heat
generation low
– Initial and final setting times nearly same as OPC
– Very slow rate of developing strength
– Not suitable for ordinary structures
• Shuttering required for long duration so cost will increase
• Prolonged curing is required
• Structure utilization will be delayed

07/01/21 44
 Cement Types
• Air Entraining Cement
– OPC with small quantity of air entraining materials (resins,
oils, fats, fatty acids) ground together
– Air is entrained in the form of tiny air bubbles during
chemical reaction
– Concrete is more plastic, more workable, more resistant
to freezing
– Strength of concrete reduces somewhat
– Quantity of air entrained should not be more than 5% to
prevent excess strength loss

07/01/21 45
 Cement Types
• White Cement
– OPC with pure white color produced with white chalk
or clay free from iron oxide
– Instead of coal, oil fuel is used for burning
– Much more costlier than OPC
• Colored Cement
– Suitable pigments used to impart desired color
– Pigments used should be chemically inert and durable
under light, sun or weather
07/01/21 46
 Cement Types
• Portland Pozzolana Cement
– OPC clinker and pozzolana (calcined clay, surkhi and fly
ash) ground together
– Properties same as OPC
– Produces less heat of hydration and offers great
resistance to attacks of sulphates and acidic waters
– Used in marine works and mass concreting
– Ultimate strength is more than OPC but setting timings
are same as OPC

07/01/21 47
 Puzzolona

07/01/21 48
 Cement Types
• Sulphate Resistant Portland Cement
– Percentage of tricalcium aluminate is kept below 5%
resulting in increase in resisting power against
sulphates
– Heat developed is almost same as Low Heat Cement
– Theoretically ideal cement. Costly manufacturing
because of stringent composition requirements
– Used for structures likely to be damaged by severe
alkaline conditions like bridges, culverts, canal lining,
siphons, etc

07/01/21 49
 On site cement quality
It is very important to check the quality of cement
on site before it is used. It is not possible to check all
the engineering qualities of cement on site. But
some physical field test carried out on site to know
rough idea of quality of cement.

07/01/21 50
 On site cement quality
o Date of manufacture should be checked on the cement bag. It is
important because the Strength of cement with age.
o Open the bag and take a good look at the cement.
o There should not be any visible lumps or dust in the cement if you
throw a small quantity of cement in a bucket of water, the cement
should float for a few minutes before it sinks. The immediate
sinking of cement indicates the presence of impurities
o The colour of the cement should normally be greenish grey.
o When you insert your hand into the cement bag, it must give you a
cool feeling. There should not be any lumps inside.

07/01/21 51
 On site cement quality
o Take a pinch of cement and feel-between the fingers. It should give
a smooth not a gritty feeling.
o Take 100g of cement and small quantity of water and make a stiff
paste. Prepare a cake with sharp edges and put on the glass plate
and slowly take it under water in a bucket. See that the shape of
the cake is not disturbed while taking down to the bottom of
bucket. After 24 hours the cake should retain its original shape and
at the same it should set and attain some strength.
o Take a pinch of cement and smell it. If the cement contains too
much of pounded clay and silt as an adulterant, the paste will give
an earthy smell.
o For any assistance you can call on the contact number printed on
the cement bag.

07/01/21 52