Soundness of Cement:

Soundness of cement is the property of hardened cement paste undergoing large change in volume after setting without delayed destructive expansion. This destructive expansion is caused by excessive amounts of free lime or magnesia. This change in volume may cause crack and disintegration of concrete. Soundness of cement can be checked by using Le-Chatliers apparatus. Soundness is nothing but volumetric change of the cement .Presents of chemicals such as CaO, MgO will react with the water present in the cement paste and it will increase the volume of cement paste while hardening. It may causes cracks in the building to avoid that it is necessary to find the soundness of cement before using that. It may vary to each type of cement even for each batch. Soundness should not exceed 10mm for OPC