TYPES OF CEMENT AND THEIR USES

1. RAPID HARDENING CEMENT:

Rapid hardening cement is very similar to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It contains higher
C3S (Ca3SiO5, sometimes formulated as 3CaO·SiO 2) content and finer grinding. Therefore it gives
greater strength development at an early stage than OPC. The strength of this cement at the
age of 3 days is almost same as the 7 days strength of OPC with the same water-cement ratio.
The main advantage of using rapid hardening cement is that the formwork can be removed
earlier and reused in other areas which save the cost of formwork. This cement can be used in
prefabricated concrete construction, road works, etc.
2. LOW HEAT CEMENT:
Low heat cement is manufactured by increasing the proportion of C 2S (2CaO.SiO 2) and by
decreasing the C3S and C3A (Ca3Al2O6, often formulated as 3CaO.Al2O3 content. This cement is
less reactive and its initial setting time is greater than OPC. This cement is mostly used in mass
concrete construction.
3. SULFATE RESISTING CEMENT:
Sulfate resisting cement is made by reducing C3A content. Cement with such composition has
excellent resistance to sulfate attack. This type of cement is used in the construction of
foundation in soil where subsoil contains very high proportions of sulfate.
4. WHITE CEMENT:
White cement is a type of ordinary Portland cement which is pure white in color and has
practically the same composition and same strength as OPC. To obtain the white color the iron
oxide content is considerably reduced. The raw materials used in this cement are limestone and
china clay.
This cement, due to its white color, is mainly used for interior and exterior decorative work like
external renderings of buildings, facing slabs, floorings, ornamental concrete products, paths of
gardens, swimming pools etc.
5. HYDROPHOBIC CEMENT:
Hydrophobic cement is manufactured by adding water repellant chemicals to ordinary Portland
cement in the process of grinding. Hence the cement stored does not spoil even during
monsoon. This cement is claimed to remain unaffected when transported during rains also.
Hydrophobic cement is mainly used for the construction of water structures such dams, water
tanks, spillways, water retaining structures etc.
6. COLORED CEMENT:
This Cement is produced by adding 5- 10% mineral pigments with Portland cement during the
time of grinding. Due to the various color combinations, this cement is mainly used for interior
and exterior decorative works.
7. WATERPROOF PORTLAND CEMENT:
Waterproof cement is prepared by mixing with ordinary or rapid hardening cement, a small
percentage of some metal stearates (Ca, Al, etc) at the time of grinding. This cement is used for
the construction of water-retaining structure like tanks, reservoirs, retaining walls, swimming
pools, dams, bridges etc.
8. PORTLAND BLAST FURNACE CEMENT:
In this case, the normal cement clinkers are mixed with up to 65% of the blast furnace slag for
the final grinding. This type of cement can be used with advantage in mass concrete work such
as dams, foundations, and abutments of bridges, retaining walls, construction in sea water.
9. HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT:
High alumina cement (HAC) is special cement, manufactured by mixing of bauxite (aluminum
ore) and lime at a certain temperature.  This cement is also known as calcium aluminum
cement (CAC). The compressive strength of this cement is very high and more workable than
ordinary Portland cement.
10. EXPANSIVE CEMENT:
The cement which does not shrink during and after the time of hardening but expands slightly
with time is called expansive cement. This type of cement is mainly used for filling the cracks in
concrete structures.

Setting of cement

When water is mixed with cement to form a paste, reaction starts. In its pure form, the finely
ground cement is extremely sensitive to water. Out of the three main compounds, viz. C3A, C3S
and C2S, reacts quickly with water to produce a jelly-like compound which starts solidifying. The
action of changing from a fluid state to a solid state is called ‘setting’ and should not be
confused with ‘hardening’.

When water is mixed with cement, the paste is formed and remains in the plastic state for a
first few minutes. During these first few minutes the paste can be mould in any required shape
due to its plasticity. Within this specific time reaction continues between cement and water.
During this reaction, paste loses its plasticity and gets hardened. Afterward, moulding the
hardened paste in the desired shape becomes difficult. This early time of the hardening of
cement paste is known as “Setting Time of Cement”.

Setting time of cement usually depends on various factors, such as the type of cement, fineness
of cement, chemicals, sand, availability of ambient temperature during casting, presence of
certain type of salts, the percentage of water etc. For example, setting time of cement is longer
during winter or in cold area due to low temperature.
Setting time is usually differentiated as initial setting time & final setting time. This mean that if
the initial setting time of cement is 30 minutes, the cement mortar or concrete must be placed
in position within 30 minutes of adding water. If delayed, mortar or concrete will lose strength.
If delayed due to some unavoidable circumstances, either you have to reject cement/concrete
or add additional cement depending upon delay.

Division on setting time of cement is based on Initial setting time of cement and Final setting
time of cement. Generally Initial setting is the time elapsed between the moment water is
added to the cement to the time at which paste starts losing its plasticity.

Manufacture of cement 
Portland cement is manufactured by crushing, milling and proportioning the following
materials:

o Lime or calcium oxide, CaO: from limestone, chalk, shells, shale or calcareous
rock
o Silica, SiO2: from sand, old bottles, clay or argillaceous rock
o Alumina, Al2O3: from bauxite, recycled aluminum, clay
o Iron, Fe2O3: from from clay, iron ore, scrap iron and fly ash
o Gypsum, CaSO4.2H20: found together with limestone

Chemical shorthand 
Because of the complex chemical nature of cement, a shorthand form is used to denote the
chemical compounds. The shorthand for the basic compounds is: 
 

Compound Formula Shorthand form

Calcium oxide (lime) Ca0 C

Silicon dioxide (silica) SiO2 S

Aluminum oxide (alumina) Al2O3 A

Iron oxide Fe2O3 F

Water  H2O H

Sulfate SO3 S
Portland cement clinker contains four principal minerals:

 Alite: C3S (Ca3SiO5, sometimes formulated as 3CaO·SiO2): approximately

tricalcium silicate (typically about 65% of the total)

 Belite: C2S (2CaO.SiO 2) approximately dicalcium silicate (typically about

15% of the total)

 Aluminate: C3A (Ca3Al2O6, often formulated as 3CaO.Al2O3 very

approximately tricalcium aluminate (typically about 7% of the total)

 Ferrite:  C4AF {2(Ca2AlFeO5) or formulated as 4CaO · Al 2O 3Fe 2O3}. very

approximately tetracalcium aluminoferrite (typically about 8% of the total)