HYRAULIC CEMENT

Module 4 Overview:
Cement in general is a binding agent (glue). It is a
substance that is used for construction that sets,
Hydraulic hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them
together.

CEMENT Throughout history, cementing materials have

played a vital role and were used widely in the ancient
world. It goes back to the time when man prepares his
cave to build shelter. He used mud and clay to fill the

CE104 gap between stone to keep out the wind and cold. Later
the Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as their

Construction bonding substance and straw to make shape. The

Egyptian used lime and calcinated gypsum, the Greeks,

Materials & and Romans used cement made by heating limestone.

The Romans learned how to use volcanic ash in making

Testing cement, and built lots of structure like the Pantheon,

Coliseum, etc., that we can still see today. After the
collapse of the Roman Empire, the use of cement
became rare until the technology was redeveloped in the
Engr. Luis Alfonso R. Tanchico
18th century.
Special Lecturer
Cel # 09169121330 Now a days, in construction, when we say
latanchico@hotmail.com cement, we generally refer to a very fine powdery
inorganic material, often a combination of silicates and
aluminates of lime. It is produced from limestone by
heating it to 13,000 degrees centigrade, grinding and calcinating it to produce cement nodule
called “clinker”, then grinding it, to produce fine powder. It can be characterized as either hydraulic
or non-hydraulic, depending on the ability of the cement to set in the presence of water.
Non-hydraulic cement does not set in wet conditions or under water. Rather, it sets as it
dries and reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. It is resistant to attack by chemicals after setting.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. Know the different types of hydraulic cement,
2. Know the different test to check the quality of hydraulic cement, and
3. Know the different field test to physically assess the quality of hydraulic cement.

Hydraulic Cement
Hydraulic cement sets and becomes adhesive due to a chemical reaction between dry
ingredients and water (hydration) to forms an amorphous gel (CSH, calcium-silicate-hydrate), by
itself or with other materials, and bind them together to form a hard stone-like substance.
Types of Hydraulic Cement:
1. Portland Cement – is a type of hydraulic cement patented by Joseph Aspdin in 1824
which has a resemblance to the natural limestone quarried in the Isles of Portland in
England. It is a combination of lime, silica, alumina and iron oxide.

In general, when we say cement in construction, we mean Ordinary Portland

Cement.

Types of Portland Cement:

Type I, Type IA – General Purpose Cement is used for general construction (most
buildings, bridges, pavements, precast units, etc.)

Type II, Type IIA – Moderate Sulfate Resistance Cement is used for general
construction exposed to soil or water containing moderate sulfate
ions or where moderate heat of hydration is required.

Type III, Type IIIA - High Early Strength Cement is similar to Type I, but has higher
early strength and is used in rapid construction, cold weather
concreting.
Type IV – Low Heat of Hydration (slow reacting) develops strength over a long
period of time, it is used in massive structures such as Dams
where the structures require low heat to be generated from
hydration.

Type V – High Sulfate Resistance is used in structures exposed to high level of

sulfate ions.

Portland cement is generally available in grey color due to its iron content. White
Portland cement has lower concentration of iron and needs greater processing
temperatures, thus making it more expensive than ordinary Portland cement.

2. Pozzolan Cement (Portland-Pozzolana Cement) – is a cement made by blending

Portland Cement and Pozzolanic materials either natural (burnt clay, pumice,
diatomaceous earth) or artificial ( fly ash, silica fume, blast furnace slag) which
containing silica in reactive form that hardens as silica reacts with alkali (calcium
hydroxide) in the presence of water.

The name Pozzolan was derived from the name of the town Pozzuoli in Italy. It is
situated near Mt. Vesuvius where the Romans more than 2000 years ago mined
Pozzolana, a composition of glassy tuff made from the ashes deposited by the
occasional eruption of this volcano. It is cheaper than ordinary Portland cement and is
ideal for general construction which does not require high early strength.

Types of Tests on Cement to Check the Quality of Hydraulic Cement:

 Quality Tests on cement are carried out to check the strength and quality of the cement
used in construction. It helps to identify the usage of cement for different purposes based on its
durability and performance.

The following tests are conducted on cement in the laboratory are as follows:

1. Density Test
2.  Fineness Test
3.  Consistency Test
4.  Setting Time Test
5.  Strength Test
6.  Soundness Test
7.  Heat of Hydration Test
8.  Tensile Strength Test
9.  Chemical Composition Test

1. Density Test

Determination of the density of hydraulic cement is used in connection with the design of
Portland cement concrete mixtures.
The test is conducted by filling the Le Chatelier flask with kerosene between 0 and 1 cm mark
at a constant temperature and its initial mark is recorded Carefully introducing 64 grms of cement
weighed to the nearest 0.1 grms inside the flask, take the final reading seeing to it that the
temperature is within 0.2o C .
The density of hydraulic cement is calculated using the formula, Density = mass of cement/
displaced volume.
Conduct the density determination in two samples of cement. If they donot differ by more than
0.03 g/cu.cm, take the average. Otherwise run three additional determinations until a pair of
values are obtained within 0.033 gm/cu.cm.
2. Fineness Test on Cement

     The fineness of cement is responsible for the rate of hydration, rate of evolution of heat and the
rate of gain of strength. Finer the grains more is the surface area and faster the development of
strength.

The fineness of cement can be determined by Sieve Test or Air Permeability test.

Sieve Test: Air-set lumps are broken, and the cement is sieved continuously in a circular and
vertical motion for a period of 15 minutes. The residue left on the sieve is weighed, and it  should
not exceed 10% for ordinary cement. This test is rarely used for fineness.

Air Permeability Test: Blaine's Air Permeability Test is used to find the specific surface, which is
expressed as the total surface area in sq.cm/g. of cement. The surface area is more for finer
particles.
 3. Consistency Test on Cement

     This test is conducted to find the setting times of cement using a standard consistency test
apparatus, Vicat's Apparatus.

Standard consistency of cement paste is defined as that water content which will permit a Vicat
plunger of 10 mm diameter and 50 mm length to penetrate depths of 33-35 mm within 3-5 minutes
of mixing.

The test has to undergo three times, each time the cement is mixed with water varying from 24
to 27% of the weight of cement.

This test should be conducted at a constant temperature of 25°C or 29°C and at a constant
humidity of 20%.

4. Setting Time of Cement

     Vicat's apparatus is used to find the setting times of cement i.e., initial setting time and final
setting time.

Initial Setting Time:  For this test, a needle of 1 mm square size is used. The needle is allowed to
penetrate into the paste (a mixture of water and cement as per the consistency test). The time
taken to penetrate 33-35 mm depth is recorded as the initial setting time.

Final Setting Time:  After the paste has attained hardness, the needle does not penetrate the
paste more than 0.5 mm. The time at which the needle does not penetrate more than 0.5 mm is
taken as the final setting time.
5. Compressive Strength Cement

     The strength of cement cannot be defined directly on the cement. Instead the strength of
cement is indirectly defined on cement-mortar of 1:3. The compressive strength of this mortar is
the strength of cement at a specific period.

6. Soundness Test of Cement

     This test is conducted in Le Chatelier's apparatus to detect the presence of uncombined lime
and magnesia in cement.

7. Heat of Hydration Test

     During the hydration of cement, heat is produced due to chemical reactions. This heat may
raise the temperature of concrete to a high temperature of 50°C. To avoid these, in large scale
constructions low-heat cement has to be used.

This test is carried out using a calorimeter adopting the principle of determining heat gain. It is
concluded that Low-heat cement should not generate 65 calories per gram of cement in 7 days
and 75 calories per gram of cement in 28 days.

8. Tensile Strength of Cement

     This test is carried out using a cement-mortar briquette in a tensile testing machine. A 1:3
cement-sand mortar with the water content of 8% is mixed and molded into a briquette in the mold.
 This mixture is cured for 24 hours at a temperature of 25°C or 29°C and in an atmosphere at
90% relative humidity.

The average strength for six briquettes tested after 3 and 7 days is recorded.

9. Chemical Composition Test

     Different tests are conducted to determine the amount of various constituents of cement. The
requirements are based on IS: 269-1998, is as follows:

 The ratio of the percentage of alumina to that of iron oxide should not be less than 0.66.
 Lime Saturation Factor (LSF), i.e., the ratio of the percentage to that of alumina, iron oxide
and silica should not be less than 0.66 and not be greater than 1.02.
 Total loss on ignition should not be greater than 4%.
 Total sulphur content should not be greater than 2.75%.
 Weight of insoluble residue should not be greater than 1.50%.
 Weight of magnesia should not be greater than 5%

Field Tests of Cement

It is necessary to check the quality of cement on site at the time of preliminary inspection. It is
not possible to check all the engineering qualities of cement on site but there exist some field test
which gives us a rough idea of quality of cement. While on site we can perform these field tests to
judge the quality of cement. The following test should be done before mixing the cement at
construction site. These field tests are as follows:

1. Date of Manufacture
2. Color
3. Rubbing or Cement Adulteration Test
4. Hand Insertion Test
5. Float Test
6. Smell Test
7. Presence of lumps
8. Shape Test
9. Strength Test

1. Date of Manufacture
 Date of manufacture should be seen on the bag. It is important because the  strength of cement
reduces with time. It is better to use cement before 3 months from the date of manufacturing.

2. Color

The cement should be uniform in color and should not be uneven. In general, the color of
cement is grey with a light greenish shade. The color of cement gives an indication of excess lime
or clay and the degree of burning.

3. Rubbing or Adulteration Test

Take a pinch of cement and rub it between your fingers. It should feel smooth while rubbing. If
it is rough, that means adulteration with sand.

4. Hand Insertion

Thrust your hand into the cement bag and it should give cool feeling. It indicates that no
hydration reaction is taking place in the bag.

5. Float Test

Throw a small quantity of cement in a bucket of water. The particles should flow freely in water
for a while before it sinks and should not float on the surface.

6. Smell Test

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.

7. Presence of Lumps

Open the bag, the cement should not contain any hard lumps. These lumps are formed by the
absorption of moisture content from the atmosphere. The cement bags with lumps should be
avoided in construction.
8. Shape Test

Take 100g of cement and make a stiff paste. Prepare a cake with sharp edges and put on the
glass plate. Immerse this plate in water. Observe that the shape should not get disturbed while
settling. It should be able to set and attain strength. Cement is capable of setting under water also
and that is why it is also called ‘Hydraulic Cement’.

9. Strength Test

A block of cement (25 mm x 25 mm and 200 mm long) is prepared and is immersed for 7 days
in water. It is then placed on supports 15000 mm apart and it is loaded with a weight of 340 N. the
block should not show any sign of failure.

Summary:
Hydraulic cement refers to a very fine powdery inorganic material, often a combination
of silicates and aluminates of lime. It is produced from limestone by heating it to 13,000 degrees
centigrade, grinding and calcinating it to produce cement nodule called “clinker”, then grinding it, to
produce fine powder. It sets and becomes adhesive due to a chemical reaction between dry
ingredients and water (hydration) to forms an amorphous gel (CSH, calcium-silicate-hydrate), by
itself or with other materials, and bind them together to form a hard stone-like substance.

The following tests for quality of hydraulic cement are conducted in the laboratory are as follows:

1. Density Test
2.  Fineness Test
3. Consistency Test
4. Setting Time Test
5. Strength Test
6. Soundness Test
7. Heat of Hydration Test
8. Tensile Strength Test
9. Chemical Composition Test

The following field tests for quality of hydraulic cement are as follows:

1. Date of Manufacture
2. Color
3. Rubbing or Cement Adulteration Test
4. Hand Insertion Test
5. Float Test
6. Smell Test
7. Presence of lumps
 8. Shape Test
9. Strength Test

Feedback:

Prior to this learning module, you may think of cement as an ordinary

construction material that hardens with the addition of water. You are not aware of
the test performed to assure the quality of hydraulic cement.

Upon learning things in this module, you must already have a grasp of how
Hydraulic Cement play an important role in civil engineering, specifically, in civil
works construction. In the succeeding learning modules, we will discuss the other
important materials used in construction and the test needed to assure its quality.

Suggested Reading:
Topics on Hydraulic Cement in;

Simplified Methods on Building Construction, M. B. Fajardo Jr., 2001

Elements of Roads and Highways, M. B. Fajardo Jr., 2002

References:

DPWH Standard Specification 1988

DPWH Testing Manual 1988
Simplified Methods on Building Construction, M. B. Fajardo Jr., 2001
Elements of Roads and Highways, M. B. Fajardo Jr., 2002

Learning Activity:

1. If there is a possibility to do the field test (except the strength test) on hydraulic cement, do it.
Take pictures and record your observations regarding each test.

Learning Exercises:
1. _____________ is a test on hydraulic cement which uses Le Chatelier flask and is used
in Portland cement concrete mixtures.

2. _____________ is a test on hydraulic cement of cement which is responsible for the

rate of hydration, rate of evolution of heat and the rate of gain of strength. 

3. _____________is a test conducted in Le Chatelier's apparatus to detect the presence of

uncombined lime and magnesia in cement.

4. _____________ is a test on hydraulic cement to determine the heat produced due to

chemical reactions.
5. _____________ is a test on hydraulic cement to determine the amount of various
constituents of cement.

6. _____________ is a field test on hydraulic cement to determine if it is adulterated with

sand.

7. ____________ is a field test on hydraulic cement to determine that there is no hydration

reaction is taking place in the bag.

8. _____________ is a field test on hydraulic cement to determine if it contains too much

of pounded clay and silt as an adulterant.

9. _____________ is a field test on hydraulic cement to determine if it has absorbed

moisture from the atmosphere.

10. ____________ is a field test on hydraulic cement by placing a quantity cement powder
in water and observing it.