PROPERTIES OF CEMENT

- PAWAS PRASAD : 20BAR027 RUDRAKSH DUBEY : 20BAR032

CONSISTENCY

● Consistency is defined as the way in which a substance holds together; thickness or viscosity.

CONSISTENCY OF CEMENT
● A minimum quantity of water (in percentage) added to cement that initiate the chemical reaction between water and
cement to form a uniform paste of sufficient viscosity and desirable strength is known as consistency of cement.

● Adding less or excess amount of water in cement causes reduction in its strength.
TESTING THE CONSISTENCY OF CEMENT

● Significance of the test

Scale
When water is mixed with cement, it starts hydration.

Excessive addition of water in cement results in an increase in

Water cement ratio VICAT mould

Plunger
Cement loses its strength when it hardens.
Glass Plate

If Less water is added than required

Cement isn’t properly hydrated and results in loss of strength.

● Standard or Normal Consistency of Cement

➔ To find the standard or normal consistency of the cement ,
VICAT APPARATUS test is performed
VICAT APPARATUS
● Apparatus required:-

1. Weighing balance of 1000g with accuracy 1g

2. Measuring cylinder of 200ml
3. VICAT apparatus
4. VICAT Mould
5. Glass plate
6. Plunger of 10mm dia
7. Hand Trowel.
Weighing balance Measuring cylinder Hand Trowel
● PROCEDURE

1. Take 400g of cement and place it in a bowl or tray.

2. Now Assume standard consistency of water is 28% and add the same quantity of water in cement and mix it.
3. Mix the paste thoroughly within 3-5 minutes. The time taken to obtain cement paste after adding water is called
gauging time.
4. Now fill the paste in Vicat mould correctly any excessive paste remained on Vicat mould is taken off by using a
trowel.
5. Then, place the VICAT mould on Glass plate and see that the plunger should touch the surface of VICAT mould
gently.
4. Release the Plunger and allow it to sink into the test mould.
5. Note down the penetration of the plunger from the bottom of mould indicated on the scale

6. Repeat
. the same experiment by adding different percentages of water until the reading is in between 5-7mm on the
Vicat apparatus scale.
● RESULT

➔ The whole test is conducted in trial and error method.

➔ First, we assume some percentage as the standard consistency and test it out against our Vicat apparatus.

Types of cement % Consistency

Ordinary Portland Cement 26 to 33 %

● Reasons For Variation Of Values In Consistency Of Cement

1. Weather conditions

2. The excessive composition of silica

3. The fineness of cement

4. Cement produced by different companies doesn’t have the same consistency.

SETTING TIME OF CEMENT

Cement mixed with water Hydrates and makes cement paste Paste can be moulded into any desired shape

Set harden Slowly cement starts losing its Within this time cement continues with
plasticity reacting water

● This complete cycle is called Setting time of cement.

➔ This cycle can be divided into two parts :

1. INITIAL SETTING TIME

2. FINAL SETTING TIME

INITIAL SETTING TIME :

● The time to which cement can be moulded in any desired shape without losing it strength is called Initial setting
time of cement
OR

● The time at which cement starts hardening and completely loses its plasticity is called Initial setting time of
cement.

FINAL SETTING TIME :

● The time at which cement completely loses its plasticity and became hard is a final setting time of cement.

OR

● The time taken by cement to gain its entire strength is a Final setting time of cement.
CALCULATING THE SETTING TIME

● Significance of the Test

After mixing cement with water, it takes time to place the cement paste in position.

Initial setting time possess a primary role in strength & it is mandated that cement paste or concrete is placed in
position before it crosses initial setting time.

Shouldn’t be disturbed until it completes Final setting time.

Calculation of Initial and Final Setting time of Cement:-

● Apparatus required: Hand Trowel
1. Weighing balance of 1000g with accuracy 1g
2. Measuring cylinder of 200ml Measuring cylinder
3. VICAT apparatus
4. VICAT Mould
5. Glass plate
6. Plunger of 10mm dia
7. Hand Trowel.
8. Stopwatch Weighing balance stopwatch
VCAT APPARATUS
● Procedure

1. Take 400g of cement and place it in a bowl or tray.

2. Add water of Start the stopwatch at the moment water is added to the cement. Water of quantity 0.85P times
(Where P is the Standard consistency of cement) is considered.
3. Now fill the mix in Vicat mould. If any excessive paste remained on Vicat mould is taken off by using a trowel.
4. Then, place the VICAT mould on non porous plate (Glass plate) and see that the plunger should touch the surface
of VICAT mould gently.
5. Release the Plunger and allow it to sink into the test mould.
6. Note down the penetration of the plunger from the bottom of mould indicated on the scale.
7. Repeat the same experiment at different positions on the mould until the plunger should stop penetrating 5 mm
from the bottom of the mould

● To calculate the initial setting time

➔ The time between adding water to the cement to the moment when the needle fails to penetrate the mould
5 mm from the bottom

● To calculate the final setting time

➔ Now replace the needle (plunger) by the one with an annular attachment
➔ The moment when the needle makes an impression on the mould surface while the attachment fails
to do so , the cement is assumed to be set finally.
➔ The time between adding water to the cement till the moment when the annular attachment fails to make an
impression on the mould surface is called final setting time.

RESULT

Cement Types Initial Setting Time, min (min.) Final Setting Time, min (max.)

OPC(33) 30 600

OPC(43) 30 600

OPC(53) 30 600

SRC 30 600
Cement Type Initial Setting Time min (max) Final Setting Time min (max)

30 600
PPC

RHPC 30 600

PSC 30 600

Low heat 60 600

Masonry cement 90 1440

FINENESS
● Fineness of Cement is property of cement that indicate particle size of cement and specific
surface area.
● The fineness of cement is a major factor influencing its rate of hydration since the reactions
involved occur at its interface with water.
● It is expressed in cm2/gm or m2/kg.
● Fineness of cement affects hydration rate hence the rate of strength gain.
● The smaller the particle size, the greater the surface area-to-volume ratio, and thus, the
more area available for water-cement interaction per unit volume.
● Therefore finer cement reacts faster with water and the rate of development of strength
and corresponding heat of hydration is high.

Relation between strength and

fineness
FINENESS TESTS FOR CEMENT
● There are generally 2 methods for testing fineness of cement. They are :
1. Sieve Method
2. Blaine’s Air permeability Apparatus (Total surface area of all particles in 1 gram of cement)
Ordinary Portland cement (Types I and II) has a surface area between 3000 and 3500 cm 2/g,
while the surface area for rapid hardening Portland cement (Type III) ranges from 4000 to
4500 cm2/g.

Blaine’s Air permeability

sieve apparatus
Sieve test for fineness of cement

Apparatus Required :
● 90 micron sieve
● Balance
● Glass rod
● Pan & lid

Procedure :
1. Shaking or pressing for few minutes to disperse lumps in cement.
2. Take 10 gm or 100 gm of cement & place it in sieve and place the whole assembly on pan.
3. Shake it for 15 minutes either manually or by the sieve shaking machine.
4. Measure the weight on pan and residue.

% Fineness of Cement = (Weight on pan/ Total weight) * 100

Allowances as per sieve test

Types of cement % residue by weight

Ordinary Portland Cement 10%

Rapid Hardening Cement 5%

Portland Pozzolana Cement 5%

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
● Compressive strength is the maximum compressive stress that, under a gradually applied
load, a given solid material can sustain without fracture.
● Compressive strength of cement can be affected by a number of items including: water
cement ratio, cement-fine aggregate ratio, type and grading of fine aggregate, curing
conditions, size and shape of specimen, loading conditions and age.
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST FOR CEMENT

● The Compressive strength of a material is determined by the ability of the material to resist

failure in the form of cracks and fissure.

● In the test, the impact force applied on both faces of Mortar specimen made with Cement and

the maximum compression that cement specimen bears without failure recorded.

● In Technical terms compressive strength of cement means, the ability of cement specimen to

resist the compressive stress when tested under Compressive Testing Machine [CTM] at 28
days.
Compressive Strength Test

Apparatus Required :
● Compressive test machine
● Steel cubes of 7.06cm moulds
(50 cm2 area)
● Sand with no silt content
● Trowel to mix, Non-Porous plate,
Vibrator machine, Graduated
cylinder, Weigh balance, Cement
and water.
Preparation of the Cement Specimen
1. Mix the cement and sand with the trowel for the period of 1 min on Non – porous plate. Ensure that the cement
should not have any lumps in it
2. Now add water and mix for 3 minutes until the paste is of uniform colour. The quantity of water mixed with the
cement, the sand mixture should be (P/4 + 3) % where P is the percentage of water required to produce the
Standard Consistency.
3. Clean the mould with the dry cloth and apply the mould oil for easy removal of mortar cube after drying.
4. Now pour the mortar in steel cube mould. Prod the mortar for 20 times in 8 sec with the help of rod to eliminate
the entrained air. (You can also use vibrator instead of a rod.)
5. Once the vibration completes, immediately remove the mould from the vibration machine and place it in room
temperature for 24 hrs.
● Once mortar cube sets, After 24 hours dismantle the steel mould from mortar cube.
● Keep the test specimens submerged underwater for the stipulated time. This process is called
curing.
● As mentioned the specimen must be kept in water for 7 or 14 or 28 days and for every 7 days
the water is changed.
● Test the three cubes, one at 7th day, other at 14th day and another at 28th day.
Testing
● Testing specimens (mortar cubes) are placed in the space between bearing surfaces of the Compressive
strength machine.
● Care must be taken to prevent the existence of any loose material or grit on the metal plates of machine or
specimen block.
● The loading must be applied axially on specimen without any shock and increased at the rate of 35 N/mm2/min.
till the specimen collapse.
● Due to the constant application of load on the face of the cube, the mortar cube starts cracking and fails at a
point.
● Note down the reading from Compressive testing machine where the specimen starts failing.
Calculation for Compressive Strength

● The formula for calculating Compressive strength of cement is The maximum load carried
by the mortar specimen (cube) which means the load point on Compressive testing machine
at which the specimen starts breaking is divided with the surface area (contact area).
Compressive Strengths of different types of Cement

Types of cement Compressive Strength Compressive Strength

7 days (min.) (N/mm2) 28 days (min.) (N/mm2)

33 grade OPC 22 33

43 grade OPC 33 43

53 grade OPC 37 53

PPC 22 33

Low Heat Cement 16 35

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