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used for educational purpose and nothing else. The course

material has been developed from the published work of
several authors and their contribution is gratefully
acknowledged.
CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Compound composition of portland cement

• The quantity of these compounds can be approximately

estimated from oxide composition using Bogue equation
• However, other methods such as quantitative X-ray
diffraction and microscopic techniques using point-count
methods can also be used

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Morphology of clinker compounds

Photomicrograph of clinker polished section

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of Cement
o Hydration of portland cement is based on the hydration of its
compounds (i.e., Aluminate, Alumino-ferrite, Alite and Belite)
o Chemical reactions describing the hydration of these
compounds have been worked out from the hydration of pure
compounds (i.e., C3A, C4AF, C3S and C2S)
o Pure compounds such as C3A, C4AF, C3S and C2S are actually
different from aluminate, alumino-ferrite, alite and belite,
respectively, in the sense that the latter has minor impurities
o However, the hydration behaviour of the latter has been
considered not to be substantially different from that of the
former

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several authors and their contribution is gratefully
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Reactivity of clinker compounds

o Reactivity of clinker compounds primarily depend
upon
(i) Heating temperatures used during cement production
(ii) Reactivity of ions present in compounds

o Belite and C4AF are formed at relatively lower

temperatures
o C3A and Alite are formed at relatively higher
temperatures

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material has been developed from the published work of
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Reactivity of clinker compounds

Chemical Quantity Reactivity
Name (in wt.%)
C3A 10 Rapid or extremely fast
C4AF 8 Moderate
C3S 55 Moderate
C2S 18 Slow
Gypsum 6 Rapid

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Chemical Reactions in portland cement

o Hydration of C3A or Aluminates
o Hydration of C4AF or Alumino-ferrites
o Hydration of C3S or Alite
o Hydration of C2S or Belite

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o The hydration of C3A is dependent on the amount
of sulfates (primarily from gypsum) present in the
PCB paste system
o Accordingly, five cases exists:
Case (i) : If sulfates are absent
Case (ii) : If sufficient or optimum sulfates are present
Case (iii) : If sulfates are consumed before the hydration of C3A
Case (iv) : If very less sulfates are present
Case (v) : If sulfate are present in huge quantities

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material has been developed from the published work of
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o Case (i) : If no sulfates are present,
C3A + 21H  C4AH13 + C2AH8
(unstable)

C4AH13 + C2AH8  2C3AH6 + 9H

(hydrogarnet)

o This reaction is vigorous and happens extremely

quick due to the rapid formation of hydrogarnet
and leads to FLASH SET

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o Case (ii) : If sufficient or optimal sulphates are

present
C3A + 3C H2+ 26H  C6A 3H32
(gypsum) (ettringite)

o This reaction is quick, results in the formation of

ettringite and leads to NORMAL SET

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o Case (iii) : If sulphates are consumed before the
hydration of C3A,
C3A + 3C 𝑆̅H2+ 26H  C6A 𝑆̅3H32
(gypsum) (ettringite)

2C3A + 3C6A 3H32 + 4H  3C4A H12

(ettringite) (monosulphoaluminates)

o This reaction converts the ettringite formed to

monosulphoaluminate (reconversion leads to sulphate attack)

10
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o Case (iv) : If very less sulphates are present
C3A + 3C 𝑆̅H2 + 26H  C6A 𝑆̅3H32
(gypsum) (ettringite)

2C3A + 3C6A 𝑆̅3H32 + 4H  3C4A 𝑆̅ H12

(ettringite) (monosulphoaluminates)

C3A + C4A H12 + CH + 12H  C4AH13 + 3C4 A H12

(monosulphoaluminate) (solid solution)

o This reaction is quicker than the previous one, consumes

monosulphoaluminates, transforms to solid solution form
and leads to QUICK SET

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3A or Aluminates

o Case (v) : If very high sulphates are present
C3A + 3C H2 + 26H  3C H2 + C6A 3H32
(gypsum) (gypsum) (ettringite unstable)

o This reaction is very slow than others and leads to

FALSE SET

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C4AF or alumino-ferrite

o The chemical reactions are as follows:
C4AF + 3C H2+ 21H  C6(A,F) 3H32 + (F,A)H3
(gypsum) (ettringite like compd.)

C4AF + C6(A,F) 3H32 + 7H  C6(A,F) H12 + (F,A)H3

(ettringite) (monosulphoaluminate like compd.)

o C4AF forms hydration products similar to C3A but

the reactions are relatively slower and involve less
heat due to the presence of iron

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material has been developed from the published work of
several authors and their contribution is gratefully
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Hydration of C3S or alite

o The chemical reactions are as follows:

2C3S + 21H  C 3S2H 8 + 3CH

(tobermorite gel) (portlandite)
100 g 24 g 75 g 49 g

2C2S + 9H  C 3S2H 8 + CH
(tobermorite gel) (portlandite)

100 g 24 g 99 g 22 g

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Effect of fineness on properties of portland cement systems

Higher the cement fineness,
o higher is the water demand (and hence, lower the
workability)
o higher amounts of chemical admixtures are required
o higher is the heat of hydration
o faster are the hydration reactions (and hence,
strength gain)
o the permeability of decreases faster with time
o higher is the degree of hydration (a)

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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Classification of portland cement in India

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material has been developed from the published work of
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CEC203: Building Material, Construction and Management
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad

Classification of portland cement in India

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