CE 201

Engineering Materials
Lecture 5
Cement

Prepared by
Khan Abid Ahsan
Lecturer
Department of Civil Engineering
AUST
 Chemical Compounds of OPC
Portland cement is made up of four main compounds
➢ Tricalcium Silicate (3CaO·SiO2)
➢ Dicalcium silicate (2CaO·SiO2)
➢ Tricalcium aluminate (3CaO·Al2O3) and
➢ Tetra-calcium aluminoferrite (4CaO·Al2O3.Fe2O3)

Oxide Name of
Name of Compound Abbreviation composition % Minerals in
clinker

Tricalcium silicate C3S 3CaO.SiO2 50-70 Alite

Dicalcium silicate C2S 2CaO.SiO2 15-30 Belite
Tricalcium aluminate C3A 3CaO.Al2O3 5-10 Aluminate

Tetracalcium C4AF 4CaO. Al2O3. 5-15 Ferrite

Fe2O3
aluminoferrite
 Functions of Mineral Constituents
C3S:
➢ Important mineral constituent imparting strength to cement.
➢ Contribute early strength and strength at all ages.
➢ Within a week after water is added to it, substantial part of it reacts
with water and gets hydrated.

C2S:
➢ Slowest mineral compound to hydrate.
➢ Hydration continues for several weeks.
➢ Responsible for the progressive strength of cement, especially strength
gaining after a week of mixing.

C3A:
➢ The reaction of C3A with water is violent. The hydration completes in
a day. It liberates a lot of heat during the early stages of hydration, but
has little strength contribution.
➢ Mainly causes the setting action of cement.
 Functions of Mineral Constituents

C4AF
➢ Instantly reacts with water after mixing and are the first to hydrate.
➢ Having no influence on setting action.
➢ Does not contribute much to strength of the cement paste.

Hydration of Cement:
➢ Generally dry cement doesn’t bind with coarse and fine aggregates.
➢ It acquires the adhesive property only when mixed with water.
➢ The process by which cement reacts with water is termed ‘hydration’.

C 3S

C 2S Hydration of
Water
Cement
C3A

C3AF
 Hydration of Cement
➢ When water is added to cement, chemical reactions start
simultaneously between them.

➢ The different constituent compounds have different rates of hydration.

➢ Tricalcium Aluminate (C3A) and Tetracalcium Alumino Ferrite

(C4AF) react instantaneously with water and are the first to hydrate.
C3A+ 6H C3AH6
Where, C= CaO, H=H2O, S=SiO2, A=Al2O3

The reaction of C3A with water is violet and leads to immediate

stiffening of the paste, known as flash setting. To prevent this from
happening, gypsum is added to cement clinker grinding. Gypsum
and C3A react to form insoluble calcium sulpho-aluminate (which
does not hydrate) but eventually a tricalcium aluminate hydrate is
formed.
 Hydration of Cement
➢ Tricalcium silicate (C3S), the most important constituent compound is
next to hydrate and within a week a substantial part of it reacts with
water. It is mainly responsible for imparting strength to cement in
early days. It allows the handling and placing of concrete.
2C3S + 6H C3S2H3 + 3Ca(OH)2

➢ Dicalcium silicate (C2S) is the slowest constituent compound to

hydrate and the process continuous for several days. This constituent
compound is responsible for the progressive strength of cement.

2C2S + 4H C3S2H3 + Ca(OH)2

➢ C4AF hydrates to tricalcium aluminate hydrate and calcium ferrite

CaO.Fe2O3.

➢ Since calcium silicates (C3S and C2S) - are the main cement
compounds (occupies about 75% of cement weight) - they are
responsible for the final strength of the hardened cement paste.
 Hydration of Cement

Component Element Ca Si Al Fe

Component Oxides CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3

Cement Compounds C3S C2S C3A C4AF

H2 O

Hydration Products C-S-H gel Ca(OH)2

Hydration of Cement

Hydration
Products:
C-S-H)2
 Strength of Four Cement Compounds

➢ It can be seen it the figure that C3S gains most of the strength developed
in the first 2 to 3 weeks.

➢ C2S Contributes to long term strength, whereas C3A and C4AF primarily
contribute to early stiffening.