CE 201

Engineering Materials

Lecture- 1 to 4
Construction Material : CEMENT
Prepared by:
Snigdha Afsana
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering, BUET
 INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS
Civil Engineering encompasses the

❑ conception, design, construction, and management of residential and

commercial buildings and structures,
❑ water supply facilities, and transportation systems
❑ control of the environment

for the maintenance and improvement of the quality of life.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Various types of materials are used for construction of buildings, highways,
bridges, etc.

Natural materials:
→Unprocessed, raw, minimally processed
(Stone, rock, sand wood etc.)

Synthetic materials
→Industrial processing
→Artificially composed
(Cement, tiles, concrete, steel etc.)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Material Selection
Wood
Lumber, Plywood, Composites

Steel
Shapes, Rebar, Pipes,
Cold-Formed, Cable

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Material Selection

Concrete
Cast, Precast, Grout, Mortar

Stone and Masonry

Clay, Concrete Block, Cut-Stone

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
Material Selection
Asphalt
Hot-mixed, Cold-mixed, Emulsions

Aluminum
Shapes, Pipe, Cold-Formed
 Material Selection
Architectural Materials
Tile, Glass, Acoustic Tile

Soil
Foundations, Fill, Embankment, Liner

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ Selection of construction materials involves a wide spectrum of choices.

▪ The selection is often based on economic, environmental, availability, or

technical considerations.

▪ Geography often determines the economic and availability

considerations and engineering principals typically control the technical
and environmental considerations.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Civil Engineering design is based on relationships between-
➢ Stress vs. Strength
➢ Strain vs. Deflection
➢ Exposure vs. Durability
➢ Risk vs. Hazard
➢ Cost vs. Aesthetics & Life Cycle

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL : CEMENT

➢ Cement is finely ground (powdered), inorganic & hydraulic material

➢ Cement is the active ingredient in concrete.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
▪ Cement acts as the binder material in construction works
▪ When mixed with water, forms a paste which sets and hardens by means of
hydration reactions

▪ After hardening, retains specified strength levels and also long-term volume
stability even under water

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 History of Cement

Cyclopean masonry of Greece

- no cementing material

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Ancient Egyptian buildings
- Stone & unbaked brick
- covered with Nile mud

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Mesopotamians used bitumen as an adhesive in building structure

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ First cements produced by early Greeks and Romans from volcanic ash
mixed with slaked lime.
▪ This art was lost during the Middle Ages

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ Portland cement – the modern artificial form of cement was developed in
England by bricklayer Joseph Aspdin in 1824.

▪ Aspdin found that by heating clay and limestone at a very high

temperature, then cooling, grinding and mixing it with water he had created
particularly strong cement.

▪ This cement is named called “Portland” because concrete made with it

resembled natural stone from the Isle of Portland.

▪ Today, portland cement is the most widely used building material in the
world with about 3 billion tons produced each year.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Classification of Cement
▪ Cement is the mixture of calcareous (calcite/ CaCO3), siliceous (consisting
silica) , argillaceous (clay) and other substances

▪ According to source of raw material used cement can be classified as-:

- Natural cements
- Artificial cements

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Natural cement
▪ Manufactured from natural stones by burning and then crushing to
powder
▪ These stones contain 20~40% of argillaceous matter and the rest as
calcareous matter
▪ As the chemical composition of natural cement stones varies
considerably - the properties of natural cement also keep on varying.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Artificial cement
▪ manufactured by burning at high temperature an intimate mixture of
argillaceous and calcareous substances and lastly crushing the resulting
clinkers to a fine powder after adding a little gypsum to it.
▪ Gypsum is added to delay the setting action of the cement

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Artificial cement is popular because of the following reasons:
▪ Can be manufactured in any desired color.
▪ Initial setting time can be easily regulated.
▪ Rate of hardening and heat evolution can be regulated.
▪ Quality cement can be easily controlled maintaining the same
composition of raw materials.
▪ Can be manufactured in very large quantity.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Composition of Portland Cement
The chief chemical components of portland cement are- calcium, silica,
alumina and iron.
➢ Calcium is derived from limestone, marble or chalk,
➢ Silica, alumina and iron come from the sands, clays and iron ore
respectively
➢ Other raw materials may include shale, shells and industrial byproducts
such as mill scale etc.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Sources of Compounds
a) Limestone (CaCO3) is mainly providing calcium in the form of calcium oxide
(CaO)
CaCO3 (1000 0C) → CaO + CO2

b) Clay is mainly providing silicates (SiO2) together with small amounts of

Al2O3 + Fe2O3
Clay (1450oC) → SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 + H2O

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 c) Iron ore and Bauxite are providing additional aluminum and iron oxide
(Fe2O3) which help the formation of calcium silicates at low temperature. They
are incorporated into the raw mix.

Then Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) produced by heating limestone and

clay minerals in a kiln to about 1400 to 1600°C - the temperature range in
which the two materials interact chemically to form calcium silicates

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
Typical Chemical Composition
 Hydration of Cement (Cement Reaction with Water)
❑ When Portland cement is mixed with water its chemical constituents
undergoes a series of chemical reactions that cause Setting &
Hardening of cement.

❑ In short,
- Setting is the process of retaining the shape
- Hardening is the process of gaining strength

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ❑ The phase compositions in portland cement are denoted by ASTM as
i. tricalcium silicate (C3S)- [3CaO.SiO2 ]

ii. dicalcium silicate (C2S) -[2CaO.SiO2 ]

iii. tricalcium aluminate (C3A)- [3CaO. Al2O3 ] and

iv. tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF) [4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O]

❑ The behavior of each type of cement depends on the content of these

components.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 i. Tricalcium silicate (C3S):

• Also known as “alite”.

• Hydrates and hardens rapidly.
• Largely responsible for initial set and early strength.
• Portland cements with higher percentages of C3S will exhibit higher
early strength.

C3S + 3H --> C-S-H + 2C-H

(rigid gel)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ii. Dicalcium silicate (C2S):

• Also known as “belite”.

• Hydrates and hardens slowly continues for several weeks.
• Largely responsible for strength increases beyond one week.
• Responsible for the progressive strength of cement, especially strength
gaining after a week of mixing

C2S + 2H --> C-S-H + C-H

(rigid gel)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 iii. Tricalcium aluminate (C3A):

▪ Hydrates and hardens the quickest.

▪ Liberates a large amount of heat almost immediately and contributes
very little to early strength.
▪ Gypsum is added to portland cement to retard C3A hydration. Without
gypsum, C3A hydration would cause portland cement to set almost
immediately after adding water.
▪ Gypsum and C3A react to form insoluble calcium sulpho-aluminate
(which does not hydrate) for the time being, but eventually a C3A
hydrate is formed. This hydrated C3A causes the setting action of
cement

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 iv. Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF):

▪ Known as ferrite
▪ Hydrates rapidly but contributes very little to strength.
▪ Its use allows lower kiln temperatures in portland cement
manufacturing.
▪ Most portland cement color effects are due to C4AF.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 • As the crystals adhere to one another and to the surface of sand or inert
particles of aggregate (with which cement is mixed), the entire mixture
gets set and hardened resulting in gaining strength.
• The strength developed depends on the amount of gel formed, and the
degree of crystallization.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Strength development rate of major constituents of cement

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Heat of Hydration
▪ The Hydration of cement with water is exothermic (a chemical reaction
that releases light or heat)
▪ The liberation of heat is called heat of heat of hydration.
▪ This process of hydration of cement results to the formation of minute
crystals of calcium and gels from the solution of cement and water and it
continues for a long time.
▪ As considerable amount of heat is evolved during hydration of cement,
study and control of hydration becomes important in mass
construction(e.g., piers, dams etc.)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst. Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ The hydration rate of cement constituents is highly variable.
▪ The rate of hydration during the first few days -

C3A > C3S > C4AF >C2S

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ Usually, the greatest rate of heat liberation occurs within the first 24 hours
and a large amount of heat evolves within the first 3 days.
▪ However Portland cement evolves heat for a long time

▪ One gram of OPC Type-I gives out about 120 calories on setting over 13
years, out of which 80 calories are given out in the first 7 days.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
Calorimetric curve of Portland Cement Hydration Process
 Ettringite (C6AS3H2) Hydrous calcium aluminium sulfate mineral
Ca6Al2(SO4)3(OH)12·26H2O

Ettringite is formed in hydrated Portland cement system as a result of the

reaction of calcium aluminate (C3A) with gypsum,

C3A + 3 CaSO4 → ettringite

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 12-36 hrs

10-15 mins IST FST

Effect of curing on strength development of cement
 Types of Portland cements
▪ Different types of portland cement are manufactured to meet different physical and
chemical requirements for specific purposes, such as durability and high-early
strength.
▪ Classification as per AASHTO M 85 and ASTM C 150,
1. Type I - Ordinary Portland cement
2. Type IA - Normal-Air Entraining
3. Type II - Moderate Sulfate Resistance
4. Type IIA - Moderate Sulfate Resistance Air Entraining
5. Type III - High Early Strength
6. Type IIIA – Air Entraining Early Strength
7. Type IV - Low Heat of Hydration
8. Type V - High Sulfate Resistance

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 1. Type I - Ordinary Portland cement
▪ Known as common or general purpose cement.
▪ Commonly used for constructions especially those concrete constructions
not to be in contact with soil or ground water
▪ Fairly high C3S content causes good early strength development

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Table: Main Constituents in a Typical Portland Cement (Type-1)

Chemical Name Shorthand

% by Weight
Notation

Tricalcium Silicate (Alite) C3S 50

Dicalcium Silicate (Belite) C2S 25

Tricalcium Aluminate C3A 12

Tetracalcium C4AF 8
Aluminoferrite (Ferrite)

Gypsum CSH2 3.5

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 2. Type IA - Normal-Air Entraining OPC
▪ An air-entraining modification of Type I.
▪ Use 0.01 to 005% by weight air entraining or foaming agents (e.g.,
vinsol, resin, darex etc) are added during grinding of clinkers.
▪ When water is added this air entraining agents create tiny air bubbles in
the cement mix and prevent contact of cement particles with each other
and thus delay setting.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 3. Type II - Moderate Sulfate Resistance Cement
▪ Also known as expanding Portland cement
▪ Used as a precaution against moderate sulfate attack.
▪ Used for structures exposed to soil or water containing sulfate ions
▪ It will usually generate less heat at a slower rate than Type I cement.
▪ Low C3A content

C 3S C 2S C 3A C4AF
45 30 7 12

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 4. Type IIA - Moderate Sulfate Resistance Air Entraining

- An air-entraining modification of Type II.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 5.Type III - High Early Strength Cement
▪ A rapid hardening cement, is used when high early strength is needed
(e.g., highway slab, pre-cast concrete, cold weather concreting).
▪ It has more C3S than Type-I cement and has been ground finer to provide
a higher surface-to-volume ratio, both of which speed the rate of
hydration.
▪ Strength gain is double that of Type I cement in the first 24 hours.

C 3S C 2S C 3A C4AF
60 15 10 8

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 6.Type IIIA - Air Entraining High Early Strength Cement

- An air-entraining modification of Type III.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 7. Type IV - Low Heat of Hydration Cement
▪ Used when hydration heat must be minimized in mass concrete structures
such as bridge, abutment, dams, raft, retaining walls etc.
▪ Such structures have low surface to volume ratio therefore heat
dissipation rate is much lower than that generated.
▪ Contains about half the C3S and C3A and double the C2S of Type I
cement.

C3S C2S C3A C4AF

25 50 5 12

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 8. Type V - High Sulfate Resistance Cement
▪ Used as a precaution against severe sulfate action - principally where the
concrete is in contact to soils or groundwater having high sulfate content.
▪ High sulfate resistance is attributable to low C3A (<5%) content.
▪ It gains strength at a slower rate than Type I cement.

C3S C2S C3A C4AF

40 40 4 10

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
Heat of hydration for selected ASTM Portland cements

Avg. Heat of
Type-I Type-II Type-III Type-IV Type-V
hydration (cal/g)

7-days 82.5 82.3 88.5 55.7 75.5

28-days 95.6 95.1 97.0 65.5 ---

Portland Cement Association: Volume 18/July 1997

1 cal/g = 4.184 kJ/kg
Factors affecting hydration
• Chemical Composition of Cement
• Cement Type
• Sulfate Content
• Fineness of Cement
• Water Cement Ratio
• Curing Temperature
• Effect of Admixtures

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Adiabatic temperature rise in mass concrete for different types of OPC

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Blended Cement
▪ Blended cement is obtained by mixing OPC with mineral admixtures or
additives like fly ash, blast furnace slag, volcanic ash, silica fumes etc.
Blended Cement = OPC + Additives
▪ As lower cost alternatives to Portland cement, blended cements are
increasingly being used in a great many construction applications

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Blast Furnace Slag is formed when iron ore or iron pellets, coke and a flux
(either limestone or dolomite) are melted together in a blast furnace. When
the metallurgical smelting process is complete, the lime in the flux has been
chemically combined with the aluminates and silicates of the ore and coke
ash to form a non-metallic product called blast furnace slag. During the
period of cooling and hardening from its molten state, BF slag can be cooled
in several ways to form any of several types of BF slag products.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Classification of Blended Cement (ASTM C595;2012)

Type Name of the cement Blended ingredients

IP/P Portland-Pozzolan Cement up to 40% pozzolan (fly ash)

IL Portland-Limestone Cement up to 15% limestone

Portland Blast-Furnace Slag

IS Cement up to 95% slag

up to 70% of pozzolan + limestone +

IT Ternary Blended Cement
slag (pozzolan ≤ 40% & limestone ≤ 15%

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 How to name the new cement blends

There is an additional ASTM requirement to identify the type and amount of

each component blended with the clinker.
Example :
➢ Type IP(15) designates a cement with 15% pozzolan and
➢ Type IS(25) is a cement with 25% slag.

▪ If air entrainment is desired, the letter A is added, so type IP(20)A would be

a portland-pozzolan air-entrained cement.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Some Advantages of Blended Cement over OPC
▪ Cheaper than Portland cement
▪ Have less drying shrinkage characteristics
▪ Reduces mixing water and bleeding
▪ Improves finishability and workability
▪ Enhances sulfate resistance
▪ Inhibits the alkali-aggregate reaction
▪ Lessens heat evolution during hydration, thus reduces chance of thermal
cracking on cooling.
▪ More environmentally friendly than Portland cement, as they are
comprised of recycled materials.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 White Portland Cement
▪ White cement is frequently chosen by architects for use in colored
concretes that will be exposed, inside or outside buildings, to the public's
gaze.
▪ White portland cement (WPC) is made with specially selected raw
materials, usually pure chalk and white clay containing very small
quantities of iron oxides and manganese oxides.
▪ It tends to be significantly more expensive than OPC

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 BDS-EN 197-1: 2003 Classification of Cement

➢ This is the Bangladesh Standards for cement which is being adopted from
the European Standard EN 197-1:2000
➢ This standards provides composition, specifications and conformity criteria
for some common types of cement

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Five main BDS-EN 197 cement types
Sl Type of
Name of Cement Clinker (%)
No. Cement
1 CEM-I Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 95-100
2 CEM-II Portland Composite Cement (PCC) 65-94
3 CEM-III Blast Furnace Cement 5-64
4 CEM-IV Pozzolan Cement 45-89
5 CEM-V Composite Cement 20-64

These 5-types further defines 27 types of cement

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 BDS-EN 197-1: 2003 Classification of Cement
Mechanical requirements standard strength
In BDS EN 197-1 cement compressive strength defines two stage of strength
development –
i) early strength class &
ii) 28-day strength class

❑ Compressive strength at 28 days divided into 3 strength classes [MPa]:

32.5; 42.5; 52.5
❑ Early strength classes – for compressive strength at 2 days [MPa]:
- Normal (ordinary) rate: N;
- Rapid (high) rate: R;
- Low rate: L (only applicable for CEM III cements).

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Properties of Cement
Cement properties for which cement is analyzed in the laboratory can
be grouped into the followings:
Sl. Properties Examples
− Normal consistency
− Setting time
1 Physical − Fineness
− Soundness
− Specific gravity
2 Mechanical − Hardening (compressive &tensile strength)
3 Chemical − Chemical composition
− Heat of hydration
4 Thermal
− Loss on ignition
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Normal Consistency (NC) of cement
➢ Normal consistency refers to the relative mobility of a freshly
mixed cement paste or mortar or its ability to flow hence it is the
measure of workability of cement.
➢ NC of cement is very important quality control parameter and it is
also used for determination of other cement properties

➢ In ASTM standard - Normal or Standard

consistency of cement is determined using
the Vicat’s Apparatus.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Normal Consistency (NC) of cement BDS EN 196-3:2005 €
-
ASTM standard BDS EN -196-3

- No standard value
- Usually 27-32 %

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Setting Time
This is the term used to describe the stiffening of the cement paste.
i. Initial setting time
▪ Indicates the beginning of forming of gel or beginning of
solidification.
▪ It represents approximately the time at which fresh concrete can
no longer be properly mixed, placed or compacted.

ii. Final setting time

▪ The final set occurs 5-10 hours after mixing
▪ It represents approximately the time after which strength develops
at a significant rate.
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Initial Setting
Cement Class
Time (min)

CEM - I 52.5 N ≥ 45

CEM -II 42.5 N ≥ 60

 Type of cement Initial setting time Final setting time

OPC (Type –I & III) not less than 45 mins not more than375 mins

Blended Cement not less than 45 mins not more than420 mins

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Soundness of cement
• The phenomena under which chemical reactions in hardened concrete
which involve volume expansion and thus lead to the formation of cracks
and disintegration of concrete defines the unsoundness of cement.
• In contrast, soundness of cement is the ability of a hardened paste to
retain its volume after setting without any swelling, cracking, or
disintegration.
• The unsoundness in cement may occur due to number of reasons:
- presence of excess of lime and magnesia
- delayed formation of ettringite either due to presence of excess
gypsum or sulfate attack from external sources)
- Insufficient burning of clinker,
- Poor grinding of cement particles etc.
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 There are several standard methods of testing soundness of cement.
Sl Test method Measures unsoundness due to
Le-Chatelier accelerated test
1 free lime
(BDS EN 196-3: 2013)
Autoclave-expansion test
2 excess of magnesia
(ASTM C151)
Cement mortar bar expansion test sulfate attack due to sulfate existing
3
(ASTM C1038) in cement
Length change of cement mortar sulfate attack due to external sulfate
4
exposed in SO4 solution attack

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Fineness of cement
▪ Fineness of cement represents the total surface area of cement particles
available for chemical reaction in a given weight or volume.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 There are number of methods of testing of fineness of cement, such as-
1) Sieve analysis methods – uses 300-μm, 150-μm & 75-μm Sieves (ASTM C786)
2) Air permeability methods – Blaine Air permeability apparatus (ASTM C204)
3) Sedimentation method – Wagner turbidimeter (ASTM C115)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Typical value of surface area of Portland cements

Type of cement Type - I Type - II Type - III Type - IV Type - V

Fineness (m2/kg) 350 350 450 300 350

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Strengths of cement
▪ Cement paste strength is typically defined in three ways:
- compressive,
- tensile and
- flexural.
▪ 28-days strength is used as design strength for structural uses.
▪ Compressive strength of cement is the most important property of
cement.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Strengths of cement
▪ Compressive strength is determined conducting compression tests
on standard 2-inch mortar cubes in accordance with ASTM C 109
▪ Tensile strength of cement is determined by testing the standard
briquettes made of mortar
▪ Flexural strength is measured on a 40 x 40 x 160 mm prism beam
test under a center-point bending.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Compressive Strength Test of Hydraulic Cement (ASTM)

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Compressive Strength Test of Hydraulic Cement BDS EN 196-1

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Tensile Strength Test

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Flexural Strength Test

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Specific Gravity of Cement
▪ Specific gravity is used in concrete mixture proportioning calculations.
▪ The portland cement have a specific gravity of value around 3.15.
▪ For Portland pozzolan cements and Portland blast furnace cements the
value will come near to 2.90
▪ Any change in this value of specific gravity will affect the mix design.
▪ A value of specific gravity of cement greater than 3.19 shows that the
cement was not properly minced into fine powder during its production or
the cement has more moisture content.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Chemical composition:
▪ On chemical analysis both OPC and rapid hardening cement should give
the following result:
➢ Net proportion of lime to silica, alumina and iron oxides, should be as
below:
CaO
2.8(Si02) + 1.2(Al2O3) + 0.065(Fe2O3)

➢ Magnesia should not exceed 2% by weight.

➢ Insoluble residues should not exceed 0.5% by weight.
➢ Total sulfur content should not exceed 2% by weight.

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Loss on Ignition
▪ Loss on ignition is calculated by heating up a cement sample to 900 to
1000°C until a constant weight is obtained.
▪ The loss due to moisture and carbon dioxide causes weight loss which
should not be more than 5% for all cements
▪ A high weight loss on ignition of a cement sample is an indication of pre-
hydration and carbonation, which may be caused by:
➢ Improper and prolonged storage
➢ Adulteration during transport and transfer

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Cement Manufacturing Process:
Following three operations are involved in the manufacture of all kinds of
cements:
1. Mixing of raw materials
2. Burning
3. Grinding
▪ The process, by which cement is manufactured, depends upon the
technique adopted in the mixing of raw materials (such as limestone or
chalk, clay, iron ore, shale etc.).
▪ Therefore, on the basis of mixing the raw materials, the processes may
be classified as:-
a. Wet Process
b. Dry Process
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 ▪ The process, by which cement is manufactured, depends upon the
technique adopted in the mixing of raw materials (such as limestone or
chalk, clay, iron ore, shale etc.).
▪ Therefore, on the basis of mixing the raw materials, the processes may be
classified as:-
a. Wet Process or
b. Dry Process

• Out of these wet process is generally used

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 a. Wet Process
Stage 1: To prepare cement slurry

i. Obtain the raw materials

ii. Crush the raw materials;
iii. Finely grind the material with addition of necessary quantity of water;
(this mixture is termed as slurry)
iv. Analyze the chemical composition and corrected if necessary by
adding deficit material.
v. Flow slurry through pumping into a tank to feed for burning in the kiln;

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
 Comparison of both processes:
• Wet process easiest to control chemistry & better for moist raw materials.
• Wet process high fuel requirements - fuel needed to evaporate 30+%
slurry water.
• Dry process kilns less fuel requirements

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET
Cement Storage

CE 201: Lecture on Cement by Snigdha Afsana, Asst Professor, Dept. of CE, BUET