Portland Cement Testing

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 Outline
• List of Experiments
• Objective and Scope of the Experiments
• Laboratory Work:
 Significance and Equipment
 Procedure
 Materials

• Reporting

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 List of Experiments
• Density of Hydraulic Cement [ASTM C188-95]
• Fineness of Hydraulic Cement using Air Permeability Apparatus
[ASTM C204-00]
• Normal Consistency of Hydraulic Cement [ASTM C187-98]
• Setting Time of Hydraulic Cement [ASTM C191-99]
• Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortar [ASTM C109-02]

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Objective and Scope
Evaluate the Properties of Portland Cement Through:
• Determining the % of water-to-cement to produce a consistent cement
paste.
• Determining the initial and final setting times of cement paste
• Determining the density (in gm/cm3) of Portland cement powder using
kerosene.
• Finding the specific surface area (fineness) of Portland cement powder
in cm2/gm, using the Blaine apparatus.
• Determining the average 3-day and 7-day compressive strength (in
MPa) of Portland cement mortar.

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Significance and Equipment
Density of Hydraulic Cement
• To Determine the density of hydraulic cement. Used in
design of concrete mixtures
• Apparatus
 Le Chatelier Flask
 Kerosene
 Water Bath
• Fill the Le Chatelier flask with kerosene (or naphtha) up
to a point between the 0 and 1 ml mark.
• Dry the inside of the flask above the liquid level and
immerse flask in a constant temperature water bath for
enough time to ensure temperature variations
exceeding 0.2°C between the initial and final readings
(approximately 15 minutes).
• Record the initial reading (R1).
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Procedure
Density of Hydraulic Cement
• Add about 64g of cement to the flask in small increments to avoid
adherence to the side of the flask.
• Place the stopper at the top of the flask and roll the flask to free
any air bubbles and remove any cement from the sides of the flask.
• Immerse the flask in the water bath (approximately 15 minutes).
• Record the final reading (R2).
• Density = m/v = m/(R2-R1)

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Significance and Equipment
Fineness of Portland Cement by Air Permeability Apparatus
• To Determine the Fineness of Portland cement. Total Surface area in cm2/g
• Video:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf2VYdg_wU0

• Apparatus
• Blaine Air Permeability Apparatus
• Permeability cell
• Disk Plunger
• Filter Paper
• Manometer

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Procedure
Fineness of Portland Cement by Air Permeability Apparatus
• Weigh a cement sample according to the following equation, W = ρ.V.(1-ε)
where:
• W is the weight of the sample in grams
• ρ is the density of the sample (3.15 g/cm3)
• V is the volume of the cell (1.817 cm3)
• ε is the desired porosity of cement (0.5±0.005)
• Prepare the bed of cement as follows:
• Place the perforated disk and the filter paper in the cell and press using a
rod of slightly smaller diameter than the cell.
• Add the required amount of cement W
• Place filter paper above the sample.
• Compress the sample with the plunger, and then remove the plunger.

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Procedure
Fineness of Portland Cement by Air Permeability Apparatus
• Compress the air bulb and close the valve
• Attach the cell to the manometer, ensuring an airtight connection (use
grease if necessary)
• Release the valve to evacuate the air above the liquid until it reaches the
top mark.
• Close the valve tightly.
• Start the timer as soon as the bottom of the meniscus reaches the second
marker
• Stop the timer as soon as the bottom of the meniscus reaches the third
mark.
• Record the time interval in seconds.
• Calculation
S = Ss √T
√Ts
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Materials

Fine Aggregates
(Ottawa Sand)

Portland Cement

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Significance and Equipment
Normal Consistency
• Determine the amount of water required to prepare
hydraulic cement pastes for testing
• Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwAjLwycN8
• Equipment
Weighing Devices
Glass Graduates
Mixer
Vicat Apparatus
•Place a measured quantity of mixing water in the
mixing bowl.
•Add 650g of cement to the water and allow 30
seconds for absorption.
•Start the mixer at the slow speed for 30 seconds. 11
Procedure
• Mixing
• Stop the mixer for 15 seconds and scrape down any paste from the side of
the bowl.
• Start the mixer at the medium speed for 60 seconds.
• Quickly form the paste, using gloved hands, into the approximate shape of
a ball and toss to and fro six times from one hand to the other to produce
a spherical mass.
• Press the ball into the larger end of the conical ring, and remove any
excess paste.
• Place the conical ring on the base plate and strike off any excess paste
from the smaller end. Avoid compressing the paste during this step, and
smooth the surface with a trowel.
• Center the plunger over the paste and bring the plunger into contact with the
surface of the paste and tighten the screw.
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Significance and Equipment
• Normal Consistency
• Set the indicator to zero reading. The previous step should be done
no later than 30 seconds after completion of mixing.
• Release the rod. Wait 30 seconds before taking a reading.
• Repeat the previous steps with varying amounts of water until the
reading is 10±1 mm below the surface of the paste.

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Significance and Equipment
Setting Time
• To Determine the Initial and Final setting time of Hydraulic cement
• Video:
• Initial setting time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hh8i0lpuCs
• Final setting time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZvcKWUo1tg#aid=P-K4Ub4ucfg

• Apparatus
• Weights
• Glass Graduates
• Mixer
• Vicat Apparatus
• Mix 650g of cement with the percentage of mixing water required for
normal consistency following the same mixing procedure (ASTM
C305).
• Quickly form the paste, using gloved hands, into the approximate
shape of a ball and toss to and for six times from one hand to the
other to produce a spherical mass.
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Procedure
Setting Time
• Press the ball into the larger end of the conical ring, and remove
any excess paste.
• Place the conical ring on the base plate and strike off any excess
paste from the smaller end. Avoid compressing the paste during
this step, and smooth the surface of the paste with a trowel.
• Immediately place the test specimen in the moist closet and
allow it to remain there throughout the experiment except when
taking readings.
• Determine the penetration of the 1mm-needle 30 minutes after
molding, and afterwards at 15-minute intervals.

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Procedure
Setting Time
• Center the needle over the paste and lower the needle until it rest on the surface of
the paste and tighten the screw.
• Set the indicator to zero reading.
• Release the rod. Wait 3 seconds before taking a reading.
• The needle must drop at least 7mm from any previous trial hole, and at least 1cm
from the edge. The needle must also be cleaned after each trial.
• Determine the initial setting time and the final setting time (25mm and Zero mm,
respectively).
• Acceptable Initial Setting Time: > 45 minutes
• Acceptable Final Setting Time : < 6 hours

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Significance and Equipment
Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortar
• To Determine the compressive strength of hydraulic cement mortar.
• Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stFkSnTPrmY
• Apparatus
 Weighing Devices
 Glass Graduates
 Specimen Molds (5cm x 5cm)
 Mixer
 Tamper
 Testing Machine
• Thinly cover all the sides of the mold and base plate with grease, assemble
the mold, and remove any excess grease.
• Wax the outside contact lines of the mold and base plate with wax or
paraffin.
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Procedure
Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortar
• Mechanically mix the required quantities of material in the ratios of
one part cement to 2.75 parts sand with a water-cement ratio of
0.485 (according to ASTM C305). For six cubes, use 500g cement,
1375g sand, and 242g water.
• Put water in the mixing bowl. Add the cement. Mix for 30s at the
slow speed. Add sand over a period of 30s while mixing. Stop the
mixer, then turn on the medium speed for 30s.
• Allow the mortar to stand for 90 seconds in the mixing bowl,
scraping any mortar from the sides of the bowl in the last 15
seconds of this interval.
• Remix for 15 seconds at the medium speed.

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Procedure
Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortar
1 2 3 4
• Start molding no later than 150 seconds after the
initial mixing of the batch.
• Mold in two layers of approximate height of 8 7 6 5
25mm.
• Apply 32 strokes of the tamper to each layer, in
1 8
approximately 10 seconds.
• Start tamping the second layer after tamping the 2 7

first layer in all the molds. 3 6

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Procedure
Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortar
• After molding, strike off the excess mortar with the
trowel.
• Cure all the samples in the moist closet for 24 hours
then remove the cubes from the molds.
• Leave the cubes in the moist room until their time of
testing (3 and 7 days).
• Before testing, wipe the samples dry and remove any
irregularities on the surface.
• Surfaces must be smooth to avoid any significant error
in results

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 Reporting
Your sound technical report should include:
• Normal consistency of hydraulic cement
• The initial and final setting times of cement paste
• Density (in gm/cm3) of Portland cement powder
• Fineness of Portland cement powder in cm2/gm, using
the Blaine apparatus
• The average 3-days and 7-days compressive strength (in
MPa) of Portland cement mortar
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