#BRICKS:

 Regular size rectangular unit

 Used for most of the building works
 Used as substitute for stone, where stone is not available.

# INGREDIENT (WITH AVERAGE PROPORTIONS WEIGHT BASIS)

 Silica (SiO2) :55%
-Silica is Sand
 Alumina (Al2O3) :30% -Alumina, Iron Oxide& Magnesia constitutes clay
 Iron Oxide (Fe2O3) :8%
 Magnesia (MgO) :5%
 Lime (CaO) :1%
 Organic Matter :1%

# FUNCTION OF CHIEF INGREDIENTS:

 Alumina :

 Main constitute of clay; acts as cementing material in raw brick;

 Provides plasticity to earth/brick clay so that it can be molded;

 If it contains in excess amount, brick shrinks, cracks and warps on drying and
burning (just like any other cementing material when drying).

 Silica:

 Good Bricks contains 50-60%;

 Prevents cracking, shrinking & warping of raw bricks;

 Presence of silica in excess amount in bricks destroys cohesion between the

particles and makes brick brittle and weak.

Durability of bricks depend largely upon

proper proportion of alumina and silica
1
 Lime:

 Brick should contain little finely powered lime (1%);

 It enables silica (of required portion) to melt at furnace temperature (of 1650oC)
& binds the particles of brick together resulting in strong & durable bricks;

 At about 1100oC, lime acts as catalyst to elevate the furnace temperature to

1650oC at which silica fuses;

 If excess lime presents in brick clay, it makes bricks vitrified, and causes bricks to
melt (as more than the required amount of silica will fuse) and hence, the shape
of brick will be lost (i.e., disfigured).

 Iron Oxide:
 Should contain a small quantity;

 Acts as a flux like lime, thus helps to fuse at low temperature;

 Imparts red color to bricks on burning.

 Magnesia:
 A small proportion of it decrease shrinkage & gives yellow tint to the bricks;

 Excess amount causes bricks to decay.

#HARMFUL INGREDIENTS

 Lime:

 Excess lime melts the bricks and disfigures it;

 If CaCO3 exists (in purest form, i.e., if it contains at least 95% CaO) in lime-lump
in brick clay, it converts into quick lime on burning. When these bricks come in
contacts with water, quick lime slakes and expands and hence causes
disintegration of brick.

 Alkalis:
 Mainly salt of Na & K;

 Acts as a flux in the kiln and causes fusion, warping and twisting of bricks;

 Alkalis absorbs moisture from atmosphere and causes dampness & efflorescence
(because of the presence of hygroscopic salts, e.g., CaCl2, MgCl2, etc.).

2
 Pebbles ,Stones & Gravels:

 Their presence do not allow thoroughly mixing of earth, thus make bricks weaker.

 Iron Pyrites (FeS):

 Causes crystallization & disintegration of bricks during burning;

 Discolors bricks in the form of black slag.

 Organic Matter:

 Makes bricks porous resulting in low density and weaker bricks.

#CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD BRICKS:

 Uniform color (deep red/cherry)

 Uniform shape (edges sharp, straight & subtends at right angle with other edge);

 Size: standard (i.e., PWD: 9.5"x4.5"x2.75"; BDS 2002: 24cm x11.5cm x7cm);

 Texture and compactness (fine, dense & compact; across a broken surface);

 Water absorption (≤10% for S-grade, ≤15% for A-grade and ≤20% for B-grade
bricks; Grading based on BDS 2002 specification);

 Crushing strength should be as specified by BDS 2002 as follows:

Grade mean (kg/cm2) min (kg/cm2)

S 280 245
A 175 154
B 140 105

 Hardness: should be hard enough to resist any finger nail impression on brick
surface if one tries to do it with thumb nail;

 A good brick should be sound which can be revealed if a brick emits metallic or
ringing sound when struck by another similar brick or by a light hammer;

 Free from any kinds of non-homogeneity because of gravel, stones etc.;

 Should be soundproof (as far as possible) and having low thermal conductivity.

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#BROAD CLASSIFICATION OF BRICKS:
Usage:
 S-grade (or 1st Class brick):  in building of long durability, say 100 years.
 Standard Size; Uniform yellow or red  for building exposes to corrosive
colored; environment;
 for making coarse agg. of concrete.
 Well brunt; Regular shape; Uniform
texture (can be visible across a broken surface);

 No efflorescence; No pebbles, gravels or organic matter;

 AC ≤ 10%; Crushing strength: mean= 280 kg/cm2; min= 245 kg/cm2; where
mean= mean strength for 12-halved bricks and min= minimum strength for 12-
halved bricks;

 Emits metallic sound; No finger nail impression.

 A-grade (or 2nd Class brick):

Usage:
 For the construction of one-
 Standard Size; Uniform yellow or red colored; storied building, temporary
shed, when intended durability
 Well brunt (slightly over-brunt is acceptable); is not more than 15 years.

 Regular shape; Efflorescence is not appreciable;

 10% <AC ≤ 15%; Crushing strength: mean= 175 kg/cm2; min= 154 kg/cm2;

 Emits metallic sound; No finger nail impression.

 B-grade (or 3rd Class brick):

 Soft and light red colored; Shape and size not regular;

 Under brunt (slightly over-brunt is acceptable);

 Extensive efflorescence; Non-uniform texture;

 15% <AC ≤ 20%; Crushing strength: mean= 140 kg/cm2; min= 105 kg/cm2;

 Emits dull/blunt sound;

 Left finger nail impression.

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 Over-brunt or Jhama brick:
 Vitrified;

 Shape distorted (as larger than the required amount of silica gets fused);

 High AC (absorption capacity);

 Strength may be higher or equivalent to S-grade (or 1st class) brick.

Used for:
- lime concrete for foundation
- coarse agg. In concrete of slab and beam
which will not come in contact of water.

 Under-brunt brick:

 Half brunt brick; Used as:

 Yellow colored; - surki in lime-terracing;
 Low strength; - Soling under RCC footing or basement.

#MANUFACTURING OF BRICKS:
Five steps:
 Preparation of clay;
 Pugging or tempering of clay;
 Molding of bricks;
 Drying of bricks;
 Burning of bricks

1. Preparation of clay:

 Involves operation like un-soiling the top loose earth, then digging, cleaning
weathering and blending of the earth;

 After removing the top unsuitable soil, the clay is dug out and spread it on the
leveled ground, and is left exposed to atmosphere for softening.

 Digging the earth before rain is advantageous; the full monsoon can be utilized for
weathering the earth;

 After weathering, the earth is chemically analyzed. If any difference of any

ingredient from the required amount is observed, it should be added
correspondingly.

5
2. Pugging/Tampering of clay:
 Involves breaking up of prepared clay, watering and kneading till earth becomes a
homogeneous mass.

 Water is added in the required quantity.

 The whole mass is kneaded manually (under the feet of man or cattle) or
mechanically with using Pug-mill.

3. Molding of bricks:

 After tempering of clay, bricks should be molded as soon as possible.

Otherwise plug clay may become stiff and molding brick may become
difficult.

 Moulds are made slightly greater in size than the standard of brick to
compensate for shrinking on drying and burning.

 Molding is of two types: hand molding (ground molding and table molding)
& machine molding.

 Molding directly on ground has two drawbacks: (i) the lower face is very
rough and (ii) bricks cannot have frog marks.

4. Drying of bricks:

Following are the objective of drying the bricks:

 To remove as much of moisture from bricks as possible, so as to save fuel

and time while burning.

 To avoid the chances of cracking and distortion of bricks during burning.

 To increase the mechanical strength of bricks so that they can be handled

and stocked without any damage to the raw bricks.

5. Burning of bricks:
 Imparts strength and hardness to bricks and makes them dense and durable.
At about 11000C, the two main constitute of bricks, silica and alumina,
combines with each other and bricks become dense and strong.

 Kiln is a system to burn bricks in very large number. For burning,

intermitted kiln and continuous kiln are used.

 A continuous kiln is used to burn bricks in large quantity.

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#BRICK BURNING:

Kiln: is a system to burn the raw bricks in very large numbers.

Two types: Intermitted kiln & continuous kiln.

Continuous kiln:

1. Bull’s trench, 2Hoffman kiln, 3.Tunnel kiln

Disadvantage of Intermitted kiln:

 Valid for small project.

 Supply of bricks is intermitted on the required basis

 Quantity of burning is non-uniform; near the bottom (i.e., closer to the source of
fuel/burning), the bricks are over-burnt and near the top are under-burnt.

Advantage of Hoffman kiln:

 Better control on heat.

 Supply of burning is continuous.

 Bricks are burnt evenly and hence, bricks of good quantity are produced.

Disadvantage of Hoffman kiln:

 Initial cost is high.

 Requires regular demand of the bricks, which may not be possible in rural areas.

7
 Hoffman kiln:

Description of Hoffman kiln:

 Circular or oval in plan;

 Chimney is placed at the central point/position;

 Eight/twelve chambers or compartments (namely, 1, 2, 3………..,12) are arranged

around the Chimney;

 Each chamber has door (e.g., O1,O2, etc.) in the external wall; it is used for loading
and unloading of bricks;

 All the chamber have communication door (namely, D1, D2, …., etc.) in the wall
separating each other;

 Each chamber is connected to the chimney with radial flues (namely, R1, R2, ……,
etc.);

 Kiln has a permanent roof; fuel holes are provided in the rooftop to drop fuel in the
kiln.

All the chamber are subjected to loading, drying & preheating, burning, cooling and un-
loading operations successively. And all the operation is going on simultaneously in the
kiln at a given time.

#OPERATIONS:
At any instant, all the chamber of the kiln may be functioning as follows:

Chamber 1: Loading
Chamber 2~5: Drying & Preheating
Chamber 6,7 : Burning
Chamber 8~11 : Cooling
Chamber 12 : Unloading

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With this arrangement, the circulation of fuel gas will be as follows:

 Cool air enters the kiln through open doors of chambers 1 & 12 (i.e, O1 & O12) and
pass through chamber 11,10,9,8 (using D11,D10 etc.) and gets heated while
performing cooling of hot brunt bricks in these chambers.

 The heated air or gases enter the burning chamber 7 & 6 (through D7 and D6); Fuel
is dropped in these chambers from the top to perform burning.

 Aftermath, the hot gases are led to the chamber 5,4,3,2 to perform drying &
preheating of freshly loaded bricks. The communication door of chamber 2 with
that of chamber 1 (i.e., D1) is closed and the cool gases are lead to chimney
through the radial flue R2.

 Note that this particular arrangement, all the radial flues except of chamber 2
remain closed and the all the communication doors except D1 remain opened.
Outer loading and unloading doors remain closed except for two chambers, which
are being loaded (O1) and unloaded (O12).

 After burning of chambers 6 & 7 completed, the pattern of circulation will be as

follows:

Chamber 12: Loading

Chamber 1~4: Drying & Preheating
Chamber 5,6 : Burning
Chamber 7~10 : Cooling
Chamber 11 : Unloading

#Fire bricks or refractory bricks:

 Manufactured from special designed earth;

 After burning, withstand very high temperature without affecting its shape, size and
strength;

 Used for lining of chimney, furnaces, etc. where usual temperature are expected to
be very high

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Fire Clay:
 Can resist very high temperature without getting soft or melting;

 Compound of nearly pure hydrated silicate of alumina (25-35%) and high

proportion of silica (65-75%), with small percentage of alkalis;

 High % of alkalis (such as lime, magnesia, iron oxide, etc.) reduce the fire resisting
capacity of the fire clay. They act as flux and cause fusion of the brick clay
(actually silica at high temperature);

 Three category of fire clay depending on the fire resistance capacity. Low duty fire
clay resists temperature up to 8000C; Medium duty up to 15000C and High duty up
to 16500C.

Example of fire bricks

 Made from fire clay or refractory earth;

 Ingredient:
Silica: 60-75%
Alumina: 20-35%
Fluxing material: < 10%

 Smaller the % of the fluxing material, higher will be the % of alumina and
more fire resisting will be the brick;

 However, the percent of alumina should not be allowed to exceed

unnecessarily, otherwise bricks may become alkaline in nature.

#LABORATORY TESTS FOR BRICKS:

a. Absorption capacity test

b. Crushing strength test

c. Hardness test

d. Shape & size test

e. Soundness test

f. Soluble salt/ efflorescence test

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#FIELD TEST FOR BRICK:

a. Arrange two bricks so as to form a ‘T’ and allow free fall from a height of 6 ft
(1.5 m) on to level ground. If the brick pair resist breakage, the bricks are
good.

b. If it is not possible to impart a finger nail scratch on to the surface of a brick,

it’s a good brick.

c. If hammered a brick with another of similar kind or a light hammer and if

metallic sound emits, the bricks is good.

Coloring of bricks depends on:

a. Burning temperature of bricks.

b. Type of fuel used for burning.

c. Chemical composition of bricks.

d. Nature of silica used in molding.

e. Degree of dryness achieved during burning.

f. Degree of air admitted to the kiln during burning.

Efflorescence test:
 Take 5 full bricks from a lot;

 Each brick shall be placed on end in a shallow flat bottom non-absorbent dish
keeping clearance of 5 cm between two consecutive bricks;

 Distilled water shall be poured to a depth of 2.54 cm so that it surrounds each

bricks by one-inch only;

 The whole arrangement shall be allowed to stand in a well-ventilated room at 15-

20oC;

 After a few days when the water has been absorbed and the bricks appear to be
dry, as similar quantity of water shall again be poured in the dish and further
drying period is allowed;

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  Tendency to efflorescence shall be reported as nil, slight, moderate and heavy;
 Nil: for no perceptible deposit of efflorescence;

 Slight: Not more than 10% of the area of the bricks covered with a thin deposit of
salts;

 Moderate: A heavier deposit than under ‘slight’ and covering up to 50% of the
area of the brick surface but accompanied by powdering of flaking of the
surface;

 Heavy: A heavy deposit of salts accompanied by powdering and/or flaking of the

surfaces;

 If the observed efflorescence varies in each specimen, the worst affected

specimen shall form the basis of the report.

Blocks instead of bricks:

Advantages:

 Regular shaped with straight and sharp edges having smooth surfaces;
 Requires minimum mortar for plastering if it is given;
 Sometimes no need for plaster if walls made of blocks;
 Less fuel consumption in manufacturing; it can be denoted as green brick;

 Environmental friendly as no direct fuel consumption is required as it is made of

cement mortar; however, brick needs direct fuel (e.g., gas, burning wood, etc.);

 Since hollow block, unit weight is less and hence reduces dead load for partition
walls up to 40% (compared to brick usage); thereby reduces foundation and
structural cost substantially;

 Since hollow, if constructed by hollow blocks the walls will be soundproof and
heatproof.

Disadvantages:
 Special provision for anchorage of window and door frame; usually rod is passed
through the holes of blocks lopcated at window or door opening edges, which is
latter concreted so as to make way for inserting MS angles;

 Special provision is required to hold the service lines in place through the holes of
blocks;

 Should be made watertight or provision is necessary to drainout water if enters

into the block holes.

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 2
Classification Based on Size

➢ Sand classification varies depending on the grain size ranges defined by

different standardization organizations, e.g., ASTM, AASHTO, ISO, USCS
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials
AASHTO: American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
USCS: Unified Soil Classification System
➢ According to the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) under ASTM D
2487
Sand: Material passing a 4.75-mm sieve (No. 4) and retained on a
0.075-mm (No. 200) sieve.

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand

 Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) under 3
ASTM D 2487
1. Coarse Sand:
• Material passing 4.75-mm (sieve No. 4) and retained on 2.00-mm (sieve No.
10) is defined as coarse sand.
• This type of Sand is used in making concrete.
2. Medium Sand:
• Material passing 2.00-mm (sieve No. 10) and retained on 0.475-mm (sieve
No. 40) is defined as fine sand.
• This size of sand is mostly used for masonry works.
3 Fine Sand:
• Material passing 0.475-mm (sieve No. 40) and retained on 0.075-mm (sieve
No. 200) is defined as.
• Fine sand is mostly used in plastering works for better finish.

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand

 4
Other Standards

➢ These definitions are slightly different than those of AASHTO – M145

• Coarse sand - fraction passing No. 10 (2-mm) U.S. sieve and retained on No.
40 (0.475-mm) U.S. sieve and
• Fine sand - fraction passing the No. 40 (0.475-mm) U.S. sieve and retained
on No.200 (0.075-mm) U.S. sieve.

➢ As per ISO 14688 sands are classified as fine (0.063 ~ 0.2 mm), medium
(0.2 mm ~ 0.63 mm), and coarse (0.63 mm ~ 2.0 mm).

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 5
Properties of Good Sand

➢ It should be chemically inert.

➢ It should be clean and coarse.
➢ It should be free from any organic or vegetable matter.
➢ It should be free from coatings of clay and silt. Usually 3 to 4% clay is
permitted.
➢ It should contain sharp, angular, coarse and durable grains.
➢ It should not contain salts which attract moisture from the atmosphere.
➢ It should be well graded i.e., should contain particles of various sizes in
suitable proportions.
➢ It should be strong and durable.

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 6
Functions of sand in Mortar/Concrete

➢ Offers requisite surface area for the film of binding material to adhere and
spread.
➢ Increases the volume of mortar & consequently makes mortar more
economical.
➢ Well-graded sand adds to the density of mortars and concrete.
➢ Prevents excessive shrinkage of mortar.
➢ Since inert material, it renders structure more resistant against
atmospheric agencies.

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 7
Tests for Sand

To ensure quality of any construction materials, their important properties

need to be tested before use. There are different methods for testing of sand
quality – some tests are done in field and some done in lab.

Field Tests:
1. Presence of silt and clay:
➢ Field test can be performed by rubbing a small amount of sand between
finger tips. If clayey spots (dust) left on the finger tips, indicates the
presence of clay in considerable amount.
2. Presence of salt:
➢ It can be tested by putting some amount of sand in the mouth. The salty
test of sand will reflect the presence of any salt.
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 8
Tests for Sand: Laboratory Tests

1. Presence of silt and clay:

• Determination of presence of silt and clay in sand is done by the percentage
loss in weight of a sample after washing the sand with clean water.
2. Organic matter:
• The presence of organic matter is determined by stirring a sample of sand
with 3% solution of NaOH in a closed bottle. The sample is left for 24 hours.
The color of the solution turns brown if any organic matter is present. The
amount of organic matter is determined from the intensity of darkness of the
solution.
3. Sieve Analysis
4. Specific Gravity and Absorption
5. Unit Weight

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 9
Gradation

➢ Gradation means distribution of particle sizes, usually expressed as percent of

total weight
➢ Gradation of an aggregate (sand or coarse aggregate) is one of the most key
characteristics that determine the performance of aggregate in a concrete mix.
➢ An aggregate mix should contain particles of varying sizes that means it should
be well graded.
➢ Sieve Analysis is usually performed to get the gradation of an aggregate (ASTM
C136, E11).
➢ Sieve analysis is conducted by passing the aggregates through a series of
sieves, ordered as in the descending order of their opening with so that the
sieves with larger opening remain at the top of sieves with smaller opening.
➢ The sieve retains particles larger than the opening, while smaller ones pass
through.

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 10
Sieve Analysis

➢ Sieves are numbered based on their Standard Sieve Nominal Sieve Opening
opening size. Designation mm in
Coarse Sieves
➢ ASTM Standard Sieves:
75.0 mm 3″ 75 3
No. 100, No. 50, No. 30, No. 16, No. 8, No. 4, 63.0 mm 2½″ 63 2.5
⅜″, ¾″, 1½″ and at a ratio of 1:2 beyond that 50.0 mm
37.5 mm
2″
1½″
50
37.5
2
1.5
25.0 mm 1″ 25 1
19.0 mm ¾″ 19 0.75
12.5 mm ½″ 12.5 0.5
9.5 mm ⅜″ 9.5 0.375
Fine Sieves
4.75 mm No. 4 4.75 0.187
2.36 mm No. 8 2.36 0.0937
1.18 mm No. 16 1.18 0.0469
600 µm No. 30 0.6 0.0234
300 µm No. 50 0.3 0.0117
150 µm No. 100 0.15 0.0059
75 µm No. 200 0.075 0.0029
January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand
 11
Sieve Analysis: Data processing

➢ The weight of materials retained on each sieve

is determined, from which percentage of
materials retained is estimated.
➢ Cumulative percentage retained on a specific
sieve is determined by summing up the
percentage retained on sieves of higher sizes
and percentage retained on that particular
sieve.
➢ Percentage finer (% finer) for a specific sieve
is calculated as
% finer = 100 – Cumulative percentage retained
➢ Gradation curve is usually plotted as % finer
versus sieve opening (mm), where sieve
opening is plotted on log scale.

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand

 12
Some Properties of Gradation Curve
➢ Fineness Modulus (FM) is an index of the fineness of an aggregate
• the higher the FM, the coarser the aggregate.
• Different aggregate grading may have the same FM.
➢ FM is obtained by adding the cumulative % retained on specified sieve (ASTM standard
sieves) and dividing the sum by 100.
σ 𝐶𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 % 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠
𝐹𝑀 =
100
➢ D10 = Effective size, 10% materials are finer than D10
➢ D50 = Mean diameter, 50% materials are finer than D50
➢ 30% materials are finer than D30 and 60% materials are finer than D60
𝐷60
➢ Coefficient of Uniformity, 𝐶𝑢 =
𝐷10

𝐷30 2
➢ Coefficient of Curvature or Coefficient of Gradation (𝐶𝑐 𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑍 ), =
𝐷10 𝐷60
January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand
 13
Example Problem 1: Sieve Analysis of Sand

Sieve Size Mass Retained Individual Retained Cumulative % Finer/

(mm) (g) (%) Retained (%) Total Passing (%)
4.75 (No. 4) 3
2.36 (No. 8) 29
1.18 (No. 16) 65
0.60 (No. 30) 165
0.30 (No. 50) 131
0.15 (No. 100) 97
0.075 (No. 200) 10
Pan 1

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand

 14
Example Problem 1: Solution

Sieve Size Mass Retained Individual Retained Cumulative % Finer/

(mm) (g) (%) Retained (%) Total Passing (%)
4.75 (No. 4) 3 1 1 99
2.36 (No. 8) 29 6 7 93
1.18 (No. 16) 65 13 20 80
0.60 (No. 30) 165 33 53 47
0.30 (No. 50) 131 26 79 21
0.15 (No. 100) 97 19 98 2
0.075 (No. 200) 10 2 100 0
Pan 1 0 100 0
Total 501 100 --- ---

1 + 7 + 20 + 53 + 79 + 98
𝐹𝑀 = = 2.58
100
January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand
 15
Gradation Curve

Gradation Curve
100

80

60 𝐷60 0.84
% Finer

𝐶𝑢 = = = 4.2
40
𝐷10 0.2
𝐷30 2 (0.38)2
𝐶𝑍 = 𝐷10 𝐷60
= = 0.86
20 0.2∗0.84

0
0.01 0.1 1 10
Sieve opening (mm)

Also known as grain size distribution curve

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand
 16
Types of Gradation

➢ Wellgraded/smooth grading
➢ Poor Graded
▪ Open graded
▪ Gap graded
▪ Uniform graded

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 17
Gradation of Aggregate

Well graded/ Dense graded Open graded

• Sample contains certain amount of • Contain very little amount of fine
almost all sizes of particles particles
• Provides good interlocking • High void content
• Contain minimum amount of voids • Poor compaction
• Low permeability • Grain-to-grain contact
• Good Compaction • Provides high permeability
• Leads to less cement requirement

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 18
Gradation of Aggregate
Gap graded Uniformly graded
• Very few middle size particles • Narrow range of sizes
• Provides good interlocking • Grain-to-grain contact
(No grain-to-grain contact)
• High void content
• Moderate void content
• High permeability
• Moderate to low permeability
• Low stability
• Low stability
• Difficult to compact
• Easy to compact
• Requires large amount of cement to
coat the surface

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 19
Different Types of Gradation Curves

Gradation Curve
100

80
% Finer

60

40

20

0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve opening (mm)

January 2019 Term - SMR CE 201_Sand

Portland cement

- It’s a product of an intimate mixture of correctly proportioned

calcareous and argillaceous materials, obtained by the calcination at
a very high temperature.

- The calcined product, called clinker, is then finely pulverized by

grinding into a very fine powder. Finally it is mixed with gypsum
(CaSO4. 2H2O) to obtain cement.

- When water is mixed with cement, a series of chemical reaction takes

place. As a result, the cement paste first sets and then hardens into
stone like mass.

-
Calcareous materials: Compounds of Ca and Mg; e.g.,
Limestone, Shell, Dolomites, etc.

Argillaceous materials: Materials include of silica, alumina

and iron of oxide; such as clay and shale.

Differences Between cement & Lime:

a. Color of lime is always whitish. Cement is generally grey, but it

can be manufactured in other desired colors.
b. When mixed with water, cement starts to set which completes
in 10 to 30 minutes and acquires sufficient strength in a day or
two. Lime cannot set at such a small time. It takes rather a
long period before hardening.
c. Cement is several times stronger binding material than lime.
d. Lime eats away iron girders or others, made of metals if come
in direct contact. While cement, on the other hand, protects
iron and other metallic fitting from atmospheric action.
e. When water is added to lime (particularly quick lime), a lot of
heat is generated. Heat generation is unnoticeable in case of
cement.

Natural cement:

1
 - Manufactured from natural stones by burning them followed by
crushing to powder

- These stones contain 20~40% of argillaceous matter and the rest as

calcareous matter. The binding property of cement is provided by
argillaceous matter (clay plus silica).

- Since chemical composition of natural cement stones varies

considerably from place to place, the properties of natural cement
also keep on varying.

- Even cement being manufactured in one factory may be varying in

properties.

- For example, hydraulic properties of cement are entirely dependent

on the percentage of clayey materials present. If % clay is high,
quick setting cement is produced with low ultimate strength.

Artificial cement:

- Artificial cement is manufactured by burning an intimate mixture of

argillaceous and calcareous substances at high temperature 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 for some
time so that it may be properly mixed, applied and finished.

- Without gypsum, setting action of cement starts the moment the

water is added to cement, thus giving no time for mixing, placing and
finishing.

- The setting time can be varied by suitably adjusting the percentage

of gypsum.

2
Characteristics of artificial cement:

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 can be regulated
- Rate of heat of evolution can be regulated
- The same quality cement can be produced again and again by
maintaining the same composition of raw materials
- Can be manufactured in very large quantity

Ordinary artificial cement resembles very close to sandstone, which is found

abundantly at a place, Portland, England and hence this cement is referred as
Portland cement.

Composition of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC):

Main three ingredients are Clay, silica and lime. Besides, cement contains
small amount of iron oxide, MgO, SO3, alkalies and other materials. Typical
percentages of these constituents in a good OPC may be as follows:

Constituents Typical % Average (%) %

Molecular
weight

1. Al2O3 (clay) 3~8 5.0 0.07

2. CaO 60~70 62.2 1.10
3. Silica 20~25 22.0 0.37
4. MgO 1~4 1.5 0.04
5. Fe2O3 2~4 3.0 0.02
6. SO3 1~5 1.4 -
7. Alkalies (Na2O, K2O) 1 1.0 -
8. CaSO4.2H2O 3~5 4.0 -

3
Functions of the ingredients:

Alumina:
- Forms complex aluminates with silica and calcium (C3A, C4AF)
- Imparts the setting property to the cement
- If excess, setting will start very quickly with no time for mixing,
placing, etc., and also weakens cement.

Silica:
- Goes into chemical combination with calcium and forms hard
silicates (C2S, C3S)
- These silicates C2S, C3S are responsible for imparting strength to
cement

Lime:
- Very important ingredient; its bulk in cement is above 60%
- Its proportion should be carefully decided
- If used in excess, some part of it is left in forms of free lime
- Free lime causes expansion and disintegration of cement at the time
of setting and hardening
- Less than the required quantity will cause decrease in the strength of
cement as sufficient C2S, C3S will not produce

Iron oxide:
- Imparts color
- Increases strength and hardness of cement

MgO:
- Also imparts strength and hardness to cement when present in the
small quantity

Alkalies:
- If present in the raw materials, they are mostly driven out by the flue
gases during burning
- Still may be present in very small amount
- If excess, it will cause efflorescence in cement

4
Proportioning of Cement Ingredients:

Acidic constituents are: SiO2, Al2O3 & Fe2O3 (Argillaceous materials)

Alkaline constituents are: CaO & MgO (Calcareous materials)

Neglecting the rest (i.e., CaSO4 & other compounds  8% of total mass), the
% of acidic and alkaline constituents are 32 and 63.5, respectively. The ratio
of these constituents is given by:

Alkaline/Acidic = ( CaO & MgO ) / (SiO2, Al2O3 & Fe2O3 )=63.5/32 2.0

Sometimes the index of cementation Value (or cement moduli) is used for
proportioning raw materials of cement, which is given by:

Cementation Value (CV) =

( 2.8 SiO2 + 1.1 Al2O3 + 0.7 Fe2O3 ) / (CaO + 1.4 MgO )

In the above index, % molecular weight of the individual ingredients is used.

Thus,

CV= (2.8x0.37 + 1.1x0.07+ 0.7x0.02) / (1.0x1.1 + 1.4x0.04)

= 1.13 / 1.15 1.0 (approx.)

Either index can be used for proper proportioning of cement constituents. It is

clearly understandable that the calcareous and argillaceous materials should
be carefully selected and proportioned.

Indian Standard Specification for 33 grade cement, IS 269-1989, specifies the following
chemical requirements:

(a) Ratio of percentage of lime to percentage of silica, alumina and iron oxide,
known as Lime Saturation Factor, when calculated by the formula:
(CaO – 0.7 SO3) / (2.8 SiO2 + 1.2 Al2O3 + 0.65 Fe2O3):
Not greater than 1.02 and not less than 0.66;

(b) Ratio of percent alumina to that of iron oxide: Not less than 0.66;
(c) Wt. of insoluble residue: Not more than 4 %;
(d) Wt. of magnesia: Not more than 6 %;
(e) Total sulfur content, when calculated as
Sulfuric anhydrite (SO3): Not more than 2.5 %;
(f) Total loss of ignition: Not more than 5 %.

5
Clinkering helps in a thorough and intimate mixing of raw materials. It
ensures a thorough and complete chemical reaction between the ingredients to
form the following four mineral constituents/compounds, known as Bogue’s
compound:

a. Tri-calcium silicate: C3S 3CaO.SiO2 48

b. Di-calcium silicate : C2S 2CaO.SiO2 25
c. Tri-calcium aluminate: C3A 3CaO.Al2O3 10
d. Tetra cal. Al. Ferrite: C4AF 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 9
e. Gypsum CaSO4.2H2O 3

The equations suggested by Bogue for calculating the percentages of major

compounds are given below:

C3S= 4.07 C - 7.60 S - 6.72 A - 1.43 F – 2.85 [SO3]

C2S= 2.87 S - 0.754 [3C x S]
C3A= 2.65 A – 1.69 F
C4AF= 3.04 F; C stands for CaO, and so on.

The oxide shown within the brackets represents the percentage of the same in the raw
materials.

In addition to the four compounds, there are many minor compounds formed in the kiln;
their influence on the properties of cement or hydrated compounds is not significant; two
of the minor compounds, namely Na2O and K2O, referred to as alkalies in cement, are of
some importance.

Some important tips in cement proportioning:

- C3S and C2S collectively constitutes 70~80 % of cement; The average C3S content in
modern cement is about 45 % and that of C2S is about 25 %;
- The sum of the contents of C4AF and C3A has decreased slightly in modern cements;

- The calculated quantity of the compounds in cement varies greatly even for a
relatively small change in the oxide composition; it is, therefore, absolutely necessary
to closely control the oxide composition of the raw materials;

- An increase in lime content beyond a certain value makes it difficult to combine with
other compounds and free lime will exist in the clinker which causes unsoundness in
cement;
- An increase in silica content at the expense of the content of alumina and ferric oxide
will make the cement difficult to fuse and form clinker;

- Cement with a high total alumina and high ferric oxide content is favorable to the
production of high early strengths in cement; it may be due to the influence of these
oxides for the complete combining of the entire quantity of lime present to form C3S.

6
Functions/ hydration of mineral constituents/ compounds:

C3A:
- The reaction of C3A with water is violent;
- The hydration completes in a day;
- Hydration leads to immediate stiffening of the paste, known as flash
setting;

- To prevent this from happening, gypsum is added to cement clinker

during grinding;
- Gypsum and C3A react to form insoluble mono 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;

- The mono calcium sulpho-aluminate (3C3A.3CaSO4.3H2O) has, in

general, a retarding action on the starting of initial setting of cement
after the water is added;
- Gypsum also retards the hydration of C3S, which is responsible for
strength development of cement.

C3S:
- Important mineral constituent imparting strength to cement;
- Within a week after adding water, substantial part of it reacts to get
hydrated;
- Mainly responsible for imparting strength to cement in early days
(that occurring within 28 days; however, major gaining of strength
occurs in a week).

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.

C4AF:
- Instantly reacts with water after mixing and are the first to hydrate;
- Having no influence on setting action of cement, neither does on
hardening.

7
Calcium silicate hydrates:
2 C3S + 6 H ̶> C3S2H3 (C – S - H gel) + 3 Ca(OH)2
The corresponding weights involved are:
100 + 24 ̶> 75 + 49

Similarly for C2S:

2 C2S + 4H ̶> C3S2H3 (C – S - H gel) + 3 Ca(OH)2
100 + 21 ̶ > 99 + 22

It can be seen that C3S produces a comparatively lesser quantity of calcium

silicate hydrates (C-S-H gel) and more quantity of Ca(OH)2 than that formed in
the hydration of C2S. The presence of Ca(OH)2 is not desirable product in the
concrete mass. It is soluble in water and gets leached out making the concrete
porous, particularly in hydraulic structures. Under such conditions, it is
beneficial to use cement with higher percentage of C2S content.

C3S readily reacts with water and produces more heat of hydration. It is
responsible for early strength of concrete. Cement with more C3S content is
better for cold weather concreting. The quality and density of C-S-H gel formed
out of C3S is slightly inferior to that formed by C2S.

C2S hydrates rather slowly, produces less heat of hydration, and is responsible
for the later strength of concrete. The C-S-H gel formed is rather dense with
higher specific gravity. In general quality of the product of hydration of C2S is
better than that produced in the hydration of C3S.

Calcium Hydroxide:

The other products of hydration of C3S and C2S are calcium hydroxide. In
contrast to C-S-H, calcium hydroxide is a compound with a distinctive
hexagonal prismatic morphology. It constitutes 20~25 % of the volume of solids
in the paste.

The Ca(OH)2 reacts with sulphates present in soils or water to form calcium
sulphate, which further reacts with C3A to form calcium sulpho-aluminate and
cause deterioration of concrete. This is known as sulphate attack.

To reduce the quantity of Ca(OH)2 in concrete and to overcome its bad effects by
converting it into cementitious product is an advancement in concrete
technology. The use of blending materials such as fly ash, silica fume and other
pozzolanic materials are the steps to overcome bad effects of Ca(OH)2 in
concrete. The use of fly ash (as Pozzolana) converts the almost useless material,
Ca(OH)2, into gel; The pozzolana action is:
Ca(OH)2 + Pozzolana (e.g., fly ash) + water ̶> C - S- H (gel)
The only advantage is that Ca(OH)2, being alkaline in nature maintain pH value
around 13 in the concrete which resists the corrosion of reinforcement.

8
 In short, the process of hydration is essentially the formation of
minute crystals of calcium and gels from the solution of cement and
water. It continues for a long time. The hydration rate of different
mineral compounds is different as mentioned above.

- 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.

- After setting is initiated, hardening of cement follows, and in the

course of time, hydration process advances further into the interior.

9
Water Requirements for Hydration:

C3S requires 24% of water by weight of cement and C2S requires 21%; on an
average 23% of water by weight of cement is required for chemical reaction with
Portland cement compounds. This 23% of water chemically combines with cement
and, therefore, it is called bound water.

A certain quantity of water is imbibed within gel-pores. This water is known as gel-
water. About 15% by weight of cement is required to fill up the gel-pores.
Therefore, a total of 38% (i.e., 23% + 15%) of water by weight of cement is required
for the complete chemical reactions and to occupy the space within gel-pores.

It can be said that bound water and gel-water are complementary to each other. If
the quantity of water is inadequate to fill up the gel-pores, the formation of gel itself
will stop and hence, no question of gel-pores being present.

If 38% water is only used, it can be noticed that the resultant paste will undergo full
hydration and no extra water will be available for the formation of undesirable
capillary cavities. On the other hand, if more than 38% of water is used, then the
excess water will cause undesirable capillary cavities; greater the above the
minimum required is used (i.e., 38%), the more will be the undesirable capillary
cavities (assuming that moisture t and from the paste does not take place).

It can be seen that the capillary cavities become larger with increased water/cement
ratio; with lower W/C ratio, the cement particles are closer together.

With the progress of hydration, the product and hence the volume of hydrated
cement (i.e., gel) increases. The increase in the volume of gel due to complete
hydration could fill up the space earlier occupied by water up to a W/C ratio of 0.6
or so. If W/C ratio is more than 0.70, the increase in volume of the hydrated product
would never be sufficient to fill up the voids created by excess water. Such concrete
would ever remain as porous mass.

10
Heat evolved during setting:

- The reaction of cement with water is exothermic; the reaction

liberates a considerable quantity of heat. The setting action of
cement is essentially a process of hydration and is accompanied by
‘Evolution of Heat’ called heat of hydration.

11
 - The C3A gives out much of the heat. Similarly, C3S also generates
considerable heat during hydration.
- One gram of OPC gives out about 120 calories on setting, out of
which 80 calories are given out in the first 7 days.

- Since hydration of cement continues for a considerable period,

extending well over a year, the problem of dissipating heat that
generated during hydration becomes important in the case of
massive and thick concrete structures like dams, rafts, etc.

- A rise in temperature to the extent 500C is observed in the interior of

large concrete mass. The rise in temperature is the largest during the
first few days. But in the large masses of concrete, the maximum
temperature is generally reached as late as after 2 to 3 months; the
high temperature is found to persist for a prolonged period.

- Therefore, in such cases, the devices for cooling down the interior
have to be adopted. Otherwise, the heat of hydration causes cracking
of the structure on cooling (due to the temperature gradient between
the surface concrete and the interior concrete) resulting in
weakening the concrete.

False Setting:

- False setting is the name given to the abnormal premature stiffening

of cement within a few minutes of mixing with water.

- It differs from flash setting in:

(i) In this case, no appreciable heat is evolved;
(ii) Re-mixing the cement paste without further addition of
water restores plasticity of the paste;
(iii) The restoration will not cause strength loss as long as it does
not set in the normal manner.

- Some causes of false setting are:

(i) Dehydration of gypsum while grinding to powder with too
hot clinker;
(ii) Semi-hydrate (CaSO4. 1/2H2O) or anhydrite (CaSO4) are
formed and if cement is mixed with water, these CaSO4

12
 hydrates to form gypsum again (CaSO4. 2H2O). Thus
setting takes place with resulting stiffening of the paste;
(iii) Excess alkalies present in cement may cause false setting.
During storage, the akalies carbonates reacts with Ca(OH)2
liberated by hydrolysis of C3S to form CaCO3. This
precipitates and induces a rigidity of the paste.

Cement storage:

i. Cement silos: In factory, cement is stored in a large sized reinforced

concrete vertical cylinders, called cement silos. Their diameter varies
from 7 to 10 m and height from 15 to 24 m. Cement is drawn from them
at the bottom.

ii. Cement packing: Cement is packed in gunny bags or in bags of cloth or

paper; Packed with the aid of automatic weighing and packing
machines; A special rotary type screw feeding device armed with a
‘trigger’ is provided for filling the bags.

When a specific quantity of cement is admitted in each bag, the

‘trigger’ is operated by the weight of the filled bag, and the feed is
automatically closed. OPC weighs 50 kg per bag, which is
equivalent to 1.25 cft in volume.

iii. Cement storage by user: The following precautions should be taken for
the storage of cement on works:

a. Cement should be stored in a dry place and on a raised

platform, which is covered and guarded from sun, wind and
rain. A maximum of 15 bags is placed vertically.
b. As far as possible, long periods of storage should be avoided.
c. Cement exposed to atmosphere may absorb water vapour and
CO2 and consequently hydrates and loses strength. Heat and
humidity accelerates hydration. Under these conditions,
cement is said to deteriorate.
d. Storage of cement in rainy season is not recommended.

Testing of cement:

13
i. Fineness test
ii. Test for strength: Tensile and compressive
iii. Test for Setting time: Initial and final
iv. Test for soundness or Expansion test

Fineness test:

The chemical activity of cement depends upon the total surface area of cement
particles available for chemical reaction in a given weight. Therefore, the
necessity of providing a sufficient total surface area of cement particles is of
much importance. Consequently, fineness by grinding is essential in cement
manufacturing.

Most of the cement particles range in size from 75 to 150 microns. The
hydration rate and hence the strength of cement depends upon the uniform
distribution of the various particles sizes between these two sizes.

When cement is used in combination with water, sand and broken

stone, it has to form a thin paste to cover the combined surface area of the
grains of sand and stone pieces. This is more possible if the particles of cement
are of required fineness.

Sieve test for fineness:

100 grams of cement are sieved on a US #200 (or I.S.I. #8) test sieve.
After sieving, the residue by weight on #200 test sieve (opening is 75 micron) is
measured. For OPC, the residue must not exceed 10 gm, while for rapid
hardening cement it must be less than 5 gm.

Surface area test for fineness:

Surface area, termed as the specific surface, is expressed as total surface

area in square centimeters per gram of cement. It is determined by Air
Permeability method or Turbidimeter method.

14
Methods OPC Rapid Hardening Low Heat
cement
After sieving, 10 5 --
the residue (gm)
Surface area 2250 3250 3200
2
cm /gm: Air P.
Surface area 1600 1700 1700
2
cm /gm: Turbid.

Cement paste of Normal Consistency

1. Vicat Needle apparatus is used for the purpose of preparing a paste of normal
consistency.
2. The plunger diameter used in this case is 10 mm.

3. Cement is taken and mixed with water to form a neat cement paste.
4. The paste is filled in the cylindrical mould of the Vicat apparatus and placed
under the plunger. The plunger is then brought to the surface of the paste and
suddenly released.

5. The penetration of the plunger into the paste is observed from the vertical scale
of the needle.
6. Trial paste samples are made each time with different percentages of water until
the penetration is 25 1 mm deep.

7. The corresponding quantity of water, expressed as the percentage of the weight

of cement (P), is noted. The paste, which allows this penetration, is taken as
Cement paste of Normal Consistency.

The quantity of water required for normal consistency cement paste is used to
determine the quantities of water required for:
i. Preparing for a standard mortar to test tensile and compressive
strength.
ii. Preparing a cement paste for setting time test.
iii. Preparing a cement paste for soundness test.

Setting time Tests:

i. Initial setting time
ii. Final setting time

15
Both the tests are carried out with the aid of Vicat apparatus. A needle of 1 mm
square is used. Neat cement paste is prepared by taking only 0.78 P of water.
Standard spatula is used for filling in cylindrical mould.

Initial setting time:

- The mould is brought below the Vicat Needle;
- The needle is allowed to sink into the paste;
- Time elapsed after mixing water is recorded until the needle ceases to sink
into the cement paste completely, but only for a depth of about 35-mm. At
this state, time elapsed is called the initial setting time.

Final setting time:

Final setting is determined by 1-mm diam. needle fitted with a metal

attachment hollowed out so as to leave a circular edge of 5-mm in diameter
and that setting 0.5 mm behind the tip.

The final setting is said to have taken place when the needle gently lowered to
the surface of the paste makes an impression on it, but the circular cutting
edge fails to do so.

The final setting time is reckoned from the moment when water is added to
the cement.

Accord. To ASTM C 150, the final setting time:

OPC, Rapid hardening cement, Low heat cement & Blast furnace
PC: Not more than 375 minutes (ASTM C150).;
Aluminous cement: Not more than 2 hrs after initial setting.

Initial setting time (ASTM C150)

OPC and RHC : Not less than 45 minutes;
Low heat cement : Not less than 60 minutes
Aluminous cement : Not less than 2 hrs.

Note that the speed of setting and the rapidity of hardening (i.e., gaining
strength) are entirely independent of one another. For instance, the
prescribed setting times of RHC are of no different from those for OPC,
although the two cements harden at different rates.

16
Soundness of cement:

It is essential that the cement paste, once it has set, does not undergo a large
change in volume. One restriction is that there must be no appreciable
expansion, which under restraint conditions could result in disruption of
hardened cement paste (by cracking).

Such expansion may occur due to reactions of free lime, magnesia and
calcium sulphate; the cements exhibiting this type of expansion is classified as
unsound.

Free lime is present in the clinker and is inter-crystallized with other

compounds; it hydrates very slowly occupying a larger volume than the
original free CaO.

Magnesia reacts with water in a manner similar to CaO, but only the
crystalline form is deleteriously reactive so that unsoundness occurs.

Calcium sulphate is the third compound liable to cause expansion through the
formation of calcium sulpho-aluminate (ettringite) from excess gypsum (not
used up by C3A during setting); sulphate may also come from soils, water
and other adverse chemical when the concrete is put under severe exposure of
it.

No test is available for the detection of unsoundness due to an excess of

calcium sulphate, but its content can be easily determined by chemical
analysis. However, unsoundness due to free lime and magnesia can be
measured by autoclaving.

Method of testing:
This test is carried out by subjecting cement to an increased rate of hydration
(by performing the test at the elevated temp. by high pressure steam, 2 MPa)
and observing how it behaves.

Le Chatelier’s accelerated test is prescribed by BS 4550: 1976 for detecting

unsoundness due to free lime only.

The cement paste is prepared by using 0.78 P percent of water. The Le

Chatelier apparatus is used to conduct this test. The test mold (i.e., cement
paste) is cured for 24 hrs at about 150C. The initial distance P1 between the

17
 two pointers is noted. The mould is then submerged in boiled water for one
hour for accelerated hydration.

The specimen is then allowed to cool down to room temperature. If now d2 is

the distance between the pointers, then d2-d1 is the expansion of the sample of
cement. This should not be more than 10 mm.

Compressive strength (ASTM Type-I):

Type 3 days, psi 7 days, psi 28 days, psi

OPC 1800 2800 4000
RHC 3480 -- --

Types of Portland cement:

No. English Description (BS) American Description (ASTM)

1 Ordinary Portland Type I

2 Modified Portland Type II
i. Air Entraining
ii. Expanding
3 Rapid Hardening Portland Type III
4 Quick setting Portland --
5 Low Heat Portland Type IV
6 Sulphate resisting Portland Type V
7 Blast furnace Type IS
8 Pozzolana Portland Type IP
9 White Portland --

18
Air entraining cement:

- Use 0.01 to 0.05% by weight air entraining or foaming agents;

Agents are resinous materials such as vinsol, resin, darex, etc. They
are added during grinding the clinker.

- Concrete made with such cement contains minute, well-distributed

air bubbles throughout the mass; air bubble reduces strength by 10
to 15%; the bubbles should not be more than 3 to 4% of the volume
of concrete.

- Air entrainment improves workability and durability of cement;

such cement is resistant to severe frost action, fire, surface scaling
and other similar effects.

Rapid hardening cement:

- Used for repair work of high-way slabs, which is to be open to the

traffic at the earliest possible moment;
- Used for manufacturing of precast elements;
- Cold weather concreting because its rapid hardening and high rate
of heat evolution protects concrete against freezing.

- This type of cement could be produced by:

i. Increasing the fineness of cement (i.e., by increasing their
specific surface;

ii. Increasing the C3S content (at the expense of C2S) to impart
rapid hardening. This requires an increase in lime contents
and the consequent careful clinkering at a higher
temperature. With the increase in lime content in raw
materials, however, there is always a danger of the presence
of free lime in cement.

19
Quick setting cement:

- Cement possessing initial setting time of 5 min. and final setting time of 30
minutes; Difficult to work with this cement, as little time is allowed for
mixing and laying of paste and/or concrete; i.e., these works have to be
completed in 5 minutes;

- Quick setting property is achieved by (i) increasing fineness, (ii) adding

small percentage of Al2(SO4)3, and (iii) adding very little or no percentage
of gypsum to the clinker during grinding;

- Al2(SO4)3 together with Al2O3 (as an ingredient of cement) hydrates

quickly to form C3A and C4AF more in quantity than OPC.

- Used for concreting under running water; Quick setting action prevents
cementing material from being washed out by running water.

Low heat cement:

- In mass concrete structures such as dams, retaining walls, bridge

abutment, raft, etc., the rate of dissipation of heat of hydration from the
surface is much lower than that generated. It causes rise in temperature
inside the concrete mass and may develop thermal and shrinkage cracks if
proper precautions for dissipating the thermal gradient are not taken.
Under this circumstance, the low heat cement can be effectively used.

- Cement ingredients are proportioning in such a way that C3A and C3S
(those that hydrate at faster rate) are formed in less amount, but C2S is
formed in increased amount so that C2S and C3S collectively impart the
same strength as OPC.

- The rate of heat evolution is slow initially (as the hydration rate is slow),
so both setting and hardening rates are slow initially. But in the latter
stage, both rates are faster than the OPC. Typical composition of low heat
cement:

Type C3S (%) C2S (%) C3A (%) C4AF (%)

OPC 48 24 10 9
LHC 24 48 5 14

20
Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC, also in the group of PCC):

- Pozzolanic materials are mainly burnt/calcined clay (like surkhi), fly-ash,

volcanic ash, coal waste, silica fumes, etc. They could be added to cement
to react with free lime present in OPC. These materials, though inert, are
capable of combining with lime (especially Ca(OH)2 that liberates during
hydration of C3S and C2S) when wet and form cementitious products.

- These materials are pulverized and then mixed with cement. Or, they
could be mixed with clinker and ground with it;
- Usually 15% (by weight) pozzolana are mixed with 80% clinker and 5%
gypsum to get the finished PPC;

- Pozzolana cements impart plasticity and workability to mortars and

cement; they possess less heat of hydration and hence suitable for mass
concreting;

- The free lime present in OPC products is liable to leaching action by

percolating waters in dams and other hydraulic structures, which are
thereby rendered permeable. Pozzolanic cements, on the other hand, will
impart impermeability to hydraulic structures;

- An excess of pozzolanic materials makes mortars and concrete shrink

more. Their strength also is proportionately reduced.

Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) is ideally suited for the following construction:
- Hydraulic structures;
- Mass concreting works (because of less heat of hydration);
- Marine structures;
- Masonry mortars and plastering;
- Under aggressive environmental conditions;
- All other applications where OPC is used;
The compressive strength of PPC as per BIS code at present is equivalent to that of
33 grade OPC.

Advantages of PPC or PCC:

- In PPC, costly clinker is replaced by cheaper pozzolana and is economical;

- Soluble Ca(OH)2 is converted into insoluble cementitious products resulting in
improvement of permeability, therefore, improves durability of concrete,
particularly, in hydraulic and marine structures;

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 - Produces less Ca(OH)2, which is also consumed by pozzolana;
- Generates reduced heat of hydration and that too at a low rate;

- PPC being finer than OPC and due to pozzolanic action, it improves the pore
size distribution and also reduces micro-cracks at the transition zone (paste-to-
hard phase);
- Permeability of concrete made of PPC reduces;

- PPC gives more volume of mortar than OPC, as the fly ash is finer and of lower
density; bulk volume of 50 kg bag is slightly more than OPC;
- The long term strength of PPC beyond a couple of months is higher than OPC if
enough moisture is available for continued pozzolanic action;

All the above advantages of PPC are mainly due to the slow conversion of Ca(OH)2 into the
cementitious product in the hydrated cement paste.

Disadvantages:
- Rate of development of strength is initially slightly slower than OPC;

- Reduction of alkalinity reduces the resistance to corrosion of steel

reinforcement; however, considering the fact that PPC significantly improves
the permeability of concrete, increases the resistance to corrosion of
reinforcement;

- The setting time normally longer.

Sulphate Resisting Portland cement (SRC)

Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement is a type of Portland cement in which:
i. C3A is restricted to lower than 5 % and
ii. (2 C3A + C4AF) is lower than 25 %.
Since it is often not feasible to reduce the Al2O3 (A: alumina) content of the
raw material, Fe2O3 may be added to the mix so that the C4AF content
increases at the expense of C3A, and hence the restriction (ii) comes into
being.
The use of SRC is recommended for following applications:
- Concrete to be used in foundations, piles, basements and underground
structures, where soil is infested with sulphates;

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 - Concrete of sewage and water/ effluent treatment plants;
- Concrete used for fabrication of pipes which are likely to be buried in
marshy region or sulphate bearing soils;
- Chemical, Fertilizers and Sugar factories;
- Food processing industries and Petrochemical projects
- Coastal works;
- Also for normal construction works where OPC is used;
- Construction of building along the coastal area within 50 km from sea.

Sulphate Attack:

Ordinary Portland cement is susceptible to the attack of sulphates that causes

disruption and cracking of the concrete.

Sulphates of Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium are the main types occurring
naturally in soil, ground water, sea water as well as industrial waste, sewerage.

Sulphates react both with the free calcium hydroxide (emanating from hydration of
C3S and C2S) in set-cement to form calcium sulphate and with C3A hydrate to form
calcium sulpho-aluminate (ettringite); the latter expands 2.25 times of the original
volume of the aluminates. Their expansion within the frame work of hardened
cement paste results in cracks and subsequent disruption.

Solid sulphate do not attack the cement compound. Sulphates in solution permeates
into hardened concrete and attack calcium hydroxide, hydrated calcium aluminate
and even hydrated silicates.

Sulphate attack is greatly accelerated if accompanied by alternate wetting and

drying, which normally takes place in marine structures.

OPC and some modified OPC’s with composition of ingredients:

Clinker Gypsum Other ingredients (%)

(%) (%) and their name
OPC, grey 95% 5% It accounts for 70
cement per cent of the total

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 consumption.
PPC: Portland 80% 5% 15% pozzolona; It accounts for 18
Pozzolona utilizes flyash, calcined per cent of the total
cement
cement clay, coal waste, silica consumption
fumes, volcanic ash,
etc.
Portland Blast 45 5 50% blast furnace accounts for 10 per
cent of the total
Furnace Slag slag; It has a heat of cement consumed
Cement hydration even lower than
PPC and is generally used
(PBFSC) in mass concreting.
Water Proof similar to 5 with small portion of
calcium stearate or non-
Cement OPC saponifibale oil to impart
waterproofing properties
White cement similar to 5 Clinker using fuel oil It is used to enhance
(instead of coal) with iron aesthetic value in
OPC oxide content below 0.4 per tiles and flooring.
cent to ensure whiteness. A White cement is
special cooling technique much more
is used in its production. expensive than grey
cement.

Cement manufacturing:

The wet process: This consists of the following stages:

Stage 1: To prepare cement slurry:

- Obtain the raw materials from quarries;
- Crush the raw materials;
- Mix the raw materials and wet grinding of them in mills to obtain
slurry;
- Correct the slurry;
- Stored the corrected slurry;
- Prepared a suitable fuel of pulverized coal;

Stage 2: To obtain cement clinker:

- Pump the corrected slurry into rotary kiln;
- Feed the rotary kiln with slurry and fuel;
- Prepare cement clinker in rotary kiln;
- Cool the clinker and store it;

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Stage 3: To prepare cement:
- Grind cement clinker to very fine powder with a retarder (gypsum);
- Elevate and store the cement in silos;
- Fill the bags and store it for sale or use.

Dry process of manufacturing cement:

- The difference between the dry process and the wet process of
manufacture of cement lies in the preparation of the correctly
proportioned feed required for the rotary kiln.
- The feed is a very finely ground powder, which is correctly
proportioned and thoroughly mixed;
- On the other hand, in the wet process, it is the slurry that is feed for
the rotary kiln.

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