CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING

CE 223

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Jhon Emmanuel B. Acolentaba Engr. Gilda D Borbon
BSCE – 2A Course Instructor

Performed By (Group 3):

Jhon Emmanuel Acolentaba
Chad Kirby Avelino
Deceree Escoltero
James Andrei Leonida
Jeeper Fano
Jhudiel John Martinez

Performed On:
March 25, 2025
Laboratory Exercise No. 7

Consistency of Standard Cement Paste

Discussion
Consistency one property of the fresh concrete, is an important consideration in
securing of a workable concrete that can be properly compacted in the forms. The term
consistency relates of fluidity from the driest to the wettest mixtures. The common tests to
determine consistency are the "slump" test and the "ball penetration" test. These tests give
only rough measures of consistency, but they do give satisfactory measures of this property
for most practical work.

For convenience, various degrees of wetness of a mix may be roughly classified as

dry, tiff, medium, wet, or sloppy. A concrete is said to have medium or plastic consistency
when it is just wet enough to flow sluggishly - not so dry that it crumbles or so that water or
paste runs from the mass.

The principal factors affecting consistency are (1) the relative proportions of cement
to aggregate (2) the water content of aggregate (3) the size of aggregate (4) the shape and
surface characteristics of the aggregate particles and (5) the fineness and type of cement and
the kind and amount of a mixture.

The aim of this experiment is to find out for a given cement the quality of water to be
mixed to give a paste of normal consistency.

Objective
The objective of this experiment is to determine the amount of water required to achieve the
normal consistency of Portland cement using the Vicat apparatus.

Referenced Documents: ASTM C 187-56

AASHTO T 129

Essential Material and Apparatus:

Sample of Portland cement
Balance, sensitive to 0.1 gm.
Vicat’s Apparatus
Spatula
Essential Procedure:

(1) Weigh accurately about 300 gm. of neat cement sample to be tested.

(2) Mix about 25% of a clean water to the cement by means of spatula.

(3) After about a minute, mixed it thoroughly with hands for at least one minute.

(4) The kneaded paste is formed into a ball and tossed about six times from one hand
to another.

(5) The ball is then pressed into a rubber mold and the excess paste is removed.

(6) The larger end of the rod is brought in contact with the surface of the paste and
reading on the scale is taken.

(7) The rod is then quickly released without any jerk and penetration noted. If the rod
penetrates by 33 to 35 mm the paste is said to be of "normal consistency".

(8) The time taken between adding of water to cement and the filling of the mold
should be between 3 to 5 minutes.

(9) Trial pastes should be made with varying percentage of water to determine the
percentage for which the desired penetration is obtained. The amount of the water is
expressed as percentage by weight of dry cement usually 30%.
 Appropriate range in slump of concrete for various degrees of consistency.

Consistency Slump mm. Remarks

Dry 0-25 Crumbles and falls apart
under ordinary handling: can
be compacted into rigid
mass under vigorous
ramming, heavy pressure or
vibration but unless care is
used exhibits voids or
honeycomb.
Stiff 15-65 Tends to stand as a pile, hold
together fairly well but
crumbles if chuted; with care
and effort can be tamped
into solid dense mass;
satisfactory for vibratory
compaction.
Medium 50-140 Alternate terms; plastic,
mushy quaking. Easily
molded although some care
required to secure complete
compaction.
Wet 125-200 Pile flattens readily when
dumped; can be poured into
place.
Sloppy 175-250 Group or mortar tends to run
out of pile, leaving coarser
material behind.
 Process Picture Description

1. Collecting 300 gm. of From the bag of cement, 300

cement. gm. was accurately weighed
and collected.

25% or 75 ml. of clean water

2. Mixing 25% clean water is added to the cement and
mixed by means of spatula.

After mixing by means of

spatula, the cement is then
3. Mixing by hand kneaded by hand.
 The cement is kneaded into a
4. Tossing ball shape and tossed six
times between both hands.

.
Process Picture Description

5. Pressing into the Mold The ball shaped cement is

then pressed into a rubber
mold, any excess paste is
removed.

The larger end of the rod is

6. Vicat’s Apparatus brought into contact with the
top surface of the paste.
 The rod is then released
without any jerk, the
7. Measuring penetration penetration in mm. is then
recorded.

If the penetration is not

8. Repetition within the specified
standards, extra water is
added to the cement and the
entire process is then
repeated.
OBSERVATIONS
During the normal consistency test of Portland cement using the Vicat apparatus, it
was observed that the penetration of the Vicat plunger varied depending on the water content
of the paste. Several trials were conducted with different water percentages to achieve the
desired penetration range of 33 to 35 mm, ensuring the paste reached normal consistency as
per standard requirements.

Initially, when the water content was too low, the paste was stiff and exhibited high
resistance to penetration. Conversely, when excessive water was added, the paste became
too fluid, causing the plunger to sink beyond the acceptable range. The optimal water
content was determined to be approximately 30% by weight of cement, aligning with the
expected standard values.

The consistency of the paste plays a critical role in cement hydration, as it affects the
workability, setting time, and overall performance of concrete mixtures. A paste that is too
dry may lead to incomplete hydration, reducing strength development, while an overly wet
paste can cause segregation and excessive shrinkage in concrete applications.

This laboratory exercise underscores the importance of accurately determining the

water-to-cement ratio to achieve uniform consistency, ensuring predictable setting behavior
and optimal cement performance in construction applications.

CONCLUSION

Through this laboratory experiment, I successfully determined the normal consistency

of Portland cement using the Vicat apparatus, ensuring proper hydration and workability.
While the standard water-to-cement ratio is 30%, the result of 32.7% is near and within
acceptable standards, indicating slight variations in cement properties that may be due to
factors such as fineness, composition, or ambient conditions, but still ensuring proper setting
and strength development.
TABLE OF RESULTS
Weight of Amount of Total Penetration in Percent of Water
Cement Water Amount of mm.
Added Water
Added

TRIAL 1 300 g 75 mL 75 mL 6 mm 75
x (100 % )=25 %
(dry) 300

TRIAL 2 300 g 15 mL 90 mL 27 mm 90
x (100 % )=30 %
(stiff) 300

TRIAL 3 300 g 5 mL 95 mL 29.5 mm 95

x (100 % )=31.7 %
(stiff) 300

TRIAL 4 300 g 3 mL 98 mL 34 mm 98
x (100 % )=32.7 %
(good result) 300
APPENDICES