Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

JOB NO. 3
Standard test method for the determination of the normal
consistency of hydraulic cement.
(ASTM C 187-04)
Purpose:
To determine of the normal consistancy of hydraulic cement.
To determine the amount of water required to prepare hydrualic cement pastes for
testing.

Apparatus:
Vicats apparatus
Plunger(dia = 10mm, length = 50mm)
Weighing balance
Glass plate and trowel
Spatula and safety gloves

MAZHAR YASIN (BSCE01133122)

16

Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

Related Theory:
Consistency:
The thickness or viscosity of the cement paste is called consistency. It is the ratio of
thickness of water to the mass of cement expressed as percentage.
Standard cement paste:
It is the cement paste for which the 10mm diameter plunger in a standard VICATS test
penetrates to such an extent that its distance from the bottom is 101mm. the normal
consistency of cement is 28%.
Normal consistency:
It is the thickness or viscosity of standard paste and is expressed as the percentage of
weight of water.

Test Specifications:
Air temperature:
Air temperature
Water temperature

20 - 27.5 C
23 2 C

Humidity:

Humidity should not be less than 50%.

Procedure:
Take 650g of cement and mix it with 26% of water by weight of dry cement. The

Gauging time should not be more than 4min 15 sec.

Fill the Vicat mould with paste and level it with trowel.
Lower the plunger gently till it touches the cement surface.
Release the plunger allowing it to sink into the paste.
Note the reading on the gauge.
Repeat the above procedure taking fresh samples of cement and different
quantities of water until the reading on the gauge is 101mm.

Precautions:
Gauging time should be strictly observed
Room temp. Should be well maintained as per test requirement.
All apparatus used should be clean.
The experiment should be performed away from vibrations and other disturbances.

MAZHAR YASIN (BSCE01133122)

17

Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

Observation and calculation:

Weight of cement= 650g
Sr. No.

Weight of cement
(g)

Percentage of
water by weight
of dry cement
(g)

W/C

Vicat
penetration
(mm)

1
2
3

650
650
650

175.5
169
169

0.27
0.26
0.26

16
11
10

Comments:
This experiment tells us the amount of water content at which we can obtain the
maximum strength of cement.

The achieved Standard Consistency is coming within the range of water (26% to
33%) So, the standard consistency of cement paste is 11mm
The standard penetration is observed at 26% water by weight which is the between
the range of ASTM
This test also gives us information that how much amount of water is enough to
prepare a paste of cement before using it at the site at the time of construction.

MAZHAR YASIN (BSCE01133122)

18