BUILDING MATERIAL III

CEMENT :
Definition of cement -a powdery substance made by calcining lime and clay, mixed
with water to form mortar or mixed with sand, gravel, and water to make concrete.
A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder,
which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an
ingredient in making mortar or concrete.
Portland Cement
Non-Portland cement
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES : Setting Time
Soundness
Fineness
Strength
Portland cements are commonly characterized by their physical properties for
quality control purposes.
Their physical properties can be used to classify and
compare Portland cements.
The challenge in physical property characterization is
to develop physical tests that can satisfactorily characterize key parameters.

SETTING TIME :
Cement paste setting time is affected by a number of items including: cement
fineness, water-cement ratio, chemical content (especially gypsum content) and
admixtures.
Setting tests are used to characterize how a particular cement paste sets.
For construction purposes, the initial set must not be too soon and the final set

must not be too late.

Normally, two setting times are defined Initial set.

Occurs when the cement has hardened to the point at which it can sustain some load.
Setting is mainly caused by C3A and C3S and results in temperature rise in the
cement paste.
False set :No heat is evolved in a false set and the concrete can be re-mixed without
adding water

A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine

powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used

as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete.

NON-PORTLAND CEMENTS :
Of course, there are other types of cement apart from Portland cement. Important
examples include:
Calcium aluminates cements

Lime concrete/mortar
Expansive cements

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES :
It gives strength to the masonry.

It is an excellent binding material.

It is easily workable.

It offers good resistance to the moisture.

It possesses a good plasticity.
It hardens early.
COMPOSITION OF ORDINARY CEMENT :
The ordinary cement contain two basic ingredients, namely , argillaceous and
calcareous.

In argillaceous material , the clay predominates and in calcareous the calcium is

pre-dominates.

INGREDIENT

INGREDIENT

PERCENT

RANGE

Lime

CaO

62

62-67

silica

Sio2

22

17-25

alumina

Al2O3

3-8

Calcium sulphate

CaSO4

3-4

Iron oxide

Fe2O3

3-4

magnesia

MgO

1-3

sulphur

1-3

alkalies

----

0.2-1

COMPOSITION OF ORDINARY CEMENT :

The entire manufacturing processes in a modern plant is now controlled through a

microprocessor based programmable logic control system to maintain a uniform
quality of cement and high rate of production.

The entire operation of the plant is controlled centrally in a single control room. The
modern plants have also take adequate care to prevent the environmental pollution

and dust nuisance to its surrounding areas.

The cement manufacturing processes involved three operations:
1. MIXING OF RAW MATERIAL
2.BURNING
3.GRINDING
1. MIXING OF RAW MATERIAL
The raw material such as lime stone or chalk and shale or clay mixed either in dry

condition or in wet condition.

The processes is accordingly known as the DRY PROCESSSES or WET PROCESSES.

DRY PROCESSSES:( MORDEN PROCESSES)

In this processes , the raw material are first reduced in size of about 25 mm in
crushers.

A current of dry air is then passed over these dried materials.

These dried material are then pulverized into fine powder in ball mills and tube mills.
All these operation are done separately for each raw material and they are stored in
hoppers.
They are then mixed in correct proportion and made ready for the feed of rotary kiln.

This finely ground powder of raw material is know as the raw mix and it is stored in
stored in stored tank.

This finely ground powder is raw mix.

It is should in storage tank.
Calcareous materials
Lime Stone

Argillaceous material
Clay

Crushing

Crushing

Fine grinding in ball

mills & tube mills

Fine grinding in ball

mills & tube mills

Storage

Storage

Mixing in correct
proportion
Storage tank for raw mix

The dry process has been modernized and it is widely used at present because of
the following reasons.

Competition
Power

Quality of the Cement

Technology
Wet process

Calcareous materials Lime Stone

Argillaceous material

Crushing

Washing

Storage in silos

Storage in silos

Channel
Grinding Mill
Formation of the
Slurry
Correction Basin

Storage tank

Argillaceous material such as clay is thoroughly mixed with water in the container
known as wash mill.

This washed clay is stored in basins. Now the crushed limestone from silos and wet
clay from the basins are allowed to fall in a channel in correct proportions.
This channel loads to grinding mills and form slurry.
The grinding is carried out in ball mill or tube mill or both.

The slurry is led to the correcting basin where it is constantly stirred.

The corrected slurry is stored in the storage tanks and kept to serve as feed for
rotary kiln.
Burning and grinding for both wet and dry processes are the same.

Burning
Description

The burning is carried out in the rotary kiln.

It is formed of steel tube with diameter 250-300 cms.
Its length varies from 90-120 mts.
It is laid in a gradient of 1 in 25 to 1 in 30.

The kiln is supported at intervals by columns of masonry or concrete.

The refractory lining is proved on the inside surface of the rotary kiln.

Process
The corrected slurry is injected at the upper end of the kiln.

The hot gases or flames are forced through the lower end of the kiln.
The portion of the kiln near its upper end is known as dry zone. In this zone,

the water of slurry is evaporated.

The slurry gradually descends, there is a rise in temperature and in the next
section of the kiln, the CO2 is evaporated.
Small lumps nodules are formed.
These calcined product is a small hard dark greenish blue balls called as

clinkers.
The size of clinker varies from 3 mm to 20 mm and they are very hot when

they come out of the burning zone.

Grinding
The clinkers are obtained from the rotary kiln and are finely ground in ball mills
and tube mills.
Role of Gypsum in Cement:
A small quantity of gypsum is added to it (3-40)

It controls the initial setting time of the cement.

Acts as a retarder and delays the setting time, if this is not added then cement
would set as soon as the water is added to it.

Process
The process is carried in modern plant containing chromium steel balls of various
sizes.
These balls roll within the mill & grind the mixture, which is collected in a hopper
and taken in a bucket.
The cement is then stored in silos and the packet in 50 kgs of bags.

Ball mill and tube mill:

These mills are used to carry out grinding out of raw materials of mixture or
clinkers.
It has a steel cylinder of diameter 200 cms to 250 cms.
Its length is about 180-200 cms.

The cylinder is placed in a horizontal position and rotates around a steel shaft.
On the inside surface of the cylinder the perorated curved plates are fixed.
The ends of these plates overlap with each other.
The cylinder is filled with steel balls of size varying from 50 120 mm.
The action of the ball mill is very simple.

The material to be ground is fed from the top.

 When the mill is rotated about its horizontal axis, the steel balls strike against the
perorated curved plates and in doing so they crush the material.

The crushed material passes through and inner sieve plate and then through an
outer sieve plate and then through an outer sieve plate.
It is collected from an outer at the bottom of the outer casing of the mill.
Tube mill:
This mill has a long horizontal steel cylinder of diameter 150 cms and of length

about 7 mts to 10 mts.

The cylinder is filled partly with steel balls of size varying from 20 mm 25 mm.
The action of tube mill is similar to that of the ball.

 But the fine grinding is achieved due to steel balls of smaller size.
A worm is provide to feed the material to the mill.

The pulverized material is collected at the outlet funnel.

FIELD TEST FOR CEMENT:
Colour - Uniform (grayish green colour)

Physical properties - Smooth when touched or rubbed in between fingers,

If it is rough it indicates more sand,
If hand is inserted in a heap of bag a sense of coolness is
fell,
When cement thrown, in a bucket it should float and not

sink.
A thin paste of cement and water should feel sticky

 Presence of lumps - It should be free from lumps.

If found represents the absorption of the moisture.

LABORATORY TESTS:
Compressive strength:
The mortar of cement and sand is prepared (1:3)
Water is added to it W/c ratio 0.4 x of water is added to dry mortar.
The mortar is placed in moulds.
Test specimen cubes of 7cms x 7.6 cms is prepared

* The mould is of metal with sides 7x7.6 cms. This is compacted with vibrating
machine for 2 minutes.

* Kept in damp cabin for 24 hours.

* Submerged in clean water for curing
The cubes are tested in compression at the end of 3rd day and 7th day. The average

value is worked out to be at the rate of 350 kg/cm2 .

Tensile Strength:
The mortar of cement and sand is prepared (1:3)
Water is added to the mortar (8% by wt. of cement / sand)

Briquette moulds are filled with the mortar and boated down till water appears on
the spatula.
It is kept in damp cabin for 24 hrs.
Submerged in clean water for curing.

Tested at the end of 3rd and 7th day with a load of 35kg / cm2
The tensile stress at the end of the 3 days should not be less than 20 kg / cm2 and
at the end of 7 days not loss than 25 kg / cm2

Consistency:
To find out the percentage of water required for preparing the cement pastes for
other tests.

Take gms of cement and add 30% of wt or 90 gms of water to it.

Mix water and cement on a porous surface. It is to be done thoroughly.
Fill the mould of Vicats Apparatus. Time intervals for adding the water and filling
the mould is known as 3 3/4 to 4 minutes.

VICATS Apparatus:

Description.
It consists of frame to which is attached a movable rod weighing, 300 gms and
having diameter and length as 10 mm to 50 mm.
Indicator is attached to the movable rod.

The indicator moves on a vertical scale and gives penetration.

The moulds is in two halves. It is placed on a non-porous plate with a square
needle, plunger and needle and annular collar.
The square needle is used for initial setting time test, the plunger is used for
consistency test and needle with annular collar is used for final setting time test.

Process:
The plunger is attached to the movable rod of vicat apparatus. The plunger is
gently lowered on the paste in the mould.

The settlement of plunger is noted. If the penetration is between 5mm-7mm from

the bottom of the mould , the water added is correct.
If penetration is not proper the process is repocted with different percentages of
water till the desired penetration is obtained.

Setting-Time:
To detect the deterioration of the cement
It is purely a conventional type of test and it has got no relation with the setting
or hardening of actual concrete.
Initial setting time:

Cement weighing 300 gms is taken and mixed with percentage of water as
determined in consistency test.
The cements pasts is filled in the vacate mould.
The square needle of cross section 1mm x 1mm is attached to the moving rod of the
vicats apparatus.

The needle is quickly released and it is allowed to penetrate the cement paste.
In the beginning the needle penetrates completely.

It is taken out and dropped again in a fresh place.

Repeated till the penetration ceases.
The time should be about 30 minutes for ordinary cement.

Final setting Time:

The cement paste is prepared as above and is filled in the vicats mould.
The needle with annular collar is attached to the moving rod of the vicats apparatus.
The needle has a sharp point projecting in the center with annular collar.
The needle is gently released.

The time when needle makes an impression on test blocks and the collar fails to do so
is noted.
The final setting time is the difference between the time at which the water was
added to the cement and time as recorded when it fails to create an impression.
The time should be 10 hrs for ordinary cement.

Soundness:

This is to detect the presence of uncombined lime in cement.

The apparatus is to chattier apparatus.

It consists of a brass mould of diameter 30 mm and height 30 mm.

There is a split in mould and it does not exceed 0.5 mm.
On either side of the split there are two indicators with pointed ends. The thickness of
the mould cylinder is 0.5 mm.
Cement paste is prepared. The percentage of water is determined by the consistency

test. The mould is placed on a glass plate and it is filled by cement paste.
It is covered at the top by another glass plate. A small weight is placed at the tope and

the whole assembly is submerged in water for 24 hours. The temperature of the water
should be 24 -35 deg.
The distance between the points of indicator is noted. The mould is again placed in
water and heat is applied in such a way that boiling point of water is reached in about 30
minutes. The boiling of water is continued for one hour.

The distance between the points of indicator is noted.

The mould is again placed in water and heat is applied in such a way that boiling
point of water is reached in about 30 minutes.
The boiling of water is continued for one hour.

The mould is removed from water and it is allowed to cool down.

The distance between the points of indicator is again measured. The difference
between the two readings indicates the expansion of cement and it should not exceed
10 mm.

Uses of Cement:
The cement mortar is used for masonry work, plaster, pointing, etc.
Concrete for laying floors, roofs and construction of lintels, beams, weather sheds,

stairs and pillar, etc.

Construction of important engineering structures such as bridges, culverts, dams,

tunnels, storage reservoirs, light houses, docks, etc.

Construction of water tanks, wells, tennis courts, septic tanks, lamp posts, roads,
telephone cabins, etc.

Making joints for drains, pipes etc.

Manufacturing of the precast pipes, pipes, piles, garden seats, artistically designed

urns, flower pots, dustbins, fencing posts.

Preparation of foundations, water tight floors, foot paths, etc.

Mortar:

The term mortar is used to indicate a paste prepared by adding required quantity of
water to a mixture of binding material like cement or lime and fine aggregate like
sand.
The above two components of mortar, namely, the binding material and lime

aggregate are sometimes referred to as matrix and adulterant respectively.

The matrix binds the particles of the adulterant and as such the durability, quality
and strength of mortar will mainly depend on the quantity and quality of the matrix.
The combined effect of the two components of mortar is that the mass is able to

bind the bricks or stones firmly.

Sand:
The sand forms and important ingredient of mortar.
Its different aspects will now therefore be briefly discussed.
Natural sources of sand:

The sand particles consists of small grains of silica (SiO2).

It is formed by the decomposition of sandstones due to various effects of weather.
According to the natural sources from which sand is obtained, it is of the following
three types:
o Pit sand

o River sand
o Sea sand

Pit Sand:
This sand is found as deposits in soil and it is obtained by forming pits into soils.
It is excavated from a depth of about 1 m to 2 m from ground level.
The pit sand consists of sharp angular grains, which are free from salts, and it proves
to be excellent material for mortar or concrete work.

For making mortar the clean pit sand free from organic matter and clay should only
be used.
When rubbed between the lingers the line pit sand should not leave any stain on
the lingers.

If there is any stain it indicates the coating of oxide of iron over the sand grains.

River Sand:

This sand is obtained from banks or beds of rivers.

The river sand consists of line rounded grains probably due to mutual attention
under the action of water current.

The colour of river sand is almost white.

As river sand is usually available in clean condition, it is widely used for all

purposes.
Sea Sand:
This sand is obtained from sea shores.
The sea sand consists of line rounded grains.
The colour of sea sand is light brown.

The sea sand contains absorption causes dampness, efflorescence and

disintegration of work.

Sea Sand:

The sea sand also retards the setting action of cement.

Due to all such reasons it is the general rule to avoid the use of sea sand for

engineering purposes except for filling of basement, etc.

It can however be used as a local material after being thoroughly washed to remove

the salt.
Bulking:
The presence of moisture in sand increases the volume of the sand.

This is due to the fact that moisture causes film of water around sand articles that
results in the increase of volume of sand.
For moisture content of 5 8 %, this increase of volume may be upto 20 -40 %.
The liner the material, the more will be the increase in the volume of the moisture
content and this is called as bulking.

Bulking:

When moisture content is increased by adding more water the sand particles pack
near each other, and the amount of bulking of sand decreases.
Bulking of sand is more with fine sand and less with coarse sand.
If proper allowance is not made for bulking of sand, the cost of the concrete and
the mortar increases and it results into under sanded mixes, which are harsh and

difficult for working and placing.

Test for Sand:

A container is taken and filled with 2/3 the sample of the sand to be treated.
The height is measured, say it is 20 cm.
The sand is taken out of the container and it is filled with water.

The sand is then slowly dropped in the container and is stirred by rod.
The height of the sand is measured, if it is 16 cms. Bulking of sand -20-16/4 = or

25 %.

Properties of good sand:

Chemically inert.

Should be clean and coarse.

Should be free from any organic or vegetable matter (3-4% 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.

Cement Mortar:
The cement is used as binding material.
The strength required and importance of work, the proportion of cement to sand
by volume varies from 1:2 or 1:6 or more.
Cinder (ashes) cannot be used as adulterants with matrix as they are not chemically

inert.
Sand can only used to form cement mortar.

The proportion of cement with respect to sand should be determined with

durability and working conditions.
The cement mortar is used where a mortar of high strength and water resisting
properties is required such as under ground constructions, water saturated soils, etc.

TYPE OF CEMENT :
1. Acid resistance cement:

It is composed of the following

Aggregates quartz , quartzite's.

Additive sodium flu silicate Na2SIF6

Aqueous solution sodium silicate or soluble glass.
Use :
Its used for acid resistance and heat resistance
coating of installation of chemical industry.

2. Blast furnace cement :

Slag as obtained from blast furnace is used .
It is a waste product and has basic element of cement namely .alumina

lime and silica

3. Colored cement:

Its is obtained by intimately mixing minerals pigments with ordinary cement.

Its used for finishing of floor ,external surface ,textured panels etc.

4. Expanding cement:
This type of cement is produced by adding an expanding medium like sulphoaluminates and a stabilizing agent to ordinary cement.
Uses: construction of water retaining structure and also for repairing the damages

concrete surface.
5.High alumina cement :
Its is produced by grinding linkers formed cal lining bauxites and time it is specified
that total alumina content should not be less than 32 %

6. Hydrophobic cement :

This type of cement contains admixture which decrease the wetting ability of
cement grains.

Uses: when this cement is used , the fine pore in concrete is uniformly distributed.

7. Low heat cement :

Its contains lower % of tri-calcium aluminates C3A of about 5% and higher % of

di-clacium.