 FIELD TEST

 LABORATORY TEST
FIELD TESTS
 The colour of the cement should be uniform. It
should be grey colour with a light greenish shade.
 The cement should be free from any hard lumps.
Such lumps are formed by the absorption of moisture
from the atmosphere. Any bag of cement containing
such lumps should be rejected.
 The cement should feel smooth when touched or
rubbed in between fingers. If it is felt rough, it
indicates adulteration with sand.
 If hand is inserted in a bag of cement or heap of
cement, it should feel cool and not warm.
 If a small quantity of cement is thrown in a bucket of
water, the particles should float for some time before
it sink.
•A thick paste of cement with water is made on a piece of
glass plate and it is kept under water for 24 hours. It
should set and not crack.
•A block of cement 25 mm ×25 mm and 200 mm long is
prepared and it is immersed for 7 days in water. It is then
placed on supports 15cm apart and it is loaded with a
weight of about 34 kg. The block should not show signs of
failure.
• The briquettes of a lean mortar (1:6) are made. The size
of briquette may be about 75 mm ×25 mm ×12 mm. They
are immersed in water for a period of 3 days after drying. If
cement is of good quality such briquettes will not be
broken easily.
LABORATORY TESTS
 FINENESS TEST
 SETTING TIME TEST
 STRENGTH TEST
 SOUNDNESS TEST
 HEAT OF HYDRATION TEST
 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION TEST
FINENESS TEST
 BY SIEVING
 BY DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC
SURFACE AREA
SIEVE TEST
 Fineness of cement determined by dry
sieving as per IS: 4031 (Part 1) – 1996
 The principle of this is that we determine
the proportion of cement whose grain size
is larger then specified mesh size.
 The apparatus used are IS sieve no. 9
(90 microns), Balance capable of weighing
10g to the nearest 10mg, A nylon or pure
bristle brush, preferably with 25 to 40mm,
bristle, for cleaning the sieve.
 Continuously sieve the sample with
circular and vertical motion for 15
minutes.
 Weight the residue left on the sieve.
 It weight should not exceed 10% for
ordinary cements.
AIR PERMEABILITY METHOD
 Fineness determined by finding the specific
surface area of the cement particles and is
expressed in total surface area in
sq.cm/gm of cement.
 Air permeability apparatus is used for this
purpose.
 Principle-observing the time taken for fixed
quantity of air to flow through compacted
cement bed of specified dimension and
porosity
Permeability apparatus with
manometer and flowmeter
 Dimension of cement bed-1 cm high and
2.5 cm dia.
 Calculate weight of cement to make a bed
of 0.475 porosity.
 Air is slowly passed through the bed at
constant velocity.
 Rate of flow adjusted till the flow meter
shows the difference in level of 30-40 cm.
 The specific area should be at least 225
m2/kg.
 h1-difference in manometer level
h2-difference in flowmeter level
X-Porosity

Formula for determining specific surface area (Sw)

 TEST FOR STANDARD CONSISTENCY
 The consistency of cement is determined as per IS
4031: Part 4 (2005)
 Standard consistency is defined as the quantity of
water that produces a cement paste that permits
the Vicat plunger to penetrate upto 33 to 35 mm
from the top of Vicat mould.
 Cement (500gm) with varying w/c is prepared and
penetration is checked in each of them.
 The amount of water in the paste that satisfies the
above condition was expressed as a percentage by
mass of dry cement and taken as the water
demand of the cement.
 The % is denoted by ‘P’. The test is required to
carried out at constant temp. (27 +- 2 C) and
constant humidity 90%.
Vicats apparatus for standard consistency and setting time for cement
Vicat’s Apparatus
SETTING TIME
 The initial and final is determined as per IS
4031: Part 5 (2005).
 The cement paste is prepared with 0.85
times the water required to give a paste of
standard consistency i.e. 0.85P.
 It is filled in the Vicat mould and the
corresponding needle is allowed to penetrate
through the paste.
 The period elapsing between the time when
water is first added to the cement and the time
at which the penetration of needle is 33 to
35mm was taken as initial setting time.
 The test was continued with a standard
needle with an annular attachment for
determining the final setting time.
 The period elapsing between the time
when water is added to the cement and
the time at which the needle makes an
impression on the surface of the test
block while the attachment fails to do so
is taken as the final setting time.
 The initial setting time indicates the time
after which the paste starts losing its
plasticity.
 Initial setting time should not be less than
30 min(shouldn’t set before placing)
 The final setting time indicates the time
after which the cement starts gaining
strength and loses total plasticity.
 Final setting time should not be greater
than10 hours(less vulnerable to damages).
SOUNDNESS TEST
 It is to test that cement after setting shall not
undergo any appreciable change of volume.
 The soundness test is an indication of excess
of lime caused by inadequate burning of
cement or excess of magnesia or sulphates.
 High proportion of magnesium content or
calcium sulphate content may also cause
unsoundness and this leads to expansion of
cements.
 Two types of tests are used, they are:
 Le Chatelier’s test
 Autoclave test
Le-Chateliers apparatus
Le – Chateliers test
 It is used for determining unsoundness due
to lime.
 Cement is gauged with 0.78 times the
water required for standard consistency
and filled into the mould, placed on a glass
plate.
 The mould is covered with another glass
plate on top and immersed in water at a
temperature of 27ºC to 32ºC for 24 hours .
 Measure distance between indicator points.
 Submerge it in water again. Heat it and
bring to boiling point in about 30 min and
keep it boiling for 3 hours.
 Take the mould out. cool it and measure
the distance between indicator points.
 The difference between both reading
should not exceed 10 mm.
Autoclave test
 This test is sensitive to both free
magnesia and free lime.
 cement specimen of 25 X 25 mm is
placed in a standard autoclave
 Keep gauge pressure -21 kg/sq.cm.
 Pressure maintained for 3 hours.
 Length of the specimen measured.
 The expansion should not be more than
0.8 to 1 %.
STRENGTH TEST
 Compressive Strength of cement was
determined as per IS 4031: Part 6 (1988).
 The strength of the hardened cement is the
property of the material needed for
structural design.
 To prepare a mortar take 555gm of
Standard sand (Ennore Sand) and 185gm
of cement. Add water of quantity (P/4 + 3)
% combined weight of sand & cement.
 Prepare cement mortar cubes (7.06 cm
size cubes) standard vibrating machine.
 Maintain the temperature 27 +- 2 C and
humidity 90%.
 Immerse cube in water after 24hrs.
 Test the cubes for 3, 7 & 28 days.
HEAT OF HYDRATION
 The hydration reaction is exothermic and
gives out heat.
 Higher heat of hydration results in cracking
of concrete.
 This heat is either measured by vacuum
flask (for few days) or by adiabatic
calorimeter (for longer periods).
 The value should not be more than 65
cal/gm at 7 days and 75 cal/gm at 28 days
for low heat portland cement.
Heat of hydration apparatus
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION TEST

Example of chemical composition report