MIDTERM: CEMENT

Cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens and can bind other materials together. It principal
constituents for constructional purpose are compounds of Ca(calcareous) and Al + Si (argillaceous). It has
a properties of setting and hardening under water, by virtue of certain chemical reaction with it and are
called hydraulic cements.

There are 5 Chemical composition of cement:

 63% Lime
 22 % Silica
 06% Alumina
 03% Iron oxide
 01 to 04% Gypsum

Classification of cements

1. Natural Cement- a hydraulic cement made from a naturally occurring limestone

containing up to 25 percent argillaceous material
2. Pozzolana Cement -is a kind of Blended Cement which is produced by either intergrinding of
OPC clinker along with gypsum and pozzolanic materials in certain proportions or grinding
the OPC clinker, gypsum and Pozzolanic materials separately and thoroughly blending them
in certain proportions.
3. Slag Cement- is a hydraulic cement formed when ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)
is ground to suitable fineness and is used to replace a portion of portland cement
4. Portland Cement-an extremely finely ground product by calcinising together , at above 1500oC ,
an intimate and properly proportioned mixture of argillaceous (clay) and calcareous (lime) raw
materials, without the addition of anything subsequent to calcination , excepting the retarder
gypsum

Types of Portland cement

1. Ordinary

2. Modified (quick setting cement)

3. High Early Strength

4. Low Heat

5. Sulfate Resistant

Ordinary/Normal Portland Cement (OPC)

Is one of the most widely used type of Portland Cement. The name Portland cement was given by Joseph
Aspdin in 1824 due to its similarity in colour and its quality when it hardens like Portland stone. Portland
stone is white grey limestone in island of Portland, Dorset. Today, Ordinary Portland cement is the most
widely used building material in the world with about 1.56 billion tones produced each year. Annual
global production of Portland cement concrete is around 3.8 million cubic meters per year.

MANUFACTURING OPC

Raw materials:
1. Calcareous (material having content of lime)
2. Argillaceous (material having contents of silica & alumina)
3. Gypsum

Process:
Cement is usually manufactured by two processes:
1. Wet process
2. Dry process

These two processes differ in operation but fundamentals of both these processes are same. In Pakistan,
most of the factories use Wet Process for the production of cement. There are five stages in
manufacturing of cement by wet process:
1. Crushing and grinding of raw material
2. Mixing the material in proportion
3. Heating the prepared mixture in rotary kiln
4. Grinding the heated product known as clinker
5. Mixing and grinding of cement clinker with gypsum

Crushing and Grinding: In this phase, soft raw materials are first crushed into suitable size. This is done
usually in cylindrical ball or tube mills containing the charge of steel balls

Mixing the Material: In this part, the powdered limestone is mixed with the clay paste in proper
proportion (75%=lime stone; clay=25%)
The mixture is then grounded and made homogeneous by mean of compressed gas. The resulting material
is known as slurry having 35-40% water.

Heating the slurry in rotary kiln: Slurry is then introduced in rotary kiln with help of conveyor. The
rotary kiln consists of large cylinders 8 to 15 feet in diameter & height of 300-500 feet. It is made with
steel & is usually lined inside with firebricks.
Kiln rotates at the rate of 1-2 revolution per minute. In rotary kiln, slurry is passed through different zones
of temperature. This whole process in kiln usually covers 2 to 3 hours. Different temperature zones are as
under:

Preheating Zone
In this zone, temperature is kept at 500 degree Celsius & usually the moisture is removed & clay is
broken into silica, aluminum oxide, iron oxide.

Decomposition Zone
Temperature is raised up to 800 degree Celsius. In this zone lime stone decomposes into lime and CO2.

Burning Zone
In this zone temperature is maintained up to 1500 degree Celsius and the oxides formed in above zones
combine together and form respective silicate, aluminates & ferrite.

Cooling Zone
This is last stage where the whole assembly cooled is up to 150 to 200 degree Celsius.

Clinker Formation
The product which is obtained from the rotary kiln is known as the cement Clinker. Clinker is usually in
the form of greenish black or grey colored balls.

Grinding the Clinker with Gypsum

The Cement Clinker is then air cooled. The required amount of Gypsum (5 %) is ground to the fine
powder, and then mixed with the Clinker. Finally cement is packed in bags and then transported to the
required site.
Setting and Hardening:
When ordinary Portland cement is mixed with water its chemical compound constituents undergo a series
of chemical reactions that cause it to set. These chemical reactions all involve the addition of water to the
basic chemical compounds. This chemical reaction with water is called "hydration". Each one of these
reactions occurs at a different time and with different rates. Addition of all these reactions gives the
knowledge about how Ordinary Portland cement hardens and gains strength. Those compounds and their
role in hardening of cement are as under:

1. Tricalcium silicate (C3S): Hydrates and hardens rapidly and is largely responsible for initial set
and early strength. Ordinary Portland cements with higher percentages of C3S will exhibit higher
early strength.
2. Dicalcium silicate (C2S): Hydrates and hardens slowly and is largely responsible for strength
increases beyond one week.
3. Tricalcium aluminate (C3A): Hydrates and hardens the quickest. It liberates a large amount of
heat almost immediately and contributes somewhat to early strength. Gypsum is added to
Ordinary Portland cement to retard C3A hydration. Without gypsum, C3A hydration would cause
ordinary Portland cement to set almost immediately after adding water.
4. Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF): Hydrates rapidly but contributes very little to strength.
Most ordinary Portland cement color effects are due to C4AF.

Uses of OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement):

It is used for general construction purposes where special properties are not required. It is normally used
for the reinforced concrete buildings, bridges, pavements, and where soil conditions are normal. It is also
used for most of concrete masonry units and for all uses where the concrete is not subject to special
sulfate hazard or where the heat generated by the hydration of cement is not objectionable. It has great
resistance to cracking and shrinkage but has less resistance to chemical attacks.

Tests On Ordinary Portland Cement

1. Fineness test – refers to the particle size of cement and affects the rate of hydration which is
responsible for the rate of strength gain. Approximate size of particles is less than 45microns up
to even 15microns.

2. Soundness test – refers to the ability of hardened cement paste to retain its volume after setting

3. Setting time test

 Initial setting time – the time elapsed from the instance of adding water to the cement
until the time the paste stops behaving like a fluid. It is normally 45 minutes for OPC
 Final setting time – the time required by the cement paste to reach certain state of
hardness to sustain load. It is normally 10-12 hours for OPC

4. Strength tests
 Compressive strength test –strength of cement mortar varies according to time. It is
generally reported as 3days, 7dayas and 28 days strength.
 Tensile strength test - formerly used to have an indirect indication of compressive
strength of cement. It is at present generally used for the rapid hardening cement.
 Flexural strength test

5. Specific gravity test – the relative density of OPC is found to be in the range of 3.15 mega
gram/cu.mt. It is determined by Le- Chatelier’s apparatus.
6. Consistency test – refers to the ability of cement paste to flow. It is measured using vicar’s
apparatus and depends on the water-cement ratio

7. Heat of hydration test – the heat generated during the reaction of cement and water. The factors
affecting heat of hydration are C3A, C2S, Water cement ratio, fineness of cement and curing
temperature. Conduction calorimeters is used to test heat of hydration.

8. Loss of ignition test – the loss of cement lost after being heated. Loss more than 3% indicates
pre-hydration.