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Cement Users’ Guide Cement Users’ Guide MATERIALS FOR CONCRETE Cement Portland cement is a hydraulic binder and a finely ground inorganic material. When mixed with water, it forms a paste which sets and hardens by means of hydraulic reactions. India has made great strides in producing world class cement Types ‘There ae various types of cement in use and the latest revised edition of 1S 456:2000, fdian Standard code of practice for plain and reinforced concrete permits the use of 10 diffrent types of cement. These are described below. Ordinary portland cement Ordinary portland cement (OPC) is a product obtained by intimately mixing together calcareous (limestone, chalk, marl, ete) and argillaceous (clay, shale, ete) materials, with or without other ‘materials containing silica, alumina or iron oxide, burning them at a high temperature, and grinding the resulting intermediate product, clinker with gypsum, After burning, no material other than gypsum is added, Grades of OPC ‘The Bureau of Indian Standards has classified OPC into three grades for producing different grades of concrete to meet the demands of the construction industry. The classification is made on the basis of compressive strength at 28 days as: 33 grade ~ ordinary portland cement, 1S 269:1989 43 grade- ordinary portland cement, IS 8112:1989 53 grade - ordinary portland cement, IS 12269 : 1987. ‘The grade indicates compressive strength of the cement in N/mm? at 28 days. The basic physical and chemical propertics of the three grades of OPC are given in Table 1 Since higher grades of concrete necessitate the use of higher strengths of cement at 28 days, use of 33-grade cement has dropped during the last decade. Both 43 grade and 53 grade cement can be used for producing higher grades of conerete, Low alkali portland cement There is no separate standard for low alkali portland cement. But in regions where the aggregates have reactive silica or carbonates, alkalies in the cement are restricted to (0.6 percent of soda equivalent (Na20 + 0.658 K20) with a view to avoid the occurrence of alkali-aggregate reaction, leading to possible cracking and destruction of concrete. In such cases, instead of low alkali portland cement, blended cements can be used with added advantage. Blended cements Blended cements or composite cements are those cements in which a mineral additive has been added. to portland cement. Blended cement is a hydraulic cementitious product, similar to ordinary portland ‘coment, but due to the addition of blending material it has certain improved properties compared to OPC. Portland pozzolana cement (PPC) is manufactured either by grinding intimately together portland cement clinker, gypsum and @ pozzolana such as flyash, or by imimately and uniformly blending portland cement and fine pozzolana. The BIS has differentiated PPC based on the pozzolana added to the mix, Thus IS 1489 (Part 1) is portland pozzolana cement (flyash based). According to the latest 1 Cement Users’ Guide amendment in July 2000, the proportion of flyash as a pozzolana used can vary between 15. and 35 percent by weight of cement, as stipulated by IS 1489:(Part 1) 1991. The physical requirements of OPC and PPC are similar. Table 2 gives the physical and chemical requirements of PPC. Increased impermeability, lower heat of hydration, lower plastic shrinkage, reduced alkali- aggregate expansion, and improved resistance to aggressive chemical agents and corrosion are some of the major benefits to be derived from the use of PPC. The use of PPC is, thus desirable for enhancing durability in different construction jobs, specially for structures subjected to aggressive environments, In mass conerete construction, PPC coneretes have shown rather better behaviour in respect of cracking than OPC concretes because of lower heat of hydration. The several uses of PPC cover building construction, reinforced concrete structures, dams, foundations, machine-beds, floorings, plastering, omamental and other precast concrete products. Since high strength PPC equivalent to 43. Nimm? and 53 Nimm? strength of 28 days is available in the country, PPC is preferred to OPC. PPC ensures durability in addition to strength, Portland blast-furnace slag (PBSC) cement is an intimately ground mixture of portland cement clinker and granulated blast-furnace slag, cither inter-ground or ground separately and blended together. The granulated blast-fumace slag is a non-metallic product obtained by rapidly chilling or quenching in water the molten slag tapped from the blast-furnace of a steel plant. As per the latest amendment to IS 455 in May 2000, the slag constituent should not be less than 35 percent nor more than 70 percent of the portland cement, PBSC generally has higher fineness, lower heat of hydration, lower permeability and better resistance to chemical attack and corrosion than OPC. The basic physical and chemical properties of blended cements are given in Table 2. Benefits of blended cements ‘The use of blended cements improves the properties of both, fresh and hardened concrete. These can be as a result of the extended hydration of the cement-pozzolana mixture, reduced water demand, and due to the improved cohesion of the paste. Another important benefit, is the improvement in durability resulting from the lower permeability and improved microstructure of the concrete, This arises from the reduction in pore size of the cement paste and the refinement of pore structure of the ‘cement paste as well as improvements in the properties of the "interfacial zone" between the cement paste and the aggregatedinerts, Portland slag cement (PSC) can be used for all construction jobs in place of ordinary portland cement, but its special properties render its adoption highly desirable for marine structures, for municipal works such as sewers, for structures involving large masses of concrete such as dams, retaining walls, and bridge abutments, and for structures exposed to sulphate-bearing soils such as foundations and roads. PSC is the commonly used cement in the eastem region of the country, including east Madhya Pradesh and Bihar for the past 70 years as it makes the structure strong and durable. PSC with strengths higher than 43 grade level are available today. Sulphate-resisting portland cement Sulphate-resisting portland cement (SRPC) counters what is commonly known as "sulphate attack’ Soluble sulphate salts like sodium sulphate (Na2SO4), calcium sulphate (CaSO4) when present ‘groundwater of in the soil penetrate through the pores of the hardened conerete and chemically react ‘with the tricalcium aluminate (C3A) constituent of the cement. The reaction product called "ettringite", occupies a volume which is more than the reacting compounds. This creates internal pressure resulting in the cracking of the concrete which eventually spalls and disintegrates. This is called "sulphate attack”

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