Cement
Users’
GuideCement 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
1Cement 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”