CENGR 2230 - Construction Materials & Testing

ENGR. RUEL V. VERGARA

Cementitious Materials
What are Cementitious Materials?
• Cementitious materials include the many products that are mixed
with either water or some other liquid or both to form a
cementing paste that may be formed or molded while plastic but
will set into a rigid shape
• When sand is added to the paste, mortar is formed. A
combination of coarse and fine aggregate (sand) added to the
paste forms concrete.
TYPES OF CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS
• CHEMICAL CONSTITUENT –
that is responsible for the setting or hardening of the cement.

• The raw materials used for the manufacture of cement consist mainly of lime, silica, alumina and
iron oxide.
• CALCIUM SILICATES AND ALUMINATES -
constitute the most important group of modern cements.
Included in this group are the portland, aluminous, and
natural cements.
• LIMES -
Their principal function today is to plasticize the otherwise harsh cements and
add resilience to mortars and stuccoes.
Use of limes is beneficial in that their slow setting promotes
healing, the recementing of hairline cracks.
• CALCINED GYPSUM –
The gypsum cements are widely used in interior plaster and for fabrication of
boards and blocks.

• OXYCHLORIDE CEMENTS CONSTITUTE –

a class of specialty cements of unusual properties special uses, such as the
production of sparkproof floors, they cannot be equaled.

It is called a hydraulic cement because it will harden even when it is under water.
• MASONRY CEMENTS OR MORTAR CEMENTS –
are widely used because of their convenience. While
they are, in general, mixtures of one of more of the
above-mentioned cements with some admixtures.

Mortar is used to hold building materials such as brick or stone

together.
PORTLAND CEMENTS –
the most common of the modern cements, is made by carefully blending selected raw
materials to produce a finished material meeting the requirement.

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic
ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout.
• The name “portland” originates from a trade name used by
Joseph Aspdin in 1824 to describe the new cement he patented
that year in England.
• CONCRETE, -
the most common use for portland cement, is a complex material
consisting of portland cement, aggregates, water, and possibly
chemical and mineral admixtures.

Concrete is the most commonly used man-made material on earth. It is an

important construction material used extensively in buildings, bridges,
roads and dams.
Introduction to Cement

Cement refers to material which acts as a binding substance. In construction and civil
engineering cement is used to bind structural members for construction of buildings,
pavements, bridges, tunnels, roads and highways etc.
How should cement be stored?

• Cement bags should not be stored in an enclosed area

where the walls, roof and floor is not completely
weatherproof.

• Cement bags must not be stored in wet surroundings and

humid conditions.

• Stack cement bags on wooden planks or concrete floor and

do not stack the against the wall.

• Cement bags should be piled close together.

• It is better to arrange the cement bags in a header and
stretcher fashion.

• Cement bags that were stored first must be used first.

• Cement bags must not be piled up in the field at work site,

instead they should be piled up on a raised platform and
covered with a sheet.
Properties of cement

Concrete is a compound material made from sand, gravel and cement. The cement is a
mixture of various minerals which when mixed with water, hydrate and rapidly become
hard binding the sand and gravel into a solid mass.
The oldest known surviving concrete is to be found in the former Yugoslavia and was
thought to have been laid in 5,600 BC using red lime as the cement

The first major concrete users were the Egyptians in around 2,500 BC and the Romans
from 300 BC The Romans found that by mixing a pink sand-like material which they
obtained from Pozzuoli with their normal lime-based concretes they obtained a far
stronger material.
The pink sand turned out to be fine volcanic ash and they had inadvertently produced
the first 'pozzolanic' cement.
Pozzolana
is any siliceous or siliceous and aluminous material which possesses
little or no cementitious value in itself but will, if finely divided and mixed with
water, chemically react with calcium hydroxide to form compounds with
cementitious properties.
The Romans made many developments in concrete technology including the use of
lightweight Aggregates as in the roof of the Pantheon, and embedded reinforcement in the
form of bronze bars.

Although the difference in thermal expansion between the two materials produced problems
of spalling
It is from the Roman words

'caementum'
meaning a rough stone or chipping

'concretus'
meaning grown together or compounded
SPECIFICATIONS FOR PORTLAND CEMENTS

Type I - general-purpose cement, is the one commonly used for many structural purposes.

Type II - is a modified cement for use in general concrete where a moderate exposure to sulfate
attack may be anticipated or where a moderate heat of hydration is required.

Type III - cement attains high early strength. In 7 days, strength of concrete made with it is practically
equal to that made with Type I or Type II cement at 28 days.
Type IV - is a low-heat cement that has been developed for mass concrete construction.

Type V - is a portland cement intended for use when high sulfate resistance is required.
CHEMICAL TESTS

TEST ON IGNITION

The Loss on Ignition Test is a very simple test which indicates the amount of
volatile matter including moisture in the cement.

The test is carried out by heating a one (1) gram sample of porcelain or
platinum crucible for 15 minutes at 900 to 4’c, either in a muffle furnace or in
Bunsen burner flame.
PHYSICAL TESTS

SOUNDNESS

Soundness in cement implies the absence of those qualities tend to destroy its
strength and durability.

The test is out by placing 24 hour old neat cement pats of normal in an atmosphere
of saturated steam above boiling for 5 hours.
PHYSICAL TESTS

SPECIFIC GRAVITY

The specific gravity of cement is not of particular because for most purposes a specific
gravity of 3.15 assumed.

However, this tests which is very easily carried detect adulteration or under burning of
the cement.
 PHYSICAL TESTS

SETTING

The time of setting tests determines the time which elapses the paste ceases to be fluid and
plastic (initial set) also the time required for it to harden to a certain degree.

FINENESS

The course particles in cement are inert. The finer the faster it will undergo hydration, thus
resulting in any strength and more rapid generation or heat.
PHYSICAL TESTS

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Compressive strength tests best judge the value of the cement as the condition
or the tests are more nearly similar to the conditions met by the material in sue.
ALUMINOUS CEMENTS –
These are prepared by fusing a mixture of aluminous and calcareous materials (usually
bauxite and limestone) and grinding the resultant product to a fine powder.
NATURAL CEMENTS –
Natural cements are formed by calcining a naturally occurring mixture of calcareous and
argillaceous substances at a temperature below that at which sintering takes place.

Made from a naturally occurring limestone.

LIMES –
These are made principally of calcium oxide occurring naturally in limestone, marble, chalk,
coral, and shell. For building purposes, they are used chiefly in mortars.
QUICKLIMES
When limestone is heated to a temperature in excess of 1700_F, the carbon dioxide content is
driven off and the remaining solid product is quicklime.
It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature.
HYDRAULIC LIMES
These are made by calcining a limestone containing silica and alumina to a temperature short
of incipient fusion
is a general term for varieties of lime or slaked lime used to make lime mortar which set
through hydration.
MASON’S HYDRATED LIME
Hydrated limes are prepared from quicklimes by addition of a limited
amount of Water.

FINISHING HYDRATED LIMES

Finishing hydrated limes are particularly suitable for use in the finishing coat of
plaster.
LOW-TEMPERATURE GYPSUM DERIVATIVES

When gypsum rock is heated to a relatively low temperature, about 130_C, three-fourths
of the water of crystallization is driven off.

OXYCHLORIDE CEMENTS
oxychloride cement, or Sorel cement. It is particularly useful in making flooring
compositions in which it is mixed with colored aggregates.
MASONRY CEMENTS
Masonry cements, or—as they are sometimes called—mortar cements, are intended to
be mixed with sand and used for setting unit masonry, such as brick, tile, and stone.
FLY ASHES
is generally used as a cementitious material as well as an admixture.
This makes fly ash suitable as a prime material in blended cement, mosaic tiles, and hollow
blocks, among other building materials. When used in concrete mixes, fly ash improves the
strength and segregation of the concrete and makes it easier to pump.
SILICA FUME (MICROSILICA)
Silica fume, or microsilica, is a condensed gas, the by-product of metallic silicon or
ferrosilicon alloys produced by electric arc furnaces.
Concrete containing silica fume can have very high strength and can be very durable.
“Your dreams are like the cement. If you water it with actions, it
becomes a hard concrete mass.