Concrete Technology
Module-I
Module-I
Cement
Introduction
• Cement is used as a binding material in the construction.
• It can set and harden easily.
• It can bind other materials together.
• It gives good resistance to moisture.
• Non-hydraulic cement: does not set in wet conditions or under
water. It sets as it dries and reacts with CO2 in air. It has
resistance to attack by chemicals after setting.
• Hydraulic cement set under water and react with water. It sets
in wet condition/under water and when it gets harden protected
from chemical attack.
Ingredients of Portland cement
• Lime (CaO): 60 - 67
• Silica (SiO2): 17 - 25
• Alumina (Al2O3): 3 - 8
• Iron Oxide: 0.5 - 6
• Magnesium Oxide(MgO): 0.1 -4
• Sulphur trioxide (SO3): 1 - 3
• Alkalies (Na2O, K2O): 0.2 – 1.3
Silica
• Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with
the chemical formula SiO2, commonly found in nature as quartz.
• In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent
of sand.
• Silica is one of the most complex and abundant families of
materials, existing as a compound of several minerals and as a
synthetic product. Examples include fused quartz, fumed silica,
opal, and aerogels. It is used in structural materials,
microelectronics, and as components in the food and
pharmaceutical industries. All forms are white or colorless,
although impure samples can be colored.
• Silicon dioxide is a common fundamental constituent of glass.
• In the majority of silicon dioxides, the silicon atom shows
tetrahedral coordination, with four oxygen atoms surrounding a
central Si atom (see 3-D Unit Cell). Thus, SiO2 forms 3-
dimensional network solids in which each silicon atom is
covalently bonded in a tetrahedral manner to 4 oxygen atoms.[8]
[9]
In contrast, CO2 is a linear molecule. The starkly different
structures of the dioxides of carbon and silicon are a
manifestation of the double bond rule .
• Based on the crystal structural differences, silicon dioxide can be
divided into two categories: crystalline and non-crystalline
(amorphous). In crystalline form, this substance can be found
naturally occurring as quartz, tridymite (high-temperature form),
cristobalite (high-temperature form), stishovite (high-pressure
form), and coesite (high-pressure form). On the other hand,
amorphous silica can be found in nature as opal and
diatomaceous earth. Quartz glass is a form of intermediate state
between these structures.
Minerals
• Minerals are naturally occurring elements or compounds. Most
are inorganic solids (apart from liquid mercury and a few organic
minerals) and defined by their chemical composition and crystal
structure.
• By weight, 99.5 per cent of minerals are formed from only 12 of
the natural elements. Clearly, some elements are far more
common than others. The same goes for minerals. Of the 5800 or
so known minerals, only 10 make up 95 per cent of the Earth’s
crust.
Mineral identification
• There are over 5800 different minerals. Each mineral is classified by
both its chemical composition (the elements from which it is formed)
and crystal structure (the pattern the atoms form when they lock
together). Graphite and diamond are made of the same element,
carbon, but have different crystal shapes so are different minerals.
• The unique chemical composition and crystal structure affect a
mineral’s physical properties such as colour, hardness, density, or
how it breaks or reflects light. Testing for these properties helps
identify an unknown mineral. Sometimes, complex tests are needed
such as magnetism, radioactivity, acidic reaction or x-rays. Minerals
of the same species, such as quartz, all have the same x-ray pattern,
although they may look quite different.
From elements to minerals
• Some minerals are only made up of one element – we call these
minerals ‘native elements’. They include metals, gemstones,
simple ores and the only liquid metal mineral, mercury. Some,
like gold, only combine with a small number of other elements.
• Others, like sulphur, can combine readily with other elements,
but also form alone under special chemical conditions. Some
metallic elements mix easily with each other and are called
alloys. An example of a natural alloy is osmiridium, which is
made of two rare elements osmium and iridium.
Hardness Mineral
1 Talc
2 Gypsum
3 Calcite
4 Fluorite
5 Apatite
6 Orthoclase
7 Quartz
8 Topaz
9 Corundum
10 Diamond
Geology and Mineralogy
• A mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with
a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal
structure that occurs naturally in pure form.
• The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that
occur only in living organisms. However, some minerals are often
biogenic (such as calcite) or organic compounds in the sense of
chemistry (such as mellite). Moreover, living organisms often synthesize
inorganic minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that also occur in rocks.
• The concept of mineral is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid
geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large enough
scale. A rock may consist of one type of mineral or may be an aggregate
of two or more different types of minerals, spacially segregated into
distinct phases.
Manufacture/Production of cement
• Dry Process:
• Grinding the raw materials (ingredients)
• Burning them in a rotary kiln (1300 – 1500 Celsius)
• Material sinters and partially fuses into ball shaped known as clinkers.
• Clinker is cooled and ground to fine powder with addition of about 3-
5% of gypsum. The resulting product is called Portland cement.
Chemical composition/Bogue’s
Compound
• Tricalcium silicate = (C3S)
• Dicalcium silicate = (C2S)
• Tricalcium aluminate = (C3A)
• Tetracalcium aluminoferrite = (C4AF)
Hydration of cement
• Hydration: Chemical reaction between cement and water is called
hydration of cement, then it sets and harden (gain strength).
• The chemical reactions that takes place between cement and
water is known as hydration of cement. The reaction of cement
with water is exothermic, i.e. the reaction generates a considerable
quantity of heat.
• All above four compounds participates in chemical reaction when
hydration takes place.
• C3S hydrates more rapidly than others and it develops strength in
concrete for first 7-days. It generates more heat. C2S hydrates
and harden slowly and gives ultimate strength.
Properties of compounds
(Gambhir)
• C3S, C2S both constitute about 70-80 % of cement and they
control most of the strength properties.
• Both give the same products C-S-H gel and calcium hydroxide.
• C3S has a faster rate of reaction accompanied by greater heat of
evolution develops early strength (compared to C2S).
• C3S, C2S need 24 and 21 percent water by weight respectively for
chemical reaction.
• C3S liberates/releases nearly three times as much Ca(OH)2 on
hydration as C2S.
• However, C2S provides more resistance to chemical attack.
• Hence, a higher %age C3S results in rapid hardening with an early gain
in strength at a higher heat of hydration.
• Higher %age of C2S results in slow hardening, less heat of hydration
and greater resistance to chemical attack.
• C3A is very fast to react with water and causes initial setting. It
generates a great amount of heat and easily affected by sulphates. Its
amount in cement is very less . Its contribution to strength is
insignificant. It is responsible for higher heat of hydration.
• It provides weak resistance against sulphate attack.
• Flash set:- C3A is very fast to react with water and may lead to
immediate stiffening of paste and this process is termed a flash set.
The role of gypsum in cement is to prevent such a fast reaction.
• C4AF hydrates rapidly, but its contribution to strength is insignificant.
• Higher silica content prolongs the setting time and gives more strength.
Higher lime content increases the setting time and results in higher
strength.
Cement chemistry
Product of hydration
• Calcium silicate hydrates
• Calcium hydroxide
• Calcium aluminate hydrates
Tests for Cement
• Field test:
1. Colour of cement should be greenish grey.
2. If hand is inserted into the bag, it should feel cool, no lump.
3. Smooth feeling when touched between fingers.
4. Cement particle should float for some time on water.
5. Make a stiff cement paste and form a cake with sharp edges. Put it on
glass plate and then into bucket of water. Observe that shape of cake is
not disturbed while taking it into the water-bucket. After 24 hours it
should retain its original shape, and gain strength & also set.
Laboratory testing:
1. Fineness test
2. Consistency test
3. Setting time test
4. Soundness test
5. Strength test
6. Heat of hydration test
7. Chemical composition test
Classification/Types of
cement
• Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) - 33, 43, 53 Grade
• Rapid hardening Portland cement
• Low heat Portland cement
• Sulphate resisting Portland cement
• Water-proof Portland cement
• Portland slag cement
• Portland pozzolana cement
• Extra rapid hardening cement
• Quick setting cement
• Super sulphate cement
• High alumina cement
• White cement
• Acid resistance cement
• Hydrophobic cement
• Expansive cement
• Masonary cement
• Oil-well cement
Special cement
Aggregate
Module-I
Introduction
• Aggregate, in building and construction, material used for
mixing with cement, bitumen, lime, gypsum, or other
adhesive to form concrete or mortar. The aggregate gives
volume, stability, resistance to wear or erosion, and other
desired physical properties to the finished product.
Commonly used aggregates include sand, crushed or broken
stone, gravel (pebbles), broken blast-furnace slag, boiler
ashes (clinkers), burned shale, and burned clay. Fine
aggregate usually consists of sand, crushed stone, or
crushed slag screenings; coarse aggregate consists of
gravel (pebbles), fragments of broken stone, slag, and other
coarse substances. Fine aggregate is used in making thin
concrete slabs or other structural members and where a
smooth surface is desired; coarse aggregate is used for
Gravel
• Gravel, aggregate of more or less rounded rock fragments coarser than
sand (i.e., more than 2 mm [0.08 inch] in diameter). Gravel beds in
some places contain accumulations of heavy metallic ore minerals,
such as cassiterite (a major source of tin), or native metals, such as
gold, in nuggets or flakes. Gravels are widely used building materials.
• Fragments in gravel range in size from pebbles (4–64 mm [0.16–2.52
inches] in diameter), through cobbles (64–256 mm [2.52–10.08
inches]), to boulders (larger than 256 mm). The rounding of gravel
results from abrasion in the course of transport by streams or from
milling by the sea. Gravel deposits accumulate in parts of stream
channels or on beaches where the water moves too rapidly to permit
sand to remain. Because of changing conditions, gravel formations
generally are more limited and more variable in coarseness, thickness,
and configuration than sand or clay deposits. Persistent accumulation
of gravel or pebble beds may take place along an inner zone of
breaking waves, on a beach that is otherwise sandy. Cobble and pebble
Requirement of aggregate
• Concrete is an artificial stone obtained by binding together the FA and
CA with cement paste.
• Aggregate particles are embedded in the cement paste to produce
large volume of concrete. In normal concrete, the volume of aggregate
is about 75 per cent and paste is a rest of it. So, it occupies the major
volume of concrete.
• Therefore, you call it aggregate, because aggregation(collection and
gathering of things together) of solid particles other than paste.
• It is cheaper than cement. It imparts greater strength and durability to
concrete. To increase density, aggregate is used in two or more sizes.
• The FA helps to produce workability and it also helps the cement paste
to hold the CA in suspension (leads to prevent bleeding and
segregation).
Size classification
• FA ≤ 4.75 mm
• Sand (4.75 – 0.07mm),
• Natural sand. Crushed stone sand, crushed gravel sand
• Silt (0.06 – 0.02 mm)
• Clay < 0.02 mm
• CA > 4.75 mm
Shape Classification
• Flaky and elongated aggregates are not desirable.
• Rounded
• Irregular
• Angular
• Flaky
• Elongated
Petrographic classification
• Petrography is the study of rocks in thin section by
means of a petrographic microscope (i.e., an instrument
that employs polarized light that vibrates in a single
plane). Petrography is primarily concerned with the
systematic classification and precise description of
rocks.
• The aim of this classification is to identify the
mineralogical composition. (To avoid alkali-
aggregate reaction)
IS specifications (IS 383)
Properties/characteristics
• Strength
• Particle shape and texture
• Specific gravity
• Bulk density
• Voids
• Porosity and water absorption
• Moisture content
• Bulking of fine aggregates
• Soundness of aggregates
• Fineness modulus
Grading
Grading
• Aggregate Sieve Analysis Test is Used to Assess the Aggregate
Gradation
• A gradation analysis (or sieve analysis) is a procedure used to assess
the particle size distribution (gradation) of a granular material by
allowing the material to pass through a series of sieves of
progressively smaller mesh size and weighing the amount of material
that is stopped by each sieve as a fraction of the whole mass. The size
distribution is often of critical importance to the way the material
performs in use.
Methods of combining
aggregates
Specified Gradings
Testing of aggregates
Water: General requirements
and limiting value of impurities
