University of Baghdad

College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Dept.
Concrete laboratory

Cement Test

Cement: is a bonding material which reacts with water to bond the

construction material together. It has the property of setting and hardening
with presence of water this operation is calls hydration of cement.

Hydration: is the process of mixing water with cement to produce new

compounds that give the strength to the concrete mix.

Portland cement: prepared by burning two raw materials (Lime stone

calcite and clay materials), these materials consist of (CaO, Al2O3, SiO2,
Fe2O3, SO3 and other oxides).

Type of Portland cement:

1. Ordinary Portland cement (O.P.C)

2. Portland blast furnace cement
3. Rapid-Hardening Portland cement
4. Low – heat Portland cement
5. Sulphate resisting Portland cement
6. White Portland cement

Cement consists of the following compounds:

1. C3S (3CaO.SiO2) ‫ﺳﻠﯿﻜﺎت اﻟﻜﺎﻟﺴﯿﻮم اﻟﺜﻼﺛﻲ‬

2. C2S (2CaO.SiO2) ‫ﺳﻠﯿﻜﺎت اﻟﻜﺎﻟﺴﯿﻮم اﻟﺜﻨﺎﺋﻲ‬
3. C3A (3CaO.AL2O3) ‫اﻟﻮﻣﯿﻨﺎت اﻟﻜﺎﻟﺴﯿﻮم اﻟﺜﻼﺛﻲ‬
4. C4AF (4CaO.AL2O3.Fe2O3) ‫رﺑﺎﻋﻲ اﻟﻮﻣﯿﻨﺎت اﻟﻜﺎﻟﺴﯿﻮم اﻟﺤﺪﯾﺪﯾﺔ‬

The most important laboratory tests for cement are:

1. Standard consistency. 2. Setting time. 3. Compressive strength.

4. Fineness. 5. Soundness

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 Test No.1
Standard Consistency
(I.Q.S. No.5-2019) and (EN 196-3, Methods of testing cement — Part
3).

Aim of Test: to get the required amount of water to have cement paste
with standard consistency and to use it in other tests.

Tools:
1. Vicat apparatus:
a. (Plunger Ø (10 ±0.05) mm and length
(50 ±1) mm.
b. Vicat mould (cylindrical or preferably
truncated conical form (40.0 ± 0.2) mm high and
an internal diameter of (75 ± 10) mm.
c. base-plate larger than the mould and at least ( 2.5 ) mm thick.
2. Graduated cylinder.
3. Balance.
4. Stop watch.
5. Spatula.

Work method:

1. Take a suitable amount of w/c and (400) gm of cement.

2. From w⁄c ratio calculate the required water For example:

w/c =0.25 → water/400 =0.25 → w =100 gm

3. Take the time from the moment of adding water to cement.

4. Mix the cement with the amount of calculated water for about (240±
5) sec.
5. Put the cement past in vicat mould during 15 sec. then drop Vicat
plunger.
6. If the penetration is (5±1) mm from the base we recommend the w/c
used.

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7. If the penetration is less or more than (5±1) mm from the base we
must choose another w/c and repeat all the steps above.

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 Test No .2
Setting Time
Aim of Test: to measure the setting time of the cement paste and compare
it with the (I.Q.S- No.5 2019).

Initial setting time: the period from adding water to cement until the
Initial setting time needle of vicat apparatus stops to penetrate in cement
paste at a distance not less than 5 mm from the base. The period for this
process should not be less than 45 min.

Final setting time: the period from adding water to cement until the final
setting time needle of vicat apparatus leaves a trace on the top surface of
the cement paste, this process should not exceed ten hour.

Tools for the Initial setting time test:

1. Vicat apparatus:
a. (Initial setting time needle Ø (1.13 ±0.05) mm and
length (50 ±1) mm.
b. Vicat mould (cylindrical or preferably truncated conical form (40 ±
0.2) mm high and an internal diameter of (75 ± 10) mm.
c. base-plate larger than the mould and at least (2.5) mm thick.
2. Graduated cylinder.
3. Balance.
4. Stop watch.
5. Spatula.

Work method for the initial setting time:

1. Take (400) gm of cement and mix it with the amount water

(obtained from the standard consistency test).
2. Take the time from the moment of adding water to cement.
3. Put the paste in Vicat mould, then lower the needle to be in contact
with the cement paste surface at a distance not less than 10 mm from
the edge of the vicat mould.

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 4. Repeat the penetration process in different positions (not less than 10
mm from each position), till we reach (5) mm from the base of Vicat
apparatus.
5. Record the time period from adding water to cement till we reach the
(5) mm from the base.

Reading Penetration(mm Time (min)

no )
1 1
2 15
3 30
4 45
5 60

Iraq standard specification (I.Q.S) No.5 -2019 and (EN 196-3, Methods
of testing cement — Part 3).

For the initial setting time not less than 45 minutes and for the final setting
time not more than 10 hours.

Test No. 3
Compressive Strength

(I.Q.S. No.5-2019) and (EN 196-1, Methods of testing cement — Part

1: Determination of strength)

Compressive strength Test: it represents the compressive force carried on

specimen divided by the area of specimen exposed to this force.

Tools:

1. The mould shall consist of three horizontal compartments so that

three prismatic specimens (40 mm × 40 mm in
cross section and 160 mm in length) can be
prepared simultaneously.
2. Jolting apparatus.

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 3. Set of sieves.
4. Graduated cylinder.
5. Balance.
6. Spatula.

Work method:

1. The mix proportions shall be one part of cement to three parts of

Standard sand and one half part of water (w/c = 0.5).

Standard sand: Standard sand shall comply with the particle size
distribution specified in table below as determined by sieve analysis on a
representative sample of sand of total mass not less than 1345gm. Sieving
shall be continued until the amount of sand passing through each sieve is
less than 0.5 gm/min.

Square mesh size (mm) 2.00 1.60 1.00 0.50 0.16 0.08
Cumulative sieve residue (%) 0 7±5 33 ± 5 67 ± 5 87 ± 5 99 ± 1
Residue (gm) 0 94.5 351 459 270 175.5
.
2. Each batch for three test specimens shall consist of (450 ± 2) gm of
cement, (1350 ± 5) gm of standard sand and (225 ± 1) gm of water.

3. Place the water and the cement into the bowl, taking care to avoid loss
of water or cement, immediately the water and cement are brought into
contact, start the mixer at the low speed whilst starting the timing of the
mixing stages. In addition, record the time to the nearest minute, as ‘zero
time’. After (30) sec. of mixing, add the sand steadily during the next (30)
sec. Switch the mixer to the high speed and continue the mixing for an
additional (30) sec. Stop the mixer for (90) sec. During the first (30) sec.
remove by means of a rubber or plastic scraper the mortar adhering to the
wall and bottom part of the bowl and place in the middle of the bowl,
continue the mixing at the high speed for (60)sec.

4. Mould the specimens immediately after the preparation of the mortar.

With the mould and hopper firmly clamped to the jolting table, using a
suitable scoop, in one or more increments, the first of two layers of mortar
(each about 300 gm) into each of the mould compartments, directly from
the mixing bowl.

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5. Spread the layer uniformly using a large spreader, held almost vertically
with its shoulders in contact with the top of the hopper and drawn forwards
and backwards once along each mould compartment. Then compact the
first mortar layer using (60) jolts of the jolting apparatus, then add the
second layer of mortar, ensuring that there is a surplus of mortar. Level
with the small spreader and compact the layer with a further (60) jolts.

6. Lift the mould gently from the jolting table and remove the hopper.
Immediately strike off the excess mortar with the metal straightedge, held
almost vertically but inclined in the direction of striking. Move slowly
pulling with a transverse sawing motion once in each direction. Repeat this
striking off procedure with the straightedge held at a more acute angle to
smooth the surface. Wipe off the mortar left on the perimeter of the mould
as a result of the striking-off. Label or mark the moulds for identification
purposes.

7. Place a plate of glass, steel or other impermeable material which does

not react with cement of approximate size 210 mm × 185 mm × 6 mm on
the mould.

8. Open the molds after 24 hours then submerge the marked specimens
without delay, either horizontally or vertically, in water at (20.0 ± 1.0) °C
in the containers. With horizontal storage, keep vertical faces as cast
vertical.

9. Test each prism half by loading its side faces using the compressive
strength machine. It shall be placed between two plates to transmit the
load of the machine to the compression surfaces of the mortar specimen.

10. Calculate the Compressive strength Rc.

Compressive strength Rc (N/mm2)= Fc /A

Fc (N) =failure load (Fc1+ Fc2+ Fc3)/3 , A= area of surface load (1600mm2)

1. kg = Ib/2.204
2. N = Ib x 9.8/2.204

Test after 2 days of curing Test after 28 days of curing

Fc1 = 7750 Ib Fc1 = 15840 Ib
Fc2 = 7800 Ib Fc2 = 15390 Ib
Fc3 = 7920 Ib Fc3 = 15660 Ib

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 Test No. 4
Fineness of Cement

Blain method (I.Q.S. No.5-2019) and (EN 196-6, Methods of testing

cement — Part 6: Determination of fineness)

Aim of Test: to determine the specific surface area for cement by

measuring the time required for a specific
volume of air to pass through a porous media of
cement with a known surface area. This
operation is prepared in blain apparatus.

Test method:

1. Put amount of specific sample (w) with a known surface area γ in

permeability cell.
2. Compress the sample by metal piston to record the standard volume.
3. Blow the air from point A to let the liquid rise to point B, then close
the valve.
4. Record the time required for the liquid to flow from point C to point
D
5. Repeat the whole method on the cement sample required to be
measured.

This equation is used when the variance in the temperature of the

calibration test is (±3) °C.

Where :

γ = specific surface area for the tested sample (cm2/gm)

γs=specific surface area for the standard sample (cm2/gm)

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 T=Time required for liquid to pass from point C to D (seconds) for the
tested sample.

Ts=Time required for liquid to pass from point C to D (seconds) for the
standard sample.

Test No. 5
Soundness of Cement

(I.Q.S. No.5-2019) and (EN 196-3, Methods of testing cement — Part

3: Determination of setting time and soundness)

The cement paste once it sets, does not undergo a large change in volume,
in particular there must be no appreciable expansion which could result in
a disruption of hardened of cement paste. There are two tests to obtain the
soundness of cement.

1- Le Chatelier test.

2- Autoclave test.

CONCRETE LABORTARY

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University of Baghdad 2ND CLASS / DATA SHEET
College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Dept.
Concrete laboratory

Name: class: group:

Cement Test

1. Standard consistency
Date of test:

Weight of cement (gm) =

w/c ratio= Weight of water (gm) = 2.
Group w/c Penetration (mm) Date and signature

Initial Setting time

Date of test:

Weight of cement (gm) =

w/c ratio= Weight of water (gm) =
Reading no. Time min. Penetration (mm) Date and signature
1
2
3
4
3. Compressive strength
Date of test:

Weight of cement (gm)= Weight of standard sand (gm) =

w/c ratio= Weight of water (gm) =
Samples No. Failure load(lb) Date and signature
1
2
3

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