CEMENT AND CLINKER

1. Laboratory work on cement paste and mortar
Setting time and Mortar strength testing
W. Matthes
HGRS / PID

2. 2
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© Holcim Group Support Ltd 2008 Course of Cement Application
Metaplan wall #1
Group 2
 45 min
 W. Matthes
 Setting time of pastes
 Standard Mortars
EN/ASTM
 Preparation
 Flow
 Strength testing

3. 3
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General concept of test methods
 Simple, easy to implement at any level
 Meaningful, representative of application conditions
 Repeatable and reproducible
 Based on standardised materials and equipment
 Able to detect variation in cement properties
 Allowing deviations to adapt to local conditions

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© Holcim Group Support Ltd 2008 Course of Cement Application
Setting time according to Vicat - EN 196-3
 Principle
 3 min mixing of paste of standard
water content
 Needle moves from surface into
paste (norm water content)
 Storage at 20 +/-1°C and  90%
RH or under water
 Measures distance between glass
plate and needle tip over time
 Discontinuous
 Multiple measurement possible,
but not before/after defined
start/end of setting
 Sensitive points
 Surface preparation
 Speed of penetration
 Mixing of paste
Paste Paste
Initial setting Final setting
Glass
plate
Rubber
ring

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© Holcim Group Support Ltd 2008 Course of Cement Application
Setting time according to Penetrometer,
developed by Italcementi
Paste or
mortar
 Principle
 1 min mixing of paste of standard water
content
 Table with paste moves upward vs.
needle, 6h for complete penetration
 Continuous measurement of penetration
resistance of paste or mortar over time
 Measures Strength
 Continuous testing of consistency
changes, incl early stage and abnormal
effects
 Wide testing range
 Minimum subjective influence
 Sensitive points
 Paste/mortar preparation, subjective
influence testing water demand

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Detection of false set with penetrometer
 Detection of false set due to gypsum dehydration during heat
treatment vs setting of untreated cement
3h 150°C
untreated
Time, h
45 min 132 min 187 min
122 min 156 min 210 min

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Clinker Phases Water
demand
Setting
time
Early
strength
Late
strength
C3S
C2S
C3A
C4AF
Alkali sulphates
Alkali chlorides
Influence of Clinker Minerals on Cement Properties
increasing decreasing no effect (general trend)
accelerator
( )

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0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
CaO free, %
50
100
150
200
250
Initial
setting
time,
min
61
60
54
57
37
34
30
73
64
7
42
26
66
36
35
44
62
56
53
63
48
47
6
50
58
75
15
45
29
28
8
68
10
40
78
11
31
3
18
24
80
55
12
52
13
17
20
5
27
76
38
46
25
16
72
41
9
49
22
69
71
4
43
1
51
65
33
67
14
21
39
77
74
23
2
32
81
70
0 5 10 15
C3A content, %
50
100
150
200
250
Initial
setting
time,
min 9
13
44
53
33
6
7
65 66
67
3
57
40
56
32
51
64
50
38
2
43
34
62
61
63
10
81
35
8
42 39
55
76
11
36
47
30
73
80
72
78
26
23
52
17
24
22
37
31
69
21
68
41
29
77
12
28
18
14
5
25
58
20
15
1
75
46
48
60
45
16
49
71
74
27
4
70
54
Clinker composition vs. setting time
With increasing CaOfree, setting
time tends to go down (-R= 0.64)
Same applies for conductivity as
a measure for total soluble salts
(-R=0.62)
Same trend for increasing C3A,
however less visible in Product
Handbook correlation (-R=0.26)
Data: Product Handbook
Data: Product Handbook

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0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Na2Oeq, %
50
100
150
200
250
Initial
setting
time,
min
7
72
41
6
81
61
80
66
36
73
67
62
38
33
40
64
58
26
48
65
9
44
56 18
51
63
3
35
8
57
2
29 50
75
39
34
10
28
68
55
54
23
24
5
32
45
53
12
74
4
13
1
15
25
31
14
70
71
47
76
77
52
16
11
69
21
78
22
42
30
20
46
43
27
17
37
60
49
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
SO3, %
0
100
200
300
Initial
setting
time,
min
20
24
42
15
2
23
4
3
59
41
74
1
45
14
32
69
47
27
51
77
76
5
78
13
31
43
71
44
52
46
56
37
70
64
34
50
79
25
60
30
19
54
28
18
35
33
55
16
8
75
40
10
12
29
21
17
22
68
66
58
67
9
80
53
26
81
57
73
38
7
6
49
65
36
48
62
39
11
63
72
61
Clinker composition vs. setting time
Na2Oeq and SO3 show trend
towards accelerating setting
(-R= 0.31, 0.33)
Stronger correlation with
conductivity as it measures total
soluble salts
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
50 100 150 200 250
Initial Setting, min
Conductivity
At 2, 30, 60 min
Data: Product Handbook
Data: Product Handbook Data: Product Handbook

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175
222
249
201
171
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
OPC
Reference
30% Ggbfs 30% FA 30%
Pozzolan
30%
Limestone
Initial setting time by MIC type
Compared to OPC, reactive MIC tend to increase setting time
Data: Product Handbook,
2004
Initial
Setting
Vicat, min

11. 11
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Metaplan wall #2
Group 2
 45 min
 W. Matthes
 Setting time of pastes
 Standard Mortars
EN/ASTM
 Preparation
 Flow
 Strength testing

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© Holcim Group Support Ltd 2008 Course of Cement Application
W/c fix OPC: Fix, Comp. Cem: variable (const flow)
Sand Graded, wide size range Low max. grain size
Compaction Shock table or vibration table Tamper
Samples prism cube
Storage after
demoulding
20 +/- 1°C, water 23 +/- 2°C, saturated lime water
14
7 6
9 9
27
16 15 16 16
58
48
38 41
32
64
60
53
50
36
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
OPC Ref. 30%
Ggbfs
30% FA 30% Pozz 30% LS
Compr.
Strength,
MPa
Data: Product Handbook, 2004
EN mortar, EN 196-1 ASTM mortar, C 109
Compr. Strength in EN and ASTM mortars
27
17
21
17
44 42
34
29
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
OPC Ref. 30% Ggbfs 30% FA 30% Pozz
3d 28d
28d
1d 2d 90d

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Comparison of Standards - EN vs ASTM Mortar
3-d ASTM  0.95 x 2-d EN
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Compr. Strength 28 d, EN mortar, MPa
20
30
40
50
60
70
Compr.
Strength
28
d,
ASTM,
MPa
(From Product Handbook)
0 10 20 30 40 50
Compr. Strength 2 d, EN mortar, MPa
0
10
20
30
40
50
Compr.
Strength
3
d,
ASTM,
MPa
(From Product Handbook)
28-d ASTM  0.75 x 28-d EN
3d ASTM vs 2d EN 28d ASTM vs EN

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Water demand (WD) by MIC type
Pozzolans typically increase water demand
FA: influence varying, influencing: PSD, glass, processing
Gbfs: no effect or slightly reducing WD, mainly at higher
amounts (50%+)
High grade LS: No effect or slightly reducing WD
26 25.6
26.7
31.5
24.9
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
OPC
Reference
30% Ggbfs 30% FA 30%
Pozzolan
30%
Limestone Data: Product Handbook, 2004
Water
demand, %

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EN Mortar flow by MIC type, w/c = 0.5
Poor workability of pozzolans result in low flow at a given w/c
242 247 246
218
241
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
OPC
Reference
30% Ggbfs 30% FA 30%
Pozzolan
30%
Limestone Data: Product Handbook, 2004
Mortar Flow,
0 min, mm

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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Example: Benchmarking BIS mortar, Jun - Oct 2005
[MPa]
1d
28d
H1 H2 H3 H4
3d
C5
C1 C3
C2 C2 C4 C1
Comp cem. with ~50% gbfs Comp. Cem with ~25% FA
Some conclusions from benchmarking in mortar:
 Holcim H3 is top; in line with slag cement from competitors C1
and C2 and with most FA cements from competitors
 Slag cement from H4 has low strength
Strength testing: Mortar vs concrete

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0
10
20
30
40
50
Concrete M20, Jun-Oct 05; No admix, 400 kg/m3, Slump 80-100
[MPa]
1d
28d
Conclusion from benchmarking in concrete:
 FA cements perform better than slag cements
 Own slag cements lag behind those from C2 and all FA cements
 Always benchmark in mortar AND concrete!
3d
W/C 0.48-0.50 0.49-0.50 0.51-0.49 0.48-0.50 0.47-0.53 0.51-0.50 0.52 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.51-0.52
Slump loss
40``, %
49-50 37-53 35-55 37-43 40-52 32-54 47-63 39-51 46-62 28-53 50-55
H1 H2 H3 H4 C5
C1 C3
C2 C2 C4 C1
Strength testing: Mortar vs concrete
Comp cem. with ~50% gbfs Comp. Cem with ~25% FA

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C3S
C2S
C3A C4AF
28 360 days
Compressive
Strength
[MPa]
0
15
30
45
60
75
Strength Development of Single Phases

19. 19
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Clinker composition vs. strength development
10 20 30 40
Compr. Strength 2 d, MPa
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Ratio
2-
to
28-d
strength
61
39
53
21
10
62
58
63
54
11
65
8
66
55
6
7
57
67
22 60
48
41
9
17
68
36
26
73
49
78
69
16
5
12
45
72
38
44
64
2
14
20
42
24
28
32
34
13
15
29
1
51
47
23
71
31
56
25
4
27
77
43
33
3
70
40
30
50
75
35
74
18
76
80
37
46
52
81
Target: Clinker with high early strength. The usually lower late strength
is compensated by strength contribution of reactive MIC at later ages.
Compr. Str. 2d
MPa
Data: Product Handbook

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Clinker composition vs. strength development
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
SO3, %
10
20
30
40
Compr.
strength
2-d,
MPa
61
72
63
11
62
39
48
36
65
49
6
7
38
73
57
26
81
53
80
9
67
58
66
68
22
17
21
29
12
10
75
40
33
55
16
8
35
18
28
20
42
24
15
2
23
3
4
41
74
1
45
14
32
69
47
27
77
76
51
5
13
78
31
43
71
44
52
46
56
37
70
64
34
50
25
60
30
54
0 100 200 300 400 500
Sulfatisation degree, %
10
20
30
40
Compr.
strength
2-d,
MPa
63
61
11
72
39
62
48
49
53
65
55
36 57
54
38
12
22
26
21
68
73
17
9
16
58
6
29
10
25
30
5
75
28
70
7
67
8
35
60 41
2
20
3
42
15
51
44
64
56
24
4
27
69
1
14
47
33
23
43
74 50
77
76
40
78
34
45
46
37
66
18
32
31
80
81
71
52
13
R=0.72
For increasing early strength, ensure
high enough sulfatization degree
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Na equiv, %
30
40
50
60
70
Compr.
strength
28-d,
MPa
7
72
41
6
81
61
80
66
36
73
67
62
38
33
40 64
58
26
48
65
9
44
56
18
51
63
3
35
8
57
2
29
50
75
39
34
10
28
68
55
54
23
24
5
32
45
53
12
74
4
13
1
15
25
31
14
70
71
47
76 77
52
16
11
69
21
78
22
42
30
20
46
43
27
17
37
60
49
(-R=0.75)
Increase of early strength on cost of
late strength:
Na2Oeq increases early strength and
consequently reduces late strength
Data: Product Handbook Data: Product Handbook
Data: Product Handbook

21. 21
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14
7 6
9 9
27
16 15 16 16
58
48
38 41
32
64
60
53
50
36
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
OPC Ref. 30% Ggbfs 30% FA 30% Pozz 30% LS
1d 2d 28d 91d
EN mortar
Compressive
Strength, MPa
Data: Product Handbook, 2004
MIC types and strength development
MIC additions cause a reduction in early strength
Differentiation according to reactivity, mainly at later ages
Gbfs > FA >/~Pozzolan > LS (Filler)