This report summarizes the results of a test conducted to determine the soundness of a hydraulic cement paste. The Le-Chatelier test and ASTM C 151-05 autoclave test were performed according to standard procedures. For the Le-Chatelier test, the initial and final distances between indicator points were 7mm and 11mm respectively, resulting in an expansion of 4mm. Since the measured expansion was less than the maximum standard of 10mm, the cement paste was determined to have sufficient soundness for construction applications without risk of cracking. In conclusion, the purpose of the soundness test is to evaluate a cement's ability to retain volume after setting and hardening without excessive expansion that could cause structural issues.

1. University of Duhok
College of Engineering
Civil Department
Concrete Technology – Practical
Concrete Laboratory
A Report About :
Soundness of Hydraulic Cement Paste
Submitted By : Jameel Masoud Jameel
Lab. No. : 3
Group Name : B1
Testing Date : 29 / 10 / 2017
Submitting Date : 5 / 11 / 2017
Supervised By : Youkhanna
2017 – 2018

2. References :
1) BS EN 196 - 3 : 2005
2) ASTM C 151 - 05
Introduction :
Is the characteristics of excessive volume change after setting. Soundness
is an ability of cement to retain its volume after getting hardened The
soundness is determined by observing the volume expansion of cement
paste of standard consistency as indicated by the relative movement of two
needles. Soundness of concrete is very important property because if we
make a concrete with high soundness or soundness of using cement paste
is more than standard, the concrete will be expansion and will do crack in
concrete .

3. Purpose :
The expansion test provides an index of potential delayed expansion
caused by the hydration of CaO, or MgO, or both, when present in
hydraulic cement.
Materials :
1) Potable water.
2) Ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
Equipment :
1) Scoop.
2) Sensitive balance.
3) Container.
4) Water bath.
5) Le-Chatelier apparatus, consists of small split cylinder of spring
brass of 0.5m thickness, forming a mold 30mm internal diameter
and 30 mm height, and its sides are attached two indicators with
pointed ends.

4. Sketches :
Le-Chatelier Sensitive balance
Cement Container
`
Water bath Ruler

5. Procedures :
A. Le Chatelier's accelerated test is prescribed by BS EN 196 - 3 : 1 995 for detecting
unsoundness due to free lime only.
1) Place the mold on a glass sheet and fill it with the cement paste formed by
gauging cement with the water required to give a paste of standard consistency.
2) Cover the mold with another piece of glass sheet, place a small weight on this
covering glass sheet and immediately submerge the whole assembly in water
at a temperature of 20 ± 2 oC and keep it there for 24hrs.
3) Measure the distance separating the indicator points to the nearest 0.5mm (say
d1).
4) Submerge the mold again in water at the temperature prescribed above. Bring
the water to boiling point in 25 to 30 minutes and keep it boiling for 3hrs.
5) Remove the mold from the water, allow it to cool and measure the distance
between the indicator points (say d2).
6) (d2-d1) represents the expansion of cement.
7) The maximum expansion allowed by specification is 10 mm.
B. ASTM C 151-05 autoclave test is sensitive to both free magnesia and free lime:
A neat cement paste specimen of known length is cured in humid air for 24
hours and then heated by high pressure steam (2 MPa (295 psi)) for about 1
hour so that a temperature of 216oC (420 °F) is attained. After maintaining
that temperature and pressure for a further 3 hours, the autoclave is cooled so
that the pressure falls within 1.5 hours and the specimen is cooled in water to
23oC (73 °F) in 1 5 min. After a further 1 5 min, the length of the specimen is
measured: the expansion due to autoclaving must not exceed 0.8 per cent of
the original length. This accelerated test gives no more than a broad indication
of the risk of long-term expansion in practice.

6. Calculations and Results :
-We calculate the Expansion of cement by using this formula :
Expansion of Cement = d2 –d1
d1 = is the distance measured between indicators with pointed ends before
put it to Autocalve test.
d2 = is the distance measured between indicators with pointed ends After
put it to Autocalve test.
In our test we measure both of (d1) and (d2), then we calculate the expansion
of cement :
d1 = 7mm , d2 = 11mm
Expansion of Cement = 11 mm – 7 mm
Expansion of Cement = 4 mm
Note :
Maximum standard of expansion is 10 mm

7. Discussion and Conclusion :
In this test we determine the soundness of Cement past, in finally we
will get a result after doing all procedure accurate, which is (4 mm)
according to standard, if we compare our result with standard which is
the maximum standard of soundness is (10 mm) as we know that our
result is lower than the standard and its volume don’t change to do cracks
in concrete it show that our cement paste can be used for construction
work, if we have an errors in this test then we will have them in the
processes we did, but if we do many tests of soundness on other amount
of cement paste we get the average and the result will be very accurate.
In conclusion the purpose of this test is to determine the soundness and
compare the result with standard And finally we measure the distance of
soundness which is the difference between first and last distance from
each indicator pointes ends, and it won't be problem when we use it, and
when the soundness's result is less than (10 mm) the cement paste can be
used for construction or another work.