Laboratory Experiment: 6: Fineness of Cement I. Objectives

Fineness of Cement
Laboratory Experiment: 6
I. Objectives:
Calculates the fineness of cement by sieving. The fineness of cement has an important bearing on the
rate of hydration and hence on the rate of gain of strength and also on the rate of evolution of heat.
II. Apparatus:
90 micron sieve
Lid
Weighing balance
Cement sample
Scoop
Mould / pan
III. Set – Up:

IV. Theory of Discussion:
Theory of discussion of this experiment is carried out to check the proper grinding of cement. The
cement which is produced by an industry is checked for its quality, that either it is good for certain type
of construction or it doesn’t possess that much strength. For example, for RCC and other heavy load
bearing structures such as bridges it is essential that the cement which is being used in the concrete
should have the ability to provide the required strength, while in the PCC structures it is not so much
critical. The ability to provide strength of a certain type of cement is checked by finding the fineness of
that cement, because the fineness of cement is responsible for the rate of hydration and hence the
rate of gain of strength and also the rate of evolution of heat. If the cement is fine then greater is its
cohesiveness, which is the property, required in the concrete because it gives compactness to the
concrete. Usually cement loses 10% of its strength within one month of its manufacturing. The fineness
of cement has an important bearing on the rate of hydration and hence on the rate of gain of strength
and also on the rate of evolution of heat. Finer cement offers a greater surface area for hydration and
hence faster the development of strength. The fineness of grinding has increased over the years. But
now it has got nearly stabilized. Different cements are ground to different fineness. The particle size
fraction below 3 microns has been found to have the predominant effect on the strength at one day
while 3-25 micron fraction has a major influence on the 28 days strength. Increase in fineness of
cement is also found to increase the drying shrinkage of concrete. The strength development of
concrete is the result of the chemical reaction of water with cement particles. The reaction always
starts at the surface of the cement particles. Thus larger the surface available for reaction, greater is
the rate of hydration and strength development. The rapid development of strength requires the
degree of fineness. However, too much of fineness is also undesirable because the cost of grinding
during the manufacture of cement is considerably high. Finer cement deteriorates more quickly when
exposed to air and likely to cause more shrinkage but less prone to bleeding. The fineness of cement is
controlled by a minimum specific surface area defined as the surface area of cement particles per gram
of cement. For ordinary Portland cement, the specific surface area should not be less than 2250-
centimeter square per gram. Checking fineness of cement through sieving is an indirect method and it
is easily done in the laboratory. The specific surface area of cement can be measured by Blaine’s Air
permeability of the cement apparatus. This experiment is carried out to check the proper grinding of
cement. The cement which is produced by an industry is checked for its quality, that either it is good
for certain type of construction or it doesn’t possess that much strength. For example, for RCC and
other heavy load bearing structures such as bridges it is essential that the cement which is being used
in the concrete should have the ability to provide the required strength, while in the PCC structures it is
not so much critical. The ability to provide strength of a certain type of cement is checked by finding
the fineness of that cement, because the fineness of cement is responsible for the rate of hydration
and hence the rate of gain of strength and also the rate of evolution of heat. If the cement is fine then
greater is its cohesiveness, which is the property, required in the concrete because it gives
compactness to the concrete. Usually cement loses 10% of its strength within one month of its
manufacturing. There are different types of sieves such as # 10, # 100,# 200,# 300 etc. the number of
the sieve indicates the number of holed present in a linear inch of that sieve. For finding the fineness of
Wet or Dry cement the following sieve numbers are recommended by ASTM. Cement by wet process =
# 300 sieve. Cement by dry process = # 200 sieve. By this experiment we know the grinding or fineness
of cement and its useful to checked the strength of cement by rate of fineness, standard range of
cement for use it must be greater than 90% if its smaller than this range it can’t use, we do this test
three times and get average result, without errors result must be don’t greater ±10 of average result,
our result is smaller than 90% so we can’t use for making concrete. during did this test may be having
same errors, Errors come when sieve doesn’t shake good or holes of sieve may be closed and cement
can’t go down. However, in this article, we’ll only discuss about the sieving method of determining the
Fineness of Cement.
V. Procedure:
1. Weight accurately 100 gm of cement and place it in 90 micron sieve. Breakdown any air
lumps in a sample with fingers without rubbing them on sieve.
2. Place weigh cement on the sieve, being careful to avoid loss. Disperse any
agglomerates. Fit the lid over the sieve.
3. Continuously sieve sample by holding the sieve in both hand and giving wrist
motion until no more fine material possess through it.
4. Weigh the residue left on the sieve after sieving and note down it
5. Repeat all the process that has done in the previous steps and take average of them
VI. Data and Results:
Description Values
Weight of cement, gm
Weight of cement retained on 90 micron IS sieve, gm
% weight of residue (2/1 x 100)
Average value
VII. Sample Computation:

VIII. Observation and Interpretation:
IX. Conclusion:

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Fineness of Cement

III. Set – Up:

VI. Data and Results:

VII. Sample Computation:

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