Testing Of Cement

Testing Of Cement

Experience has shown that it is practically impossible to make large quantities of cement without any variation in quality. To be sure, some mills working with raw materials which run very uniformly and using the best of equipment and methods of operation will have very few unsuccessful 'burns' in a year, whereas others will be less fortunate. Nevertheless the consumer has little chance of ascertaining how his particular consignment of cement was made; therefore, if he has under way a construction of any importance, he ought to satisfy himself regarding the quality of his purchase. He should test his cement not only to see that he gets what he has paid for but also to forestall the possibility of a failure through the use of defective material.

In engineering construction the main qualifications demanded of a cement are permanency of structure, strength, and a rate of setting suitable to the demands of the work. To determine these qualifications, both physical and chemical tests are made, the former, on account of importance, more often than the latter.

As a result of long experience the physical tests which have come into general use in determining the acceptability of cement are: (1) soundness or constancy of volume, (2) strength,(3) time of set or activity, and (4) fineness. In order that the results of such tests made by different parties may accord as nearly as possible, it is necessary that a standard method be rigidly adhered to and that only experienced operators, who fully appreciate the necessity of eliminating personal equation from all manipulations, be employed.