Soundness

It is essential that the cement paste, once it has set, does not undergo a large change in volume. One restriction is that there must be no appreciable expansion, which under conditions of restraint could result in disruption of the hardened cement paste. Such expansion may occur due to reactions of free lime, magnesia and calcium sulfate, and cements exhibiting this type of expansion are classified as unsound. Free lime is present in the clinker and is intercrystallized with other compounds; consequently, it hydrates very slowly occupying a larger volume than the original free calcium oxide. Free lime cannot be determined by chemical analysis of cement because it is not possible to distinguish between unreacted CaO and Ca(OH)2 produced by a partial hydration of the silicates when the cement is exposed to the atmosphere. Magnesia reacts with water in a manner similar to CaO, but only the crystalline form is deleteriously reactive so that unsoundness occurs. Calcium sulfate is the third compound liable to cause expansion through the formation of calcium sulfoaluminate (ettringite) from excess gypsum (not used up by C3A during setting). Le Chatelier's accelerated test is prescribed by BS EN 196-3: 1995 for detecting unsoundness due to free lime only. Essentially, the test is as follows. Cement paste of standard consistence is stored in water for 24 hours. The expansion is determined after increasing the temperature and boiling for 1 hour, followed by cooling to the original temperature. If the expansion exceeds a specified value, a further test is made after the cement has been spread and aerated for 7 days. At the end of this period, lime may have hydrated or carbonated, so that a second expansion test should fall within 50 per cent of the original specified value. Cement which fails to satisfy at least one of these tests should not be used. In practice, unsoundness due to free lime is very rare. Magnesia is rarely present in large quantities in the raw materials used for making cement in the UK, but in the US this is not the case. For this reason, ASTM C 151-05 specifies the autoclave test which is sensitive to both free magnesia and free lime. Here, a neat cement paste specimen of known length is cured in humid air for 24 hours and then heated by highpressure steam (2 MPa (295 psi)) for about 1 hour so that a temperature of 216 degrees celcius ( 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 23degrees celcius (73 F) in 15 min. After a further 15 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. No test is available for the detection of unsoundness due to an excess of calcium sulfate, but its content can be easily determined by chemical analysis. Reference: Concrete technology 2nd edition, A.M. Neville --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unsoundness: Unsoundness in cement paste results from excessive volume change after setting. If there is any appreciable expansion, however slow, cracking and failure of the concrete will result. Unsoundness in cement is caused by the slow hydration of MgO or free lime, and by the reactions of gypsum with C3A (see Section 3.1). These expansive reactions take place very slowly, and so unsoundness will only appear after many months, or even years. Therefore, it is necessary to use some form of accelerated test, so that tendencies toward unsoundness can be detected as a quality control measure. Although a number of soundness tests have been developed over the years, only one is in common use. The autoclave expansion test (ASTM C 151) will detect unsoundness due to both excess CaO and excess MgO, and is the test designated in ASTM C 150. A cement of normal consistency is molded and cured normally for 24 h. The specimens are then removed from the molds, measured, and placed in an autoclave. The temperature is raised so that the steam pressure in the autoclave reaches 2 MPa (295lb/in.2) in 45 to 75 min; this pressure is maintained for 3 h, and the autoclave cooled so that the pressure is relieved in 1% h. The specimen is then cooled in water, to 23C in 15 min. Its length is again measured after a further 15 min; the expansion must be less than 0.80% if the cement is to be acceptable. These accelerated tests clearly do not simulate service conditions, and the amount of expansion may be affected by a number of factors, such as the fineness of the cement and the C3A content. Thus, these tests can only serve as a guide and cannot provide an absolute indication of a tendency toward unsoundness for given cement. However, they provide a valuable quality control measure, since changes in the expansion tests would indicate some anomaly in the cement manufacturing process. Reference: Mindess =====================================================================