EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1

CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Table of Contents

Objective...............................................................................................1

Introduction...........................................................................................1

Materials and Apparatus........................................................................1

Procedure...............................................................................................2

Results and Analysis.............................................................................3

Discussion.............................................................................................4

Conclusion.............................................................................................5

References.............................................................................................5

Appendix...............................................................................................6

Individual Report...................................................................................7

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Objective
To determine the optimum water content to produce standard consistency of
cement paste.

Introduction
The standard consistency of a cement paste is the water content of the paste that
will produce the desired consistency of any given cement. The standard water
content of cement paste is generally ranged from 26% to 33%, by mass of the dry
cement. A cement paste with standard consistency will permit the vicat plunger
5mm to 7mm from the bottom of the vicat mould.

Materials and Apparatus

Cement, water, automatic vicat apparatus, digital weighing scale, measuring
cylinder, scoop, mixing bowl, sharp edge trowel and stopwatch

MATEST Automatic Vicat Apparatus

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Procedure
Unless otherwise specified this test shall be conducted at a room of temperature
27°C. The relative humidity of laboratory should be 65+5%.
Part 1: Normal consistency
1. 500 grams of cement is weighed using the digital weighing scale. The
weigh of the mixing of the mixing bowl should be subtracted from the
total weight obtained.
2. 150mm3 of water is measured using the measuring cylinder. (This amount
of water is nearly 26% - 33% by weight of cement)
3. Thoroughly, the cement is mixed with water in the mixing bowl.
4. The mould is filled of the vicat apparatus with the cement paste by shaking
it forward and backward.
5. The excess paste at the top of the mould is sliced off by single oblique
strokes of a sharp edge trowel and the top is smoothed. During the cutting
and smoothing, take care not to compress the paste,
6. The mould on the base of the vicat apparatus is placed, in such way the
plunger is above the center of the mould.
7. The above sequence should be completed within 2 minutes from the
moment water was added to the dry cement.
8. The 1mm diameter plunger is used, lower the plunger gently to touch the
surface of the cement paste and quickly release, allowing it to sink into the
paste.
9. The depth of penetration is recorded.
10. Trial pastes with varying percentages of water are prepared and tested as
described above until the plunger penetrate 5mm to 7mm from the bottom
of the vicat mould.

Part 2:Setting time measurement

1. Once the normal consistency paste determined, we can use the
specification of that paste to measure the initial and final setting times.
2. A fresh paste is made using the amount of water and cement of the
standard consistency. The stopwatch is used to measure the time. The
stopwatch is stared once the water is poured onto the dry cement.
3. The 1mm diameter needle is used, let it fall freely and penetrate the
sample. The depth of penetration is read from the vicat ruler scale. The
reading is taken every 15 minutes until the depth penetration is 5mm. the
elapsed time from mixing the water with dry cement till this moment is
called initial setting time.

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CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

4. The needle is replaced with angular one (final setting needle), and let it fall
freely to penetrate the sample every 15minutes till only the needle makes
an impression on the paste surface.

Results and Analysis

Normal consistency:
Number of trial Amount of water Percentage of Depth of
mix (ml) water (%) penetration (mm)
1 165 33 1.1
2 150 30 0.2
3 130 26 5.0
Amount of water 130 ml
Percentage of water = = =26 %
weight of dry cement 500 g

Weight of cement taken = 500grams

Quantity of water added to cement =130ml
Time (min) Depth of penetration (mm)
10 5.0
25 5.2
40 5.2
55 5.3
70 5.4

Initial setting time = 10mins – 5mins = 5mins

Final setting time = 180mins – 5mins =2 hrs 55 mins

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Discussion
The objective of this experiment is to determine the optimum water
content to produce consistency of cement paste. Consistency test is a test for
determining the minimum amount of water to mix with cement so that the cement
will have a complete chemical reaction with water. In order word the main
objective is to determine the minimum water cement ratio for the concrete. When
more water is added to the cement, the water cement ratio will be increased and
thus the reduction of final strength of concrete will occur. Hence, we need to
determine the standard consistency of concrete in this experiment by using
different percentage of water. Standard consistency is defined as the consistency
which permits the Vicat plunger to penetrate to a point of 5 to 7mm from the
bottom of the mould.

During the experiment, 500 grams of cement is weighted and a certain

amount of water is added for the mixing. We had done 3 trial mix by using
different amount of water which are 165ml, 150ml and 130ml and the depth of
penetration is tested by using Vicat apparatus. From the calculation, the
percentage of water is calculated and this can also know as the water cement ratio
of the concrete because the percentage is calculated by dividing the water with the
total weight of the cement. From the result obtained, the amount of water that can
achieve a standard consistency is 130ml which is 26% of water.

After we had known the percentage of water that success to achieve

standard consistency, then the setting time of the trial mix is determined. The
initial setting time for 26 % of water is 5minutes and the final setting time is
2hours and 55minutes. The initial setting time may be defined as the time taken by
the paste to stiffen to such an extent that the Vicat's needle is not permitted to
move down through the paste to within 5 ± 0.5 mm measured from the bottom of
the mould. The final setting time is the time after which the paste becomes so hard
that the angular attachment to the needle, under standard weight, fails to leave any
mark on the hardened concrete[ CITATION Det16 \l 1033 ]. Hence, we can
conclude that we the consistency of water is higher, the longer the setting time for
the concrete will be.

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CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Additionally, the initial setting time and final setting time is importance
during the construction. Initial setting time is importance for transportation,
placing and compaction of cement concrete while final setting time is the time
when the paste completely loses its plasticity. By knowing the setting time of the
concrete, then the concrete should be transport and place within the time so that
the concrete will be achieved good final strength. There are several factors that
may able to affect the setting time of the concrete which are cement composition,
mixing amount of gypsum of cement, cement fineness, mixing water content and
etc.

There are some precautions step should be taken during the experiment.
First, the experiment should be performed away from any vibration and
disturbance when mixing and also casting the mould. The needle should be
cleaned every time for each trial. Next, position of the mould should be shifted
slightly after each penetration to avoid penetration at the same place
occur[ CITATION Sur13 \l 1033 ].

Conclusion
The optimum water content to produce standard consistency of cement paste for
our experiment is 130ml which is 26% of water. The higher the percentage of
water added during mixing of concrete, the longer the setting time will be.

References

Determination of Initial and Final Setting Times. (2016, July 14). Retrieved from
brainkart: http://www.brainkart.com/article/Determination-of-Initial-and-
Final-Setting-Times_3613/
Suryakanta. (2013, May 4). INITIAL & FINAL SETTING TIME (IS:4031-PART
5-1988). Retrieved from CIVILBLOG.ORG:
http://civilblog.org/2013/05/04/initial-final-setting-time-is-4031-part-5-
1988/

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CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Appendix

The water is added to the dry cement The mixed concrete is filled into the
for mixing. mould.

The mould is placed inside the Vicat apparatus and the depth of penetration of
the concrete will be shown and recorded.

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Individual Report
Soon Hon Ling BCE16070004

By doing this experiment, I learned to determine the optimum water

content to produce consistency of cement paste. Consistency test is a test for
determining the minimum amount of water to mix with cement so that the cement
will have a complete chemical reaction with water. When more water is added to
the cement, the water cement ratio will be increased and thus the reduction of final
strength of concrete will occur. Hence, we need to determine the standard
consistency of concrete in this experiment by using different percentage of water.
Standard consistency is defined as the consistency which permits the Vicat
plunger to penetrate to a point of 5 to 7mm from the bottom of the mould.
Consistency of water is directly proportional to the setting time for the concrete.
Additionally, the initial setting time and final setting time is importance during the
construction. Initial setting time is importance for transportation, placing and
compaction of cement concrete while final setting time is the time when the paste
completely loses its plasticity. By knowing the setting time of the concrete, then
the concrete should be transport and place within the time so that the concrete will
be achieved good final strength. There are several factors that may able to affect
the setting time of the concrete which are cement composition, mixing amount of
gypsum of cement, cement fineness, mixing water content and etc.

There are some precautions step should be taken during the experiment.
First, the experiment should be performed away from any vibration and
disturbance when mixing and also casting the mould. The needle should be
cleaned every time for each trial. Next, position of the mould should be shifted
slightly after each penetration to avoid penetration at the same place occur

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Voon Chien Yu BCE16070005

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the optimum water

content for producing consistency of cement paste. Consistency in another word
can be known as water cement ratio. Water cement ratio of the cement paste is
very importance in providing the higher or lower final strength of the concrete.
Water is required for the cement to undergo hydration process and a complete
hydration process can develop a high strength of final concrete. But when the
water cement ratio is higher, the final strength of the concrete will be reduced. So,
consistency test was carried out to determine what is the amount of water needed
for the cement to undergo complete hydration.

Consistency test is to determine the standard consistency of cement paste

and the water content is generally ranged from 26% to 33%. In our experiment,
we had use 500 grams of dry Portland cement and the 3 set different amount of
water is added for testing which amount of the water will achieve the standard
consistency. From our result, the 26% of water content mixed with cement can
perform a standard consistency which permits the vicat plunger to penetrate to a
point of 5mm to 7mm.

After the consistency test, we also carry out setting time test. The initial
setting time is 5 minutes and final setting time is 2 hours and 55 minutes. Initial
setting time was occurred when the vicat needle cannot penetrate the cement paste
within 5mm while the final setting time was the time after which the paste
becomes so hard that the angular attachment to the needle fails to leave any mark
on the hardened concrete. The consistency of water is higher, the longer the
setting time for the concrete will be.

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Yeap Xiaoxian BCE16070006

In the concrete laboratory, our group got a chance to learn and test cement.
The test that we take part is about consistence and setting times of Portland
cement. In this test, we had separated it into two parts. First part was normal
consistency which aimed to get the consistence of standard cement paste. Second
part is to calculate the initial and final setting time of cement paste.

Firstly, a sample of cement which weighted 500 gm was been prepared by

using digital weighing scale. Amount of 25% water of the cement was added.
After that, mix the obtained cement with the water together and fill in the mould
of the Automatic Vicat apparatus. Then, the mould is placed at the vicat apparatus
to measure its initial and final setting time. The initial setting time may be defined
as the time taken by the paste to stiffen and cause the Vicat's needle cannot
permitted to move down through the paste to within 5 ± 0.5 mm measured from
the bottom of the mould. The final setting time is the time after which the paste
becomes so hard that the angular attachment to the needle, fails to leave any mark
on the hardened concrete. The consistency of water is higher, the longer the
setting time for the concrete.

In this test, we also observed that few factors which were seriously
affecting the test result. The temperature and air movement in the lab was affect
and slow down the setting time of our sample of cement paste. The test required
large period of time for the cement to setting. I suggest that maybe we can try to
decrease the amount water to mix with cement and avoid to carry this type of test
in the unsuitability period such like raining day.

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Lim Ren Kiat BCE16070007

We carried out this experiment to determine the optimum water content to

produce standard consistency of cement paste. The standard consistency of a
cement paste is the water content of the paste that will produce the desired
consistency of any given cement which the water content of cement is between
26% to 33%. As a result, a cement paste with standard consistency will permit the
vicat plunger 5mm to 7mm from the bottom of the vicat mould.

We carried out 3 trial mix with different water content which are 165ml,
150ml, and 130ml. Throughout the experiment, the amount of water that can
achieve a standard consistency is 130ml which is 26% of water. Then, we
determined the setting time for the trial mix with 26% of water content. The initial
setting time is 5 minutes and final setting time is 2hours and 55minutes. We can
conclude that if the consistency of water is higher, then it the setting time for
concrete will be longer. Initial setting time is importance for transportation,
placing and compaction of cement concrete while final setting time is the time
when the paste completely loses its plasticity. By knowing the setting time of the
concrete, then the concrete should be transport and place within the time so that
the concrete will be achieved good final strength.

To avoid the failure of this experiment, we have to avoid vibration and

disturbance when mixing is carry on. Besides, the needle should be cleaned after
every trial. Moreover, the cement to be used in this experiment must take from the
same packet.

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 EEC3961 CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 1
CT4: DETERMINE OF CONSISTENCY OF STANDARD CEMENT PASTE

Loh Cheng Yong BCE16070008

In the concrete laboratory, our group has an opportunity to do the

experiment of consistency and setting times of cement. In this test, we had
separated it into two parts which the first part is normal consistency which aimed
to get the consistence of standard cement paste and the second part is to calculate
the initial and final setting time of cement paste.

Firstly, a sample of cement which weighted 500g of cement has been

prepared by using digital weighing scale. We have done three trials with different
amount of water. We have been using 130,150 and 165ml of water which we get
the result of 5.0mm when we added 130ml of water to the cement. After that, mix
the obtained cement with the obtained water together and fill in the mould of the
Automatic Vicat apparatus. The surface of the paste should be smoothed full level
with the top of the mould. Then, the test of cement was started with the setting of
penetration time of 2 minutes. The result had been recorded every two minutes.

Throughout this experiment, we have observed that there are several

factors which will affect the result of the experiment. The temperature and air
movement in the lab slow down the setting time of our sample of cement paste.
For result improvement and time-consumed, it is necessary for us to decrease the
amount of water so that we can get a more accurate reading. The percentage of
water that we added to the cement until we get the standard reading is 26% of
water content and the initial setting time of cement is 5 minutes and final setting
time is 2hours 55 minutes. Lastly, this experiment requires patience of every
group members so the most important things is the leader has to encourage the
group member to read through the lab manual clearly before conduct the
experiment to prevent the repetition of experiment.

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