Cement refers to the powder that forms one of the key ingredients used to manufacture concrete. In the Roman Empire, where it originated, it served as an essential component in construction. The source of the modern cement is limestone, calcium and silicon. At times, aluminium and iron are included in its production.
Cement’s main use is to manufacture concrete inclusive of sand, gravel and water since the mixture strengthens after hardening. This resulting mixture can withstand high pressure due to its high compression strength (Mackie14). Additionally, before hardening, the mixture can undergo modelling to create various shapes.
Thus, with this understanding, it is necessary to distinguish the different types of cement, which can allow someone to make either porous or watertight models. Depending on the cement type, a variety of structures could demonstrate the features of cement.
Portland cement is one of the major kinds of cement mostly used in concrete. This type of cement originated from a British bricklayer, Joseph Aspdin, in1824. Occasionally, people misunderstand the name Portland as a brand name, but it originated from the colour of the natural limestone in the isle of Portland.
The other types of cement include the blended and the hydraulic cement (Hanson 28). Essentially, both the Portland and the hydraulic cements are hydraulic cements.
The hydraulic cement comprises of cements, which have a generic nature in the construction industry. Furthermore, it is associated to any cement mixable with water before hardening. Due to this significant feature, the modern construction often uses the hydraulic cement. Among the three types of cement, there exist different forms, which are magnificent in the construction industry.
The Portland cement is a form of hydraulic cement, but with its own unique components and types. This type of cement contains the hydraulic calcium silicates, which differentiate it from the other types of cement. Under the Portland cement, there exist eight different varieties which range from Type one to Type five (Ryall et al.16).
Additionally, within each type, there are two varieties, which portray the level of mixture of its components and the usage. Type one and Type one-A constitute of the Portland cement used for most of the basic construction.
Type two and Type two-A constitute of the cement made up of tricalcium aluminate, but does not exceed 8 percent of its input components. Thus, it is suitable for hot areas. Concerning this feature, this form of cement can withstand moderate heat of hydration nature.
Type three and Type three-A are finer despite exhibiting the characteristics of Type one cement. This aspect enables it to strengthen faster. Type four takes longer to strengthen, but once it has strengthened it lasts longer compared to the other types. Lastly, Type five is made from less than 5 percent of tricalcium that gives it the high resistance to sulphate.
Blended cement is a form of hydraulic cement, but is originates from a mixture of one type of cement material with another. The main materials used to make the blended cement include the slag cement and Portland cement. In addition to these components, there is silica fume, pozzolan, fly ash, calcined clay and hydrated lime.
Because of this mixture, there exist two types of blended cement. These include Type one-Y and Type two-Y (Mackie 81). Mixing Portland and slug in a furnace produces Type one-Y cement. On the other hand, the source of the Type two-Y is a mixture of Portland and pozzolan. In this case, the element Y represents the amount of the later material, which makes up the cement type.
The hydraulic cement hardened because of its mixture with water consists of six varieties. This form of categorisation entails its usage in the construction industry, components and resistance to sulphate. The six types of hydraulic cement include Type GU, Type HE, Type MS, Type HS, Type MH and Type LH (Gebhardt 48).
Type GU refers to the hydraulic cement made from both Portland and blended cement. It is usable for general purposes. Type HE entails the cement with a high early strength mostly used for construction purposes. Type MS refers to cement characterised by moderate resistance to sulphate.
Type HS concerns cement with a high resistance to sulphate. Type MH refers to cement which can withstand moderate heat of hydration. For Type LH, it can withstand low heat of hydration. Considering these forms of cement, the derivation of any generic cement can relate to the need of its usage. This implies that a mixture of any of the above types could result in a new type of cement.
The categorisation of cement describes the different forms of cement use in the construction industry. Additionally, the categorisation demonstrates the different forms of cement manufactured in a variety of places based on the available components (Frohnsdorff 32). The attainment of flexibility is possible since the construction industries can use any type of cement according to the project.
After mastering the different types of cement, it is essential to understand various forms of cement mixtures used to make concrete. This art needs specialised individuals in order to achieve the desired outcome exhibited by the cement. Additionally, cement could facilitate various projects as long as its characteristics are easily accessible to the constructors.
Works Cited
Frohnsdorff, Geoffrey. Blended cements: a symposium. Philadelphia, PA: ASTM, 1986. Print.
Gebhardt, Ronald F. Rapid methods for chemical analysis of hydraulic cement. Philadelphia, PA: ASTM, 1988. Print.
Hanson, Todd, and Ouyang Chengsheng. Evaluation of the Duggan test for concretes made of different types of cements. Ames, Iowa: Iowa Dept. of Transportation, 2000. Print.
Mackie, John. The cement of the universe; a study of causation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974. Print.
Ryall, Mark, Godwin Parke, and Edison Harding. The manual of bridge engineering. London: Thomas Telford, 2000. Print.