In addition to
ordinary portland cement there are many varieties of cement. Important
varieties are briefly explained below:
(i) White Cement:
The cement when made free from colouring oxides of iron, maganese and chlorium
results into white cement. In the manufacture of this cement, the oil fuel is
used instead of coal for burning. White cement is used for the floor finishes, plastering,
ornamental works etc. In swimming pools white cement is used to replace glazed
tiles. It is used for fixing marbles and glazed tiles.
(ii) Coloured
Cement:
The cements of desired colours are produced by intimately mixing
pigments with ordinary cement. The chlorium oxide gives green colour. Cobalt
produce blue colour. Iron oxide with different proportion produce brown, red or
yellow colour. Addition of manganese dioxide gives black or brown coloured
cement. These cements are used for giving finishing touches to floors, walls,
window sills, roofs etc.
(iii) Quick Setting
Cement:
Quick setting cement is produced by reducing the percentage of gypsum
and adding a small amount of aluminium sulphate during the manufacture of
cement. Finer grinding also adds to quick setting property. This cement starts
setting within 5 minutes after adding water and becomes hard mass within 30
minutes. This cement is used to lay concrete under static or
slowly running water.
(iv) Rapid
Hardening Cement:
This cement can be produced by increasing lime content and
burning at high temperature while manufacturing cement. Grinding to very fine
is also necessary. Though the initial and final setting time of this cement is
the same as that of portland cement, it gains strength in early days. This
property helps in earlier removal of form works and speed in construction
activity.
(v) Low Heat
Cement:
In mass concrete works like construction of dams, heat produced due to
hydration of cement will not get dispersed easily. This may give rise to
cracks. Hence in such constructions it is preferable to use low heat cement.
This cement contains low percentage (5%) of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and
higher percentage (46%) of dicalcium silicate (C2S).
(vi) Pozzulana
Cement:
Pozzulana is a volcanic power found in Italy. It can be processed from
shales and certain types of clay also. In this cement pozzulana material is 10
to 30 per cent. It can resist action of sulphate. It releases less heat during
setting. It imparts higher degree of water tightness. Its tensile strength is
high but compressive strength is low. It is used for mass concrete works. It is
also used in sewage line works.
(vii) Expanding
Cement:
This cement expands as it sets. This property is achieved by adding
expanding medium like sulpho aluminate and a stabilizing agent to ordinary
cement. This is used for filling the cracks in concrete structures.
(viii) High Alumina
Cement:
It is manufactured by calcining a mixture of lime and bauxite. It is
more resistant to sulphate and acid attack. It develops almost full strength
within 24 hours of adding water. It is used for under water works.
(ix) Blast Furnace
Cement:
In the manufacture of pig iron, slag comes out as a waste product. By
grinding clinkers of cement with about 60 to 65 per cent of slag, this cement
is produced. The properties of this cement are more or less same as ordinary
cement, but it is cheap, since it utilise waste product. This cement is durable
but it gains the strength slowly and hence needs longer period of curing.
(x) Acid Resistant
Cement:
This cement is produced by adding acid resistant aggregated such as
quartz, quartzite, sodium silicate or soluble glass. This cement has good
resistance to action of acid and water. It is commonly used in the construction
of chemical factories.
(xi) Sulphate
Resistant Cement:
By keeping the percentage of tricalcium aluminate C3A below
five per cent in ordinary cement this cement is produced. It is used in the
construction of structures which are likely to be damaged by alkaline
conditions. Examples of such structures are canals, culverts etc.
(xii) Fly Ash
Blended Cement:
Fly ash is a byproduct in thermal stations. The particles of
fly ash are very minute and they fly in the air, creating air pollution
problems. Thermal power stations have to spend lot of money to arrest fly ash
and dispose safely. It is found that one of the best way to dispose fly ash is
to mix it with cement in controlled condition and derive some of the
beneficiary effects on cement. Now-a-days cement factories produce the fly ash
in their own thermal stations or borrow it from other thermal stations and
further process it to make it suitable to blend with cement. 20 to 30% fly ash
is used for blending. Fly ash blended cements have superior quality of
resistance to weathering action. The ultimate strength gained is the same as
that with ordinary portland cement. However strength gained in the initial
stage is slow.