STANDARD CONSISTENCY

The standard consistency of a cement paste is defined as that consistency which will permit
the vicat plunger to penetrate to a point 5 to 7mm from the bottom of the vicat mould. The
apparatus used in this experiment called Vicat apparatus that function to determining the
normal consistency and time of setting of portland cements that consists of a rod weighing
300 grams, having a needle in each end, and supported in a frame with a graduated scale to
measure the distance to which the needle penetrates the cement and this test helps to
determine the water content for other tests like initial and final settings time, and soundness
and compressive strength.
In this experiment, the standard consistency we get as a result is 37.33%. We also have
tried this experiment by using other amount of water such as 38%, 36% and 36.5% but
unfortunately all this amount fail to satisfy the right result to complete the experiment.
The precautions step that must be alert during conducting this test are the time of gauging
should not be less than 3 minutes and not more than 5 minutes. Gauging time is the time
elapsing from the time of adding water to the dry cement until commencing to fill the mould.
The test must also be conducted at room temperature and there must not be any vibration
on the working table to get better result. The plunger should be cleaned during every
repetition.
SETTING TIME OF CEMENT
Setting time is the time required for stiffening process of cement paste to a defined
consistency. Setting necessary not related to hardening because hardening actually a
continuation of the chemical action which began with setting time.
Based on this experiment, we get the initial setting time for the cement is 0-45 minutes and
the final setting time for the cement is 45-60minutes. There are many factors that affect the
setting time such as composition, powder size and distribution, amount and nature of the
gravel, water composition, temperature and air humidity.
Initial setting time is the time when the paste starts losing its plasticity. Initial setting time
duration is required to delay the process of hydration or hardening. Final setting time is the
time when the paste loses its plasticity. It is the time taken for the cement paste or cement
concrete to harden sufficiently and attain the shape of the mould in which it is cast.
Determination of final setting time period facilitates safe removal of scaffolding and form.
During this period of time primary chemical reaction of cement with water is almost
completed.
FINENESS OF CEMENT
Fineness of cement is property of cement that indicate particle size of cement and specific
surface area and indirectly effect heat of hydration. This method only indicates the amount of
cement retained on the sieve, and gives no information on the size of grains smaller than 90
m BS sieve. The specific surface is expressed as the surface area in sq. cm/g or sq. m/kg.
The finer the cement, the more is the surface.
Based on the experiment, we determine that the average fineness of cement used is 5% as
an average. For the Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the residue by weight on BS test
sieve 90m should not exceed 10%. From the test we identify that the cement is perfectly
fresh therefore it can be used for making concrete where high strength is required.

CONCLUSION
For conclusion, standard consistency test can be conducted to measure the setting times of
cement. Normal consistency of standard cement can be gained by using water and cement
ratio of 37.33%. The initial setting time is 0-45 minutes and the final setting time needed is
45-60 minutes. While, initial setting time is that time period between the time water is added
to cement and time at section needle fails to penetrate the cement paste, placed in the vicat
mould from the bottom of the mould. Final setting time is that time period between the time
water is added to cement and the time at which 1 mm needle makes an impression on the
paste in the mould but 5 mm attachment does not make any impression.
For the standard consistency of cement experiment, we carried out that the amount of water
needed to achieve an accurate result is 112 ml. As a result we get the standard consistency
of cement is 37.33%.
The given sample of cement contains 5% residue which less than 10 % by weight of material
used than 90m sieve. Therefore it satisfied the criteria as satisfied by BS 12: Part 2: 1971.
The error in this experiment can occur if we sieve the cement by wrong ways. For the
accurate result we need to sieve the cement with the correct technique and suitable time.
There are many types of error that can be occurred during experiment such as parallax error,
this error can occur whenever there is some distance between the measuring scale and the
indicator used to obtain a measurement. If the observer's eye is not squarely aligned with
the pointer and scale, the reading may be too high or low. The calibration of an instrument
should be checked before taking data. If a calibration standard is not available, the accuracy
of the instrument should be checked by comparing with another instrument that is at least as
precise, or by consulting the technical data provided by the manufacturer. When making a
measurement with a micrometre, electronic balance, or an electrical meter, always check the
zero reading first. Re-zero the instrument if possible, or measure the displacement of the
zero reading from the true zero and correct any measurements accordingly.