Uses of Cement

  1. Introduction  

Cement is a material with adhesive and cohesive properties, making it competent to bond mineral fragments into a compact whole.

✓ It is an essential binding material used almost in every construction field.

✓ Cement can hold up against extreme weather conditions, such as high winds, rain, and snow. It’s also resistant to corrosion and other environmental factors. 

✓ Moreover, it’s highly water-resistant, ideal for creating watertight containers, such as septic and water tanks. Many also use cement to create decorative features like sidewalks, patios, and driveways.

✓ Cement is a non-combustible material, making it great for use in high-rise buildings and other structures. Since it doesn’t burn, it can help to prevent the spread of fire, explaining its use in firewalls. Likewise, it’s also a good insulator.

✓ When it comes to the cost, cement is relatively inexpensive to produce. The price can vary depending on the type used, the quality of the aggregates, and the transport needed. However, it’s generally less expensive than other building materials, like steel and wood.

  2. Uses of Cement  

✓ Cement is one of the most robust construction materials, withstanding compressive loads of up to 2,000 psi. It can also resist tensile and shear forces, making this construction material ideal for various purposes, such as bridge building and tennis court installation.

✓ The following are the various uses of cement:

a. It is used in cement mortar for masonry work, plastering, pointing, etc.

b. It is used for making joints for pipes, drains, etc.

c. It is used in concrete for laying floors and roofs and constructing lintels, beams, stairs, pillars, etc.

d. It is employed for manufacturing precast pipes, piles, fencing posts, etc.

e. It is used to construct essential engineering structures such as bridges, culverts, dams, tunnels, lighthouses, etc.

f. It is used to prepare foundations, watertight floors, footpaths, etc.

g. It is mainly used to construct wells, water tanks, tennis courts, lamp posts, telephone cabins, roads, etc.

h. It is used to build hydrographic and frost-resistant structures.

i. It is used to construct hydrographic and frost-resistant structures.

j. It is used for building chemical-proof structures.

k. It is used as a grouting material.

l. It is used for aesthetic concrete construction, like surface finishing.

m. It is used in the construction of fireproof and thermal-proof structures.

  3. Uses of different types of cement  

  i. Portland cement:   

a. Ordinary Portland cement 

Uses:

~ It is admirably suitable for use in general concrete constructions like the construction of high-rise buildings, roads, dams, bridges, and flyovers.

~ It is used in making grouts and mortars.

b. Modified Portland cement 

Uses:

a. Due to the lower heat of hydration, it can be employed in hot climates and for the construction of heavy abutments, large piers, retaining walls, etc., where sulfate content is not high.

c. Rapid hardening Portland cement 

Uses:

a. It is used where rapid strength development is required, e.g., when the framework is to be removed early for re-use or where sufficient strength for further construction is wanted quickly as practicable.

Extra rapid hardening cement uses:

It is suitable for cold weather concreting or when very high early strength is required but when it is inadvisable to use aluminous cement.

d. Low-heat Portland cement 

Uses:

a. During the setting action of cement, a considerable amount of heat is produced to reduce the amount of heat; this type of cement is used.

b. It is mainly used for mass concrete work.

e. Sulphate resisting Portland cement 

Uses:

a. It is used at places where sulfate action is severe.

b. It is employed for structures likely damaged by severe alkaline conditions, such as canal linings, culverts, siphons, etc.

f. Water-repellent Portland cement

Uses:

a. Such cement is mainly used in concrete and watertight renderings to identify moisture penetration in basements and for colored renderings and stucco.

g. Water-proof Portland cement

Uses:

a. It is used to construct water-retaining structures like tanks, reservoirs, retaining walls, swimming pools, dams, bridges, piers, etc.

  2. Other varieties of cement  

a. High alumina cement

Uses:

a. Its field of application includes work in chemical plants and furnaces.

b. It is employed in colder regions having temperatures 18 degrees Celcius or below and during a war-time emergency.

c. It is used in underwater construction.

b. Quick setting cement

Uses:

a. Due to its quick setting property, it is used in works where concrete is placed underwater or in running water.

c. Blast furnace slag cement

Uses:

a. Such type of cement can be used in mass concrete structures (since its heat of hydration is lower than that of ordinary Portland cement).

However, in cold weather, the low heat of hydration of blast-furnace slag cement coupled with a moderately low rate of strength development can lead to frost damage. This type of cement should not be used in thin R.C.C. structures.

b. This type of cement is frequently used in sea-water construction because of its reasonably high sulfate resistance.

d. White Cement

Uses:

a. It is used for different building construction fields like floor finish, plasterwork,

ornamental work etc.

b. It is also used as mortars for marbles and tiles.

c. Miscellaneous applications of white cement include swimming pools (where it replaces gazed tiles with colored shades usable underwater), molding sculptures and statues, painting garden furniture, etc.

d. It is also employed for ready-mixed concrete and precast concrete blocks.

e. Coloured cement

Uses:

a. These types of cement are widely used for finishing floors, external surfaces, artificial marble, stair treads, textured panel faces, window sill slabs, etc.

f. Acid resistance cement

Uses:

a. It is used in the chemical industry for providing acid-resistant and heat-resistant coating.

g. Expanding cement

Uses:

a. Mainly used for constructing water retaining structures.

b. It is also employed for repairing damaged concrete surfaces.

h. Hydrophobic cement

Uses:

a. When this cement is used in concrete preparation, the delicate pores are uniformly distributed. Thus the frost resistance and water resistance of such concrete are increased considerably.

i. Portland Pozzolana cement

Uses:

a. It is widely used for hydraulic structures (mass concrete works) such as dams, weirs, etc.

b. It is also used in underwater construction works like sewage construction etc.

j. Supersulphate cement

Uses:

a. This cement can be used in all cases where normal types of cement are used except in scorching weather.

b. It has been used for the undersides of bridges, over railway tracks, and concrete sewers carrying industrial effluents.