Types of Cement

Cement is a very important construction material. As the construction industry grew, lots of innovation has come in the cement industry.

Basically, cement is divided into two categories.

Hydraulic cement.
Non-hydraulic cement.

Hydraulic cement:

Hydraulic cement hardens in the presence of water. In this type of cement, a Hydration reaction between cement and water takes place. Portland cement is the most common type of cement used in the construction industry.

Non-hydraulic cement:

Non-hydraulic cement does not harden in the presence of water. This type of cement reacts with carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is present in the atmosphere.

Table of Contents

Types Of Cement:

Various types of cement are as follows.

1. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC):

Ordinary Portland Cement very common type of cement used in the construction industry. These types of cement have good resistance to cracking and dry shrinkage but less resistance to chemical attack.OPC cement is not appropriate if sulfate is present in the soil.

I would recommend you to read about the Difference Between OPC and PPC.

2. Rapid Hardening Cement:

As the name suggests, this type of cement is set at a rapid pace. Rapid hardening cement is prepared by adding excessive C₃S in the mix and by lowering the C₂S content in the cement.

Rapid hardening cement is used in road construction where early strength is required.

3. Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement:

Sulfate Resisting Portland Cement is made by keeping the percentage of C3A less than 5%. This type of cement is used where there are higher chances of sulfate attacks such as footing, retaining wall, etc.

4. Low Heat Portland cement:

Low Heat Portland cement is manufactured by reducing the C₃S content and increasing C2S content in the mix. It has less compressive strength than ordinary portland concrete. It has less lime content than OPC. This sort of cement is generally utilized in the development of the retaining wall and it is carefully not appropriate for thin Concrete Structures.

5. High Alumina Cement:

This sort of Cement has a rich Alumina content of about 35% which helps in acquiring extremely high strength inside a brief period. This sort of concrete is utilized where construction is exposed to the activity of seawater, substance plants, and furnaces.

You can also read our complete article on High Alumina Cement (HAC).

6. Blast Furnace Slag Cement:

This kind of cement is less expensive than Ordinary Portland concrete. it is manufactured by inter grinding of OPC clinker and blast furnace slag. Blast furnace slag cement develops low heat of hydration and has less early strength.

7. Pozzolana Cement

The pozzolana is a material that is formed because of volcanic emissions. It is a siliceous material having about 80% clay in it. Pozzolana cement is made by blending 30% of pozzolana into Ordinary Portland cement clinkers. This sort of cement is utilized in the development of dams and weirs.

8. Colored Cement:

This sort of cement is otherwise called Concrete. It is made by adding shading color to the OPC. it is utilized in joining tiles.

9. Air-entraining Cement:

This sort of cement is made by adding 0.025–0.1% of air-entraining agents to the ordinary Portland cement clinker. Air entraining agents are by and large comprised of wood pitches, calcium agents, vegetable oils, and animal fats.

10. Hydrophobic Cement:

These types of cement are made by crushing Ordinary Portland Cement clinker with water oleic corrosive or stearic corrosive. These acids structure a water repellent film around the Cement molecule which builds the time span of usability of the Cement. The development around each grain of Cement decreases the pace of weakening of the Cement during long storage, transport, or under unfavorable conditions. The film is broken out when the Cement and Aggregate are combined at the blender uncovering the Cement particles for typical hydration.

11. Expansive Cement:

This kind of cement is made by adding a stabilizer that balances out the cement to extend. This can be accomplished by adding 8-20% of sulphoaluminate and 15% of stabilizer to the ordinary Portland concrete clinker.

Concrete comprised of OPC shrinks while setting because of loss of free water. Concrete likewise shrinks ceaselessly for quite a while. The cement utilized for grouting should not shrink or change the volume for this, we utilize expansive cement. the expansive cement doesn’t show any volume change subsequent to solidifying.

12. White Cement:-

This sort of cement is obtained by reducing the iron oxide content in the Ordinary Portland cement. The strength and durability are equivalent to OPC. This sort of cement is utilized for joining tiles and other interior works.

13. Waterproof Portland cement:

This kind of cement is manufactured by adding little percentages of metal sereates in OPC during grinding. This kind of cement is utilized in foundations, water tanks, and other retaining structures.

14. Oil-well Cement:

To separate oil from the stratified sedimentary rocks, Oil wells are dug to a greater depth. For safe pumping out of extracted oil steel casing is inserted. It is likely that if the oil is struck, oil or gas may escape through the space between the rock formation and steel casing. To fill this space Oil well cement is utilized. Oil well cement is manufactured by adding retarders (Starches or cellular products) to Ordinary Portland cement.