Not every building is construct the same way and not every construct is made for the same purpose. However, cement is most important raw material used in the construction work. Which cement to be used, depends on the construct.
Now, you might think, a cement is a cement, when does this have a variety too. It does have a lot of it. Cement of varied types and grades are available in the market. To go back to history, cement was discovered by an Englishman named Joseph Aspdin, in the year 1824. It was named as Portland cement by him, for its resemblance to limestone found in Portland.
In general, the most commonly used varieties of cement are OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and PPC (Portland Pozzolana cement(PPC). These two cement differ in their composition and hence are used for different purposes. PPC is a blended cement produced by inter grinding of OPC clinker along with gypsum and pozzolanic material. There are grade 43 and grade 53 available for OPC cement. These grades differ because of the compressive strength of the cement.
The grade 43 of OPC is the most common cement used in the country and finds its application in civil engineering construction, plastering, flooring, making blocks, roads, runways etc. PPC is used in marine work, mass concrete work etc. PPC is expensive than OPC because of its composition and the way it is manufactured.
Now, that all is said about the cement types and grades, what about the cement quality? Below are few steps that should be used to check the cement quality
Check the date of packaging: Cement strength reduces with age. Checking the date is thus important.
Colour: There should be uniformity in the cement colour. A difference in colour is an indication of wrong composition.
Lump detection: If you find lumps in the cement, it means setting has taken place. These are signs of a low quality cement.
Rubbing: Rubbing the cement should feel smooth. Roughness would mean, it has been adulterated with sand.
There are other simple ways to check the cement quality and determine its suitability for the purpose. It is recommended one uses these simple ways. A cement of high quality would bring strength to the construction being made and also increase its age.
Wonder Cement is India’s most famous cement manufacturing company, building dreams of millions of people in this country. The company manufactures both PPC and OPC cement and has his manufacturing plants located in Rajasthan.
