Summary Literature Review of ‘Hydration of Cement”

This summary of literature review synthesizes the topic hydration of cement and its rate of
development. This is the reaction by which Portland cement developed into a bonding agent. In
other words, a chemical reaction takes place in the between water and cement. Silicates and
aluminates present in the cement forms the products of hydration result in to a solid mass. This
chemical reaction takes place in two different ways. The molecules of water reaction in true
sense called hydration in the first case and in the second case reaction with water is hydrolysis.
So, it is very common and convenient to called hydration to all the reaction of cement and water.
About 130 years ago, Le Chatelier observed first time that product of cement hydration are
chemically same to the hydration product of each compounds individually. Steinour (1), Bogue
& Lerch (2) also confirmed this lately. The two-main cementitious compound in the cement are
calcium silicates and their behavior in the hydration reaction are same to those two compounds
all alone (3).
It has been confirmed that the hydration product has very low solubility in water. This hydrated
cement bonded very strongly with the cement unreacted. In the same sense, the hydration rate
decreases with the passage of time. It can be seen during the lab testing that after 28 days curing
in water, cement grains have been hydrated to a depth of 4 micro meter to 1.9 micro meter after
lapse of one year.
Power (4) determined that only cementitious material smaller than 50 micro meters can achieved
the complete hydration under the normal circumstances. Similarly, girding the cement and
putting it in water for five days continuously will result in to full hydration. It is expected that
rate of hydration is inversely proportional to the size of cementitious material
The different compounds of cement are missed with each other in different grain size and
investigation has confirmed that residue of grains after some time period of cement hydration
have same amount of percentage composition as the original grains(5). However, the residue
composition has tendency of changing during the period of hydration especially period of
initially 24 hours the selected hydration may occur. Calcium silicate hydrates and tricalcium
aluminate hydrates are main hydrates of cement. It is believed that C4AF is hydrated into
tricalcium aluminate hydrate and CaO.Fe2O3.aq. Some Fe2O3 could also be available in the form
of solid solution in the tricalcium aluminate hydrate.
The rate of hydration of cement can be assessed by different means. Some of them are as under;
a) Quantity of Ca(OH)2 in cement paste
b) Amount of heat during the hydration
c) Specific gravity of cement past
d) Amount of water
e) Amount of un-hydrated cement during the reaction
f) Strength of cement paste
The rate of heat evolves identifies the rate of hydration since the hydration of cement is an
exothermic reaction. As the water comes in contact with the cement the rate of evolution of heat
has three peaks when it is plotted against time. Figure 1 shows that the initial hydration of heat
for cement is very high which indicates high percentage of C3A at the surface of cement particles.
However the duration of this high heat evolution is very small which called induction period.
During this small period of one or two hours the cement water paste is workable. The setting of
cement paste occurs as the products of hydration of individual grains interact with each other.
After about 10 hours second peak of rate if heat evolution occurs but sometimes it may happen
even at 04 hours. The second peak is accelerated by the presence of the alkalis, due to higher
fineness of the cement particles, and
due to increase in temperature.
After second peak the rate of
hydration decelerates until the third
peak occurs at the age of 18 to 30
hours. This peaks is due to the
further reaction of C3A with the
exhaustion of gypsum (5).

Figure 1

References:
1. H. H. Steinour, The reactions and thermochemistry of cement hydration at ordinary
temperature, Proc. 3rd Int. Symp. on the Chemistry of Cement, (London, 1952).
2. R. H. Bogue and W. Lerch, Hydration of portland cement compounds, Industrial and
Engineering Chemistry, 26, No. 8, (Easton, Pa., 1934).
3. E. P. Flint and L. S. Wells, Study of the system CaO–SiO2–H2O at 30 °C and the reaction of
water on the anhydrous calcium silicates, J. Res. Nat. Bur. Stand., 12, No. 687, (1934).
4. T. C. Powers, The non-evaporable water content of hardened Portland cement paste: its
significance for concrete research and its method of determination, ASTM Bul. No. 158, May
1949.
5. L. E. Copeland, Specific volume of evaporable water in hardened Portland cement pastes, J.
Amer. Concr. Inst., 52, pp. 1956.