Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

JOB NO. 3
Standard test method for the determination of the normal
consistency of hydraulic cement.
(ASTM C 187-04)
 Purpose:
 To determine of the normal consistancy of hydraulic cement.
 To determine the amount of water required to prepare hydrualic cement pastes for
testing.
 Apparatus:
 Vicat’s apparatus
 Plunger(dia = 10mm, length = 50mm)
 Weighing balance
 Glass plate and trowel
 Spatula and safety gloves

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 Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

 Related Theory:
 Consistency:
The thickness or viscosity of the cement paste is called consistency. It is the ratio of
thickness of water to the mass of cement expressed as percentage.
 Standard cement paste:
It is the cement paste for which the 10mm diameter plunger in a standard VICAT’S test
penetrates to such an extent that its distance from the bottom is 10±1mm. the normal
consistency of cement is 28%.
 Normal consistency:
It is the thickness or viscosity of standard paste and is expressed as the percentage of
weight of water.

 Test Specifications:
 Air temperature:
 Air temperature 20 - 27.5 ͦ C
 Water temperature 23 ± 2 ͦ C

 Humidity:
 Humidity should not be less than 50%.
 Procedure:
 Take 650g of cement and mix it with 26% of water by weight of dry cement. The
Gauging time should not be more than 4min ±15 sec.
 Fill the Vicat mould with paste and level it with trowel.
 Lower the plunger gently till it touches the cement surface.
 Release the plunger allowing it to sink into the paste.
 Note the reading on the gauge.
 Repeat the above procedure taking fresh samples of cement and different
quantities of water until the reading on the gauge is 10±1mm.

 Precautions:
 Gauging time should be strictly observed
 Room temp. Should be well maintained as per test requirement.
 All apparatus used should be clean.
 The experiment should be performed away from vibrations and other disturbances.

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 Plain and Reinforced Concrete -1 (Lab Manual)

 Observation and calculation:

Weight of cement= 650g
Sr. No. Weight of cement Percentage of W/C Vicat
(g) water by weight penetration
of dry cement (mm)
(g)

1 650 175.5 0.27 16

2 650 169 0.26 11
3 650 169 0.26 10

 Comments:
 This experiment tells us the amount of water content at which we can obtain the
maximum strength of cement.
 The achieved Standard Consistency is coming within the range of water (26% to
33%) So, the standard consistency of cement paste is 11mm
 The standard penetration is observed at 26% water by weight which is the between
the range of ASTM
 This test also gives us information that how much amount of water is enough to
prepare a paste of cement before using it at the site at the time of construction.

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