Points to Check on a Cement Bag before Buying It Author: Admin Date:18/06/2018 Cement is the most important construction material which is used widely. Cement is generally used to prepare concrete and mortar which are used to make RCC framed structures. Cement has binding properties and can easily mix with aggregates and forms a homogeneous mixture, which hardens to give a stone-like strength.

• The strength and durability of the structure are mainly dependent on strength of cement.
• There are several makers of cement worldwide.
• Persistently they adopt unhealthy practices to manufacture and pack cement to extend their profits.
• The price of cement is quite alternative construction materials (coarse aggregates, fine aggregates etc.) and it conjointly affects your overall project value.

Hence we must be aware before buying cement bags because sometimes cement bags arriving on the site may be a duplicate. Duplicate or adulterated cement will decrease the life of the structure. You have to check some basic standard specifications before you buy it.

Check the manufacturer’s name and their registered trademark. If the trademark and name is not printed properly or there is any spelling mistake, then the cement bag may be duplicated.

ISI mark should be printed on the cement bags in black color. That confirms that the cement packed in the bag has fulfilled every requirement as mentioned in its specifications.

The most important point to check on a cement bag is its grade and type of cement. The cement bag of OPC 53 must mentioned the words ‘Ordinary Portland Cement, 53 Grade ‘or‘ Ordinary Portland Cement, 53-S Grade whichever is applicable.

The net weight of cement in kg i.e.25 Kg, 50 Kg etc. must be mentioned on the cement bag.

Check the brand of cement. It is important that the cement is of a reputable brand. One must also check the cut-sheet provided by the brand, to know the technical details about the product.

MRP (Maximum Retail Price) is an important thing to check on a cement bag. The retailer or seller can fool us by selling the cement bag for more price than MRP. Hence checking the MRP before buying the cement bag will help the consumer to avoid any kinds of frauds.

Words ‘Use no Hooks’ or its symbol are printed on standard cement bag.

The batch/control unit number in terms of week, month and year of packing must be mentioned on the cement bag. It is preferred to use a cement bag which is recently packed, usually less than 3 months.

The address of the manufacturer must be mentioned on the bag for contacting him for future enquiries.

The type and percentage of performance improver(s) added, if added must be mentioned on the cement bag.

Particular IS code number should be printed on the cement bag(i.e.)if you have ordered OPC 53 grade cement, then “IS-12269-1987” should be printed on the cement bag, and if you have ordered Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), “IS 1489-1991” should be printed on the cement bags.

The above points are essential to check on a cement bag, before buying it. This will help to ensure the cement bags are from a standard manufacturer or seller and helps in avoiding any loss to the customer. After buying cement bags, they must be properly stored and used within few days. : Points to Check on a Cement Bag before Buying It

How can you tell 43 and 53 grade cement?

Compression Strength: – Cement grade indicates the compression strength of the cement concrete after 28 days of setting.43 Grade Cement attains compression strength of 43 Mpa (megapascals) in 28 days of setting compared to 53 Mpa attained by 53 Grade cement.

Which grade is best in UltraTech cement?

Which Cement is Best for House Construction? UltraTech March 25, 2019 The process of building a home typically includes many stages and in most of these stages, your choice of cement will play a crucial role. There are three main types of cement for constructing a home – OPC, PPC and PSC.

Among the three, you will find OPC is available almost everywhere, but PPC and will give better strength and excellent durability. Before purchasing the cement, make sure to check the manufacturing date. If the cement bag is older than 90 days, you should consult your engineer. You will find the manufacturing date, along with other important details like the MRP and the ISI stamp, printed on the side of the bag.

Make sure to inspect the cement bag for lumps as this makes the cement unsuitable for construction. In trying to pick the right cement, don’t be influenced by price alone. In an attempt to bargain and save money in the short-run, you risk paying a big price in the long-run.

How do you know if PPC or OPC cement?

Difference Between OPC and PPC Cement – The main differences in their characteristics and uses are –

Portland Pozzolana Cement is a variation of Ordinary Portland Cement. Pozzolana materials namely fly ash, volcanic ash, are added to the OPC so that it becomes PPC. Pozzolana materials are added to the cement in the ratio of 15% to 35% by weight.Both are ecofriendly materials but Pozzolana Cement uses natural and industrial waste thus reducing the environmental pollution.

OPC	PPC
It has higher strength than PPC in the initial stage.	The strength of PPC is good than OPC in long terms.
It has high heat of hydration making it unfavorable for mass concreting.	The hydration process is slower than OPC resulting low heat of hydration. Therefore, it is suitable for mass concreting.
The presence of sulphates, alkalies, chlorides, etc. is higher and less resistant than PPC.	It has low percentage of sulphate alkalis, chlorides, magnesia and free lime in its composition, which makes the concrete durable.
OPC is not favorable in aggressive weather.	Show greater resistance to aggressive weather.
OPC cement are available in three grades, such as 33 Grade, 43 Grade, 53 Grade	PPC is available in any specific grades.
It is slightly costlier than PPC.	Cheaper than OPC.

Conclusion: Both OPC and PPC are commonly used cements in construction. These days, PPC is used as a substitute of OPC. PPC is a variation of OPC which adds a mixture of a pozzolanic material that helps to enhance the strength of the concrete. PPC also brings down the amount of OPC requirement in making concrete.

Is UltraTech Super Grade 53?

Ultratech Super Cement, Grade: Grade 53, Packing Size: 50 Kg.

How do I know if I have UltraTech 43 grade cement?

Stay updated on cement standards Jagvir Goyal Cement and steel being the two most important materials that govern the strength of a structure, remain under constant gaze of Bureau of Indian Standards. BIS keeps reviewing the specifications and parameters regarding these from time to time and revises the codal instructions for their properties and usage.

• Draft instructions are circulated among all prominent engineers for their opinion before adopting the changes and revising the codes.
• Recently, cement codes have undergone significant changes and it is important for a house builder to be in know of these.
• Types of cement: There are 13 types of cement for which BIS has issued specifications and IS code numbers.

Many of these cements are use specific. These include Rapid hardening cement, Portland slag cement, low heat Portland cement, Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozzolana cement, High Alumina Cement, White Portland Cement and many others. Of these, only three types of cement are used by a house builder for his house.

1. These are Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement and White Portland cement.
2. IS Codes: The Ordinary Portland Cement when used by the house builders should conform to IS 269.
3. The Portland Pozzolana Cement carries IS 1489 Part I mark.
4. The White Portland Cement carries IS 8042 mark.
5. Ordinary Portland Cement is commonly known as OPC and Portland Pozzolana cement is commonly known as PPC.

White Portland Cement is commonly known as White cement. While the OPC and PPC are supplied in 50 kg bags, white cement is used only for some specific purposes in the house and thus its consumption in a house is very small. It is therefore purchased in 1 kg packs.

Grades: Earlier there used to be three grades of OPC. Now, as per latest revision of IS Code, there are five grades of OPC. These are 33 grade, 43 grade, 53 grade, 43 S grade and 53 S grade. There are no grades in PPC or in any other type of cement.43 S grade and 53 S grade of cement are used in Railway Engineering for manufacture of sleepers.

Here, S stands for Sleepers. OPC 33 grade, 43 grade and 53 grade cements are used for General purpose engineering such as building construction. The43 grade OPC is stronger than 33 grade cement and 53 grade cement is still stronger than 43 grade cement.

1. Naturally, the tendency of the house builder is to opt for 53 grade cement to have a stronger structure.
2. Codes for cement grades: Earlier, there used to be three IS codes for different grades of OPC.
3. For OPC 33 grade, the IS code was IS 269 and cement bags were marked with IS 269 mark.
4. For 43 grade OPC, the IS code was IS 8112.

The cement bags carrying IS 8112 mark were presumed to be having 43 grade cement. For 53 grade cement, IS code used to be IS 12269. All cement bags having 53 grade cement carried IS 12269 mark. In 2015, IS code for OPC has been revised and all grades of cement have been included in one IS code only.

1. Now, all cement bags containing OPC are supposed to carry IS 269 mark only irrespective of grade of cement contained in it.
2. Further, each bag will further mention whether it carries 33 grade cement or 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement.
3. So don’t look for IS 8112 mark or IS 12269 mark any more while buying cement.

Rather, look for IS 269 mark only and further, the grade of cement as mentioned on the bag. Why the grades: In all grades of Ordinary Portland Cement, same raw material is used. The difference between different grades of cement is due to the difference in proportion of raw materials in cement.

Variation in proportion of raw materials in cement alters its physical properties and produces stronger varieties of cement, classified as 43 grade and 53 grade cement. Types of PPC: There are two types of Portland Pozzolana cement or PPC. One type of cement contains fly ash as the pozzolana material.

The other type of PPC contains calcined clay as pozzolana material. PPC containing fly ash has been given IS 1489 (Part 1) mark. PPC containing calcined clay has been given IS 1489 (Part II) mark. Use of different types of pozzolana materials alters physical and chemical properties of cement.

1. In building work, fly ash based PPC is used.
2. Thus, while choosing PPC for one’s house, one should look for IS 1489 (Part 1) mark on the cement bags.
3. Strength values of OPC & PPC: As explained above, of the three grades of OPC, 53 grade is the strongest.
4. Its strength is 530 kg per sq. cm.
5. OPC 43 grade cement comes next.

It has a strength of 430 kg per sq cm. OPC 33 grade has 330 kg per sq cm of strength. PPC is considered to have strength equivalent to that of OPC 33 grade cement. Therefore, its strength is 330 kg per sq cm. These are the minimum strength requirements for each grade and type of cement to win ISI mark.

1. To be on safer side, the cement produced by cement manufacturers has much more strength than these minimum strength values.
2. The buyer is therefore benefited on this account and gets better quality cement.
3. Choice: From the above details, it becomes clear that some grades of Ordinary Portland Cement carry better strength than PPC.

Based on better strength, obvious choice of house builder shall, therefore, be 43 grade OPC or 53 grade OPC. Before finalising his choice, a house builder shall like to have a look at the difference in cost, presuming that 43 grade and 53 grade cement shall be much costlier than 33 grade cement or PPC.

In actual, it is not so. There is not much difference in cost of different grades of cement. Thus a house builder shall like to easily finalise his choice as 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement. Actual scene: Though a house builder will like to choose 43 grade or 53 grade cement for his house but actual picture is that these grades of cement are simply no more available in the market.

Not only these, even 33 grade OPC is also not available in the market. Only PPC is available in the market and one is forced to choose it. Some dealers promise the house builders to provide OPC 43 grade or 53 grade cement to them by making a special request to the manufacturer to arrange cement of these grades for them but manufacturers agree to their request only if a large lot of OPC is demanded.

Availability of dry fly-ash from the thermal plants has attracted the cement manufacturers to produce more quantity of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and minimize the production Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as the manufacturing cost of PPC proves much lesser than that of OPC to them. This occurs because a substantial component of OPC clinker gets replaced with fly ash in PPC.

The percentage rests somewhere between 15 to 35 per cent. Fly ash is freely available to the manufacturers from thermal plants. Though production cost is less, the market rate of both types of cement i.e. OPC and PPC is almost the same. Important ingredient Every house builder wants to choose the best type and brand of cement for construction of his house.

Now, people have become aware of the grades of cement also. Many of the queries received are about the grade, type and brand of cement. A house builder wants to decide the best brand and grade and type of cement, fix up his dealer for supply of its lots as and when asked by him and free himself for other jobs related to the construction of his house.

The decision, therefore, needs to be taken after thorough consideration. Freshness of cement : The cement lot chosen should be as fresh as possible. The cement bags carry the week and year of manufacture marked on them. A house builder should try to buy a freshly arrived lot with dealer.

Effort should be made to buy cement bags that are not more than two months old. Cement absorbs moisture from air and loses strength with time. In the latest IS code, Bureau of Indian standards has now made another provision that each bag of cement shall now carry the ‘Best before Date’ instruction. Earlier, no such instructions were given on cement bags.

Now, a buyer can check the date of manufacture and ‘best before date’ instruction on the cement bags and buy the lot of cement accordingly. The terms of choice Keeping in view the latest revision in IS code by BIS and other details as explained in the article, one may go ahead to finalise his choice of cement as under:

Look for OPC 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement, if available. If available, look for IS 269 mark on the bags along with grade of cement clearly mentioned on it. If OPC 43 grade or 53 Grade cement is not available, go ahead for buying PPC cement. In that case, look for IS 1489 Part I mark on the bags. Check the condition of cement bags. These must not be torn anywhere. The bags can be in jute or HDPE/PP or jute synthetic or multi-wall paper bags. Check the weight of Cement bags. See that net quantity of cement is 50 kg per bag, excluding the weight of bag. Most importantly, check the freshness of cement. Check the date of manufacture and newly introduced feature — ‘Best before date’— on the bags.

The writer is Engineer-in-Chief, Civil Engineering Dept in a Punjab PSU : Stay updated on cement standards

How many types of UltraTech are there?

UltraTech’s products include Ordinary Portland cement, Portland Pozzolana cement and Portland blast-furnace slag cement.

What is the Colour of PPC cement?

Free CT 1: Building Materials (Building Stones) 10 Questions 10 Marks 7 Mins Concept: Statement 1: Incorrect White cement is very much suitable for ordinary cement work. It is the simplest form of cement. It is cheaper and does not contain any extra added constituents which makes it very suitable for ordinary work.

• Statement 2: Incorrect Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has a grey colour.
• When pozzolanic material is mixed with OPC to obtain Pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC) it no longer has the greyish colour.
• The colour of pozzolanic cement varies depending upon the properties of pozzolanic material used.
• Statement 3: Correct OPC has mainly four constituents: a) C 3 S – Tricalcium Silicate b) C 2 S – Dicalcium Silicate c) C 3 A – Tricalcium Aluminate d) C 4 AF – Tetracalcium Alumino Ferrite Statement 4: Incorrect Cement stored in a bag and its strength can be disturbed even before it is to be used in construction work.

The disturbance may be done for various purposes like testing of cement, sample investigation etc. In this regard, it has to be ensured that cement does not absorb moisture during its disturbance. Last updated on Sep 22, 2022 The Staff Selection Commission has released the admit card for all regions for Paper I of the SSC JE CE 2022 exam on 9th November 2022.

Is 1489 a grade of UltraTech cement?

Results & Discussion – The compressive strength of different brands of cements and cements of same brand procured from different consignments are shown at Table 1.

Table 1:
S.No.	Details of cement	Compressive strength kg/ sq. cm
7 days	28 days	90 days
1.	Birla Cement 53 MPa	248	425	468
2.	Ambuja Cement 53 MPa	335	510	597
3.	Sri Ultra 53 MPa	247	348	400
4.	J.K. Cement OPC 43	315	400	425
5.	Birla Nirman Cement 53 MPa	361	490	530
6.	Birla Samrat 53 MPa	251	530	550
7.	Rajshree OPC 53	363	523	545
8.	ACC 53 MPa	355	573	590
9.	Ambuja 53 MPa	387	527	540
10.	Lafarge 53 MPa	227	423	525
11.	Lafarge 53 MPa	229	375	470
12.	Lafarge 53 MPa	230	350	400
13.	Lafarge 53 MPa	250	435	500
14.	Lafarge 53 MPa	360	450	475
15.	Sri Ram OPC 53	359	519	519
16.	Sri Ram OPC 53	377	517	535
17.	Sri Ram OPC 53	468	492	500
18.	Sri Ram OPC 53	360	400	430
19.	Sri Ram OPC 53	448	570	603
20.	Sri Ram OPC 53	472	580	590
21.	J.K. Sarva Shaktiman OPC 43	268	438	580
22.	J.K. Sarva Shaktiman OPC 43	247	430	480
23.	J.K. Sarva Shaktiman OPC 43	300	400	490
24.	J.K. Sarva Shaktiman OPC 43	370	450	475

From the results it can be seen that these cements do not adhere to the strength requirements as prescribed for either OPCs or PPC (Table 2) by BIS. It can also be seen from the results that though a good number of cements have 7 day Compressive Strength (C/S) below 300 kg/sq. cm, most of them have their 28 day C/S above 400 kg/sq. cm and 90 day C/S up to 500 kg/sq. cm and still above it.

Table 2:
S.No.	Cement Type	Compressive strength kg/sq. cm
7 days	28 days
1	OPC – 43 (IS – 8112)	330	430
2	OPC – 53 (IS-12269)	370	530
3	PPC (IS – 1489, Part I)	220	330

From this study it is revealed that these available cements may be used for cement concrete works including pavement quality concrete. Though Portland Pozzolana cements are designed for 33 grade, none of the PPC tested under this study had the strength of this order.

The results obtained are very high. The fact, that it is not possible to design a concrete mix of high strength with cements of low strength, there is a tendency among the manufacturers of Portland Pozzolana cements to produce high strength PPCs with the labels such as IS: 1489 (Part I), 43- MPa & IS: 1489 (Part I), 53- MPa to lure the consumer.

The dilemma is that in case of not getting strength 43- MPa/53- MPa, consumer can not reject the PPC and in any case he is to use the supplied cement having minimum 7 days compressive strength, 220 kg/sq.cm and 28 days compressive strength, 330 kg/sq.

Cm. At present when manufacturers of PPC are not grading their product and also the supply of OPC in open market is highly restricted, the consumer is left with the only option to find out ways to use available cements for design of concrete mixes for various applications. Thus for any project, it has become a difficult task to design a concrete mix.

For making the process of designing a concrete mix less cumbersome, based on the present study, a minimum 7 day compressive strength of 250 kg/sq. cm is recommended for cements to be used for pavement quality concrete (PQC). Three brands of cement were chosen for the study form the list of tested cements.

Table 3:
J K CEMENT OPC – 43
Cement content per cum
W/c ratio	360 kg	380 kg	400 kg	420 kg
Water content	Strength Kg/sq.cm	Water Content	Strength Kg/sq.cm	Water content	Strength Kg/sq. cm	Water content	Strength kg/sq. cm
C/S	F/S	C/S	F/S	C/S	F/S	C/S	F/S
28 Day	56 Day	28 Day	28 Day	56 Day	28 Day	28 Day	56 Day	28 Day		28 Day	56 Day	28 Day
0.45	162	–	–	–	171	490	520	57.0	180	480	512	56.0	189	455	490	51.0
0.50	180	427	480	48.4	190	421	460	50.7	200	396	426	44.0	210	405	445	45.0
0.55	198	358	388	39.5	209	354	384	39.0	220	–	–	–	231	–	–	–
0.60	216	295	333	33.0	228	–	–	–	240	–	–	–	252	–	–	–

table>

Table 4: BIRLA NIRMAN 53 MPa Cement content per cum W/c ratio 360 kg 380 kg 400 kg 420 kg Water content Strength Kg/sq.cm Water Content Strength Kg/sq.cm Water content Strength Kg/sq. cm Water content Strength kg/sq. cm C/S F/S C/S F/S C/S F/S C/S F/S 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 0.45 162 – – – 171 470 495 52.0 180 475 500 54.0 189 470 490 52.0 0.50 180 439 480 48.0 190 430 475 46.6 200 398 427 42.0 210 390 420 41.0 0.55 198 393 469 43.6 209 328 393 38.5 220 – – – 231 – – – 0.60 216 350 398 36.5 228 – – – 240 – – – 252 – – –

table>

Table 5: BIRLA SAMRAT 53 MPa Cement content per cum W/c ratio 360 kg 380 kg 400 kg 420 kg Water content Strength Kg/sq.cm Water Content Strength Kg/sq.cm Water content Strength Kg/sq. cm Water content Strength kg/sq. cm C/S F/S C/S F/S C/S F/S C/S F/S 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 28 Day 56 Day 28 Day 0.45 162 – – – 171 480 525 56.0 180 480 527 57.0 189 448 490 50.0 0.50 180 409 466 47.0 190 451 533 54.0 200 405 501 43.5 210 425 445 44.0 0.55 198 381 449 40.0 209 401 468 45.0 220 – – – 231 – – – 0.60 216 364 430 38.5 228 – – – 240 – – – 252 – – –

From the results it can be seen that at same water cement ratio, the compressive and flexural strengths go on decreasing as the cement content increase from 360 kg to 420 kg for water contents above 190 litre per cubic meter of concrete. As the cement content increases at the same water cement ratio, the water content per cubic meter of concrete goes on increasing.

In order to restrict the maximum water content per cubic meter of concrete to 190 litre considering the guidelines as suggested in IRC-44 & IS- 10262 (for 20 mm maximum size of coarse aggregate), and greater fineness of available cements, w/c ratio may be selected as 0.50 for 360 and 380 kg cement per cubic meter of concrete and 0.45 for 400 and 420 kg cement per cubic meter of concrete.

Based on the study, a concrete mix can be designed with great ease within minimum reasonable time by following the procedure as outlined below:

1. Test the cement for 7 day compressive strength. If the compressive strength is greater than 250 kg per sq. cm, select it for concrete mix design.
2. Design four concrete mixes using
   1. Cement–360 kg; Water–180 litre
   2. Cement–380 kg; Water-190 litre
   3. Cement-400kg; Water–180 litre
   4. Cement-420 kg; Water–190 litre
3. Prepare all four mixes simultaneously in the laboratory. Check the workability and if required, use super plasticizer. Prepare cube and beam specimens from the mixes to be tested at 28 days.
4. From the results, the mix may be selected for the desired compressive and flexural strength. Using very low w/c ratio and excessive use of super plasticizers shall be avoided as besides their use being uneconomical, long term effects of these admixtures are not generally known to common users.

Which are the 53 grade cements?

53 Grade Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC 53) – This grade was introduced in the country by BIS in the year 1987 and commercial production started from 1991. Advent of this grade in the country owes it to the improved technology adopted by modern cement plants. OPC 53 Grade cement is required to conform to BIS specification IS:12269-1987 with a designed strength for 28 days being a minimum of 53 MPa or 530 kg/sqcm.53 Grade OPC provides high strength and durability to structures because of its optimum particle size distribution and superior crystallized structure.

Being a high strength cement, it provides numerous advantages wherever concrete for special high strength application is required, such as in the construction of skyscrapers, bridges, flyovers, chimneys, runways, concrete roads and other heavy load bearing structures. Not only is this grade of cement stronger than other grades / types, it is also more durable.

Further, by substituting lower grade cement with OPC 53, overall savings can be obtained through reduced quantity of cement that would be required to be used. A savings of 8-10% can be achieved with the use of 53 Grade OPC in place of any other grade.53 Grade cement attains higher early strength as compared to any other grade of cement but because of early gain, does not increase much after 28 days.

• In addition, due to faster hydration process, the cement releases heat of hydration at a much faster rate initially and therefore, the chances of micro cracking of concrete is much greater.
• Thus, during initial setting period of concrete, the higher heat of hydration can lead to damage arising out of micro cracks with in the concrete structure, which may not be visible on the surface.

The situation can be worsened when construction supervisors / masons tend to increase the quantity of cement in concrete with a wrong notion that such increases are better for both strength and durability of concrete. Grade 53 should therefore be used only where such application is warranted for making the concrete of higher strength, where good supervision and quality assurance measures are in place and where proper precautions are taken to relieve the higher heat of hydration through a proper curing process.

Which cement is best in 53 grade?

Best Cement for Concrete – Grade 33 and Grade 43 OPC cement are the old grade of cement used for residential construction and nowadays it is replaced by OPC 53 grade of cement. OPC 53 grade cement is the best cement for concrete.

What is the grade of Ultratech?

Product Specification –

Packaging Type	Sack Bag
Grade	43 53,43/53 grade
Type	OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement), RHC (Rapid Hardening Cement), QSC (Quick Settling Cement)
Packing Size	50 Kg
Packaging Size	50 kg
Condition	New
Color	c
Application	roof to baae
Cement Grade	Grade 43,Grade 53,General High Grade
Minimum Order Quantity	200 Bag

How do you identify cement?

Skip to content Home / blog / How to Check the Quality of Cement When you are putting all your blood, sweat and tears into your construction project, you want to make sure that you are working with the best material you can find. It is crucial for every builder and contractor to check the quality of the cement being used on the site during the time of preliminary inspection.

If good cement is not used, then the quality of the entire construction is at stake. The overall strength of your structure depends on many factors, and the quality of cement you are using is one of them. Excellent quality cement should always be used to achieve desired strength of concrete and to make sure the structure stands tall for a long time.

So, how does one check the quality of cement being used? Following are some easy tests to be used.1) Date of Packing – Unlike wine, the strength of cement being used decreases with time. Cement should be used before 90 days from the date of manufacture.

1. A year after manufacture, the strength of the cement is reduced by 40-50%.2) Colour of Cement – Good cement is always uniform in colour.
2. You can identify good cement by its gray colour with a slight green shade.3) Lumps – In cement, lumps are formed due to absorption of moisture.
3. Good cement has no lumps.4) Temperature – If you push your hand inside a bag of good cement, you should feel a certain coolness.

Bad cement feels warm in your hand.5) Floating – Good quality cement floats in water for some time before sinking. Always make sure to buy the best quality of cement available. Maha Cement, with its attention to detail and world-quality upkeep and process, is known to be the best cement in India.

Which cement is OPC 53?

Product Description – OPC 53Grade Cement is more suitable where high early strength is necessary viz. for production of High Strength/ High Performance Concretes and for Rehabilitation/ Retrofitting works. Blended Cements can be used for all general construction works, especially for works in aggressive environmental conditions particularly in coastal areas to counteract chloride and sulphate attacks, water retaining structures, marine works, sewage pipes, mass concrete works such as dams, etc., substructures in sulphatic soils and structures in hot and humid climate.

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 53 Grade is used in RCC and pre-stressed concrete of higher grades, cement grouts, instant plugging mortars etc. where initial higher strength is the criteria. Advantages of OPC 53 Grade : Speedy construction Durable concrete Economic concrete mix designs Low percentages of alkalies, chlorides, magnesia and free lime leads to the production of durable concrete.

Interested in this product? Get Latest Price from the seller Contact Seller

What is the cost of UltraTech 53 grade cement?

ULTRATECH CEMENT (OPC) 43 AND 53 GRADE

Pricing Details
R.C.P.	385.00
Packaging Fee	0.00
List Price	385.00

How do I know what grade my concrete is?

What is Grade of Concrete? – Grade of concrete is defined as the minimum strength the concrete must posses after 28 days of construction with proper quality control. Grade of concrete is denoted by prefixing M to the desired strength in MPa. For example, for a grade of concrete with 20 MPa strength, it will be denoted by M20, where M stands for Mix.

How do I know if I have Ultratech 43 grade cement?

Stay updated on cement standards Jagvir Goyal Cement and steel being the two most important materials that govern the strength of a structure, remain under constant gaze of Bureau of Indian Standards. BIS keeps reviewing the specifications and parameters regarding these from time to time and revises the codal instructions for their properties and usage.

• Draft instructions are circulated among all prominent engineers for their opinion before adopting the changes and revising the codes.
• Recently, cement codes have undergone significant changes and it is important for a house builder to be in know of these.
• Types of cement: There are 13 types of cement for which BIS has issued specifications and IS code numbers.

Many of these cements are use specific. These include Rapid hardening cement, Portland slag cement, low heat Portland cement, Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozzolana cement, High Alumina Cement, White Portland Cement and many others. Of these, only three types of cement are used by a house builder for his house.

• These are Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement and White Portland cement.
• IS Codes: The Ordinary Portland Cement when used by the house builders should conform to IS 269.
• The Portland Pozzolana Cement carries IS 1489 Part I mark.
• The White Portland Cement carries IS 8042 mark.
• Ordinary Portland Cement is commonly known as OPC and Portland Pozzolana cement is commonly known as PPC.

White Portland Cement is commonly known as White cement. While the OPC and PPC are supplied in 50 kg bags, white cement is used only for some specific purposes in the house and thus its consumption in a house is very small. It is therefore purchased in 1 kg packs.

• Grades: Earlier there used to be three grades of OPC.
• Now, as per latest revision of IS Code, there are five grades of OPC.
• These are 33 grade, 43 grade, 53 grade, 43 S grade and 53 S grade.
• There are no grades in PPC or in any other type of cement.43 S grade and 53 S grade of cement are used in Railway Engineering for manufacture of sleepers.

Here, S stands for Sleepers. OPC 33 grade, 43 grade and 53 grade cements are used for General purpose engineering such as building construction. The43 grade OPC is stronger than 33 grade cement and 53 grade cement is still stronger than 43 grade cement.

Naturally, the tendency of the house builder is to opt for 53 grade cement to have a stronger structure. Codes for cement grades: Earlier, there used to be three IS codes for different grades of OPC. For OPC 33 grade, the IS code was IS 269 and cement bags were marked with IS 269 mark. For 43 grade OPC, the IS code was IS 8112.

The cement bags carrying IS 8112 mark were presumed to be having 43 grade cement. For 53 grade cement, IS code used to be IS 12269. All cement bags having 53 grade cement carried IS 12269 mark. In 2015, IS code for OPC has been revised and all grades of cement have been included in one IS code only.

• Now, all cement bags containing OPC are supposed to carry IS 269 mark only irrespective of grade of cement contained in it.
• Further, each bag will further mention whether it carries 33 grade cement or 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement.
• So don’t look for IS 8112 mark or IS 12269 mark any more while buying cement.

Rather, look for IS 269 mark only and further, the grade of cement as mentioned on the bag. Why the grades: In all grades of Ordinary Portland Cement, same raw material is used. The difference between different grades of cement is due to the difference in proportion of raw materials in cement.

Variation in proportion of raw materials in cement alters its physical properties and produces stronger varieties of cement, classified as 43 grade and 53 grade cement. Types of PPC: There are two types of Portland Pozzolana cement or PPC. One type of cement contains fly ash as the pozzolana material.

The other type of PPC contains calcined clay as pozzolana material. PPC containing fly ash has been given IS 1489 (Part 1) mark. PPC containing calcined clay has been given IS 1489 (Part II) mark. Use of different types of pozzolana materials alters physical and chemical properties of cement.

In building work, fly ash based PPC is used. Thus, while choosing PPC for one’s house, one should look for IS 1489 (Part 1) mark on the cement bags. Strength values of OPC & PPC: As explained above, of the three grades of OPC, 53 grade is the strongest. Its strength is 530 kg per sq. cm. OPC 43 grade cement comes next.

It has a strength of 430 kg per sq cm. OPC 33 grade has 330 kg per sq cm of strength. PPC is considered to have strength equivalent to that of OPC 33 grade cement. Therefore, its strength is 330 kg per sq cm. These are the minimum strength requirements for each grade and type of cement to win ISI mark.

To be on safer side, the cement produced by cement manufacturers has much more strength than these minimum strength values. The buyer is therefore benefited on this account and gets better quality cement. Choice: From the above details, it becomes clear that some grades of Ordinary Portland Cement carry better strength than PPC.

Based on better strength, obvious choice of house builder shall, therefore, be 43 grade OPC or 53 grade OPC. Before finalising his choice, a house builder shall like to have a look at the difference in cost, presuming that 43 grade and 53 grade cement shall be much costlier than 33 grade cement or PPC.

In actual, it is not so. There is not much difference in cost of different grades of cement. Thus a house builder shall like to easily finalise his choice as 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement. Actual scene: Though a house builder will like to choose 43 grade or 53 grade cement for his house but actual picture is that these grades of cement are simply no more available in the market.

Not only these, even 33 grade OPC is also not available in the market. Only PPC is available in the market and one is forced to choose it. Some dealers promise the house builders to provide OPC 43 grade or 53 grade cement to them by making a special request to the manufacturer to arrange cement of these grades for them but manufacturers agree to their request only if a large lot of OPC is demanded.

1. Availability of dry fly-ash from the thermal plants has attracted the cement manufacturers to produce more quantity of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and minimize the production Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as the manufacturing cost of PPC proves much lesser than that of OPC to them.
2. This occurs because a substantial component of OPC clinker gets replaced with fly ash in PPC.

The percentage rests somewhere between 15 to 35 per cent. Fly ash is freely available to the manufacturers from thermal plants. Though production cost is less, the market rate of both types of cement i.e. OPC and PPC is almost the same. Important ingredient Every house builder wants to choose the best type and brand of cement for construction of his house.

• Now, people have become aware of the grades of cement also.
• Many of the queries received are about the grade, type and brand of cement.
• A house builder wants to decide the best brand and grade and type of cement, fix up his dealer for supply of its lots as and when asked by him and free himself for other jobs related to the construction of his house.

The decision, therefore, needs to be taken after thorough consideration. Freshness of cement : The cement lot chosen should be as fresh as possible. The cement bags carry the week and year of manufacture marked on them. A house builder should try to buy a freshly arrived lot with dealer.

Effort should be made to buy cement bags that are not more than two months old. Cement absorbs moisture from air and loses strength with time. In the latest IS code, Bureau of Indian standards has now made another provision that each bag of cement shall now carry the ‘Best before Date’ instruction. Earlier, no such instructions were given on cement bags.

Now, a buyer can check the date of manufacture and ‘best before date’ instruction on the cement bags and buy the lot of cement accordingly. The terms of choice Keeping in view the latest revision in IS code by BIS and other details as explained in the article, one may go ahead to finalise his choice of cement as under:

Look for OPC 43 grade cement or 53 grade cement, if available. If available, look for IS 269 mark on the bags along with grade of cement clearly mentioned on it. If OPC 43 grade or 53 Grade cement is not available, go ahead for buying PPC cement. In that case, look for IS 1489 Part I mark on the bags. Check the condition of cement bags. These must not be torn anywhere. The bags can be in jute or HDPE/PP or jute synthetic or multi-wall paper bags. Check the weight of Cement bags. See that net quantity of cement is 50 kg per bag, excluding the weight of bag. Most importantly, check the freshness of cement. Check the date of manufacture and newly introduced feature — ‘Best before date’— on the bags.

The writer is Engineer-in-Chief, Civil Engineering Dept in a Punjab PSU : Stay updated on cement standards

How do you determine the grade of concrete?

When choosing a method for concrete strength measurement and monitoring, it is important for project managers to consider the impact that each technique will have on their schedule. While so me testing p rocesses can be done directly onsite, others require extra time fo r concrete testing lab facilities to deliver strength data.

Time is not the only factor that contributes to project managers ‘ decisions. The accuracy of the testing process is just as important as it directly affects the concrete quality of the structure, Request a Virtual Demo of our SmartRock Wireless Sensor The most common method for monitoring the strength of in-situ concrete is the use of field-cured cylinders.

This practice has remained generally unchanged since the early 19 th century, These samples are cast and cured according to ASTM C31 and tested for compressive strength by a concrete testing lab at various stages. Usually, if the slab has reached 75% of its designed strength, engineers will give the go – ahead to their team to move on to the next steps in the construction process,

There have been many developments to speed up the curing process since this testing method was first introduced. This includes the use of heating blankets, additives, and vapor retarders, etc. However, contractors still wait three days after their pour before testing for strength, even though their targets are often reached much earlier than that,

Despite knowing that, many project managers prefer to stick to this testing practice because it is “the way it has always been done.” However, that does not mean this technique is the fastest and most accurate method for testing the strength of all their pours.

What is difference between 43 grade and 53 grade?

The differences between 53 Grade cement and 43 Grade Cement The differences between 53 Grade cement and 43 Grade Cement

Title	43 Grade	53 Grade
Introduction	The 43 grade OPC is a popular general-purpose cement in the country today.	The 53 Grade OPC cement is higher strength cement used for strength concrete.
Production	The production of 43-grade OPC is nearly 50 percent.	The production of 53-grade OPC is nearly 40-50 percent.
Setting	It sets less quick than OPC 53 cement.	It sets very quickly and it has low initial setting times.
IS Code	IS 8112	IS 12269
Complete strength at	Continues to gain strength after 28th days	Early strength gain Ultimate strength gain is the same for both cements.
The heat of hydration	Medium	Faster
Uses	It is basically used for PCC and RCC works and for the purpose of waterproofing, plastering, tiling, Brick and stone masonry, and Flooring. Also used for the Finishes of bridges, culverts, roads, and water retaining structures.	All structures like footing, column, beam, and slab. Precast concrete items such as paving blocks, blocks, railway sleepers, poles, etc.

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• Grade 43
• It is basically used for PCC and RCC works and for the purpose of waterproofing, plastering, tiling, Brick and stone masonry, and Flooring.
• Also used for the Finishes of bridges, culverts, roads, and water retaining structures.

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1. Grade 53
2. All structures like footing, column, beam, and slab.
3. Precast concrete items such as paving blocks, blocks, railway sleepers, poles, etc.

1 month ago : The differences between 53 Grade cement and 43 Grade Cement