Comparative Studies of Physico-chemical Properties of Some Selected Cements in Nigeria

The aim of this study was to evaluate some physico-chemical properties of four major general purpose cement (As, Br, De and Sk) sold in Nigerian market using standard methods; due to the persistent collapse of buildings. The results showed that Br cement recorded the least CaO content (56.17%) while De cement had the highest CaO content being 63.48%. All the samples have Al2O3, SiO2 and Fe2O3 contents within the acceptable limits with the exception of De with SiO2 content being below the required standard. The MgO and SO3 compositions were generally below the recommended limit; C3S content in De was above the recommended limit while it was below the standard in As. The C3A, C4AF, LSR, AR and SR of all the brands of cement were within the recommended standards for general purpose cement, with the exception of SR in As. The longest setting time for the cement samples was recorded in Br; LOI and IR were significantly high in all the samples. Sk and Br cements had the highest compressive strength of 50.42 and 50.43 N/mm2 respectively after 28 days. The results indicate that the properties of the four brands of cement are comparable and are all of good quality