Expansive Cement

• Concrete made with ordinary Portland cement shrinks while setting due to loss of free water. Concrete also shrinks continuously for long time. This is known as drying shrinkage.
• Cement used for grouting anchor bolts or grouting machine foundations or the cement used in grouting the prestress concrete ducts, if shrinks, the purpose for which the grout is used will be to some extent defeated. There has been a search for such type of cement which will not shrink while hardening and thereafter. As a matter of fact, a slight expansion with time will prove to be advantageous for grouting purpose. This type of cement which suffers no overall change in volume on drying is known as expansive cement.
• Cement of this type has been developed by using an expanding agent and a stabilizer very carefully. Proper material and controlled proportioning are necessary in order to obtain the desired expansion.
• Generally, about 8-20 parts of the sulphoaluminate clinker are mixed with 100 parts of the
  Portland cement and 15 parts of the stabilizer. Since expansion takes place only so long as concrete is moist, curing must be carefully controlled. The use of expanding cement requires skill and experience.
• One type of expansive cement is known as shrinkage compensating cement. This cement when used in concrete, with restrained expansion, induces compressive stresses which approximately offset the tensile stress induced by shrinkage.
• Another similar type of cement is known as Self Stressing cement. This cement when used in concrete induces significant compressive stresses after the drying shrinkage has occurred. The induced compressive stresses not only compensate the shrinkage but also give some sort of prestressing effects in the tensile zone of a flexural member.