APPLICATION OF X-RAY DIFFRACTION TO ROUTINE MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PORTLAND CEMENT

A TECHNIQUE FOR THE APPLICATION OF QUANTITATIVE X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS /QXDA/ TO THE ROUTINE MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PORTLAND CEMENTS IS DESCRIBED. IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE TECHNIQUE ARE THE USE, WITH THE X-RAY DIFFRACTION UNIT, OF AN AUTHOMATIC SAMPLE CHANGER AND A DIGITAL DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM. EQUALLY IMPORTANT IS THE USE OF A COMPUTER TO ANALYZE THE RESULTS RECORDED ON PUNCHED PAPER TAPE. THE ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE INVOLVES THE FITTING OF COMPUTER-SYNTHESIZED CURVES TO EXPERIMENTAL X-RAY DIFFRACTION PATTERNS SO THAT THE SHAPES OF THE PATTERNS ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE ANALYSES. THE COMPUTER HAS BEEN PROGRAMMED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO DIFFICULTIES IN CURVE- FITTING SO THAT UNUSUAL FEATURES OF DIFFRACTION PATTERNS MAY BE RECOGNIZED. CALIBRATION OF THE QXDA METHOD HAS BEEN BASED ON THE DIFFRACTION PATTERNS OF A WIDE RANGE OF CAREFULLY ANALYZED CEMENTS PROVIDED BY THE PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION /PCA/, BUT THE CALIBRATION IS ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT OF THE PCAS X-RAY ANALYSES. ALSO, IN CONTRAST TO PREVIOUS X-RAY METHODS, THE NEW METHOD DOES NOT USE SYNTHETIC COMPOUNDS AT ANY STAGE OF THE CALIBRATION. ANALYTICAL RESULTS OBTAINED BY QXDA PROVIDE INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION THAT POTENTIAL COMPOUND COMPOSITION CALCULATIONS TEND TO OVERESTIMATE C3A ADVANTAGES OF THE METHOD FOR THE ROUTINE MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PORTLAND CEMENTS ARE /1/ SIMPLICITY OF OPERATIONS /2/ LOW COST FOR EACH ANALYSIS, /3/ HIGH SPEED /1 TO 2 HOURS/. /4/ PRECISION COMPARABLE TO POTENTIAL COMPOUND DETERMINATIONS, AND /5/ SENSITIVITY TO DIFFERENCES IN THE CRYSTALS OF THE CEMENT COMPOUNDS. /AUTHOR/

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Highway Research Board (HRB)

    Washington, DC   
  • Authors:
    • Berger, R L
    • Frohnsdorff, GJC
    • Harris, P H
    • Johnson, P D
  • Publication Date: 1966

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 234-253
  • Monograph Title: Symposium on structure of Portland cement paste and concrete
  • Serial:

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00212309
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Nov 18 1994 12:00AM