White cement, its production and application

Even those people who are not particularly versed in the construction industry, probably know that it is impossible to create a modern building without the use of cement. Specialists in this field can tell more - about its types and brands, which have quite different qualitative characteristics and cost, special interesting are the unusual shades of this material, for example, white cement.

It has found its application in the manufacture of high-quality artificial stone. The material is an indispensable basis for the creation of concrete, both colored and white, quality dry glue mixtures. From it, decorative moldings for decoration of premises, staircases, curbs, columns are made.

In addition to its original color, white cement is a substance that has good weather resistance, frost resistance, does not react to the influence of sulfates, and possesses a high degree of strength. Of the main drawbacks inherent in it, it should be noted that the rate of curing is slow, lower than that of gray cement, corrosion resistance, increased shrinkage.

Manufacturing process

The quality and decorative properties of this building material are largely determined by the special technologies of its construction. The raw material in this production can be limestone and kaolin, having a minimum manganese and iron oxide capacity, which imparts a gray color to the usual cement. To prevent possible contamination, clinker burning is carried out in furnaces working on petroleum products, the use of gravel instead of conventional metal balls helps to exclude clinker contamination from grinding. As you can see, white cement, the price for which is slightly higher than its gray "counterparts", has a more complex and expensive manufacturing technology.

Application area

White cement is used as a basis for the production of white concrete and color, and in order to achieve the highest quality of the colored material, a joint grinding of the clinker with the pigment pigment is used at the stage of cement production.

High aesthetic characteristics of the material allow not to expose the surfaces made from it with finishing, but if desired they can be roughened or mirror smooth. Interesting in appearance, the terrazzo material, surprisingly similar to natural stone, is obtained by adding marble chips to the concrete. Original brick walls look , when laying they used a solution of white color or having an unusual beautiful shade.

Important is the high reflectivity of surfaces made of white cement. This property of the material is readily used by builders in the construction of tunnels and roads in order to improve traffic safety at night.

Since white cement is somewhat unusual, before buying it, care must be taken to ensure that the machines and tools that are in contact with it are clean and free of rust. The water that will be used to prepare the solution must also be clean. Steel reinforcement must be covered with a layer of gray concrete before carrying out the work.

For those who are going to use white cement, you can specify that it is produced under two brands: M500 and M400, the degree of whiteness of the material is determined by its grade (there are 3 varieties). Produce white cement in Russia, Turkey, superb white material of the highest quality is supplied by Denmark.