Designation: D 2901 – 99

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS

100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

Standard Test Method for

Cement Content of Freshly Mixed Soil-Cement1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 2901; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope * 4. Significance and Use

1.1 This test method covers determination of the cement 4.1 This test method determines cement content in mixtures
content of samples of freshly-mixed soil-cement. of cement with soil or aggregate by chemical analysis. It was
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the developed primarily as a relatively quick test for use at the
safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the construction site to determine compliance with specifications.
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- The method is for materials tested soon after the completion of
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica- mixing; Test Method D 806 may be used for testing samples
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use. for which a significant degree of cement hydration or harden-
ing has taken place.
2. Referenced Documents
NOTE 1—Notwithstanding the statements on precision and bias con-
2.1 ASTM Standards: tained in this test method; the precision of this test method is dependent
D 806 Test Method for Cement Content of Soil-Cement on the competence of the personnel preforming it, and the suitability of the
Mixtures2 equipment and facilities used. Agencies which meet the criteria of Practice
D 1293 Test Methods for pH of Water3 D 3740 are generally considered capable of competent and objective
D 3740 Practice for Minimum Requirements for Agencies testing. Users of this test method are cautioned that compliance with
Engaged in the Testing and/or Inspection of Soil and Rock Practice D 3740 does not in itself assure reliable testing. Reliable testing
depends on many factors; Practice D 3740 provides a means of evaluating
as Used in Engineering Design and Contruction2 some of those factors.
D 4753 Specification for Evaluating, Selecting, and Speci-
fying Balances and Scales for Use in Testing Soil, Rock, 5. Apparatus
and Related Construction Materials2 5.1 Balance, meeting Specification D 4753 (Class GP2) and
E 11 Specification for Wire-Cloth Sieves for Testing Pur- having a capacity of 1000 g or more and a sensitivity of 0.1 g.
poses4 5.2 Glassware—A 25-mL and a 1000-mL graduated cylin-
3. Summary of Test Method der, 25-mL burets, 10-mL syringes or volumetric pipets,
250-mL beakers, medicine droppers.
3.1 A weighed sample of the fresh material passing a 4.75 5.3 Plasticware, 2-L (2-qt) polyethylene containers with
mm sieve is extracted with an ammonium chloride solution. snap-on covers, 300 mm (12-in.) diameter plastic funnel, 20-L
After allowing the sample to settle, an aliquot of the superna- polyethylene bottles for ammonium chloride and distilled or
tant is diluted with water. The pH is adjusted to 13 and demineralized water.
triethanolamine is added to complex interferants. The sample is 5.4 Buret Stand for 25-mL buret.
titrated with EDTA solution to the blue endpoint of hydrox- 5.5 Magnetic Stirrer and Stirring Bar.
ynaphthol blue indicator. The cement content is read from a 5.6 Stirring Rods, stainless steel stirring rods approximately
calibration curve prepared from titrations of several known 300 mm (12-in.) long.
cement content mixes made with the same water, soil, and 5.7 pH Meter, or Indicator Paper (pH range from 10 to
cement as the sample. 14)—A portable, combination-electrode pH meter is recom-
mended to obtain accurate results as the pH adjustment is
made. Indicator paper can be used as an alternate, but less
accurate, means of measuring the pH adjustment.
1
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D-18 on Soil
5.8 Sieve—A 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve conforming to the
and Rock and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D18.15 on Stabilization requirements of Specification E 11.
with Admixtures.
Current edition approved Jan. 10, 1999. Published April 1999. Original edition 6. Reagents
published as D 2901 – 70. Last previous edition D 2901 – 93.
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 04.08.
6.1 Purity of Reagents—Reagent grade chemicals shall be
3
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 11.01. used in all tests. Unless otherwise indicated, it is intended that
4
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.02.

*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.

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 D 2901
all reagents shall conform to the specifications of the Commit- total material passing the sieve. Mix the material passing the
tee on Analytical Reagents of the American Chemical Society, sieve and weigh a 300.0-g portion and titrate as described in
where such specifications are available.5 Other grades may be Section 9.
used, provided it is first ascertained that the reagent is of NOTE 2—If a correction is to be made for variations in water content,
sufficiently high purity to permit its use without lessening the determine the water content, w8, of a separate portion of the material
accuracy of the determination. passing a 4.75-mm sieve. Computations for the correction are given in
6.2 Ammonium Chloride Solution (10 %)—Transfer 2000 g Note 7.
of granular ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) to a 20-L plastic
bottle. Make up to 20 L with warm, distilled or demineralized 8. Preparation of Calibration Curve
water and mix well. 8.1 From the materials to be used for construction, prepare
6.3 EDTA Solution (0.1 M), is available as a standardized, three sets of duplicate samples at the design water content
pre-prepared solution from many chemical supply houses.6 Or, containing the following amounts of cement: Set 1, two
this solution may be prepared by the user as follows: Dissolve samples at 75 % of the design cement content, Set 2, two
74.45 g of disodium (ethylenedinitrilo) tetraacetate dihydrate samples at 100 % of the design cement content, and Set 3, two
(Na2C10H14N2O8·2H2O) powder in approximately 1 L of samples at 125 % of the design cement content.
warm, distilled or demineralized water in a beaker. Cool to NOTE 3—If necessary, additional calibration points may be established
room temperature, transfer quantitatively to a 2-L volumetric to cover a wider range of cement contents.
flask and dilute to the mark with distilled or demineralized For each sample calculate quantities of soil, cement, and water as
water. Store in a polyethylene bottle. follows:
6.4 Hydroxynaphthol Blue Indicator Powder. 7 Ms 5 S/@~1 1 w/100!~1 1 C/100!# (1)
6.5 Sodium Hydroxide Solution (50 %), is available as a
Mr 5 ~R/100! 3 Ms
low-in-carbonate, pre-prepared reagent.8 Dilute 1+1 with dis-
tilled or demineralized water for use. Mf 5 M s 2 Mr
6.5.1 Or, this solution may be prepared by the user as Mc 5 ~C/100! 3 Ms
follows: Very slowly and cautiously add 500 g of sodium Vw 5 ~w/100!~Ms 1 Mc
hydroxide (NaOH) pellets to 600 mL of distilled or deminer-
alized water and allow to cool to room temperature. Dilute to where:
w 5 design water content, percent by dry mass of soil and cement,
1 L with distilled or demineralized water. Store in a plastic
C 5 cement content, percent by dry mass of soil,
bottle. Dilute 1+1 with distilled or demineralized water for use. R 5 percent material retained on a 4.75-mm (No. 4) sieve,
6.6 Triethanolamine Solution (20 %)—Dilute 20 mL of S 5 sample size, 300.0 g when 100 % of the soil passes a 4.75-mm
reagent grade triethanolamine (HOCH2CH2)3N to 100 mL with sieve, 700.0 g when part of the soil is retained on a 4.75-mm
distilled or demineralized water. sieve.
6.7 pH 7 and pH 12.5 Buffer Solutions, used to calibrate pH Ms 5 total oven-dry mass of soil, g
Mr 5 mass of material retained on 4.75-mm sieve, g,
meter.
Mf 5 mass of material passing 4.75-mm sieve, g,
Mc 5 mass of cement, g, and
7. Sampling Vw 5 volume of water, mL.
7.1 Take representative samples of the soil-cement mixture For each sample mix the soil and cement thoroughly to a uniform color.
at the completion of mixing. Test the samples immediately or Add the water and mix thoroughly.
place in covered plastic containers and test within 30 min of the NOTE 4—The moisture content of air-dry soil will have a slight effect
completion of mixing. Depending on whether the sample on the accuracy of the calibration results. This may be corrected by using
quantities of soil and water calculated as follows:
contains material retained on a 4.75-mm sieve, follow either
7.1.1 or 7.1.2 below. Mf8 5 ~1 1 ws/100! 3 Mf (2)
7.1.1 For soil-cement mixtures with 100 % passing a Vw8 5 Vw 2 ~Mf8 2 Mf! (3)
4.75-mm sieve, weigh a 300.0-g portion and titrate as de-
scribed in Section 9. where:
ws 5 moisture content of air-dry soil passing 4.75-mm sieve, %.
7.1.2 For soil-cement mixtures with material retained on a
4.75-mm sieve, weigh a 700.0-g sample. Screen the sample 8.2 Depending on whether the sample contains material
thoroughly on a 4.75-mm sieve until all the material retained is retained on the 4.75-mm sieve, follow either 8.2.1 or 8.2.2 as
free of smaller adhering particles. Weigh and record as Mfcw the follows:
8.2.1 For soils with 100 % passing a 4.75-mm sieve, titrate
each 300.0-g sample as described in Section 9. After titrating
5
Reagent Chemicals, American Chemical Society Specifications, American the six samples, construct a graph showing millilitres of EDTA
Chemical Society, Washington, DC. For suggestions on the testing of reagents not solution versus percent cement by weight using average figures
listed by the American Chemical Society, see Analar Standards for Laboratory
Chemicals, BDH Ltd., Poole, Dorset, U.K., and the United States Pharmacopeia from Sets 1, 2, and 3.
and National Formulary, U.S. Pharmaceutical Convention, Inc. (USPC), Rockville, 8.2.2 For soils with material retained on a 4.75-mm sieve,
MD.
6
thoroughly screen each 700.0-g sample on the sieve until all
Available from Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA.
7 the material retained is free of smaller, adhering particles. Mix
Available from Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, St. Louis, MO, or Fisher
Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA. the material passing the sieve and weigh a 300.0-g portion and
8
Available from Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA. titrate as described in Section 9. After titrating the six samples,

2
 D 2901
construct a graph showing millilitres of EDTA solution, using 10.1.1 If 100 % of the soil-cement mixture passes a
average figures from Sets 1, 2, and 3, versus grams of cement, 4.75-mm sieve, read the cement content by dry weight of soil
Mc300, in a 300-g sample computed as follows: (exclusive of cement) directly from the calibration curve
Mc300 5 @300/~700 2 Mr!# 3 Mc· (4) corresponding to the titration results in millilitres of EDTA for
the test sample.
8.3 Calibration curves are different for each soil type and
may be nonlinear. 10.1.2 If the soil contains material retained on a 4.75-mm
8.4 Rerun calibration curve each time a new batch of sieve, read grams of cement from the calibration curve corre-
chemicals is introduced. sponding to the titration results in millilitres of EDTA for the
8.5 Inaccuracies result when the calcium content of test test sample. Calculate A and B as follows:
samples differs from that of the calibration samples. Calibra- A 5 ~Mfcw/300! 3 Mc300 (5)
tion tests should be rerun whenever the samples vary signifi- B 5 700/@1 1 ~w/100!# (6)
cantly in calcium content, as measured by titration tests on the
raw soils (Section 9). Inaccuracies may also result if the source where:
of water used in the calibration samples differs from that of the Mfcw 5 grams of moist soil and cement passing the
test sampler. 4.75-mm sieve described in 7.1.2,
Mc300 5 grams of cement read from calibration curve,
9. Procedure for Titration w 5 design water content, %,
9.1 Place each 300.0-g sample into a 2-L (2-qt) polyethyl- A 5 grams of cement in 700-g sample, and
ene container and add 500 mL of NH4Cl solution. Place a cover B 5 grams of soil and cement in 700-g sample
on the container and shake the mixture for 2 min 6 2 s. Allow Then compute C, percent cement by dry mass of total sample
the mixture to settle for 4 min 6 2 s to obtain a clear (exclusive of cement) as follows:
supernatant. Syringe or pipet a 10-mL aliquot of the superna- C 5 @A/~B 2 A!# 3 100 (7)
tant solution into a 250-mL beaker containing a magnetic
stirring bar, add 100 mL of distilled or demineralized water. NOTE 7—Variations of water content will have a slight effect on the
accuracy of test. Correction for water variation, C8, may be computed as
While thoroughly mixing on a magnetic stirrer, add drops of follows:
NaOH solution with a medicine dropper until a pH between
13.0 and 13.5 is obtained as measured by a pH meter or the 1 1 ~w8/100!
C8 5 3C (8)
indicator paper. When a pH meter is used, refer to Test 1 1 @Vw/~Mf 1 Mc!#
Methods D 1293 for calibration of the meter. When indicator where
paper is used, use a stirring rod to transfer drops of solution to C8 5 percent cement corrected for water variation,
the indicator paper. After adjusting the pH, wait about 20 to 30 C 5 percent cement determined from test sample,
s to insure that the pH does not drift downward from the w8 5 percent water of test sample as determined in Note 2, and
specified range. Add four drops of triethanolamine solution and Vw, Mf and Mc are quantities computed in Section 8 for calibration Set
add about 0.2 g of indicator powder. Continue stirring the 2.
solution on the magnetic stirrer. Titrate with EDTA solution to
a pure blue end point. Record the millilitres of EDTA required 11. Precision and Bias
to obtain the end point. 11.1 In the process of development of D 2901-70, interlabo-
NOTE 5—A sharper end point may be obtained by adding approxi- ratory testing programs were conducted in 1967 and 1968.
mately 90 % of the anticipated quantity of EDTA solution before the Results of these tests showed an average error in cement
addition of NaOH solution. content determination of 3.6 % [(error)/(cement con-
NOTE 6—All equipment must be kept scrupulously clean by thorough tent) 3 100] from which a coefficient of variation of 4.5 % is
rinsing with distilled or demineralized water. All reagents must be stored estimated. On duplicate specimens used in the calibration
in polyethylene containers.
process, the average deviation in millilitres of EDTA was 2.4 %
10. Calculation [(deviation in millilitres)/(average millilitres) 3 100].
10.1 Depending on whether the sample contains material
retained on a 4.75-mm sieve, follow either 10.1.1 or 10.1.2 12. Keywords
below. 12.1 cement content; soil-cement

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 D 2901
SUMMARY OF CHANGES

In accordance with D-18 policy, this section identifies the location of the changes to this standard since the
last edition (D 2901–93) that may impact the use of this standard.

(1) Added Practice D 3740 to Section 2, Referenced Docu- (3) Renumbered subsequent notes.
ments. (4) Summary of Changes section was added.
(2) Added Note 1 for the Practice D 3740 statement.

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