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For your application in the building materials industry, NEXOPART has everything you need for quality assurance. | © NEXOPART

Application in the construction materials industry

NEXOPART provides the construction materials industry with highly precise particle size analysis solutions, supporting reliable quality control in construction materials laboratories. The range of applications covers a wide variety of typical construction materials, including sands, soils, and concrete aggregates, as well as gravel, crushed stone, asphalt, rocks, and earth materials. NEXOPART focuses specifically on testing and analytical tasks, such as standards-compliant sieve analysis using vibratory sieve shakers or air jet sieving machines.

NEXOPART has the optimum user solution for analyzing building materials and asphalt

Cement: the application example for the construction materials industry

Cement is the foundation of concrete production and an indispensable construction material in the building industry. Concrete is used in the construction of bridges, houses, and tunnels and plays a key role in the development of modern infrastructure. Therefore, testing the quality of raw meal used in cement production is of utmost importance. Only precise analysis can ensure that cement meets the highest quality and safety standards. A reliable analytical instrument is essential for accurate and efficient quality control.

For the precise determination of cement fineness, the NEXOPART e200 LS Air Jet Sieving Machine, with a measuring range from 10 µm to 4 mm, is the ideal solution. This analytical instrument optimizes quality control by significantly reducing testing times and minimizing human error. Thanks to automatic sieve recognition via RFID and automatic weight recording, the testing process becomes more efficient. The high level of detail in the measurement results enables rapid responses to production deviations, allowing adjustments to be made quickly and precisely. With these accurate analysis results, you gain a comprehensive understanding of material quality.

 

Industry Brochure Cement

NEXOPART Downloads | © NEXOPART

Learn more about the application in cement using the e200 LS.

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The sieving process of the NEXOPART e200 LS | © NEXOPART

For cement quality control: e200 LS Air Jet Sieving Machine

The e200 LS Air Jet Sieving Machine demonstrates its advantages particularly when analyzing very fine powders that tend to agglomerate and clog the test sieve. Inside the sieving chamber, a slotted nozzle rotates in combination with a powerful industrial vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner generates a vacuum within the sieving chamber, while the narrow slit of the nozzle accelerates the air flowing upward through the sieve from below. The particles resting on the sieve are briefly loosened and dispersed against the lid by this airflow before being captured by the vacuum and transported downward through the sieve openings. The coarse fraction remains on the sieve and is weighed again at the end of the separation process. The result: ultrafine particles are separated quickly, accurately, and efficiently.

Sieve analysis with sample quantities up to 30 g
NEXOPART Mesh sizes 5 µm - 125 mm | © NEXOPART
Measuring range from 10 µm to 4 mm
Upgradeable at any time
Simple and user-friendly operation

Standards and regulations for sieve analysis in the cement industry 

DIN and ASTM standards are of great importance for ensuring the comparability of analysis results. The NEXOPART e200 LS Air Jet Sieving Machine complies with DIN EN 196-6. This standard describes air jet sieving as a method for determining the fineness of cement. Fine and often cohesive cement particles can lead to unreliable results with conventional sieving methods. In contrast, the air jet sieving method effectively separates the particles and ensures representative results. In addition, the e200 LS complies with ASTM C 1891:2020, a standard test method for determining the fineness of hydraulic cement by air jet sieving using a 45 µm (No. 325) sieve.

Frequently asked questions about cement

For which applications in the construction materials industry does NEXOPART offer solutions?

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NEXOPART provides precise particle size analysis solutions for the construction materials industry. The range of applications includes construction materials such as sands, soils, concrete aggregates, gravel, crushed stone, asphalt, rocks, and earth materials. NEXOPART focuses specifically on testing and analytical tasks commonly performed in construction materials laboratories, such as traditional sieve analysis using vibratory sieve shakers and air jet sieving machines.

What is cement made of?

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Cement is a hydraulic binder that hardens through a chemical reaction with water. Its composition varies depending on the type of cement but follows clearly defined specifications such as the DIN EN 197-1 standard. Cement is produced by firing a raw meal mixture consisting of limestone, clay, sand, and iron ore. Depending on the cement type, the standard permits various additional main constituents, including ground granulated blast-furnace slag, volcanic rock powders, siliceous fly ash, and burnt shale. Cement may also contain small amounts of additives, such as gypsum or anhydrite to regulate setting time, as well as organic additives (up to 0.2 percent) that can, for example, improve workability.

What tests are performed for cement quality assurance?

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Numerous standards-compliant tests are carried out to ensure cement quality, verifying that composition, workability, and strength meet the required specifications. The most important testing methods are divided into chemical, physical, and mechanical tests. In the field of physical testing, NEXOPART supports these processes with its particle measurement instruments. These tests determine fundamental parameters such as particle size distribution and density.  Fineness, a key parameter in cement testing, is determined through sieve analysis in accordance with DIN EN 196-6. The NEXOPART e200 LS Air Jet Sieving Machine is ideally suited for this application. The instrument also complies with ASTM C 1891:2020, a standard test method for determining the fineness of hydraulic cement by air jet sieving using a 45 µm sieve (No. 325). This allows process and production controls, based on regular sampling of raw materials and laboratory analyses, to be compared reliably through reproducible measurement results.

Why is determining the particle size distribution of cement important?

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Determining the particle size distribution of cement is crucial for several reasons related to the quality, workability, and performance of the resulting concrete or mortar. For example, particle size distribution influences the density of the hardened cement paste and the formation of hydration products. A well-graded particle size distribution results in a denser microstructure and therefore higher strength. In contrast, an unfavorable particle size distribution increases porosity and reduces durability.