Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2000

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

N. Mike Jackson

Committee Members

R. M. Berry, William A. Miller Jr., Hal Deatherage

Abstract

A proprietary colloidal mill device was evaluated in the Civil Engineering laboratory at the University of Tennessee with respect to its ability to reduce the mean particle size of Type I Portland cement to sizes typical of micro-fine cement.

The Coulter Multisizer II equipment was used for the evaluation of the particle size of the slurry produced by the colloidal mill. The main reason for electing the use of Coulter Multisizer II was that results obtained during base line testing demonstrated that this equipment is very reliable. The other factor that is equally important is the speed in obtaining test results with the Coulter Multisizer II as compared to other available methods.

The effect of the particle size reduction (after mill process) on cement-slurry viscosity was studied by performing flow cone test. It was observed that improved dispersion has the effect of reducing the viscosity of the water-cement mix.

Also the effect of the particle size reduction (after mill process) on the compressive strength of sand-cement grout made from the resulting cement was also studied by forming grout cubes, which were tested for compressive strength in the laboratory.

Test results indicate that the subject mill is ineffective in reducing the mean particle size of the Type I Portland cement. In addition, the compressive strength tests showed no improvement in the strength of the grout, which was another compelling piece of evidence that there was no appreciable particle size reduction.

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