LimsPulse
Construction materials testing

Vicat Apparatus

A weighted sliding rod with interchangeable plunger and needles used to find the standard consistency of cement paste and its initial and final setting times.

  • Cement manufacturing
  • Construction materials testing
  • Ready-mix concrete
  • Admixture manufacturers
  • Academic labs
Photo of a Vicat Apparatus
Photo: Habib M’henni, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
CALIBRATION

Vicat calibration procedures

Needle and plunger dimension check

Measures the plunger, initial and final setting needles, mould and moving mass of the Vicat apparatus and checks them against the specified dimensions.

Open procedure
QUALIFICATION

Instrument qualification (DQ · IQ · OQ · PQ)

  1. 01

    DQ — Design qualification

    Specifies an apparatus conforming to the relevant IS / ASTM apparatus standard, with plunger, both needles, mould and base plate, and whether a manual or automatic instrument is needed.

  2. 02

    IQ — Installation qualification

    Checks the frame is level and stable, all attachments are present, and certificates of dimensions are supplied.

  3. 03

    OQ — Operational qualification

    Checks dimensions of needles, plunger and mould, total moving mass, free sliding and scale accuracy.

  4. 04

    PQ — Performance qualification

    Tests a reference or control cement and compares consistency and setting times with known values or proficiency-test results.

In LimsPulse · Calibration Management

Keep every Vicat in control: usage logs, calibration and maintenance schedules, and automatic blocking of overdue instruments.

See how