Vicat testing of cement, mortars and grout is an excellent method for determining consistency, set time and false set. It is necessary to determine consistency because the setting time of the cement or other material is affected by the amount of water. Too much water would reduce the material’s strength and not enough water would not allow the chemical reaction to complete, also resulting in strength reduction. The time elapsed between the addition of the water to the cement and the time it has attained sufficient firmness and completely lost its plasticity is considered to be the final setting time.

Vicat testing devices were designed to determine the consistency of softening points of materials that have no defined melting point, like cement. A number of different types of Vicat devices are available for specific applications, including these manual instruments that have been customized to adhere to various ASTM and AASHTO specifications.