CH 13 : ADMIXTURES

SCOPE
TYPES OF ADMIXTURES:
SET CONTROLLERS (ACCELERATORS AND

RETARDERS)
WATER REDUCERS PLASTICIZERS / SUPERPLASTICIZERS AIR-ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES VISCOSITY MODIFYING ADMIXTURES POZZOLANIC OR MINERAL ADMIXTURES OTHER SPECIALTY ADMIXTURES
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ACCELERATORS
PRIMARY FUNCTION: ACCELERATE EARLY STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT MOST COMMON ACCELERATOR: CaCl2 (Not suitable for RCC) AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES, ACCELERATORS MAY

CAUSE SHRINKAGE CRACKS DUE TO HIGH HOH

CaCl2 ACCELERATES HYDRATION OF CALCIUM SILICATES, MAINLY C3S

ACCELERATORS

DEPRESS

FREEZING

POINT

OF

CONCRETE BY ABOUT 20C NO SINGLE ACCELERATOR IS WIDELY ACCEPTED

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ACCELERATORS
WHEN CaCl2 IS USED AS AN ACCELERATOR IN COLD REGIONS, THE RESISTANCE OF AIR ENTRAINED CONCRETE TO FREEZING & THAWING AT LATER AGES IS ADVERSELY AFFECTED CaCl2 RAISES RESISTANCE OF CONCRETE EROSION AND ABRASION AT ALL AGES TO

DEMAND FOR ACCELERATORS HAS DECREASED, ESPECIALLY IN PRECAST CONCRETE AS OTHER MEANS TO ACHIEVE EARLY STRENGTH EXIST (eg. LOW w/c USING HRWR) HOWEVER, USE OF ACCELERATORS TEMPERATURE CONTINUES AT LOW
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RETARDERS
PRIMARY FUNCTION : DELAY SETTING OF CEMENT IN GENERAL, ALSO SLOW DOWN HARDENING OF PASTE USEFUL IN
HOT WEATHER CONCRETING PREVENTING FORMATION OF COLD JOINTS OBTAINING ARCHITECTURAL FINISH OF EXPOSED AGGREGATE ACHIEVING CONTINUOUS MASSIVE POURS INSTEAD OF SEGMENTAL CONSTRUCTION

COMMON RETARDER : Sugar WITH INCORRECT (HIGHER) QUANTITIES, THEY CAN TOTALLY INHIBIT THE SETTING & HARDENING ABOUT 0.05% OF SUGAR BY MASS OF CEMENT ACCEPTABLE AS RETARDER (4h DELAY IN SETTING)
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RETARDERS
0.2 TO 1% SUGAR BY MASS OF CEMENT CAN ACHIEVE AN INEXPENSIVE KILL SUGAR CAUSES VERY LESS EARLY STRENGTH, BUT HELPS IN ENHANCED STRENGTH BEYOND 7 DAYS (BECAUSE DELAYED SETTING PRODUCES DENSER HYDRATED CEMENT GEL) EFFECTIVENESS DEPENDS ON TIME OF ADDITION IN THE MIX (eg. ADDITION OF RETARDER AFTER 2 mins OF ADDITION OF WATER INCREASES RETARDATION, esp. @ HIGH C3A CONTENT) (BECAUSE ONCE SOME C3A HAS REACTED WITH GYPSUM, IT DOES NOT REQUIRE MUCH OF RETARDER, HENCE MORE OF THE RETARDER WOULD NOW BE AVAILABLE TO ACT ON THE CALCIUM SILICATES) 6

RETARDERS
EFFECT OF RETARDERS IS SMALLER AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES RETARDERS TEND TO INCREASE PLASTIC SHRINKAGE (BECAUSE THE DURATION OF PLASTIC STAGE IS EXTENDED) DRYING SHRINKAGE IS NOT AFFECTED BY RETARDERS

Source : ACI Education Bulletin

Source : PCA, Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures

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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURES (WRA)

PRIMARY FUNCTION : REDUCE WATER CONTENT (w) @ SAME WORKABILITY / ENHANCE WORKABILITY AT SAME w OR w/c (ADDITIONAL BENEFIT INCREASED
STRENGTH DUE TO LOWER w/c, HENCE LOWER CEMENT CONTENT => ECONOMY)

TYPES :
WATER REDUCERS (WR) ONLY WR & RETARDER WR & ACCELERATOR

COMMON WR CAN REDUCE w BY ABOUT 15% CONCRETE CONTAINING A WRA GENERALLY EXHIBITS LOW SEGREGATION AND GOOD FLOWABILITY EFFECTIVENESS OF WRA IS GREATEST WHEN USED WITH LOW ALKALI AND LOW C3A CONTENT
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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURES (WRA)

HIGHER DOSAGE OF WRA ENHANCES WORKABILITY, BUT ALSO CAUSES CONSIDERABLE RETARDATION. HOWEVER, LONG TERM STRENGTH IS UNAFFECTED WITH MANY WRAs, SLIGHT DELAY IN

INTRODUCTION (EVEN 20 secs) AFTER ADDITION OF

WATER IN THE MIX ENHANCES ITS PERFORMANCE SOME WRAs, esp. LIGNOSULFONATE BASED, MAY

HAVE SOME AIR ENTRAINING EFFECT (THEREBY

LESS STRENGTH) SOME WRAs INCREASE SHRINKAGE
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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURES (WRA)

EFFECTIVENESS OF WRA DEPENDS ON :
CEMENT CONTENT

WATER CONTENT
TYPE OF AGGREGATE USED PRESENCE OF AE AGENTS OR POZZOLANAS TEMPERATURE

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SUPERPLASTICIZERS (SP)
FUNCTION : IMPROVE WORKABILITY; PRODUCE HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE) THEY ARE WATER SOLUBLE ORGANIC POLYMES MAJORITY OF SPs ARE SODIUM SALTS (CAUSE HIGHER ALKALI CONTENT)

GENERALLY SPs CAN HELP REDUCE w AT GIVEN

WORKABILITY BY UPTO 35% (TWICE AS MUCH AS CONVENTIONAL WRAs)

MOST

SUPERPLASTICIZERS

DO

NOT

PRODUCE

APPRECIABLE SET RETARDATION THE EFFECT OF SPs DEPEND ON w/c

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SUPERPLASTICIZERS (SP)
SPs DO NOT ENTRAIN LARGE AMOUNS OF AIR; HENCE THEY CAN BE USED IN LARGER DOSAGES AS COMPARED TO WRAs

EFFECTIVENESS OF SP IS LIMITED IN DURATION, HENCE IT WOULD BE ADVANTAGEOUS TO ADD IT TO THE MIX IN TWO OR EVEN THREE OPERATIONS BUT, REPEATED REUSE OF SP MAY CAUSE / INCREASE BLEEDING AND SEGREGATION (HENCE SP-CEMENT COMPATIBILITY STUDIES ARE ESSENTIAL BEFORE HIGH DOSAGE / REPEATED REUSE)
SOMETIMES, SP USAGE MAY EFFECTIVENESS OF AE AGENT REDUCE THE
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AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES (AEs)

FUNCTION : STABILISE THE AIR VOIDS BY BREAKING THEM INTO MINISCULE SIZED BUBBLES (5 TO 80 MICRONS), BEARINGS
NOTE : ENTRAPPED AIR CAUSES VOIDS OF 10 TO 1000 MICRONS IN SIZE

WHICH

ACT

AS

FLEXIBLE

BALL

TYPES : NATURAL WOOD RESINS, ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FATS AND OILS, etc DUE TO THE BENEFITS OF AE CONCRETE, 85% OF USAs CONCRETE CONTAINS ONE OR OTHER AE AGENT
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VISCOSITY MODIFYING ADMIXTURES (VMA)

APPLICATIONS
TO PROVIDE STABILITY TO EXTREMELY FLOWABLE CONCRETE TO AVOID SEGREGATION TO PREVENT WASH-OUT OF CONCRETE IN UNDER-

WATER APPLICATIONS
THESE ADMIXTURES FIX PART OF THE MIX WATER AND HINDER ITS MOVEMENT, THUS INCREASING THE VISCOSITY OF THE MIX

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CORROSION INHIBITORS
THESE AGENTS INCREASE CORROSION

RESISTANCE BY :
PASSIVATION OF STEEL CONVERT THE FERROUS IONS AT ANODE INTO STABLE Fe2O3

FILM FORMING ISOLATE THE STEEL

RENDERING THE PASTE HYDROPHOBIC

TO BE EFFECTIVE, THESE ADMIXTURES HAVE TO BE

ADDED AT A DOSAGE UP TO 2% BY WEIGHT OF CEMENT VERY EXPENSIVE!
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OTHER SPECIALTY ADMIXTURES

ANTI FREEZE COMPOUNDS FREEZING PT OF WATER THEY LOWER

ALKALI SILICA REACTION MITIGATING ADMIXTURES : THEY BIND REACTIVE SILICA TO FORM NON EXPANSIVE COMPOUNDS
DAMP-PROOFING AND WATER-PROOFING ADMIXTURES GAS FORMING ADMIXTURES ALKALI-AGGREGATE ADMIXTURES EXPANSION INHIBITING

GROUTING ADMIXTURES
FUNGICIDAL, GERMICIDAL, INSECTICIDAL ADMIXTURES COLOURING ADMIXTURES, etc.
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