BRITISH STANDARD BS EN

480-6:2005

Admixtures for
concrete, mortar and
grout —
Test methods —
Part 6: Infrared analysis

The European Standard EN 480-6:2005 has the status of a

British Standard

ICS 91.100.10; 91.100.30

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BS EN 480-6:2005

National foreword

This British Standard is the official English language version of

EN 480-6:2005. It supersedes BS EN 480-6:1997 which is withdrawn.
The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted by Technical Committee
B/517, Concrete, to Subcommittee B/517/3, Admixtures, which has the
responsibility to:

— aid enquirers to understand the text;

— present to the responsible international/European committee any

enquiries on the interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep UK
interests informed;
— monitor related international and European developments and
promulgate them in the UK.

A list of organizations represented on this subcommittee can be obtained on

request to its secretary.
Cross-references
The British Standards which implement international or European
publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue
under the section entitled “International Standards Correspondence Index”, or
by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British
Standards Online.
This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a
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Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity
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Summary of pages
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the EN title page,
pages 2 to 5 and a back cover.
The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the
document was last issued.

Amendments issued since publication

This British Standard was
published under the authority Amd. No. Date Comments
of the Standards Policy and
Strategy Committee
on 30 December 2005

© BSI 30 December 2005

ISBN 0 580 47267 1

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 480-6
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM September 2005

ICS 91.100.10; 91.100.30 Supersedes EN 480-6:1996

English Version

Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout - Test methods - Part

6: Infrared analysis

Adjuvants pour béton, mortier et coulis - Méthodes d'essai - Zusatzmittel für Beton, Mörtel und Einpressmörtel -
Partie 6: Analyse infrarouge Prüfverfahren - Teil 6: Infrarot-Untersuchung

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 28 July 2005.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the Central Secretariat or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Central Secretariat has the same status as the official
versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION

COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 B-1050 Brussels

© 2005 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 480-6:2005: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
EN 480-6:2005 (E)

Contents

Page
Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................................3
1 Scope ...................................................................................................................................................4
2 Normative references .........................................................................................................................4
3 Principle...............................................................................................................................................4
4 Apparatus ............................................................................................................................................4
5 Procedure ............................................................................................................................................4
5.1 Preparation of the dry material ..........................................................................................................4
5.2 Infrared spectrophotometry ...............................................................................................................4
6 Results .................................................................................................................................................5
7 Test report ...........................................................................................................................................5

2
 EN 480-6:2005 (E)

Foreword
This European Standard (EN 480-6:2005) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 104
“Concrete and related products”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by March 2006, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at
the latest by March 2006.

It has been drafted by Subcommittee 3 (SC 3) of TC 104 "Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout".

This document is part of the series EN 480 "Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout – Test methods" which
comprises the following

Part 1 Reference concrete and reference mortar for testing

Part 2 Determination of setting time

Part 4 Determination of bleeding of concrete

Part 5 Determination of capillary absorption

Part 6 Infrared analysis

Part 8 Determination of the conventional dry material content

Part 10 Determination of water soluble chloride content

Part 11 Determination of air void characteristics in hardened concrete

Part 12 Determination of the alkali content of admixtures

Part 13 Reference masonry mortar for testing mortar admixtures

Part 14 Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout - Test methods - Part 14: Measurement of corrosion
susceptibility of reinforcing steel in concrete - Potentiostatic electro-chemical test method 1)

This document is applicable together with the other standards of the EN 480 series.

This document supersedes EN 480-6:1996.

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and United Kingdom.

1) This part is under preparation

3
EN 480-6:2005 (E)

1 Scope
This document describes a method for identifying an admixture by infrared analysis (IR).

2 Normative references

The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.

EN 480-8:, Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout - Test methods - Part 8: Determination of the
conventional dry material content.

3 Principle

The IR analysis is performed on dry material from an admixture dried at (105 ± 3) °C, unless a different
temperature is stated by the manufacturer.

The residue from the determination of the conventional dry material content according to EN 480-8 may be
used.

4 Apparatus

4.1 Infrared spectrometer with accessories (cells, pelleting press, NaCl windows, etc.);

4.2 Evaporating dish with a flat bottom ca. diameter 75 mm, depth 45 mm;

4.3 Desiccator;

4.4 Oven with forced ventilation2), thermostatically controlled at (105 ± 3) °C, fitted with a temperature
indicating device. The required temperature range shall be maintained throughout the parts of the oven used
for this test;

4.5 Balance with an accuracy of 0,5 g.

5 Procedure

5.1 Preparation of the dry material

The method given in EN 480-8 shall be used3).

5.2 Infrared spectrophotometry

Depending upon the consistence of the dry extract obtained, the test shall be carried out either on a thin film
spread on the NaCl window (or KBr or CsI window depending upon the equipment available) using a spatula,

2) Fan circulation is necessary to ensure uniform temperature throughout the oven.

3) Any water in the dry extract will affect the resulting IR spectrum. If this occurs, the period of drying should be extended
to remove all water but not to cause breakdown or evaporation of other constituents.

4
 EN 480-6:2005 (E)

or a KBr pellet. To make the pellet the dry residue shall be pulverised and mixed with potassium bromide
(KBr). The mixture shall be pressed into a pellet. The quantity of dry extract in the mixture shall be about 1 %
by mass and shall be adjusted so that a spectrum of good quality is obtained (e.g. from 0,25 % to 1,5 %).

The spectrum shall be recorded between 4 000 cm-1 and 600 cm-1 (or if possible up to 250 cm-1).4)

6 Results
The sample subjected to the test shall be regarded as conforming or non-conforming to the reference sample
on the basis of whether the spectra do or do not have similar characteristic peaks with corresponding relative
absorptions5).

7 Test report

The recorded spectra shall be identified by means of:

 name or code of the material with all information relating to its marking;

 date of the test, the name of the laboratory, the type of equipment, the name of the operator;

 origin of the sample;

 drying procedure;

 preparation of the samples, e.g. film or KBr pellet containing x %.

4) This procedure corresponds to the preparation of samples as generally adopted until now. The development of new
instruments may affect the method of preparing the sample.
These new methods may be accepted if they ensure an accuracy similar to that of the method described above.
5) Evaluation of the characteristic of conformity requires good experience in infrared spectrophotometry.

5
BS EN
480-6:2005
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