PRESENTED

BY
Ashok Kumar
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 Admixtures are the chemical compounds in concrete, other

than,

Cement

Water

Aggregate

 That is used as an ingredient of concrete and is added to

the batch immediately before or during mixing.

 Admixtures are used to modify the properties of ordinary

concrete so as to make it more suitable for any situation.

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 History of admixtures is as old as the history
of concrete. It embraces a very vast field,
but a few type of admixtures called Water
Reducers or High Range Water Reducers,
generally referred as plasticizers and
superplasticizers, are of recent interest.

 Specially developed in Japan & Germany

around 1970.

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 Later on they were made popular in USA and
Europe even in middle East and Far
East.Unfortunately, the use of Plasticizers
and Superplasticizers have not become
popular in India till recently (1985).

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 To modify properties of fresh & hardened
concrete

 To ensure the quality of concrete during mixing,

transporting, placing & curing

 Properties commonly modified are rate of

hydration, setting times, workability, etc.

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 Admixture with large quantity of chloride may
affect the corrosion of Pre-stressing steel.

 Excess quantity may be detrimental to the

properties of concrete.

 Most admixtures are supplied in liquid form.

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 Increase slump and workability
 Retard or accelerate initial setting
 Reduce or prevent shrinkage
 Modify the rate or capacity for bleeding
 Reduce segregation
 Retard or reduce heat evolution during early
hardening
 Increase strength (compressive, tensile, or
flexural)
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 Decrease permeability of concrete
 Increase bond of concrete to steel
reinforcement
 Increase bond between existing and new
concrete
 Improve impact and abrasion resistance
(hardness)
 Inhibit corrosion of embedded metal;
 Decrease weight of the concrete
&
 Produce colored concrete.

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 Most admixtures are supplied in a ready-to-

use form and added at plant or jobsite.

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 Chemical admixtures

 Mineral admixtures

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 According to characteristics effects
produced by them chemical admixtures used
are as follows.
 Plasticizers
 Super Plasticizers
 Retarders and retarding admixtures
 Accelerators and Accelerating Plasticizers
 Air-entraining admixtures

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 Grouting admixtures

 Air – detraining admixtures

 Gas – forming admixtures

 Corrosion inhibiting admixtures

 Shrinkage reducing admixtures

 Water or damp proofing and permeability

reducing admixtures

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 Cementitious

 Pozzolanic

 Ground Granulated Blast Furance Slag

(GGBS)

 Fly ash

 Silica Fume

 Rice Husk
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 Flocculated fines cause an increase in
viscosity by entrapping a part of the water
and by physically resisting the flow.

 It may be necessary to add more water to

increase fluidity but it reduces the strength
of the concrete.

 It is necessary to deflocculate the system.

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 These admixtures are used for following
purposes:

 To achieve a higher strength by decreasing the

water cement ratio at the same workability as
an admixture free mix.

 To achieve the same workability by decreasing

the cement content so as to reduce the heat of
hydration in mass concrete.

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 To increase the workability so as to ease placing
in accessible locations

 Water reduction more than 5% but less than 12%

 The commonly used admixtures are Ligno-

sulphonates and hydrocarbolic acid salts.

 Plasticizers are usually based on

lignosulphonate, which is a natural polymer,
derived from wood processing in the paper
industry.

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Dispersion:
 Portland cement being in fine state will have a
tendency to flocculate in wet concrete, these
flocculation entraps certain amount of water
used in the mix.

 When its used, they get adsorbed on the cement

particles,creates particle to particle repulsive
forces which overcome the attractive forces.

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 This repulsive force is called Zeta Potential,
which depends on the base, solid content,
quantity of plasticizer used.

 When cement particles are deflocculated, the

water trapped inside the flocs gets released &
now available to fluidify the mix.
Lubricating:

 The agents are organic by nature, thus they lubricate

the mix reducing the friction and increasing the
workability.
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Retarding Effect:
 Plasticizers get adsorbed on the surface of the
cement particles and form a thin sheath.

 This sheath inhibits the surface hydration

reaction between water and cement as long as
sufficient plasticizers molecules are available.

 Quantity of plasticizers will decrease as the

polymers become entrapped in hydration
products.

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The following mechanisms may take place
simultaneously:
 Reduction in the surface tension of water.
 Induced electrostatic repulsion between particles of
cement.
 Lubricating film between cement particles.
 Dispersion of cement grains, releasing water trapped
within cement flocs.
 Inhibition of the surface hydration reaction of the
cement particles, leaving more water to fluidify
the mix.

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 Negative charge on individual cement
particles such that they kept in dispersed
state.

 They are chemically different from

normal plasticizers.

 Reduce water requirement by 12-30%

 The mechanism is more or less same as

the plasticizers
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 To produce flowing concrete: Slump more than
≥200mm and produce self compacting. No
segregation & Bleeding.

 To produce low w/c: Water reduction 30-40%

and w/c up to 0.25.

 To produce high performance concrete

 To produce concrete reduced cement content.

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 No plasticizers

With 0.3 per cent superplasticizer

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 They flowing concrete with very high slump
in the range of 175-225 mm to be used in
heavily reinforced structures

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 Significant water reduction

 Reduced cement contents

 Increased workability

 Reduced effort required for placement

 More effective use of cement
 More rapid rate of early strength development;

 Increased long-term strength; &

 Reduced permeability.

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High Passing ability:

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 Additional admixture cost

 Slump loss greater than conventional

concrete

 Less responsive with some cement

 Mild discoloration of light-colored concrete

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 Sulphonated malaine-formaldehyde

condensates (SMF)

 Sulphonated naphthalene-formaldehyde

condensates (SNF)

 Modified lignosulphonates (MLS)

 Polycarboxylate derivatives

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 Copolymer of carboxylic acrylic acid
with acrylic ester (CAE)

 Cross linked acrylic polymer (CLAP)

 Polycarboxylate ester (PC)

 Multicarboxylate ethers (MCE)

 Combination of above

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 Retarding admixtures delay hydration of cement.

 To delay or extend the setting time of cement

paste in concrete.

 These are helpful for concrete that has to be

transported to long distance, and helpful in placing
the concrete at high temperatures.

 Used in casting and consolidating large number

of pours without the formation of cold joints

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 Used in grouting oil wells.
 Commonly known retarder is Calcium sulphate.

 Appropriate amount of gypsum to be used must

be determined carefully.

 Use of gypsum is recommended when adequate

inspection and control is available.

 Otherwise addition of excess amount may cause

undesirable expansion and indefinite delay in
setting of concrete.

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 Many a time this extent of retardation of
setting time offered by natures will not be
sufficient. Instead of adding retarders
separately, retarders are mixed with
plasticizers or super plasticizers at the time
of commercial production.
 Such commercial brand is known as
retarding plasticizers or retarding
superplastizers.

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 Retarding plasticizers or superplastizers are
important category of admixtures.

 Used in Ready mixed concrete Industry for

the purposes of retaining the slump loss,
during high temperature, long transportation,
to avoid construction or cold joints, slip form
construction regulation of heat of
hydration.

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 Accelerating admixtures are added to
concrete to shorten the setting time &
increase the rate of hardening & strength
development of concrete.
 Its increase in the rate of hydration of the
hydraulic cement.
 These are used in cold weather conditions
(below 5˚C or 41˚F)

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 Some widely used and effective chemicals
that accelerate the rate of hardening of concrete
mixtures, including
 calcium chloride,
 other chlorides,
 triethanolamine,
 silicates,
 fluorides,
 alkali hydroxide,
 nitrites, nitrates,& formates.

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 Reduced bleeding,
 Earlier finishing, reduce period of curing
 Improved protection against early exposure
to freezing and thawing,
 Earlier use of structure,
 Reduction of protection time to achieve a
given quality,
 Early removal of form, and
 In some case, early load application.

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 Certain Ingredients are added to accelerate the
strength development of concrete to plasticizers or
super plasticizers. Such accelerating super
plasticizers, when added to concrete result in faster
development of strength
 The accelerating materials added to plasticizer or
superplasticizers are triethenolamine chlorides,
calcium nutrite, nitrates and flousillcates etc.,
 The accelerating plasticizers or accelerating super
plasticizers manufactured by well known companies
are chloride free

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 Microscopic air bubbles intentionally incorporated in
mortar or concrete during mixing, usually by use of a
surface-active agent; typically between 10 &1000 μm in
diameter and spherical or nearly so.

♫ It is the process whereby many small air bubbles are

incorporated into concrete and become part of the
matrix that act as flexible bearings and will modify the
property of plastic concrete regarding workability.

♫ These air bubbles are dispersed throughout the hardened

cement paste

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 When water evaporates, leaving little pores in its place.

 Environmental water can later fill these voids.

 During freeze-thaw cycles, the water occupying those

pores expands and creates stresses which lead to tiny

cracks.

 By the application of air bubbles in the concrete reduces

or absorsb stresses from freezing.

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The air voids present in concrete can be
brought under two groups:
a) Entrained air
b) Entrapped air

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 Natural wood resins
 Animal and vegetable fats and oils such as tallow,
olive oil and their fatty acids such as stearic and
oleic acids
 Various wetting agents such as alkali salts or
sulphonated organic compounds
 Water soluble soaps of resins acid
 Miscellaneous materials such as sodium salts of
petroleum sulphonic acids, hydrogen peroxide
and aluminum powder, etc

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 Type and quantity of air entraining agents used

 Water cement ratio of mix

 Type and grading of aggregates

 Mixing time

 Temperature

 Type of cement

 Influence of compaction

 Admixtures other than air entraining agents used

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 Water/cement ratio: At intermediate w/c ratio (0.4-

0.6) abundant air bubbles will be produced.

 The sand fraction of 300 and 150 microns showed a

significant effect on the quantity of air entrainment.

 The amount of air entrainment is found to increase

with the mixing time upto a certain time and

thereafter with prolonged mixing the air

entrainment gets reduced.

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 The amount of air entrainment decreases as the temperature

of concrete increases.

 Cement especially the alkali content plays an important part

in the entrainment of air in concrete.

 It is estimated that as much as 50 per cent of the entrained

air may be lost after vibration for 2 1/2 minutes and as much

as 80 per cent may be lost by vibration for 9 minutes.

 The use of fly ash and calcium chloride may limit the air

entrainment.
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Air entrainment will effect directly the
following three properties of concrete

 Increased resistance to freezing and

thawing

 Improvement in workability

 Reduction in strength

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 Incidentally Air entrainment will affect
the properties in following ways:
 Reduces the tendencies of segregation
 Reduces the bleeding and laitance
 Decreases the permeability
 Increases the resistance to chemical attack
 Permits reduction in sand content, water
content, cost, & heat of hydration
 Reduces unit weight, alkali aggregate reaction,
the modulus of elasticity
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 Plasticizers, superplasticizers, & Air-
entraining admixtures is mostly used.
 Superplasticizers is widely used all over the
world.
 India is catching up with the use of
superplasticizer in the construction of high
rise buildings, long span brides
 Because It reduced cement content,
increased workability, & increased strength.
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♫ Concrete Technology - M.S.Shetty

♫ www.aboutcivil.com

♫ www.concrete.org

♫ www.pdhengineer.com

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