ADMIXTURES IN

13-10-2020
CONCRETE

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

1 By
Dr S. V. Deo
Associate professor
Civil Engg Deptt. NIT, Raipur
OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION

13-10-2020
 Water reducing admixtures
 Retarding and accelerating admixtures

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 Air entraining admixtures

 Viscosity modifying admixtures

 Silica fume

 Metakaolin

 Rice husk ash

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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 It is used to reduce the water content of a
concrete mix while maintaining a given
constant workability

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 As a result of reduction of water content it
can increase strength and durability
 Reduction of water content also reduces
cement in concrete. This reduces the cost
and shrinkage in concrete
 If water is not reduced, it may result in
higher workability and flow in concrete
 Better workability may also result in
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improved packing, strength and durability
WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 Classification of WRA
1. Normal (Plasticisers)

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2. High range (super and hyper plasticisers)

 Plasticisers reduce water by 5 to 15%

 Super plasticisers reduce water by 15 to

30%
 Hyper plasticisers can reduce 30 to 45%
water
 Lignosulfonate salts of calcium and sodium
are examples of plasticisers.
 Sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde 4

(SNF) polycarboxylic ether (PCE) are

WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 PCE based water reduces have made it
possible to prepare high strength concrete or
high flow concrete

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 WRA are supplied in power or liquid form

 As per water reducing requirements in liquid

form 10% to 40% molecules are mixed in
water and marketed as admixtures
 More the percentage of molecules higher is
the water reducing ability
 WRA dosage is fixed as percentage by mass
of cementitious materials 5
 13-10-2020 Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur
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EFFECT OF WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE
WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 The main action of long molecules is to wrap
themselves around the cement particles and
give them a highly negative charge so that

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

they can repel each other
 This results in deflocculation and dispersion
of cement particles
 Deflocculation releases the water hold by
flocculated cement particles. Hence it
provides higher workability for same water
added or allow reducing W/C for same
workability to increase strength
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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 Better distribution of water and cement
particles improves concrete properties due to
following reasons

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1. Maintaining similar W/C ratio in the mix

2. Avoiding regions of lower cement content

3. Proper hydration of cement particles

 Few researchers have quoted an increase of

compressive strength by 10% at 1 day and
20% at 28 days

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WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 In case of high strength concrete, water
content added by WRA must be deducted
from total water added

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 Possible disadvantages of WRA are

1. Larger dose retards setting

2. Improper mix may cause bleeding

3. Entrain air

 Incompatible WRA may cause following

problems
1. Flash or delayed setting

2. Improper early age strength 9

3. Lower durability
WATER REDUCING ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 Compatibility between cement and WRA
depends on cement composition, admixture
type and dosage and concrete mix

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

proportion
 WRA are speciality chemicals and hence their
dosage must be fixed after laboratory trials
 Over dosage or under dosage may produce
poor quality concrete
 WRA is an active chemical and hence must
be stored below 210 C
 WRA particles may settle in liquid WRA,
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hence must be used after proper mixing
SHRINKAGE REDUCING ADMIXTURE (SRA)

13-10-2020
 SRA provides a technical approach to reduce
the drying shrinkage of concrete

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 SRA is liquid organic compound consisting of
a blend of propylene glycol derivatives

 Literatures have reported that SRA can

reduce long term drying shrinkage by 50%

 Along with proper curing shrinkage could be

negligible 11
SHRINKAGE REDUCING ADMIXTURE (SRA)

13-10-2020
 SRA reduces the surface tension of pore
solution and subsequently reduces the stress
in pore solution

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 With the reduction of driving stress, drying
shrinkage can be reduced

 With reduction of surface tension evaporation

of water is also reduced

 Addition of SRA also improves hydration due 12

to higher availability of water for hydration

SETTING CONTROL ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 They are used to either extend or shorten
the plastic stage of concrete to meet the
special requirements of the construction

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industry
 Mechanism: the setting phenomenon of
Portland cement paste signals the end of the
plastic stage of the concrete
 It is a result of the progressive crystallisation
of the hydration products
 To influence the rate of setting, one has to
change the rate of crystallisation by adding
certain soluble chemicals to cement water 13

system to influence the ion dissolution rate

SETTING CONTROL ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 A hydrating portland cement paste is
composed of certain anions (silicate and
aluminate) and cations (calcium)

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 The solubility of each is dependent on the
type and concentration of the acid and base
ions present in the solution
 The setting will be speeded up when
dissolution rates of cations and anions are
higher
 On the other hand, setting will be slowed
down when dissolution rates of cations and
anions are lower 14
SETTING CONTROL ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 There is also a monotonic retarding agent.
These kind of retarders reduce the solubility
of anhydrous constituents from cement by

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forming insoluble and impermeable products
around the cement particles or delaying the
bond formation among hydration products
 Once insoluble and dense coatings are
formed around the cement grains, further
hydration slows down considerably
 Water reducing admixtures, sugar and
carbonated beverages belong to these
categories 15
SETTING CONTROL ADMIXTURE

13-10-2020
 Applications:
1. RMC concrete

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

2. Hot weather concrete

3. Cold weather concrete

4. Under water construction

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AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES

13-10-2020
 An air entraining admixture contains surface
active agents having hydrophobic and
hydrophilic poles

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 The agents are concentrated at the air-water
interface
 The hydrophilic side is with water and the
hydrophobic side is with air
 The tension is lowered so that bubbles can
form more readily and then stabilise once
they are formed
 Commonly carboxylic acid or sulfonic acid
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groups are used on hydrophilic side
AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES

13-10-2020
 Aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons are used
on hydrophobic side

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 The entrained air is produced by admixtures
that cause the mixing water to foam and the
foam is locked into the paste during
hardening
 Entrained air voids usually range from 50 to
200 micron, entrapped air voids may be up
to 3 mm

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AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES

13-10-2020
 Advantages:
1. The workability of concrete improves due to

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lubricating effect of air bubbles in fresh
concrete
2. The ductility of concrete improves, as the
air bubbles provide more room for
deformation
3. Impact resistance of concrete improves, as
the ductility is more

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AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES

13-10-2020
4. Resistance to freezing and thawing
improves. This is because, in addition to
improved permeability, the small air

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bubbles in concrete provide space to
release the pressure generated during ice
formation in the freezing process, which
prevent concrete from cracking and damage
 A strength loss of 10 to 20% is reported
due to addition of Air entraining admixture
 4 to 8% volume of air required to provide
satisfactory performance against freeze and
thaw 20
AIR ENTRAINING ADMIXTURES

13-10-2020
 Actual requirement of air entrainment
depends upon the maximum size of
aggregate. The larger the aggregate size, the

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lower the requirement of air content. This is
because, more paste is required to provide
similar workability for concrete with smaller
size of coarse aggregate due to surface
coating requirement

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VISCOSITY MODIFYING AGENT (VMA)

13-10-2020
 VMA was invented for SCC, however now a
days it is also used for normal concrete to
reduce bleeding and segregating tendency of

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

normal concrete due to poor grading
 In SCC super plasticiser and VMA are
incorporated
 Super plasticiser can decrease the yield
stress in SCC with a limited influence on
viscosity
 The incorporation of VMA can significantly
improve the cohesiveness of SCC
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VISCOSITY MODIFYING AGENT (VMA)

13-10-2020
 VMA are water soluble polymers and can
dissolve in mixing water and absorb cement
particles

Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur

 The polymer can hold water tightly and
provide sufficient adhesion to the aggregates
 Incorporation of 0.07 to 1% by mass of
cementitious materials of Welan gum VMA in
a highly fluid concrete significantly reduces
the bleeding by more than 85% and the
segregation by 45%

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VISCOSITY MODIFYING AGENT (VMA)

13-10-2020
 In SCC requirement of workability or flow is
controlled by super plasticiser while the
required segregation is stability (viscosity) is

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adjusted by VMA

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13-10-2020 Civil Engineering Department, NIT Raipur
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Thank you for
your interest