German University in Cairo

CIS 401: Material Properties and Testing II

CIS 401:
Material Properties and
Testing II

Agenda
➢ Introduction to admixtures
➢ Types of Admixtures
➢ Why Admixtures??
➢ Air entrainers
➢ Water reducers
➢ Retarders
➢ Hydration controller admixtures
➢ Accelerators
➢ Specialty admixtures
➢ Types based on commercial classification and ECP
➢ Supplementary Cementitious Admixtures ??

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 Introduction to admixtures

Admixtures in concrete
▪ Often, instead of using a special cement, it is possible to change some
of the properties of the most commonly used cements by incorporating
a suitable additive or an admixture.
▪ A great number of additives products are available; their desirable
effects are described of the manufacturers.
▪ Precautions should be considered but some other effects may be
unknown.
▪ Some admixtures are charged into the mix as solutions.

Cont.

Types of Admixtures
Admixtures are classified by the following chemical and
functional physical characteristics:
1) Air entrainers
2) Water reducers
3) Retarders
4) Hydration controller admixtures
5) Accelerators
6) Specialty admixtures

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Types of Admixtures

Types of Admixtures

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 Why Admixtures??

Mostly, Why ?????

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) identifies four major reasons for using
admixtures (Kosmatka et al., 2008)

1) to reduce the cost of concrete used

2) to achieve certain properties in concrete more effectively than by other
means
3) to ensure quality of concrete during the stages of mixing, transporting,
placing, and curing in adverse weather conditions
4) to overcome certain emergencies during concrete operations

Cont.

Air entrainers

✓ Air entrainers produce tiny air bubbles in the hardened

concrete to provide space for water to expand upon
freezing
✓ As moisture within the concrete pore structure freezes,
different mechanisms contribute to the development of
internal stresses in the concrete.
✓ Internal stresses reduce the durability of hardened
concrete, especially when cycles of freeze and thaw are
repeated many times.

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 Cont.

Air entrainers
All concrete contains entrapped air voids, which have
diameters of 1 mm or larger and which represent
approximately 0.2% to 3% of the concrete volume.

Entrained air voids have diameters that range from 0.01 mm

to 1 mm, with the majority being less than 0.1 mm. The
entrained air voids are not connected and have a total volume
between 1% and 7.5% of the volume of concrete. For severe frost
condition, 14
billion bubbles
per cubic meter
may be required

Cont.

Air entrainers
Air entrained is added to provide
➢ improving durability
➢ improving concrete’s resistance to several destructive
factors, including freeze–thaw cycles, deicers and salts,
sulfates
➢ Increasing the workability of fresh concrete.
➢ Decreasing alkali–silica reactivity
Precautions should be considered:
➢ Decreasing the strength of concrete.
[to reduce this effect, the w/c ratio should be lowered or by other mean increases the cement factor]

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 Cont.

Water Reducers

✓ Water reducing admixtures have been developed to gain

workability and, at the same time, maintain quality
✓ Increase the mobility of the cement particles in the plastic
mix, allowing workability to be achieved at lower water
contents
✓ Water reducers are produced with different levels of
effectiveness:
conventional, mid-range, and high-range.

Cont.

Water Reducers
Slumps of concretes with the
same water-cement ratio:
(a) no water reducer,
(b) conventional water reducer,
(c) mid-range water reducer,
(d) High range water reducer
(Superplasticizer).
As shown, the slump of the concrete increases, indicating an increase in workability.

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 Cont.

Water Reducers
Examples

Cont.

Water Reducers

Water reducing admixtures is added to provide (Hewlett, 1978):

✓ increases workability. (without altering the other quantities in the mix)

✓ indirectly to gain strength.

The strength of the mix can be increased by using the water reducer
by lowering the quantity of water and keeping the cement content
constant.

✓ The cost of the mix, which is primarily determined by the amount of

cement, can be reduced.
By using the water reducer decreases the amount of water. Thus, the
amount of cement is then reduced to keep the w/c ratio equal to the
original mix. This, the quality of the mix will not be affected as the
compressive strength, when determined, is kept constant, although
decreasing the amount of cement.

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 Water Reducers
Superplasticizers

High-range water reducers, can either greatly increase the flow of the
fresh concrete or reduce the amount of water required for a given
consistency.
EXAMPLE:
Adding a superplasticizer to a concrete with a 75-mm slump can increase
the slump to 230 mm, or the original slump can be maintained by
reducing the water content 12% to 30%.
Reducing the amount of mixing water reduces the w/c ratio, which in turn, increases the
strength of hardened concrete. In fact, the use of superplasticizers has resulted in a major
breakthrough in the concrete industry. Now, high-strength concrete in the order of 70–80
MPa compressive strength or more can be produced when superplasticizers are used.

Water Reducers

When ?????
Superplasticizers can be used in the following cases:
1) a low w/c ratio is beneficial
(e.g., high-strength concrete, early strength gain, and reduced porosity)

2) placing thin sections

3) placing concrete around tightly spaced reinforcing steel
4) placing cement underwater
5) placing concrete by pumping
6) consolidating the concrete is difficult

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 Retarders

Some construction conditions require that the time between mixing and placing or
finishing the concrete be increased. In such cases, retarders can be used to delay
the initial set of concrete.

Retarders are used for several reasons, such as the following:

1) offsetting the effect of hot weather

Exposed aggregate
2) allowing for unusual placement or long haul distances
3) providing time for special finishes (e.g., exposed aggregate)

Retarders
Retarders can influence other parameters in concrete in different ways

1) reduce the strength of concrete at early ages (e.g., one to three days).

2) entrain air and improve workability.

3) increase the time required for the initial set, at the same time, reduce the

time between the initial and final set.

From the above mentioned influences, the influence of retarders vary with the

materials used in the mix and with job conditions. Thus, the use and effect of

retarders must be evaluated experimentally during the mix design process.

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 Hydration-Control Admixtures
✓ These admixtures have the ability to stop and reactivate the
hydration process of concrete.
✓ They consist of two parts: a stabilizer and an activator.
✓ Adding the stabilizer completely stops the hydration of the
cementing materials for up to 72 hours, while adding the activator
to the stabilized concrete will hydration and setting.
✓ These admixtures are very useful in extending the use of ready-
mixed concrete when the work at the jobsite is stopped for various
reasons. They are also useful when concrete is being hauled for a
long time.

Accelerators
✓ Accelerators are used to develop early strength of concrete at a faster rate than
that normal.
✓ The ultimate strength, however, of high early strength concrete is about the
same as that of normal concrete.
✓ Accelerators, specifically during cold temperature, are used to
➢ reduce curing time
➢ increase rate of strength gain
✓ Precautions should be considered as
➢ reduce the amount of time before finishing operations begin
✓ The risk of freezing is reduced by rapid gaining of strength due to the addition
of accelerators.

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 Accelerators
Example for Accelerators admixtures

Calcium chloride, is the most widely used accelerator (ASTM D98). The function
of calcium chloride are as following:
1) Both initial and final set times are reduced with calcium chloride.
Example:
✓ The initial set time of 3 hours for a typical concrete can be reduced to 1.5
hours by adding an amount of calcium chloride equal to 1% of the cement
weight; 2% reduces the initial set time to 1 hour.
✓ Typical final set times are 6 hours, 3 hours, and 2 hours for 0%, 1%, and
2% calcium chloride.

Accelerators

Effect of CaCl2 on strength development at different curing temperatures.

As shown, the strength development is different when using plain portland cement
concrete (PCC) only and portland cement concrete with 2% calcium chloride.

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 Accelerators
The PCA noted a list of precaution towards using calcium chloride under the
following conditions:
1) If the concrete is pre-stressed
2) If the concrete contains embedded aluminum such as conduits, especially
if the aluminum is in contact with steel
3) concrete is subjected to alkali–aggregate reaction
4) concrete is in contact with water (sea water) or soils containing sulfates
5) concrete is cast during hot weather
6) Mass concrete

Accelerators
In addition, the American Concrete Institute (ACI) limits the use of water-soluble
chloride ion content on the basis of cement weight, (1986):

Several alternatives to the use of calcium chloride are available. These include the
following:
1) using high early strength (Type III) cement
2) increasing cement content
3) curing at higher temperatures
4) using non–calcium chloride accelerators such as calcium nitrate, etc.

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 Specialty Admixtures
In addition to the admixtures previously mentioned, several admixtures are available to improve
concrete quality in particular ways. The civil engineer should be aware of these admixtures, but will
need to study their application in detail, as well as their cost, before using them. Examples of specialty
admixtures include
1) workability agents
2) corrosion inhibitors
3) damp-proofing agents
4) permeability-reducing agents
5) fungicidal, germicidal, and insecticidal admixtures
6) pumping aids
7) bonding agents
8) grouting agents
9) gas-forming agents
10) coloring agents
11) shrinkage reducing

Types based on commercial classification and ECP

1) Type A: Water-reducing (WR)

2) Type B: Set retarding (SR)
3) Type C: Set accelerating (SA)
4) Type D: WR + SR
5) Type E: WR + SA
6) Type F: High-range water-reducing (HRWR)
7) Type G: HRWR + SR

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 Supplementary Cementitious Admixtures
(Mineral Admixtures)
➢ Several by products of other industries have been used in concrete as
supplementary cementitious admixtures.
These additives or admixtures can be used:
➢ to improve some properties of concrete (addition).
➢ to reduce the problem of discarding them (partial replacement)
➢ Four well known supplementary cementitious materials are as following:
1) fly ash
2) ground granulated blast furnace slag
3) silica fume
Cement Natural
4) natural pozzolans. Pozzolan Deposits

Videos

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 ?
Quiz
To increase the workability, what should we add from the chemical
additives?

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 Quiz
To gain early ompressive strength, what should we add from the
chemical additives?

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