Strengthening, maintenance and concrete repair of any structure have become a vital part of the activities of the concrete industry. This is reflected in the numerous repair materials available in the market and the noticeable increase in the number of construction chemicals suppliers and repair services across the UAE.
Selection of Materials
When selecting or reviewing a specific repair product, it is highly important to consider several material properties. These include permeability, strength, corrosion resistance, adhesion and application method. Furthermore, repairs that will carry heavy loads, such as structural concrete repairs, need a higher strength. While repairs for protection of reinforcing steel, such as restoring concrete cover, do not necessarily need high strength, but must have enough bond and lower permeability. Construction chemicals manufacturers say that the key to choosing the most appropriate repair material is to understand its purpose in the repair process.
Types of Concrete Repair Materials:
Corrosion Inhibitors for Concrete Repairs - Corrosion inhibitors are well-known in the concrete construction industry. They were developed for widespread commercial use protecting the embedded steel bars in reinforced concrete during the last 20 - 30 years.
Inorganic corrosion inhibitors are based on sodium nitrate while organic corrosion inhibitors are based on amino alcohols. Both are now widely used in new reinforced concrete structures in order to provide additional integral protection, usually against chloride ingress for severely exposed structures.
Steel reinforcement primers for concrete repairs - these types of concrete repair materials are important in the complete process of concrete repair and protection systems, where they act as a barrier to prevent any future water leakage and corrosion of the steel surfaces. These concrete repairs are materials commonly applied to any exposed steel reinforcement that has been cleaned and prepared once the damaged concrete and any contaminants such as chlorides have been removed.
Moreover, steel reinforcement concrete repairs can be used as barriers when even after the washing, cleaning and preparation works; there are still potentially residual contaminants, such as chlorides, in the adjacent existing concrete.
Bonding agents for concrete repair - According to concrete chemicals suppliers, bonding agents are concrete materials that are often used to increase the adhesion. These are natural, compound or synthetic materials used to enhance the joining of a structure without employing mechanical fasteners. Moreover, these repair materials help in improve the ‘wetting’ of the profiled surface, reduce suction due to the concrete porosity and lubricating the interface to ensure a fully equal bond and optimum adhesion.
Protective Coatings: protective coating systems used on a building front will protect against reinforcing steel corrosion, while still allowing the building to breathe with a transmission of water vapor through the protective coating. These coatings are developed for multi-purpose used as well as protective and aesthetical requirements.
Other Concrete repair materials include:
- Concrete repair mortars/replacement concretes
- Sprayed concrete repair mortars
- Flow applied concrete repairs
- Fairing mortars for concrete repairs
- Protective surface coatings for concrete
- Hydrophobic impregnations for concrete protection
With any concrete repair, take the advice from the experts and you are off to a great start. It is highly important to figure out first what cause the damage, do the necessary preparation for removing any unsound concrete and contamination, then install a repair design to solve the problem.
Corrotech Construction Chemicals
Corrotech’s expert team have the experience to assist building owners in providing a range of concrete repair materials that are tailored to your building’s needs. Contact Corrotech Construction Chemicals at +971 4811 2100 or visit their website at http://www.mctuae.com/ for more information on repair materials and their application. They are employed with experts in concrete repairs and familiar with most repair products on the market.