Nowadays, concrete has become more worker-friendly and durable than ever before, with various desirable properties with the help of different types of admixtures in concrete which is commonly added to the “mixture”. One of these chemical admixtures is the superplasticizers.
What are Superplasticizers?
A superplasticizer is a type of admixture that can be used in a ready-mixed concrete in order to achieve particular desired plastic or hardened concrete properties. Primarily, the desired concrete is high strength concrete or a fresh concrete with high workability. In addition to this, economic benefits are also possible through the reduced cement content and less labor intensive concrete placement in the field.
How Concrete Superplasticizers are Used?
Superplasticizers can be used in three different ways:
- To create flowing in the concrete
- Self-leveling concrete without the need to increase water, without reducing cement and without sacrificing durability in order to produce workable, highly durable concrete by reducing the water and thus water-cement ratio.
- To save cement by reducing both the water and cement content while still maintaining the same water-cement ratio and the sale workability.
Additionally, superplasticizers have the capability of reducing the water content of a concrete mix of 15% to 30% without reducing the slump of the fresh concrete. Superplasticized concrete is one of the key components of concrete when trying to produce high-strength concrete of normal workability. Also, the addition of superplasticizers can offer the necessary workability for the mixture at the low water-cement ratio needed for highly durable concrete.
Another application of superplasticizers available at Corrotech, involves strength concrete of increased workability which is called the flowing concrete. Flowing concrete is achieved not only by increasing the water content, but also by using the superplasticizer as a workability agent. As a result of this, cohesive concrete mixes with slumps greater than 8 inches can be produced.
Furthermore, superplasticizer application also involves decreasing the cement content of the concrete mix while increasing the workability of the fresh concrete. However, while it is desirable to maintain a given workability, the mixing water content should be reduced. Thus, the cement content could be decreased in order to maintain the original water-cement ratio. As a result of this, a decrease in the total cost of materials could result from the reduction in the amount of cement which is the most expensive ingredient in concrete.
A new generation of superplasticizers with superior performance to that of conventional plasticizers are available at Corrotech Construction Chemicals in their corromix admixtures range. These range of admixture are proven to be effective by many building contractors worldwide, especially in the UAE. For more detailed information, visit Corrotech’s website at https://www.mctuae.com/