Everything One Should Know About Concrete Admixtures

Generally, concrete consists of cement, sand, aggregate and water. Anything other than these if any other items are added to the mixture, before or during the mixing process, are called concrete admixtures. They are mainly added to improve work ability, acceleration or retardation of setting time, reduce the water-cement ratio and so on.

Manufacturers are providing contractors with various options in this regard. They can mainly be classified as chemical and mineral. Construction material dealers deal with such materials along with other items like basement floor sealer and other similar products. If one is not sure about the item, they can seek the help of the dealers, who would be able to provide the best solution, well within the budget.

Fly ash, silicate fume, slag etc comes under mineral admixtures. They are added to the cement to increase the work ability factor and improve the resistance to thermal cracking. It would also reduce the use of cement quantity. Silicate fume is used to improve bond strength, abrasion resistance etc. It could play a huge role in protecting against corrosion. Studies have shown that these products have other benefits.

Few of them include:

• Prevents overheating of the building
• Improves strength of the concrete
• Increases frost resistance, impermeability, and abrasion resistance
• Controls alkali-aggregate reaction
• Reduces water consumption of concrete
• Boosts the ability of a building to resist water
• Reduces shrinkage

These materials allow even disturbance of cement particles, thus improving the performance of the binding materials and increase the durability factor.