Admixtures

Introduction

• Admixture is a material, other than cement, water and aggregates, that is used
as an ingredient of concrete and is added to the batch immediately before or
during mixing.

• Admixture is used to modify the

properties of ordinary concrete so as to
make it more suitable for any situation.

• Additive is a material which is added at

the time of grinding cement clinker at the
cement factory.
 Types of Admixures
• Plasticizers
• Superplasticizers
• Retarders and Retarding Plasticizers
• Accelerators and Accelerating Plasticizers
• Air-entraining Admixtures
• Pozzolanic or Mineral Admixtures
• Damp-proofing and Waterproofing Admixtures
• Gas forming Admixtures
• Air-detraining Admixtures
• Alkali-aggregate Expansion Inhibiting Admixtures
• Workability Admixtures
• Grouting Admixtures
• Corrosion Inhibiting Admixtures
• Bonding Admixtures
• Fungicidal, Germicidal, Insecticidal Admixtures
• Coloring Admixtures
 Plasticizers (Water Reducers)
• Plasticizers improves the workability of concrete without using excess water.

• It is used in almost all the reinforced concrete and even for mass concrete to
reduce the water requirement for making concrete of higher workability or
flowing concrete.

• It also reduce water/cement ratio for the given workability, which naturally
increases the strength and improves the durability of concrete.

• The basic products constituting plasticizers are as follows::

I. Anionic surfactants: lignosulphonates and their modifications and

derivatives, salts of sulphonates hydrocarbons.
II. Nonionic surfactants: Polyglycol esters, acid of hydroxylated carboxylic
acids and their modifications and derivatives.
III. Carbohydrates.
• Among these, calcium, sodium and ammonium lignosulphonates are the
most used.

• Dosage of Plasticizers : 0.1% to 0.4% by weight of cement.

• Reduction in mixing water : 5% to 15%

• Increase in workability : 30 mm to 150 mm slump (depending on the

dosage, initial slump of concrete, cement content and type).

• Action of Plasticizers : The main action is to fluidify the mix and improve
the workability of concrete, mortar or grout.

• Dispersion of Cement Particles:

 Portland cement have a tendency to flocculate in wet concrete &
hence entraps certain amount of water used in the mix and thereby
all the water is not freely available to fluidify the mix.
 Plasticizers get adsorbed on the cement particles & this adsorption of
charged polymer on the particles of cement creates particle-to-particle
repulsive forces which overcome the attractive forces. Hence the cement
particles are deflocculated and dispersed.

 When cement particles are deflocculated, the water trapped inside the
flocs gets released and now available to fluidify the mix.
• Retarding Effect:
 Plasticizer forms a thin sheath by getting adsorbed on the surface of
cement.

 This thin sheath inhibits the surface hydration reaction between

water and cement as long as sufficient plasticizer molecules are
available at the particle/solution interface.

 The quantity of available plasticizers will progressively decrease as

the polymers become entrapped in hydration products.

• The following mechanisms may take place simultaneously:

 Reduction in the surface tension of water.

 Induced electrostatic repulsion between particles of cement.

 Lubricating film between cement particles.

 Dispersion of cement grains, releasing water trapped within cement

flocs.

 Inhibition of the surface hydration reaction of the cement particles,

leaving more water to fluidify the mix.

 Change in the morphology of the hydration products.

 Induced steric hindrance preventing particle-to-particle contact.

Superplasticizers (High Range Water Reducers)
• Superplasticizers constitute a relatively new category and improved
version of plasticizer & are chemically different from normal plasticizers.

• Use of superplasticizers permit the reduction of water to the extent upto

30 percent without reducing workability in contrast to the possible
reduction up to 15 percent in case of plasticizers.

• The use of superplasticizer is practiced for production of flowing, self

levelling, self compacting and for the production of high strength and high
performance concrete.

• The mechanism of action of superplasticizers are same as the ordinary

plasticizer, the only thing is that the superplasticizers are more powerful as
dispersing agents and they are high range water reducers.

• Superplasticizer has made it possible to use fly ash, slag and particularly
silica fume to make high performance concrete.
• Classification of Superplasticizer. Following are a few polymers which are
commonly used as base for superplasticizers.

 Sulphonated malanie - formaldehyde condensates (SMF)

 Sulphonated naphthalene - formaldehyde condensates (SNF)

 Modified lignosulphonates (MLS)

• Effects of Superplasticizers on Fresh Concrete :

 An improvement in slump value can be obtained to the extent of 25

cm or more depending upon the initial slump of the mix, the dosage
and cement content.

 It is often noticed that slump increases with increase in dosage.

• Factors Effecting the Workability

 Type of superplasticizers

 Dosage

 Mix composition

 Variability in cement composition and properties

 Mixing procedure

 Equipments

 Others
• Type of Superplasticizers :
 The average molecular weight of the plasticizer is of primary
importance for its efficiency as plasticizer in concrete.

 The higher the molecular weight, the higher is the efficiency.

 However, it should be noted that there is a maximum value of

molecular weight beyond which efficiency is expected to decrease.

• Dosage :
 Dosage of superplasticizer influences the viscosity of grout and hence
the workability of concrete.

 A dosage more than 2.5% by weight of cement is rarely used.

 Upto a dosage of about 3% there are no harmful effect on the

hardening properties of concrete.
• Mix Composition :
 The mix composition particularly the aggregate/cement ratio or
richness of the mix, w/c ratio, and use of other supplementary
cementing materials like fly ash or silica fume affects the workability.

 Wetter the mix better is the dispersion of cement grains and hence
better workability.

 The size and shape of aggregate, sand grading will also have influence
on the fluidifying effect.

• Variability in Cement Composition :

 The variability in cement with respect to compound composition, in
particular C3A content, C3S/C2S ratio, fineness of cement, alkali content
and gypsum content are responsible for the lack of compatibility with
a particular type of superplasticizer and their performance in concrete.
• Mixing Procedure :
 Plasticizer must be properly and intimately mixed in concrete to bring
about proper dispersion with cement particles.

 When superplasticizer is used it is better to add all the water to the

drum keeping about one litre of water in spare.

 The exact quantity of superplasticizer is diluted with that one litre of

water and thrown into the drum in two or three installments over the
well mixed concrete so that proper dispersion of plasticizer actually
takes place in the drum.

 Adding the plasticizer, the concrete must

be mixed for about one more minute
before discharging.

 Experimental result showed that adding

plasticizer after three minutes of mixing
has yielded better results.
• Equipment :
 Inefficient spot mixer at site or laboratory that is small mixer does not
exploit the action of superplasticizer fully, often they do not even mix
the concrete uniformly and properly.

 The shape of the drum, its bottom diameter and shape, number of
blades, the angle of blades, length and depth of blades, the space
between drum and blade and space between the blades will have lot
to do with the mixing efficiency.
 Generally pan mixer show better
efficiency particularly in case of small
scale laboratory mixers.

 The mixers in the batching plant are of

capacity half a cubic meter and above &
are generally of pan type.

 The mixing time is around 20 seconds. Pan Mixer

• Slump Loss :

 Fresh concrete is well known to lose its workability with time. This
phenomenon is called ‘slump loss’.

 Slump at mixing point is not of much importance, but the slump at

placing point is of primary importance.

 Loss of slump is natural even with plasticized concrete, but rate of loss
of slump is little more in case of superplasticizer concrete.

• Steps for Reducing Slump Loss

 Initial high slump : When very high slump is managed at the mixing
point, even if loss of slump takes place, still the residual slump will be
good enough for satisfactory placing of concrete.

 Using retarders : Pure retarders are used at the time of mixing. This
will keep the concrete in a plastic condition over a long time.
 Using retarding plasticizer or superplasticizer : Sometime instead of
using pure retarders and plasticizer separately, a retarding plasticizer,
or retarding superplasticizer is used in an appropriate dose in the
initial stage itself. The retarding plasticizer or superplasticizers retains
the slump for longer periods which may be sufficient for placing.

 By repetitive dose : One of the common methods to combat the

slump loss is to give repetitive doses at intervals and thereby boosting
the slump so that required slump is maintained for long time.

 By dosing at final point : At the time of pumping the concrete an

appropriate dose of superplasticizer is added to boost up the slump to
required level.

 By keeping temperature low : Hydration process can be retarded by

keeping the temperature of the concrete low. At low temperature the
slump loss is also slow. Use of ice flakes instead of water is resorted to
reduce the slump loss.
 By using compatible superplasticizer with cement : Use of highly
compatible admixture with the given cement or vice versa will also
reduce the problem of slump loss. A cement with low C3A content will
be of use in this regard.
 Effect of Superplasticizers on the Properties of Hardened Concrete

• Plasticizers or superplasticizers do not participate in any chemical

reactions with cement or blending material used in concrete.

• Their actions are only physical in fluidizing the mix, made even with low
water content. Their fludifying action lasts only as long as the mix is in
plastic condition.

• Once the effect of adsorbed layer is lost, the hydration process continues
normally.

• The use of right quality of plasticizers or superplasticizers when used in

usual small dose (say up to 3% by weight of cement) there is no bad effect
on the properties of hardened concrete.

• Only in case of bad quality lignosulphonate based plasticizer is used, it

may result in air-entrainment, which reduces the strength of concrete.
• When plasticizers are used in higher dose, the strength development will
be greatly affected in respect of one day and even three days strength.

• However, seven day strength and beyond, there will not be any reduction
in strength.
 New Generation Superplasticizers
• One of the most important drawbacks of traditional superplasticizers such as
SMF or SN or MLS, is the slump loss.

• Slump loss with time presents a serious limitation on the advantage of

superplasticizers.

Carboxylated Acrylic Ester (CAE) :

 The carboxylated Acrylic Ester contains carboxylic (COO-) instead of

sulphonic (SO3-) groups present in the SMF or SNF.

 AP based superplasticizers produce negligible Zeta potential change (0.3 to

5.0 mV), in contrast to SNF – based superplasticizers (23–28 mV), in
aqueous suspensions of cement particles.
 In particular it is seen that adsorption of CAE
is about 85% when compared to adsorption
of 75% in case of SNF.
• In case of AP based admixtures, the increase in fluidity is not because of
electrostatic repulsion associated with Zeta potential but would seem to
be the higher polymer adsorption and steric hindrance effect.

• The new family of superplasticizers based on acrylic polymers, show the

following characteristics:

 Flowing concrete can be produced at lower w/c ratio.

 The effectiveness does not depend on the addition procedure (immediate
or delayed).
 The slump loss is much reduced than the traditional sulphonated
superplasticizers.
Effect of method of addition of NSF or CAE superplasticizeron the slump of concrete mix
• The properties of CAE :

• Multicarboxylatether :

 The new generation of superplasticizers which are based on poly-

carboxylatether with the generic name of multicarboxylatether (MCE) is found
more suitable for production of High Performance Concrete.
 The properties of these superplasticizers are:

 Excellent flowability at low w/c ratio

 High reduction of water

 Lower slump loss with time

 Shorter retardation time

 Very high early strength

 It works at low dosages

 Retarders
• A retarder is an admixture that slows down the chemical process of
hydration so that concrete remains plastic and workable for a longer time
than concrete without the retarder.

• Retarders are used to overcome the accelerating effect of hig temperature

on setting properties of concrete in hot weather concreting.

• The retarders are used in casting and consolidating large number of pours
without the formation of cold joints. They are also used in grouting oil
wells.

• The most commonly known retarder is calcium sulphate (Gypsum)

• In addition to gypsum, starches, cellulose products, sugars, acids or salts

of acids are also suitable for this purpose.
• Gypsum :
 It is interground to retard the setting of cement.
 The appropriate amount of gypsum to be used must be determined
carefully for the given job.
 Use of gypsum for the purpose of retarding setting time is only
recommended when adequate inspection and control is available,
otherwise, addition of excess amount may cause undesirable expansion
and indefinite delay in the setting of concrete.

• Sugar : Common sugar is one of the most effective retarding agents used
as an admixture for delaying the setting time of concrete without
detrimental effect on the ultimate strength.

• Ligno sulphonic acids & hydroxylated carboxylic acids : In addition to the

retarding effect it also reduce the quantity of water requirement for a
given workability. This also increases 28 days compressive strength by 10
to 20 per cent
 Retarding Plasticizers
• The plasticizers and superplasticizers by themselves show certain extent of
retardation.

• Many a time this extent of retardation of setting time offered by

admixtures will not be sufficient.

• Instead of adding retarders separately, retarders are mixed with

plasticizers or superplasticizers at the time of commercial production.

• Such commercial brand is known as retarding plasticizers or retarding

superplasticizers.

• It is used in the Ready mixed concrete industry for the purposes of

retaining the slump loss, during high temperature, long transportation, to
avoid construction or cold joints, slip form construction and regulation of
heat of hydration.
 Accelerators
• Accelerating admixtures are added to concrete to increase the rate of
early strength development in concrete to :

 Permit earlier removal of formwork

 Reduce the required period of curing

 Advance the time that a structure can be placed in service

 Partially compensate for the retarding effect of low temperature during

cold weather concreting

 In the emergency repair work

• In the past one of the commonly used materials as an accelerator was
calcium chloride. But, now a days it is not used. Instead, some of the
soluble carbonates, silicates fluosilicates and some of the organic
compounds such as tri ethenolamine are used.

• The recent studies have shown that calcium chloride is harmful for
reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete.

• Some of the accelerators produced these days are so powerful that it is

possible to make the cement set into stone hard in a matter of five
minutes are less.

• With the availability of such powerful accelerator, the under water

concreting has become easy.

• The use of such powerful accelerators have facilitated, the basement

waterproofing operations. These materials could be used up to 10°C.
 Accelerating Plasticizers

• Certain ingredients are added to accelerate the strength development of

concrete to plasticizers or superplasticizers.

• Such accelerating superplasticizers, when added to concrete result in

faster development of strength.

• The accelerating materials added to plasticizers or superplasticizers are

triethenolamine chlorides, calcium nutrite, nitrates and flousilicates etc.

• The accelerating plasticizers or accelerating superplasticizers

manufactured by well known companies are chloride free.
 Air-entraining Admixture

• Air entrained concrete is made by mixing a small quantity of air entraining

agent or by using air entraining cement.

• These air entraining agents incorporate millions of non-coalescing air

bubbles, which will act as flexible ball bearings and will modify the
properties of plastic concrete regarding workability, segregation, bleeding
and finishing quality of concrete.

• It also modifies the properties of hardened concrete regarding its

resistance to frost action and permeability.

• The air voids present in concrete can be brought under two groups:
(a) Entrained air (b) Entrapped air.
• Entrained air is intentionally incorporated, minute spherical bubbles of size
ranging from 5 microns to 80 microns distributed evenly in the entire mass of
concrete.

• The entrapped air is the voids present in the concrete due to insufficient
compaction. These entrapped air voids may be of any shape and size normally
embracing the contour of aggregate surfaces.

• Their size may range from 10 to 1000 microns or more and they are not
uniformly distributed throughout the concrete mass.

• Air entraining agents :

 Natural wood resins
 Animal and vegetable fats and oils.
 Various wetting agents such as alkali salts or sulphated and sulphonated
organic compounds.
 Water soluble soaps of resin acids, and animal and vegetable fatty acids.
 Miscellaneous materials such as the sodium salts of petroleum sulphonic
acids, hydrogen peroxide and aluminium powder, etc.
• Factors affecting amount of air entrainment :

 The type and quantity of air entraining agent used.

 Water/cement ratio of the mix.

 Type and grading of aggregate.

 Mixing time.

 The temperature.

 Type of cement.

 Influence of compaction.

 Admixtures other than air entraining agent used

• The Effect of Air Entrainment on the Properties of Concrete :

 Increased resistance to freezing and thawing.

 Improvement in workability.

 Reduction in strength.

• Incidentally air entrainment will also effect the properties of concrete in

the following ways:

 Reduces the tendencies of segregation.

 Reduces the bleeding and laitance.

 Decreases the permeability.

 Increases the resistance to chemical attack.

 Improves placeability, and early finishing.

 Reduces the cement content, cost, and heat of hydration.

 Reduces the unit weight.

 Permits reduction in water content.

 Reduces the alkali-aggregate reaction.

 Reduces the modulus of elasticity.

• Resistance to Freezing and Thawing :
 The greatest advantage derived from the use of air entrained concrete
is the high resistance of hardened concrete to scaling due to freezing
and thawing.

 This effect results in surface scaling and disruption of concrete at the

weaker section.

 Modification of pore structure is believed to be responsible for the

marked improvement in resistance to frost attack.

 In the air entrained concrete though the total air voids are more, the
voids are in the form of minute, discrete bubbles of comparatively
uniform size and regular spherical shape.

 This air void system reduces the tendency for the formation of large
crystals of ice in the concrete.
• Secondly, the inter-connected air voids system acts as buffer space to
relieve the internal pressure.

Comparison of normal concrete with air Air Entrainment increases the durability of
entrained concrete concrete in snowbound region.
• Effect on workability :
 The entrainment of air in fresh concrete by means of air entraining
agent improves workability.

 Air entrained concrete having 7.5 cm slump is superior to that of non-

air entrained concrete having 12.5 cm slump.

 Better placeability of air entrained concrete results in more

homogeneous concrete with less segregation, bleeding and
honeycombing.

 The concrete containing entrained air is more plastic and ‘fatty’ and
can be more easily handled than ordinary concrete.

 The pumpability of the mix also increases enormously.

• Effect on strength :
 Air entrainment in concrete reduces the compressive strength of
concrete.

 But when the process is applied properly little or no loss of strength

should take place and it is even possible that under certain
circumstances a gain of strength may be possible.

 The air entrainment enables reduction of water/cement ratio and sand

content, for the given workability, thereby regaining most if not all the
lost strength.

• Effect on Segregation, Bleeding and Laitance :

 Segregation, bleeding and consequent formation of laitance are
reduced greatly by air entrainment.

 Firstly, the bubbles buoy up the aggregates and cement and hence
reduce the rate at which sedimentation occurs in the freshly placed
concrete.
  Secondly, the bubbles decrease the effective area through which the
differential movement of water may occur.

 Thirdly, the bubbles increase the mutual adhesion between cement

and aggregate.

 Lastly, the surface area of voids in the plastic concrete is sufficiently

large to retard the rate at which water separates from the paste by
drainage.

• Effect on Permeability :
 The entrainment of air does appear to have much effect on the
permeability of concrete.

 Greater uniformity of concrete with entrained air due to its increased

workability, modified pore-structure of the air entrained concrete,
reduction of water channel due to reduction in bleeding, are some of
the reasons for improving the permeability characteristics of air
entrained concrete.
• Effect on Chemical Resistance :

 In view of lower permeability and absorption, the air entrained

concrete will have greater resistance for chemical attack than that of
normal concrete.

 It was found that air entrained concrete showed less deterioration than
ordinary concrete.

• Effect on sand, water and cement content :

 The minute spheroidal air bubbles act as fine aggregates and enable
the reduction of fine aggregates.

 The reduction of fine aggregate further enables the reduction of water

requirement without impairing the workability and slump.
• Unit Weight :
 The density of the air entrained concrete is less as compared to normal
concrete.

 The air entrained concrete will contain 5 percent less of solid material,
and hence will be lower in weight.

 This will result in an economy of about 5 percent in the cost of cement

and aggregate, less the cost of air entraining agent and cost of extra
supervision.

• Alkali-Aggregate Reaction :
 The air entrainment reduces the alkali-aggregate reaction.

 Use of air entraining agent has frequently been recommended as a

means for controlling expansion due to alklai-aggregate reaction in
mortar and concrete
• Modulus of Elasticity :
 Available data indicate that the modulus of elasticity of concrete mix
having the same water/cement ratio and the same aggregate is
reduced by 2 to 3 per cent for each per cent of air entrainment.

• Abrasion Resistance :
 Concrete containing less than 6 per cent air entrainment has about the
same resistance to abrasion as normal concrete, when cement
contents of the comparable concrete are constant.

 There is a progressive decrease in abrasion resistance with further

increase in air content.
• Optimum Air Content in Concrete :
The recommended air content in a given concrete is a function of
(a) The purpose for which the concrete is used and its location and
climatic condition

(b) The maximum size of aggregate

(c) The richness of the mix. Usually, the desirable air content is ranging
from 3 to 6 per cent.

(d) concrete floors : 4 percent

(e) Reinforced concrete : 3 to 4 percent

(f) mass concrete : 2.5 to 3 percent

 Pozzolanic or Mineral Admixtures
• The suitable pozzolans used in appropriate amount, modify certain
properties of fresh and hardened mortars and concretes.

• It has been amply demonstrated that the best pozzolans in optimum

proportions mixed with Portland cement improves many qualities of
concrete, such as:

 Lower the heat of hydration and thermal shrinkage

 Increase the water tightness
 Reduce the alkali-aggregate reaction
 Improve resistance to attack by sulphate soils and sea water
 Improve extensibility
 Lower susceptibility to dissolution and leaching
 Improve workability
 Lower costs.
• Types of Pozzolans

Artificial Pozzolans Natural Pozzolans

Fly ash Clay and Shales

Blast Furnace Slag Opalinc Cherts

Silica Fume Diatomaceous Earth

Rice Husk ash .Volcanic Tuffs and Pumicites

Metakaoline

Surkhi
 Artificial Pozzolans
• Fly Ash:
 Fly ash is finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of
powdered coal and transported by the flue gases and collected by
electrostatic precipitator.

 ASTM broadly classify fly ash into two classes :

Class F: Fly ash normally produced by burning anthracite or bituminous coal,
usually has less than 5% CaO. Class F fly ash has pozzolanic properties only.

Class C: Fly ash normally produced by burning lignite or sub-bituminous coal.

Some class C fly ash may have CaO content in excess of 10%. In addition to
pozzolanic properties, class C fly ash also possesses cementitious properties.
• Effect of Fly Ash on Fresh Concrete :
 Use of right quality fly ash, results in reduction of water demand for
desired slump.

 With the reduction of unit water content, bleeding and drying

shrinkage will also be reduced.

 Since fly ash is not highly reactive, the heat of hydration can be reduced
through replacement of part of the cement with fly ash.
• Effects of Fly Ash on Hardened Concrete :
 Fly ash, when used in concrete, contributes to the strength of
concrete due to its pozzolanic reactivity.

 However, since the pozzolanic reaction proceeds slowly, the initial

strength of fly ash concrete tends to be lower than that of concrete
without fly ash.

 Due to continued pozzolanic reactivity concrete develops greater

strength at later age, which may exceed that of the concrete without
fly ash.

 The pozzolanic reaction also contributes to making the texture of

concrete dense, resulting in decrease of water permeability and gas
permeability.
• Durability of Concrete:
 Concrete containing good quality fly ash shows dense structure which
offers high resistivity to the infiltration of deleterious substances.

 It gives more resistance to the corrosion of reinforcement.

 Addition of fly ash contributes to the reduction of the expansion due

to alkali-aggregate reaction.
• High Volume Fly Ash Concrete (HVFA) :

 High volume fly ash concrete is a concrete where in 50 to 60% fly ash
is incorporated.

 It was first developed for mass concrete application where low heat of
hydration was of primary consideration.

 This type of concrete showed excellent mechanical and durability

properties required for structural applications and pavement
constructions.

 There is the potential use of the high volume fly ash system for
shotcreting, light weight concrete and roller compacted concrete.
• Mechanical Properties of (HVFA) Concrete :
 The properties of HVFA concrete are largely dependent on characteristics
of cement and fly ash.

 Generally the mechanical properties are good in view of low water

content, lower water to cementitious ratio and dense microstructure.
• Bleeding and Setting Time :

 As the water content is low in high volume fly ash, the bleeding is very
low and often negligible.

 Setting time is little longer than that of conventional concrete.

 This is because of low cement content, low rate of reaction and high
content of superplasticizer.

 One will have to be careful in cold weather concreting in stripping the

formwork.

• Use of High Volume Fly Ash :

 High rise buildings, industrial structures.
 Water front structures, concrete road.
 Roller compacted concrete dams.
 Silica Fume
• Silica fume, also referred to as microsilica or condensed silica fume.

• It is a product resulting from reduction of high purity quartz with coal in an

electric arc furnace in the manufacture of silicon or ferrosilicon alloy.

• Silica fume by itself, do not contribute to the strength dramatically, although it

does contribute to the strength property by being very fine pozzolanic material
and also creating dense packing and pore filler of cement paste.

• Pozzolanic Action :
 Microsilica is much more reactive than fly ash or any other natural
pozzolana.

 The reactivity of a pozzolana can be quantified by measuring the amount

of Ca(OH)2 in the cement paste at different times.
 15% of microsilica reduced the Ca(OH)2 of two samples of cement from
24% to 12% at 90 days and from 25% to 11% in 180 days.

• Influence on Fresh Concrete :

 Water demand increases in proportion to the amount of microsilica

added.

 The addition of microsilica will lead to lower slump but more cohesive
mix.

 The microsilica make the fresh concrete sticky in nature and hard to
handle.

 It was also found that there was large reduction in bleeding and
concrete with microsilica could be handled and transported without
segregation.
• Influence on Hardened Concrete :
 Concrete containing microsilica showed outstanding characteristics in
the development of strength.

 The modulus of elasticity of microsilica concrete is less than that of

concrete without microsilica at the same level of compressive strength.

Comparison of strength of different forms of silica fumes

 Rice Husk Ash
• Rice husk ash, is obtained by burning rice husk in a controlled manner
without causing environmental pollution.

• Rice husk ash exhibits high pozzolanic characteristics and contributes to

high strength and high impermeability of concrete.

• Rice husk ash (RHA) essentially consist of amorphous silica (90% SiO2), 5%
carbon, and 2% K2O. The specific surface of RHA is between 40 – 100 m2/g.
 Surkhi

• Surkhi is an artificial pozzolana made by powdering bricks or burnt clay

balls.

• Surkhi is one of the main constituents in waterproofing treatments in

conjunction with lime and sometimes even with cement for extending
valuable pozzolanic action to make the treatment impervious.

• In some major works, for large scale production of surkhi, clay balls are
specially burnt for this purpose and then powdered.

• Its characteristics are greatly influenced by the constituent mineral

composition of soil, degree of burning and fineness of grinding.
 Surkhi has been used as an admixture in the construction of Vanivilas
Sagar dam, Krishnaraja Sagar dam, Hira Bhaskar Sagar dam, Nizamsagar,
Mettur, Low Bhavani, Tungabhadra, Chambal, Kakrapara, Bhakra, and in
Rana Pratap Sagar dam.

In Bhakra Nangal Dam scientifically made surkhi (burnt clay Pozzolana) was used
about 100 tons per day at the rate of 20% Cement replacement
 Metakaolin
• Metakaolin is thermally activated kaolinitic clay.

• Although it showed certain amount of pozzolanic properties, they are not

highly reactive.

• Highly reactive metakaolin is made by water processing to remove

unreactive impurities to make 100% reactive pozzolan.

• High reactive metakaolin shows high pozzolanic reactivity and reduction in

Ca(OH)2.
• It is also observed that the cement paste undergoes distinct densification.

• The improvement offered by this densification includes an increase in

strength and decreasein permeability.
Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS)
• Ground granulated blast-furnace slag is a nonmetallic product consisting
essentially of silicates and aluminates of calcium and other bases.

• The molten slag is rapidly chilled by quenching in water to form a glassy

sand like granulated material.

• Its performance largely depends on the chemical composition, glass

content and fineness of grinding.
Approximate Oxide Composition of Cement Clinker, BFS and Fly Ash
 Specifications of BFS as per IS 12089 of 1987

• Performance of GGBS in Concrete:

 The replacement of cement with GGBS will reduce the unit water
content necessary to obtain the same slump.

 This reduction of unit water content will be more pronounced with

increase in slag content and also on the fineness of slag.
• Hardened Concrete:

 Reduced heat of hydration

 Refinement of pore structures

 Reduced permeabilities to the external agencies

 Increased resistance to chemical attack.

Damp-proofing and Waterproofing Admixture
• Waterproofing admixtures may be obtained in powder, paste or liquid
form and may consist of pore filling or water repellent materials.

• The chief materials in the pore filling class are silicate of soda, aluminium
and zinc sulphates and aluminium and calcium chloride.

• These are chemically active pore fillers. In addition they also accelerate
the setting time of concrete and thus render the concrete more
impervious at early age.

• The chemically inactive pore filling materials are chalk, fullers earth and
talc and these are usually very finely ground.

• Their chief action is to improve the workability and to facilitate the

reduction of water for given workability and to make dense concrete
which is basically impervious.
• Some materials like soda, potash soaps, calcium soaps, resin, vegetable
oils, fats, waxes and coal tar residues are added as water repelling
materials in this group of admixtures.

• Heavy mineral oil free from fatty or vegetable oil has been proved to be
effective in rendering the concrete waterproof.

• The use of Asphalt Cut-back oils have been tried in quantities of 2 , 5 and
10 percent by weight of cement. Strength and workability of the concrete
is not seriously affected.
 Gas Forming Agents
• A gas forming agent is a chemical admixture such as aluminium powder.

• It reacts with the hydroxide produced in the hydration of cement to

produce minute bubbles of hydrogen gas throughout the matrix.

• Usually unpolished aluminium powder is preferred. The amount added are

usually 0.005 to 0.02 percent to a bag of cement.

• It causes a slight expansion in plastic concrete or mortar and this reduces

or eliminates the settlement and may, accordingly, increase the bond to
reinforcing bars and improve the effectiveness of grout, in filling joints.

• It is particularly useful for grouting under machine bases.

• The effect on strength depends upon whether or not the concrete is
restrained from expanding.

• If it is restrained, the effect on strength is negligible, and if not, the loss of

strength may be considerable.

• It is, therefore, important that the forms be tight and the grout is
completely confined.
 Air-detraining agents
• There have been cases where aggregates have released gas into or caused
excessive air entrainment, in plastic concrete which made it necessary to
use an admixture capable of dissipating the excess of air or other gas.

• Also it may be required to remove a part of the entrained air from

concrete mixture.

• Compounds such as tri butyl phosphate, water-insoluble alcohols and

silicones have been proposed for this purpose.
 Alkali-aggregate expansion inhibitors

• It has been seen that alkali-aggregate reaction can be reduced by the use
of pozzolanic admixture.

• There are some evidences that air entraining admixture reduces the alkali-
aggregate reaction slightly.

• The other admixtures that may be used to reduce the alkali-aggregate

reaction are aluminum powder and lithium salts.
 Grouting Agents
• Grouting under different conditions or for different purposes would
necessitate different qualities of grout-mixture.

• Sometimes grout mixtures will be required to set quickly and sometimes

grout mixtures will have to be in fluid form over a long period so that they
may flow into all cavities and fissures.

• Sometimes in grout mixtures, a little water is to be used but at the same

time it should exhibit good workability to flow into the cracks and fissures.

• Thereare many admixtures which will satisfy the requirements of grout

mixture. Admixtures used for grouting are:
(a ) Accelerators (b) Retarders
(c ) Gas forming agents (d) Workability agents
(e ) Plasticizers.
 Corrosion Inhibiting Agents
• The problem of corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete is universal.

• But it is more acute in concrete exposed to saline or brackish water or

concrete exposed to industrial corrosive fumes.

• It is found that calcium lignosulphonate decreased the rate of corrosion of

steel embedded in the concrete, when the steel reinforcement in concrete
is subjected to alternating or direct current.

• Sodium nitrate and calcium nitrite have been found to be efficient

inhibitors of corrosion of steel in autoclaved products.
 Bonding Admixture

• Bonding admixtures are water emulsions of several organic materials that

are mixed with cement or mortar grout for application to an old concrete
surface just prior to patching with mortar or concrete.

• Sometimes they are mixed with the topping or patching material.

• Their function is to increase the bond strength between the old and new
concrete.

• This procedure is used in patching of eroded or spalled concrete or to add

relatively thin layers of resurfacing.

• The commonly used bonding admixtures are made from natural rubber,
synthetic rubber or from any organic polymers. The polymers include
polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate etc.
Fungicidal, Germicidal and Insecticidal Admixtures

• Certain materials may either be ground into the cement or added as

admixtures to impart fungicidal, germicidal or insecticidal properties to
hardened cement pastes, mortars or concretes.

• These materials include polyhalogenated phenols, dieldren emulsion or

copper compounds.
 Colouring Agents
• Pigments are often added to produce colour in the finished concrete.

• The requirements of suitable admixtures include

(a) colour fastness when exposed to sunlight

(b) chemical stability in the presence of alkalinity produced in the set

cement

(c) no adverse effect on setting time or strength development.

• Pigments should preferably be thoroughly mixed or interground with the

dry cement.

• They can also be mixed with dry concrete mixtures before the addition of
mixing water.
 Miscellaneous Admixtures
• Damp Proofers :

(a) Accoproof: It is a white powder to be mixed with concrete at the rate

of 1 kg per bag of cement for the purpose of increasing impermeability
of concrete structures.

(b) Natson’s Cement Water Proofer: As the name indicates, it is a

waterproofing admixture to be admixed at the rate of 1.5 kg per bag of
cement.

(c) Trip-L-Seal: It is a white powder, the addition of which is claimed to

decrease permeability of concrete and mortars and produce rapid
hardening effect.

(d) Cico: It is a colourless liquid which when admixed with concrete,

possesses the properties of controlling setting time, promoting rapid
(e) Feb-Mix-Admix: It is a light yellow coloured liquid claimed to impart
waterproofing quality to concrete and increase workability and bond.

(f) Cemet: It is a waterproofing admixture. The recommended dose is 3 per

cent byweight of cement. It is also claimed that its use in concrete will
prevent efflorescence andgrowth of fungi.

• Surface Hardeners :

(a) Metal Crete: Metal crete is a metallic aggregate which is tough, ductile,
specially processed, size graded iron particles with or without cement
dispersing agent. It is claimed that it gives greater wear resistance, corrosion
resistance, non-dusting and non-slipping concrete surface.

(b) Ferrocrete No. 1: It is a surface hardener and makes the concrete surface
compact, dense and homogeneous.

(c) Metal Crete Steel Patch: When added 20 percent by weight of cement, it is
supposed to increase the compressive strength and abrasion resistance.