Admixtures for concrete
Sodium carbonates in deionised water accelerates the initial as well as final setting times whereas the other compound sodium bicarbonates retards the initial and final setting times in all concentrations. Sodium carbonates and sodium bicarbonates in deionised water decrease the compressive and tensile strength of concrete specimens significantly at 28 days and 90 days.
Important points:
The two most popular type of admixture added in concrete are as follows:
Retarder:
It is added in concrete in order to delay the chemical process of hydration so as to keep the concrete plastic and workable for longer duration in comparison to the concrete without retarder.
Example: Calcium Sulphate, Sugar, starch, cellulose etc.
Accelerators:
It is used to increase the rate of gain of strength in the concrete.These admixtures find their application in cold weather concreting, pre - fabricated concrete construction, emergency road repair work and where formwork is to be reused for speedy construction.
Example: calcium chloride, silicates, Fluorosilicates, Triethanolamine etc.
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