Admixtures in concrete:

A material other than water, aggregates, or cement that is used as an ingredient of concrete or
mortar to control setting and early hardening, workability, or to provide additional cementing
properties.

Why is admixture used?

Over decades, attempts have been made to obtain concrete with certain desired characteristics
such as high compressive strength, high workability, and high performance and durability
parameters to meet the requirement of complexity of modern structures.

The properties commonly modified are the heat of hydration, accelerate or retard setting time,
workability, water reduction, dispersion and air-entrainment, impermeability and durability
factors.

Types of Admixtures

Chemical admixture:

Accelerators, Retarders, Water-reducing agents, Super plasticizers, Air entraining agents etc.
Mineral admixtures

Fly-ash Blast-furnace slag, Silica fume and Rice husk Ash etc

Chemical admixtures
1. Water-reducing admixture / Plasticizers:

These admixtures are used for following purposes:

1. To achieve a higher strength by decreasing the water cement ratio at the same workability
as an admixture free mix.
2. To achieve the same workability by decreasing the cement content so as to reduce the
heat of hydration in mass concrete.
3. To increase the workability so as to ease placing in accessible locations
4. Water reduction more than 5% but less than 12%
5. The commonly used admixtures are Ligno-sulphonates and hydrocarbolic acid salts.
6. Plasticizers are usually based on lignosulphonate, which is a natural polymer, derived
from wood processing in the paper industry.

Actions involved:

Dispersion:

Surface active agents alter the physic chemical forces at the interface. They are adsorbed on the
cement particles, giving them a negative charge which leads to repulsion between the particles.
Electrostatic forces are developed causing disintegration and the free water become available for
workability.

Lubrication:

As these agents are organic by nature, thus they lubricate the mix reducing the friction and
increasing the workability.

Retardation:
A thin layer is formed over the cement particles protecting them from hydration and increasing
the setting time. Most normal plasticizers give some retardation, 30–90 minutes

2. Super Plasticizers:

These are more recent and more effective type of water reducing admixtures also known
as high range water reducer. The main benefits of super plasticizers can be summarized as
follows:

Increased fluidity:

 Flowing
 Self-leveling
 Self-compacting concrete
 Penetration and compaction round dense reinforcement

Reduced W/C ratio:

 Very high early strength, >200% at 24 hours or earlier

 Very high later age strengths, >100 MPa or 15000 psi.
 Reduced shrinkage, especially if combined with reduced cement content.
 Improved durability by removing water to reduce permeability and diffusion.

The commonly used Super Plasticizers are as follows:

Sulphonated melamine formaldehyde condensates (SMF)

Give 16–25%+ water reduction. SMF gives little or no retardation, which makes them very
effective at low temperatures or where early strength is most critical. However, at higher
temperatures, they lose workability relatively quickly. SMF generally give a good finish and are
colorless, giving no staining in white concrete. They are therefore often used where appearance
is important.

Sulphonated naphthalene formaldehyde condensates (SNF)

Typically give 16–25%+ water reduction. They tend to increase the entrapment of larger,
unstable air bubbles. This can improve cohesion but may lead to more surface defects.
Retardation is more than with SMF but will still not normally exceed 90 minutes. SNF is a very
cost-effective.

Polycarboxylate ether superplasticizers (PCE)

Typically give 20–35%+ water reduction. They are relatively expensive per liter but are very
powerful so a lower dose (or more dilute solution) is normally used.

In general the dosage levels are usually higher than with conventional water reducers, and the
possible undesirable side effects are reduced because they do not markedly lower the surface
tension of the water.

3. Accelerators:

An admixture which, when added to concrete, mortar, or grout, increases the rate of hydration of
hydraulic cement, shortens the time of set in concrete, or increases the rate of hardening or
strength development.

Accelerating admixtures can be divided into groups based on their performance and application:

1. Set Accelerating Admixtures,

Reduce the time for the mix to change from the plastic to the hardened state. Set accelerators
have relatively limited use, mainly to produce an early set.

2. Hardening Accelerators,

Which increase the strength at 24 hours by at least 120% at 20ºC and at 5ºC by at least 130% at
48 hours. Hardening accelerators find use where early stripping of shuttering or very early access
to pavements is required. They are often used in combination with a high range water reducer,
especially in cold conditions.

Calcium chloride is the most effective accelerator and gives both set and hardening
characteristics. However, is limited due to acceleration of corrosion of steel reinforcement and
decrease resistance of cement paste in a sulfate environment. For this reason, it should not be
used in concrete where any steel will be embedded but may be used in plain unreinforced
concrete. Chloride-free accelerators are typically based on salts of nitrate, nitrite, formate and
thiocyanate. Hardening accelerators are often based on high range water reducers, sometimes
blended with one of these salts. Accelerating admixtures have a relatively limited effect and are
usually only cost effective in specific cases where very early strength is needed for, say, access
reasons. They find most use at low temperatures where concrete strength gain may be very slow
so that the relative benefit of the admixture becomes more apparent.

In summary, a hardening accelerator may be appropriate for strength gain up to 24 hours at low
temperature and up to 12 hours at ambient temperatures. Beyond these times, a high range water
reducer alone will usually be more cost-effective.

4. Set Retarders:

The function of retarder is to delay or extend the setting time of cement paste in concrete. These
are helpful for concrete that has to be transported to long distance, and helpful in placing the
concrete at high temperatures.

When water is first added to cement there is a rapid initial hydration reaction, after which there is
little formation of further hydrates for typically 2–3 hours. The exact time depends mainly on the
cement type and the temperature. This is called the dormant period when the concrete is plastic
and can be placed. At the end of the dormant period, the hydration rate increases and a lot of
calcium silicate hydrate and calcium hydroxide is formed relatively quickly. This corresponds to
the setting time of the concrete. Retarding admixtures delay the end of the dormant period and
the start of setting and hardening. This is useful when used with plasticizers to give workability
retention. Used on their own, retarders allow later vibration of the concrete to prevent the
formation of cold joints between layers of concrete placed with a significant delay between them.
The mechanism of set retards is based on absorption. The large admixture anions and molecules
are absorbed on the surface of cement particles, which hinders further reactions between cement
and water i.e. retards setting. The commonly known retards are Calcium Ligno-
sulphonates and Carbohydrates derivatives used in fraction of percent by weight of cement.

5. Air Entrained Admixtures:

An addition for hydraulic cement or an admixture for concrete or mortar which causes air,
usually in small quantity, to be incorporated in the form of minute bubbles in the concrete or
mortar during mixing, usually to increase its workability and frost resistance. Air-entraining
admixtures are surfactants that change the surface tension of the water. Traditionally, they were
based on fatty acid salts or vinsol resin but these have largely been replaced by synthetic
surfactants or blends of surfactants to give improved stability and void characteristics to the
entrained air. Air entrainment is used to produce a number of effects in both the plastic and the
hardened concrete. These include:

 Resistance to freeze – thaw action in the hardened concrete.

 Increased cohesion, reducing the tendency to bleed and segregation in the plastic
concrete.
 Compaction of low workability mixes including semi - dry concrete.
 Stability of extruded concrete.
 Cohesion and handling properties in bedding mortars.

Mineral Admixtures in Concrete

Types of Mineral Admixtures
1. Cementitious

These have cementing properties themselves. For example:

 Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS)

Ground granulated blast-furnace slag is the granular material formed when molten iron blast
furnace slag (a by-product of iron and steel making) is rapidly chilled (quenched) by immersion
in water. It is a granular product, highly cementitious in nature and, ground to cement fineness,
hydrates like Portland cement

2. Pozzolanic

A pozzolana is a material which, when combined with calcium hydroxide (lime), exhibits
cementitious properties. Pozzolans are commonly used as an addition (the technical term is
"cement extender") to Portland cement concrete mixtures to increase the long-term strength and
other material properties of Portland cement concrete and in some cases reduce the material cost
of concrete. Examples are:

 Fly ash
 Silica Fume
 Rice Husk Ash
 Metakaolin

pozzolanic Action:

The additive act in three ways

1. Filler
2. Nucleating
3. Pozzolanic

1. Filler:

These additives/admixtures are finer than cement, so when added to concrete they occupy the
small pores previously left vacant.
2. Nucleating:

These fine particles accelerate the rate of hydration and precipitation starts.

3. Pozzolanic:

When cementing material reacts with water the following reaction take place:

C2S + H CSH + CH

C3S + H CSH + CH

CSH is responsible for strength while CH is a soluble material reacts and dissolves in water
leaving behind pores. So when admixture is added

SiO3 or Al2O3+ CH CSH

Thus, it reduces the amount of CH & increase CSH

Fly Ash:

The finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of ground or powdered coal. Fly ash is
generally captured from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants; it has POZZOLANIC
properties, and is sometimes blended with cement for this reason.

Silica Fume

 By-product of semiconductor industry

The terms condensed silica fume, microsilica, silica fume and volatilized silica are often used to
describe the by-products extracted from the exhaust gases of silicon, ferrosilicon and other metal
alloy furnaces. However, the terms microsilica and silica fume are used to describe those
condensed silica fumes that are of high quality, for use in the cement and concrete industry.
Rice Husk Ash:

This is a bio waste from the husk left from the grains of rice. It is used as a pozzolanic material
in cement to increase durability and strength.

The silica is absorbed from the ground and gathered in the husk where it makes a structure and is
filled with cellulose. When cellulose is burned, only silica is left which is grinded to fine powder
which is used as pozzolana.