DEPT.

of CIVIL ENGINEERING UET, PESHAWAR

CHEMICAL ADMIXTURES
Jahangir MIRZA
Visiting Faculty
Dept. of Civil Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology
Peshawar

April 2011

Admixtures
Used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar and
added to the batch immediately before or during
mixing
Two types:
Chemical admixtures (Special lecture):
Accelerators, retarders, water reducers, superplasticizers,
air entraining admixtures, anti-washout agents, etc.

Mineral admixtures:
Fly ash, slag, silica fume, rice husk ash, tires, bagasse,
sewer sludge, glass, natural pozzolans, bentonite, kaolin

Chemical admixtures mostly present in the

concrete, whereas mineral admixtures may or
may not be present (in Pakistan ???)

Chemical admixtures
ACI Committee 212 lists 20 important purposes
Increase concrete plasticity without increasing
water content
Reduce bleeding and segregation
Retard or accelerate set time
Accelerate strength development rate at early ages
Reduce heat evolution rate

Increase concrete durability to specific exposure

conditions

Chemical admixtures
Two types
Act immediately on cement-water
system by influencing water surface
tension and by adsorbing on cement
particles surface
Break-up into ionic constituents and
affect chemical reactions between cement
compounds and water minutes to hours
after addition

Chemical admixtures
Separate ASTM specifications
Air-entraining chemicals
ASTM 260 sets limits on the effect that a given
admixture under test may exert on bleeding, set
time, compressive and flexural strengths, dryingshrinkage, freezing-thawing resistance of concrete
compared to a reference air-entraining admixture

Water reducing and/or set controlling

ASTM 494 divides water reducing and/or set
controlling chemicals into 7 types

Chemical admixtures
Seven types

Type A water reducing

Type B retarding
Type C accelerating
Type D water-reducing and retarding
Type E water-reducing and accelerating
Type F high-range water reducing
Type G - high-range water reducing and retarding

For a given concrete consistency

type A, D, E reduce at least 5% water
High-range water-reducing agents reduce at least
12% water

Specification sets limits set time, compressive

and flexural strengths, drying-shrinkage

Surface-active chemicals
Surfactants
Air-entraining admixtures
Ingredient in concrete for entraining air (salts of wood
resins, proteinaceous materials and petroleum acids,
synthetic detergents, etc)

Water-reducing admixtures
Reduce mixing water quantity to produce concrete of
given consistency (salts, modifications, and
derivatives of lignosulfonic acids, hydroxylated
carboxylic acids, and polysaccharides, or any
combinations) (superplasticizers sulfonated salts
of melamine, or nepthalene formaldehyde
condensates).

Surface-active chemicals
Applications - air-entraining admixtures
Resist freezing-thawing cycles
Improve workability of concrete mixtures with less
cement and water, rough-textured aggregates, or
light-weight aggregates
Mass concrete and light-weight mixtures

Disadvantages
Overdose delay in cement hydration (renders
cement particles hydrophobic)
Large amount of entrained air loss in strength

Applications water-reducing admixtures

BENEFITS ACHIEVED BY USING WATER-REDUCING ADMIXTURES

Test series

cement
content
(kg/m3)

W/C

Slump
(mm)

Compressive
strength (Mpa)
7 days

28 days

A Reference

concrete (no
admixture)

300

0.62

50

25

37

A given dosage of a
water-reducing
admixture is added
with the purpose of:
B

Consistency increase

300

0.62

100

26

38

Strength increase

300

0.56

50

34

46

Cement saving

270

0.62

50

25.5

37.5

Source: based on P.C. Hewlett, in Concrete Admixtures: Use and Applications, ed. M. R. Rixon, The Construction Press, London. 197. p. 16. By permission of Longman.

Surface-active chemicals
Superplasticizers - 1970
High-range water reducers (HRWR) reduce water 3 4
times than normal water-reducing admixtures
Normally added up to 1% by weight of cement
Disperse cement particles in water accelerate hydration
rate accelerate setting and hardening
Water reduction up to 30%
Increase in compressive and flexural strength due to
reduction in W/C
Show higher early strength than reference concrete at same
W/C (Table)
High cement contents and low W/C (0.45) more rapid strength
development
Pre-cast concrete industry and faster removal of formwork

Superplasticizers
EXAMPLES OF HIGH EARLY STRENGTH MADE POSSIBLE BY USE OF SP ADMIXTURES

Test

Reference concrete (no

admixture)
Concrete of same
consistency as A but
containing less water
and 2% SP by wt. of
cement
Concrete of same W/C
as B but containing no
SP, and having lower
slump

cement
content
(kg/m3)

W/C

Slump
(mm)

Compressive strength (Mpa)

1-day

3-day

7-day

28-day

360

0.6

225

10

21

32

45

360

0.45

225

20

35

43

55

360

0.45

30

16

28

37

52

Set-controlling admixtures
Retarding admixtures
Accelerating admixtures increase setting time
and strength rate development
Some chemicals
Retarders used in small quantities (0.3% by wt. of
cement)
Accelerators used in large dosage (1% by wt. of
cement)

Some show both retarders and accelerators (fig.)

Set-controlling admixtures

Set-controlling admixtures
Applications accelerating admixtures
Modify concrete properties cold weather
Expedite start of finish operations
reduce curing time and protection
Increase early strength development rate to permit
earlier forms removal and construction work
Permit more efficient plugging of leaks against
hydraulic pressures
Mostly CaCl2.2H2O 0.5 to 2.0% by weight of cement
(Fig. and Table 8.3)

by influencing the rate of chemical hydration

Importance of accelerators (set time without accelerators)

Temperature (Degree F)

Approximate Setting Time (Hours)

70

60

50

10

40

14

30

19

20

No set

Accelerator- heat evolution rate

CaCl2.2H2O setting time

CaCl2.2H2O strength at various

temperatures

CaCl2.2H2O influence on other properties

CaCl2.2H2O influence on other properties

Set-controlling admixtures
Applications- retarding admixtures
Compensation for adverse ambient temperature hot weather
Permit proper placement and finishing
Overcome damaging and accelerating effects of hot
weather

Retarding admixtures
Control of setting of large structural units to
keep concrete workable elimination of cold
joints and discontinuities in large structural
units
Control of setting may prevent cracking of
concrete beams, bridge decks
Effect of addition of retarding and waterreducing admixtures (type D) table8.4
Maintaining concrete in workable condition for
longer periods table 8.5

EFFECT OF APPLICN OF TYPE D ADMIXTURE* ON SET TIME & STRENGTH

Admixture dosage
by weight of
cement (liters/kg)

Setting time (hr)

(ASTM C403)

Initial

Final

4.5

0.14

0.21

11.5

Water/cement
ratio

Compressive strength (Mpa)

3-day

7-day

28-day

0.68

20.3

28

37

13

0.61

28

36.5

46.8

16

0.58

29.6

40.1

49.7

* According to ASTM C494, Type D admixtures - both retarding and water reducing
Source: Based on P.C.Hewlett, in Concrete Amixtures: Use and Applications, ed. M.R. Rixom,
The Construction Press, London, 1978, p. 18. By permission of Longman.

EFFECT OF APPLIC OF TYPE D ADMIXTURE ON CONSISTENCY AT HIGH AMBIENT TEMP.

Test

Ambient
temperature
(oC)

Concrete slump (mm)

1 hr

2 hr

3 hr

4 hr

5 hr

Control concrete
(no admixture)

20

127

89

76

57

38

32

Concrete with admixture

20

127

127

114

102

57

Control concrete
(no admixture)

43

114

57

Concrete with admixture

43

127

70

25

19

13

Source: Based on P.C Hewlett, in Concrete Admixtures: Use and Applications, ed. M.R. Rixom,
The Construction Press, London, 1978, p.18. By permission of Longman.

Set Times of Concrete Treated with Various HRWR

Concrete No.

Admixture

Time of Set (min.)

Initial

Final

None

281

382

naphthalene

355

435

3
4

melamine
calcium lignosulfonate with
air-entraining depressant

350
625

440
770

calcium lignosulfonate

430

532

naphthalene and calcium

lignosulfonate

390

475