Of course, you can use "pure" concrete, consisting only of cement, water, sand and gravel. But why do so, considering there are many additives that may significantly improve its quality? That's the exact procedure used by modern production facilities when introducing various additives into the mixture. What do they do? Let's find out.
They can be divided into additives that:
- regulate the mobility, plasticity, water retention and other basic properties of concrete;
- regulate the hardening rate of the mixture;
- add special properties to reinforced concrete;
- impart resistance to frost;
- increase its strength and corrosion resistance;
- reduce shrinkage, increase resistance to cracks;
- tint concrete in different colours;
- impart resistance to moisture;
- facilitate lightweight concrete.
As you can see, there are a lot of additives. Listing all of them is a long and completely unnecessary task. Therefore, let's consider them generally.
The most commonly used chemical additives are those that allow the use of less water in the concrete mixture. This increases the strength of concrete, its plasticity, water resistance, frost resistance, and saves cement.
Plasticisers — additives that increase plasticity, are also often used. They bring a lot of advantages to the mixture:
- save cement, as about 15% less is required;
- increase the mobility of the mixture without compromising the strength of the final structure;
- increase the strength index by up to 25%;
- increase the ease of installation, which eliminates the need to use vibration during installation;
- facilitate the creation of structures such as columns, narrow wall forms, etc;
- enables the production of mixtures of increased density;
- increase frost resistance;
- reduce shrinkage of hardening concrete.
In fact, there are even more advantages of plasticisers. We have listed only the main ones.But these additives also have a minor downside - they slightly slow down the hardening process of the concrete mixture. But this is a minor disadvantage.And this can be corrected for using another additive that will speed up the hardening.
If you have any questions about additives in concrete mixtures, please contact our specialists.They will provide you with detailed advice and help you with your choice.
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