Adaptation of admixtures to modern Concrete Technology

Construction around the globe is evolving very fast with the help of new age concrete engineering. It becomes the top choice as a building material when we think about durable and sustainable infrastructures. High strength and durability characteristics make its more popular in the infrastructure field.

To catch up the pace of fast development and to achieve tight scheduled milestones, concrete alone is not sufficient. There are many reasons like workability, curing time, crack control, permeability issues, performance in hot weather or frost weather conditions, and finishing quality are the major factors where concrete construction consume more time. Time plays a very significant role throughout the construction process.

Thanks to new infrastructural technologies who innovate a vital component known as admixture which improves the attributes of concrete by enhancing its consistency. These chemicals are added to fresh mix as a supplement to Portland cement, water, sand, aggregate, and additives immediately before or during mixing. It enhances the durability, strength, and finish of concrete.

Admixtures help to save energy, cost, and time to achieve project milestones without compromising quality.

Major benefits of using admixtures are primarily to

• reduce the overall cost of concrete construction;
• modify the attributes of hardened-concrete;
• ensure the quality of concrete during mixing, transporting, placing, and curing;
• help in emergencies during concrete operations like delay in concrete placing.

The use of suitable batching and concreting processes is critical to the successful usage of admixtures. These are delivered in liquid form and are mixed into the concrete at the plant. The kind and amount of cement used, as well as the water content, mixing time, slump, and concrete and air temperatures, all influence the effectiveness of an admixture.

Silkon has a comprehensive selection of concrete admixtures with creative choices for concrete mix design, whether it’s to reduce the water content of a mix, use a more cost-effective mix design, or achieve enough early strength. Concrete admixtures from Silkon can help you fulfil the demands of current concrete technology and the building industry.

Silkon’sSupermix Series are used to improve the various characteristics of the concrete as:

• Protect Against Freeze-Thaw Cycles to Improve concrete Durability and resistance against severe frost weather conditions.
• Water Reduction in the Mix, i.e., minimise water-cement ratio to achieve the desired slump.
• Mid-Range water reducers
• High-Range water reducers superplasticizers
• High Compressive Strength Concrete
• Corrosion Protection by decreasing permeability
• Set Acceleration
  • To enhance the rate of early strength in concrete which allow us to remove the formwork earlier and the curing time is reduced. Recommended usingwhere concreting is carried out in cold weather.
• Set Retardation
  • To delay or to slow down the chemical process of hydration,which helps concrete to remains plastic and workable for a longer time than normal concrete. Recommended using where concreting is carried out in hot weather.
• Crack Control (shrinkage reduction)
• Self-Compacting Concrete
  • Fast placement without mechanical consolidation.
  • Minimises voids in highly-reinforced areas and eliminates problems associated with concrete vibration.
• PQC Concrete
• Finish Enhancement
• Improve the performance of Cement replacements like Flyash, GGBFS, Micro Silica, Metakaolin, etc.
• Maintain concrete quality during the mixing, transport, installation, and curing processes in inclement weather or in the event of an emergency during concrete operations.
• All value-added concrete.