What Is A Concrete Admixture?

 What is a concrete admixture? 

A concrete admixture is a material, other than the core ingredients of water, aggregates, cementitious materials, etc., that when used, modify the properties of the hardened concrete such as the strength, flexibility, etc.  

When is an admixture added to concrete? 

Admixtures are typically added to the concrete mixture during the fresh mixing or right before the mixing of the concrete. This is to ensure that the admixture is properly distributed throughout the concrete and the additive properties that the admixture provides are evenly distributed throughout the final structure / slab. 

Why are concrete admixtures used? 

Concrete admixtures are used for a variety of reasons. One reason is to modify the existing properties of concrete, such as making it harder, more resilient, etc. Another reason is to ensure the quality of the final concrete. Lastly, concrete admixtures can be used to reduce the cost of concrete.  

What are the types of concrete admixtures?  

There are many types of concrete admixtures that are all used to accomplish different goals when being added to concrete. The first, water-reducing admixtures, are used to reduce the water content needed for mixing of traditional concrete. These kinds of admixtures are used to lower the water-cement ratio, which can lead to stronger concrete.  

Next, there are retarding admixtures which slow the setting of concrete. These are used most often in higher temperature climates where installers and contractors need the concrete to stay wet through the entire installation process. This keeps the concrete workable.  

The opposite of a retarding admixture is an accelerating admixture. This kind of admixture speeds the curing process and is most often used in cold or high humidity environments where the setting of regular concrete would be significantly delayed due to these conditions.  

Superplasticizers are another kind of admixture to concrete. This admixture can also be known as plasticizers or high-range water reducers (HRWR). This type reduces water content by up to 30% and is added to concrete with a low-to-normal slump and water-cement ratio to make high-slump flowing concrete. Unlike other admixtures superplasticizers offer temporary alteration to the concrete, with the increase in workability, which allows for easy placement. The effect of superplasticizers last up to 60 minutes and is followed by a loss in workability.  

The last concrete admixture that we will discuss in this article is corrosion-inhibiting admixtures. Most corrosion-inhibiting admixtures fall into the “specialty admixtures” category. Their main purpose is to slow or stop corrosion of reinforcing steel, or other imbedded reinforcements in concrete. They are incredibly effective in structures that are exposed to excessive amounts of chlorides, such as highways, bridges, marine facilities, and parking garages.  

What are Surtreat’s concrete admixtures?  

SurCoNew is a group of corrosion inhibiting solutions to be used during construction to better design characteristics and bring longevity to new structures composed of steel reinforced Portland cement concrete.  

 SurCoNew concrete admixture inhibitor is added to fresh concrete mixes to prevent and minimize the onset of corrosion of the embedded reinforcement. Unlike its predecessor, Calcium Nitrite based corrosion inhibiting admixture, it does not interfere with the curing process. 

What are the benefits of SurCoNew? 

SurCoNew concrete admixture corrosion Inhibitor other special benefits include: 

• Outstanding corrosion resistance performance
• Does not interfere with the curing process
• Proven laboratory and site performance
• Simple to use – added to concrete mix directly
• Improves concrete strength
• Non-toxic environmentally friendly
• Produces long term/permanent outcomes
• Added in a comparatively small quantity
• Particularly effective on concretes exposed to harsh environments and conditions like freeze/thaw, salt spray, garages, gas stations, etc. 
• Extends structure service life at a negligible cost

   

More information about SurCoNew:  

This SurCoNew solution added to a concrete mix migrates in a vapor form through the cement phase micro pores and deposits on the rebar surfaces where it furnishes corrosion protection at both the anodic and cathodic sites. It is not consumed during the corrosion inhibiting process and does not have any impact on the concrete curing process. 

SurCoNew corrosion inhibitor concrete admixture improves concrete strength. It is a concrete admixture inhibitor very compatible with other additives commonly used to improve concrete quality such as air entrainment, water reducers, accelerating/retarding admixtures, and superplasticizers.