ADMIXTURE

ACCELERATORS AND
ACCELERATING PLASTICIZERS

BY
MEGHNA PRASAD (AR15033)
 WHAT IS ADMIXTURE ?
• Material which is used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar to control setting and
early hardening , workability or to provide additional qualities to concrete.
• Type of different admixtures
- Accelerating admixture
- Retarding admixture
- Water reducing admixture
- Air entraining admixture
- Super plasticizing admixture
 ACCELERATING ADMIXTURE

• Accelerators are on of the most popular kinds of chemical admixtures.

• It is added to concrete batch either immediately before or during mixing .
• Accelerator make concrete set faster ( it increase the rate of hydration).
• Also promote strength development.
• It is mostly used in cold weather, which slow down the curing and setting process.
• It allows the workers to remove the form earlier.
• Accelerating admixture can be divided into 2 groups based on their performance and application:
- Set Accelerating admixtures.
- Hardening accelerators.
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.
Hardening Accelerator
• It increase the strength at 24 hours by at least 120% at 20°c and at 5°c 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 often used in combination with high range water reducer, especially in cold conditions.
Calcium chloride is the most effective accelerator and gives both set and hardening characteristics.
• Hardening accelerator are often based on high range water reducers, sometimes blended with one of
these salts.
• Accelerating admixtures hardening accelerators may be appropriate for strength gain up to 24 hours at
low temperature and up to 12 hours at ambient temperatures. Beyond theses times, a high range water
reducers alone will usually be more cost - effective
• Commonly used material as accelerators :-
- Calcium Chloride - Triethanolamine
- Sodium chloride - Fluorides
- Calcium formates - Calcium Nitrate
- Calcium nitrite - Aluminum chloride
- Alkali carbonates of aluminates and silicates
• 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 accelerator are
typically based on salts of nitrate, nitrite, formate and thiocyanate.
• CaCl2 and NaCl are very useful in cold weather concreting (-23°c)
BENEFITS OF USING ACCELERATORS
• Permit early removal of formwork.
• Reduce the required period of curing.
• Advance the time that a structure can be placed in service.
• Partially compensate for the retarding effect of low temperature during cold weather concreting.
• In the emergency repair work.
Some substances may act as accelerators and retarders according to the proportion added
• E.g. :- when 2% of CaCl2 added when added by weight of cement acts as an accelerator but on
increasing the proportion to it acts as retarders and leads to increase setting time.
• Then triethanolamine added in a proportion less than 0.06 % by weight of cement acts as an
accelerator but acts as retarder if the dosage is increased.
THANK YOU………