Concrete Additives: Improving the Rheology and Workability of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

What is a Concrete Water-Reducing Agent?

PCE powder is an important element of concrete blends. It improves the consistency of concrete, creating it less difficult to blend and place, thus enhancing the flexibility of concrete for construction.
The amount of water-reducing substance is influenced by factors like particle size and compressive strength, among others, with regards to the performance of concrete, and its application is also affected by the environmental conditions and building requirements. Proper usage of water-reducing agents can improve the uniformity of concrete, reduce concrete cracking, and improve the strength of concrete. The function of water-reducing agents also includes decreasing the water content of concrete, enhancing the robustness of concrete, and boosting the overall performance of concrete. Additionally, water-reducing agents can minimize dust formation, diminish concrete shrinkage, improve concrete resilience, boost the appearance of concrete, and increase concrete’s capability to corrosion.

What are the characteristics of concrete water-reducing agent?
The concrete water-reducing agent is an additive that decreases the water consumption of concrete while keeping its fluidity essentially unchanged, therefore enhancing the sturdiness and durability of concrete, or increasing the fluidity of concrete and improving the workability of concrete in the same concrete quantity and water-cement ratio.

1. Soothing effect.

The polar hydrophilic groups in the water-reducing agent position themselves to adsorb onto the surface of cement particles and quickly bond to water molecules through hydrogen bonds. The strength of this hydrogen bonding is significantly greater than the molecular attraction between water molecules and cement particles. When ample water-reducing agent is absorbed by the cement particles, using R-SO3θ and the hydrogen bonding in water molecules, as well as the hydrogen bonding between water molecules, a stable solvated water film forms on the surface of cement particles. This layer functions as a three-dimensional protective barrier, preventing direct contact between cement particles and acting as a lubricant between particles.

2. Wetting effect.

After cement and water are mixed, the surface of the particles is wetted by water, and the parameters of wetting have a significant impact on the performance of fresh industrial concrete. The reduction in surface available energy induced by natural wetting can be calculated using the formula recommended by Glbbs.

3. Fluidity-enhancing effect.

After the addition of high-efficiency water-reducing agents in commercial concrete, the water-cement ratio can be considerably decreased while maintaining fluidity. High-efficiency water-reducing agents have a water reduction rate of up to 10% to 25%, while regular water-reducing agents have a water reduction rate of 5% to 15%, therefore the name high-efficiency water-reducing agent. The water reduction effect is mainly because of the adsorption and diffusion of water-reducing agents in industrial concrete.

4. Plasticizing result.

After adding a water-reducing agent to concrete, it can raise the flow while keeping the water-cement ratio unchanged. Common water-reducing agents, in the event of keeping the exact same amount of cement, can create the brand-new industrial concrete depression boost by above 10cm; high-performance water-reducing agents can produce a slump of 25cm of industrial concrete.

Concrete water-reducing agent system of action presented

1. Distributing influence:
After the concrete is mixed with water, due to the hydration of cement particles, the surface of cement particles forms a double electrical layer structure, resulting in the formation of a solvent water film and nonuniform charged areas between cement particles making a bridging effect. This guarantees that 10% to 30% of the blend water is enveloped by the concrete particles and cannot participate in free flow and lubrication, thereby impacting the fluidity of the concrete mix. When the water-reducing agent is added, the water-reducing agent molecules can orient themselves and adsorb on the surface of cement particles, creating a likewise charged surface (typically negative) on the cement particles. This triggers electrostatic repulsion, urging the cement particles to disperse from each other, breaking down the bridging structure, and releasing the covered water. As a result, the water can flow more effectively, thus increasing the workability of the concrete mix.

2. Lubrication impact:
The hydrophilic group in the water-reducing agent is highly polar, allowing the adsorption film of the water-reducing substance on the surface of cement particles to create a stable layer of solventized water film along with water molecules. This water film provides efficient lubrication, considerably reducing the friction between cement particles and furthermore boosting the fluidity of concrete.

3. Spatial site-resistance influence:
The water-reducing agent structure with hydrophilic branched chains extends in a liquid solution, forming a thick hydrophilic three-dimensional adsorption layer on the surface of adsorbed cement particles. When the concrete particles are adjacent to each other, the adsorption layers begin to overlap. This causes in spatial site-resistance between cement particles, enhancing the repulsion of spatial site-resistance and increasing the bonding obstruction between cement particles, thus maintaining the desired slump of the concrete.

4. Slow-release impact of graft copolymerization branched chains:
New water-reducing agents, such as polycarboxylic acid water-reducing agents, possess branching chains grafted onto the molecules of the water-reducing agent. These branched chains provide both spatial site-resistance effects and, in the highly alkaline environment of cement hydration, can be slowly emitted, causing the emission of polycarboxylic acid with dispersing effect. This boosts the dispersion result of cement particles and regulates slump loss.

The amount of water-reducing representative is impacted by the particle measurement as well as compressive strength, etc., on the performance of concrete, and additionally its volume is likewise impacted by climatic issues and construction needs. The correct use of water-reducing agents can improve the uniformity of concrete, decrease the cracking of the concrete, izajoo similarly increase the resilience of concrete. The role of water-reducing agents additionally consists of decreasing the water material of concrete, which boosts the strength of concrete and makes the general performance of concrete top-quality. Additionally, water-reducing agents can similarly lower the creation of dirt, reduce the shrinking of concrete, increase the sturdiness of concrete, enhance the look of concrete, and improve the corrosion resistance of concrete.

Concrete Water-Reducing Supplier

TRUNNANO is a reliable concrete additives supplier with over 12-year experience in nano-building energy conservation and nanotechnology development.
If you are looking for high-quality concrete additives Concrete water-reducing agent, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry. ([email protected])
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