General Uses Of Concrete Plasticizer

By Margarita Joseph


Plasticizers, also known as dispersants, are a wide variety of chemicals used to intensify the plasticity of various materials. These materials include clays, concretes and other similar substances. The chemicals are used to enhance the characteristics of the material. While certain additives help to prevent the brittleness of dried paint, a concrete plasticizer is used to improve the workability of this material.

Plasticizers used for different types of cement could be referred to as a couple of things, including a water reducer, a superplasticizer or high range water reducer. The main reason for their addition is to strengthen cement. Usually, water needs to be taken out of the material in order for it to become stronger, but then it is hard and difficult to work with. A dispersant works much better because the water content can be reduced, but at the same time, the cement can still be manipulated.

The addition of dispersants (another name for a water reducer chemical) should be done by someone with experience, because if the wrong quantity is used, it could create an undesirable effect. If more than about one or two percent per unit weight of the material is added, it could have a segregating consequence. This will make the cement unsuitable for its adhesive purposes.

Common water reducers are made from pop lignosulfonate, which is a by-product from the manufacture of paper. The traditional reducers made from lignosulfonate disperse separate the flocculated particles of cement by a process of electrostatic repulsion. In normal plasticizing circumstances, the active materials move towards the cement particles. This creates a negative charge around them, leading to repulsion between the particles.

A water reducer comes with a number of benefits when mixed with the material. You get high quality workable mixture using low doses of the reducer and at minimal workmanship. It also extends slump life for your mixture. A reducer provides good workability without having to increase the amount of water in your mixture. Educed water quantity therefore saves on money. It also improves on durability, pump ability as well as the mechanical properties of the mixture such as tensile strength, compression and flexibility.

A reducer also cuts down the chances of cracks and shrinkage. They also improve adhesion and reinforcement when the mixture works with pre-stressed steel. Mixing also helps to cut permeability of the material, which is also less noisy when working with, through fast agitation at the work site. It also increases the segregation resistance of the material that results to a closely packed mixture. Other limitations including bug holes and high slump bleedings are also reduced.

Within the construction industry, water reducers have many benefits, mainly because this is the type of industry where concretes are most often used. The buildings developed are much stronger, and the work completed is of a much higher quality. Since that the cement is now of a more flexible and free-flowing nature, it is much easier to apply, and is much more effective in its application.

Concrete plasticizer is readily available on the market. Its shelf-life will vary according to its manufacture, but about a year is common. Purchasers are recommended to follow the directions on the packaging, and to adhere to safety precautions.




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