Chemical admixtures

Abstract

In recent decades, tremendous success has been achieved in the advancement of chemical admixtures for Portland cement concrete. Materials scientists, chemists, engineers, and manufacturers’ technical representatives have helped the concrete industry to improve our ability to control work times, workability, strength, and durability of Portland cement concrete. Most efforts have centered on improving the properties of concrete with minimal investments by ready-mix suppliers and contractors in the way of specialized equipment or special skills and education of their labor forces. This approach has resulted in construction cost reductions and universally accepted ready-made remedies for unexpected problems during construction.