EXTREME WEATHER CONCRETING AND CHEMICAL

ADMIXTURES IN CONCRETE
Cold Weather Concreting:
Effects of Low Temperature (Cold Weather) on Concrete:
1) Delay in Setting and Hardening:
Temperature affects the rate of hydration of cement.
If the temperature is low, concrete will take long time to set and
harden.
This delay in setting makes concrete prone to frost attack and other
disturbances.
Delay in hardening causes trouble in early removal of form work.
Hence, rate of progress of work will be very slow and the economy
will be affected.
2) Freezing of concrete at Early age:
When the temperature is sub-zero, the free water in the plastic
concrete freezes.
This freezing prevents the hydration of cement and also makes the
concrete expanded.
This expansion impairs the strength of concrete and may suffer
permanent damage.
3) Freezing and Thawing:
Due to varied behavior of climatic conditions in the cold weather
regions, the fresh concrete or hardened concrete gets subjected to
freezing and thawing.
The durability of gets greatly impaired due to this alternating freezing
and thawing, it reduces to

1
3

to

1
4

Precautions to be taken in Cold Weather Concreting:

1) Water and aggregates are heated before mixing.
2) The temperature of the water should not exceed 650C.

3) The aggregates are heated by passing steam through pipes embedded in

aggregate storage bins.
4) Protection should be erected to safeguard the mixing and batching plants
against cold winds. Tarapaulin, plastic sheets or any other covering and
insulating materials should be available on the site and steam generating
plant may be installed. Concrete must be protected by heated enclosures.
5) Concrete should not be placed below 50C, therefore concrete is to be quickly
placed and covered at the top by some insulating material to preserve heat
and prevent from freezing.
6) To generate more heat of hydration more quantity of cement can be used in
proportion mix.
7) Use of high alumina cement generates more heat of hydration.
8) All ice, snow and frost, should be completely removed before placing the
concrete because it will form hollow pockets.
9) Curing is not required below freezing point because there will be almost nil
evaporation.
10) Low pressure wet steam should be used for heating the enclosure and moist
curing of concrete.
11) Form works are a sort of protection against cold water to the concrete.
Therefore, it is often advantageous not to remove form works until the end of
a minimum period of protection.

Hot Weather Concreting:

Can be defined as the process of concreting placed at as atmospheric temperature
above 400C.
Effects of Hot Weather on Concrete:
1) Rapid Rate of Hydration:
Due to high temperature, rapid rate of hydration takes place and setting
time of cement is reduced considerably, which results early stiffening
and loss of workability.
Partially set concrete may reduce the bond between the successive lifts.
2) Rapid Evaporation of Mixing Water:

 Hot weather is normally associated with lower relative humidity, which

is the cause of rapid evaporation of mixing water and thus required
workability is lost.
Therefore, a lot of compacting effort will be required to compact
concrete fully, otherwise large voids will be there in the concrete and
these voids will make the concrete weak.
3) Greater Plastic Shrinkage:
The rate of evaporation of water in the surface of the concrete has been
found faster than the rate of movement of water from the interior to the
surface.
A moisture gradient will be settled, which results in surface cracks
known as plastic shrinkage cracks.
Plastic shrinkage cracks are found mostly in cases of floors, roads and
pavement concrete.
4) Finishing Time:
Finishing should be done as early as possible in hot weather conditions
because due to faster stiffening and quicker evaporation of water, the
finishing will be of poor standard.
Finishing tine is considerably reduced in hot weather conditions.
5) Absorption of Water by Sub-grade:
The sub-grade or the surface of form work is normally dry and
absorptive in hot weather and is required to be wetted before placing
the concrete.
If this is not done, then the water in the concrete may be lost by
absorption, making the contact zone poor in quality.
6) Curing:
Continuous curing is required in hot weather conditions.
Concrete surface dries up fast and it may interrupt the continuous
hydration.
7) Air Entrainment:

 Due to higher temperature, air entrained in concrete is lost thereby

causing loss of workability.
So, more amount of air entraining agents will be required in hot weather
conditions.
Precautions to be taken during Hot weather Concreting:
1) Aggregates should be stock piled in shade and frequent sprinkling of water
should be done to lower the temperature. Sometimes, heavy spraying of cold
air over the aggregates is practicised.
2) Cold water may be used to lower the temperature of the concrete. Use of ice
may also be made as a part of mixing water.
3) The concrete is mixed in the minimum required time. The concrete mixture
must be positioned as close to the place of deposition so that concrete does
not gets warmed up in the way of delivery.
4) Reinforcement form work and sub grade should be wetted with cold water
just prior to placing the concrete.
5) The concrete is placed in thin layers so that the time interval between the
successive lifts is reduced.
6) Use of low heat cement and water reducing admixtures is beneficial.
7) It is better to do the concreting operations during the evening time when the
temperature is low.
8) Continuous wet curing is necessary without any gap as alternate wetting and
drying leads to surface cracks.

Chemical Admixtures in Concrete:

Definition:
Admixture is defined as a material, other than cement, water and aggregate, that is
used as an ingredient of concrete and is added to the concrete mix immediately
before or during mixing to modify one or more of the specific properties of
concrete in the fresh or hardened state.
Purpose of Admixtures:
i)

To accelerate the initial set of concrete, i.e. to speed up the rate of

development of strength at early ages.

ii)

To retard the initial set, i.e. to keep concrete workable for a longer time for
placement.
iii) To enhance the workability.
iv) To improve the penetration and pumpability of concrete.
v) To reduce the segregation in grout and concrete mixtures.
vi) To increase the strength of concrete by reducing the water content and by
densification of concrete.
vii) To increase the durability of concrete, i.e. its resistance to special conditions
of exposure.
Different Types of Admixtures:
1) Accelerating Admixtures/Accelerator:
An admixture used to speed up the initial set of concrete is called an
accelerator.
Accelerating admixtures are added to increase the rate of early
strength development helps in:
i) Permit earlier removal of formwork;
ii) Reduce the required period of curing;
iii) Earlier placement of structure in service.
The most widely used accelerator is calcium chloride (CaCl2).
CaCl2 contains soluble chlorides are not permitted to be used in
prestressed concrete due to the possibility of stress corrosion
It may be used for plain cement concrete in comparatively high dose.
An accelerator produced under the trade name Quickset which when
added to neat cement results in the setting in a matter of seconds.
Some of the modern commercial accelerating materials are MCSchnell OC, MC-Schnell SDS, and MC-Torkrethilfe BE,
manufactured by MC-Bauchemic (Ind) Pvt. Ltd.
Accelerators such as fluosilicates and triethenolamine are
comparatively expensive.

2) Retarding Admixtures/Retarders:
A retarder is an admixture that slows down the chemical process of
hydration so that concrete remains plastic and workable for a longer
time than concrete without retarder.

 Retarders are used to overcome the accelerating effect of high

temperature on setting properties of concrete in hot weather
concreting.
Retarders delay setting of cement by forming a thin coating on the
cement particles and thus slowing down their dissolution and reaction
with water.
Retarders are also added in the concrete that has to be hauled long
distances in transit mix trucks, to ensure that it remains in plastic and
placeable condition. Ready mixed concrete technology employs
retarders with an advantage, i.e. for the purpose of retaining the
slump.
A retarding admixture holds back the hydration process, leaving more
water for workability and allowing concrete to be finished and
protected before drying out.
3) Water Reducing Admixtures and Super-Plasticizers:
Plasticizers help in obtaining higher workability without using excess
water.
Benefits of water reduction in hardened state of concrete are increase
strength, density, durability, volume stability, abrasion resistance,
reduced permeability and cracking.
Generally an admixture capable of reducing water requirements by
more than 5 per cent is classified as water reducers or plasticizer.
Depending upon degree of water reduction the water reducers are
categorized as: normal water reducer, mid- range water reducer and
high-range water reducer or super-plasticizer.
Use of super-plasticizers permits the reduction of water to the extent
up to 30 percent without reducing workability.
The use of plasticizers is practiced for flowing, self leveling, self
compacting, and for production of high strength and high performance
concrete.
Super-plasticizers are used in the construction of high rise buildings,
long span bridges and recently become popular in ready-mixed
concrete industry.

 It also produces a homogeneous, cohesive concrete generally without

tendency for segregation and bleeding.
4) Air Entraining Admixtures:
Air entrained concrete is made by mixing a small quantity of air
entraining agent or by using air-entraining cement.
These air-entraining agents are made of natural wood, resins or animal
and vegetable fats and oils or sulphonated organic compounds or
water soluble soaps etc.
Another type of air-entraining admixture made from neutralized
vinsol resin is used in mass concrete and concrete used in highway
pavements.
These air entraining agents incorporate millions of non-coalescing air
bubbles, which will act as flexible ball-bearings and will modify the
properties of plastic concrete regarding workability, segregation,
bleeding and finishing quality of the concrete.
5) Pozzolanic Admixtures:
Pozzolanic admixtures are siliceous materials which possess
cementitious value in finely divided form and in the presence of
moisture.
Natural pozzolans are clay, shales, diatomaceous earth, volcanic tuffs,
pumicites etc. and the artificial pozzolans are fly ash and surkhi.
Pozzolans mixed in optimum proportions with OPC improve the
following qualities of concrete.
i) Lower the heat of hydration.
ii) Increase the water tightness.
iii) Reduce the alkali-aggregate reaction.
iv) Resistance improvement against sea water and leaching.
v) Improve workability.
Trade Names for Different Types of Admixtures:
Air entraining agents: Vinsol resin, Darex, Aerosin-HRS, Rihand AEA, Hico,
Roff AEA.
Pozzolonic materials: Flyash, Surkhi.

Damp proofers: Accoproof, Natsons cement water proofer, Trip-l-seal, Cico, FebMix-Admix, cement, Arzok, Bondex, Sigment, Rela, Swadco No. 1, wet seal.
Surface hardeners: Metal crete, Ferrocrete No.1, Arconate No. 1, Purelite, Meta
rock, Ironite.
Water reducing plasticizers: Emce Plast BV, complast 211, plastiment BV 40.
Superplasticizers: Zentrament super BU, Zentrament FBV, Centriplast FF 90,
Conplast 337, Sikament FF, Roff super plast 820.
Accelerating Agents: MC-Schnell OC, MC-Schnell SDS.
Grouting Agents: Conbextra GP, Conbex FCC 422, Anchor NSG.