Use of Water Reducers, Retarders, and Superplasticizers.

Introduction
Many important characteristics of concrete are influenced by the ratio (by weight)
of water to cementitious materials (w/cm) used in the mixture. By reducing the
amount of water, the cement paste will have higher density, which results in higher
paste quality. An increase in paste quality will yield higher compressive and
flexural strength, lower permeability, increase resistance to weathering, improve
the bond of concrete and reinforcement, reduce the volume change from drying
and wetting, and reduce shrinkage cracking tendencies (PCA, 1988).
Reducing the water content in a concrete mixture should be done in such a way so
that complete cement hydration process may take place and sufficient workability
of concrete is maintained for placement and consolidation during construction. The
w/cm needed for cement to complete its hydration process ranges from 0.22 to
0.25. The existence of additional water in the mixture is needed for ease of
concrete placing and finishing (workability of concrete). Reducing the water
content in a mixture may result in a stiffer mixture, which reduces
the workability and increases potential placement problems.
Water reducers, retarders, and superplasticizers are admixtures for concrete,
which are added in order to reduce the water content in a mixture or to slow the
setting rate of the concrete while retaining the flowing properties of a concrete
mixture. Admixtures are used to modify the properties of concrete or mortar to
make them more suitable to work by hand or for other purposes such as saving
mechanical energy.

Water reducing admixtures (WRA)

The use of WRA is defined as Type A in ASTM C 494. WRA affects mainly the
fresh properties of concrete by reducing the amount of water used by 5% to 12%
while maintaining a certain level of consistency, measured by the slump as
prescribed in ASTM C 143-90. The use of WRA may accelerate or retard the
initial setting time of concrete. The WRA that retards the initial setting time more
than three hours later is classified as WRA with retarding effect (Type D).
Commonly used WRA is lignosulfonates and hydrocarboxylic (HC) acids. The use
of HC acids as WRA requires higher water content compared to the
lignosulfonates. Rapid bleeding is a problem for concrete treated with HC acids.
Increase of slump is different according to its type and dosage. Typical dosage rate
is based upon the cementitious material content (milliliters per hundred of
kilograms). The figure below illustrates the influence of dosage of Lignosulfonates
and HC acid on slump. It is shown in the figure that HC acids give a higher slump
compared to lignosulfonates with the same dosage.

Figure 1 Influence of Dosage of Retarders on Slump (Neville, 1995).

WRA has been used primarily in hot weather concrete placing, pumping, and
tremie. Careful concrete placement is required, as the initial setting time of
concrete will take place an hour earlier. It is also shown that the use of WRA will
give a higher initial concrete compressive strength (up to 28 days) by 10%
compared to the control mixture. Other benefit of using WRA is that higher
concrete density is achieved which makes the concrete less permeable and have a
higher durability.

Retarding admixtures
The use of this admixture is defined in ASTM C494. There are two kinds of
retarders, defined as Type B (Retarding Admixtures) and Type D (Water Reducing
and Retarding Admixtures). The main difference between these two is the waterreducing characteristic in Type D that gives higher compressive strengths by
lowering w/cm ratio.
Retarding admixtures are used to slow the rate of setting of concrete. By slowing
the initial setting time, the concrete mixture can stay in its fresh mix state longer
before it gets to its hardened form. Use of retarders is beneficial for:

Complex concrete placement or grouting

Special architectural surface finish
Compensating the accelerating effect of high temperature towards the initial
set
Preventing cold joint formation in successive lifts.

Retarder can be formed by organic and inorganic material. The organic material
consists of unrefined Ca, Na, NH4, salts of lignosulfonic acids, hydroxycarboxylic
acids, and carbohydrates. The inorganic material consists of oxides of Pb and Zn,
phosphates, magnesium salts, fluorates, and borates. Commonly used retarders are
lignosulfonates acids and hydroxylated carboxylic (HC) acids, which act as Type
D (Water Reducing and Retarding Admixtures). The use of lignosulfonates acids
and hydroxylated carboxylic acids retard the initial setting time for at least an hour
and no more than three hours when used at 65 to 100 oF.
A study performed on the influence of air temperature over the retardation of the
initial set time (measured by penetration resistance as prescribed in ASTM C 403
92) shows that decreasing effect with higher air temperature (Neville1995). The
table below describes the effect of air temperature on retardation of setting time:
Table 1 Air Temperature and Retardation of Initial Setting Time

Admixture
Type

Description

Retardation of initial setting time (h:min) at

temperature of
30oC

40oC

50oC

Hydroxylic acid

4:57

1:15

1:10

Lignin

2:20

0:42

0:53

Lignosulfonates

3:37

1:07

1:25

Phosphate-based

---

3:20

2:30

The use of retarding admixture has the main drawback of the possibility of rapid
stiffening, where rapid slump loss will result in difficulty of concrete placement,
consolidation, and finishing. An extended-set admixture has been developed as
another retarding admixture. The advantages of this admixture compared to the
conventional one is the capability to react with major cement constituents and to
control hydration and setting characteristics of concrete while the conventional one
will only react with C3A.
Careful usage of retarder is required to avoid excessive retardation, rapid slump
loss and excessive plastic shrinkage. Plastic shrinkage is the change in fresh
concrete volume as surface water evaporates. The amount of water evaporation is
influenced by temperature, ambient relative humidity, and wind velocity. Proper
concrete curing and adequate water supply for surface evaporation will prevent
plastic shrinkage cracking. The amount of water needed to prevent plastic
shrinkage cracking is given by the chart below:

Figure 2 Rate of Surface Moisture Evaporation

The extended-set admixture is widely used as a stabilizing agent for wash water
concrete and fresh concrete. Addition of extended-set admixture enables the reuse

of wash water to the next batch without affecting concrete properties. This
admixture can also be used for long haul concrete delivery and to maintain slump.
Factors affecting the use of this admixture include the dosage rate and the ambient
temperature of the concrete.

Superplasticizers (High Range Water reducer)

ASTM C494 Type F and Type G, High Range Water Reducer (HRWR) and
retarding admixtures are used to reduce the amount of water by 12% to 30% while
maintaining a certain level of consistency and workability (typically from 75 mm
to 200 mm) and to increase workability for reduction in w/cm ratio. The use of
superplasticizers may produce high strength concrete (compressive strength up to
22,000 psi). Superplasticizers can also be utilized in producing flowing concrete
used in a heavy reinforced structure with inaccessible areas. Requirement for
producing flowing concrete is defined in ASTM C 1017. The effect of
superplasticizers in concrete flow is illustrated in the chart below:

Figure 3 Relation between Flow Table and Water Content of Concrete with and
without Plasticizers (Neville, 1995).
Another benefit of superplasticizers is concrete early strength enhancement (50
to 75%). The initial setting time may be accelerated up to an hour earlier or
retarded to be an hour later according to its chemical reaction. Retardation is
sometimes associated with range of cement particle between 4 30 m. The use
of superplasticizers does not significantly affect surface tension of water and does
not entrain a significant amount of air. The main disadvantage of superplasticizer

usage is loss of workability as a result of rapid slump loss and incompatibility of

cement and superplasticizers.
Superplasticizers are soluble macromolecules, which are hundreds of times larger
than water molecule (Gani, 1997). Mechanism of the superplasticizers is known as
adsorption by C3A, which breaks the agglomeration by repulsion of same charges
and releases entrapped water. The adsorption mechanism of superplasticizers is
partially different from the WRA. The difference relates to compatibility between
Portland Cement and superplasticizers. It is necessary to ensure that the
superplasticizers do not become fixed with C3A in cement particle, which will
cause reduction in concrete workability.
Typical dosage of superplasticizers used for increasing the workability of concrete
ranges from 1 to 3 liters per cubic meter of concrete where liquid superplasticizers
contained about 40 % of active material. In reducing the water cement ratio, higher
dosage is used, that is from 5 to 20 liters per cubic meter of concrete. Dosage
needed for a concrete mixture is unique and determined by the Marsh Cone Test.
There are four types of superplasticizers: sulfonated melamine, sulfonated
naphthalene, modified lignosulfonates and a combination of high dosages of water
reducing and accelerating admixtures. Commonly used are melamine based and
naphthalene based superplasticizers. The use of naphthalene based has the
advantage of retardation and affecst slump retention. This is due to the modified
hydration process by the sulfonates
Admixtures Dispensers
The basic function of a dispenser as defined in ACI Bulletin E4-95 is:

To transport the admixture from storage to batch

To measure the quantity of the admixtures required
To provide verification of the volume dispensed
To inject the admixture into the batch.

Admixtures have been dispensed in liquid form to ensure proper dispersion in the
concrete mixture. WRA should be dispensed with the last water batch. Proper
timing is very important, as any delay ranges between one to five minutes after the
water addition will result in excessive retardation of setting time. The
Superplasticizers should be dispensed on to the batch immediately before
discharge for placement (Type F) or with the last portion of the water (Type G).
References:
Chemical Admixtures for Concrete, ACI Committee 212.3R-91 Report.

Chemical and Air Entraining Admixtures for Concrete, ACI Education Bulletin
No. E4-95.
Dodson, Vance, Concrete Admixtures, VNR, 1990.
Gani, M.J., Cement and Concrete, Chapman & Hall, 1997.
Komatska, S. H. and Panarese, W. C., Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures,
PCA, 1988.
Ramachandran, V. S., Concrete Admixtures Handbook, Properties, Sciences, and
Technology, 2nd edition, 1995.
Aitcin, P., Jolicoeur, C., and MacGregor, J., Superplasticizers: How They Work
and Why They Occasionally Dont, Concrete international, May 1994.
Information compiled by Titin Handojo.