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Exploring Concrete Admixtures with Kryton’s Technical Experts
May 25, 2020

Interview: Exploring Concrete Admixtures with Kryton’s Technical Experts

Whether you’re an architect, engineer, or contractor, you’ve likely had to take some time to consider one of the most common building materials out there: concrete. In fact, according to Architect Magazine, it’s the “second-most consumed substance after water.” And there are many reasons why. After all, concrete makes structures durable enough to withstand earthquakes and strong enough to handle high temperatures from fire. It even has a great deal of flexibility that allows architects to shape concrete in a wide array of unique and visually compelling forms.

Despite its many advantages, concrete is a porous material, which makes it easy for water to seep through it. And no one in construction wants to have a leak in their building somewhere or be known as the person who let that happen.

To prevent this, many turn to external waterproofing membranes. However, many others are seeking newer and more reliable alternatives, such as concrete waterproofing admixtures.

Like our very own Krystol Internal Membrane™, these admixtures go straight into the concrete mix at the time of batching. And from there, they go on to help give the concrete an innate resistance to the effects of water ingress.

Of course, there are many brands that offer such waterproofing admixtures, usually known as crystalline waterproofing admixtures.

So what makes them different from one another? Is it just the price? Or is there something more? How do we define them on a micro level?

To find out, Kryton’s Technical Director Alireza Biparva teamed up to conduct research with the University of Victoria’s researchers Rishi Gupta and Pejman Azarsa. This collaboration turned into the first published study of its kind.

And here today in an in-depth interview, both Alireza and Pejman will guide us through what makes this research so fascinating and how it will help further define admixtures for years to come.

First, thank you both for taking the time to conduct this interview with us! Could you tell us what this paper is all about in your own words?

Before delving into the paper’s topic, let’s consider the reason for its existence.

To start, the porous nature of cement-based materials is one of the main reasons they are prone to degradation. Due to this porosity, certain aggressive chemical agents (e.g., corrosive chloride ions) found in water can penetrate the concrete. This then endangers the concrete’s microstructure, leading to a reduction in its overall durability.

To avoid such situations, there is an increasing interest in innovative and sustainable approaches that can inherently reduce the permeability of cementitious materials. The thought is that this will improve the concrete’s durability at different scales.

With that in mind, the research paper focuses on the micro scale. It explores crystalline waterproofing admixtures (which are considered to be a type of permeability-reducing admixture as noted in the American Concrete Institute’s 212.3R-16 Report on Chemical Admixtures for Concrete). More specifically, it explores the admixtures’ effect on microstructural features, hydration products, and chemical compositions of cement-based composite materials.

It attempts to bridge the current gap in knowledge on the durability of these admixtures at the micro-level. However, it should be noted that this study only captures a part of the multi-scale research work conducted over four years in collaboration with the University of Victoria.

Keep reading this blog on Kryton.com

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