Master Builders Solutions from BASF introduces a state-of-the-art polymer that can make everyday concrete easy
 Concrete is the second most consumed and versatile material in the world after water. In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and aggregates (rocks). The paste, composed essentially of portland cement and water, coats the surface of the fine (small) and coarse (larger) aggregates and through a series of chemical reaction called hydration, the paste hardens and gains strength to form the rock-like mass known as concrete.
With sustainability becoming a strong trend in the construction industry, the use of supplementary cementitious materials such as slag and fly ash is increasingly required in the production of concrete. By that, the carbon footprint of concrete is reduced and its energy efficiency improved. At the same time, the use of supplementary cementitious materials makes producing concrete and maintaining its quality a challenging task for concrete manufacturers. Additional challenges are resulting from the increased use of manufactured sand in concrete as river sand is becoming a scarce resource.
When applying traditional concrete mix designs, the owners and consultants of construction projects today are forced to order a concrete that is a grade higher than what is required because of these issues. This is a major topic in the construction industry as it affects the everyday concrete of grade M20 – M40 which amounts to almost 90 per cent of concrete produced in India that is treated with admixtures.
Master Builders Solutions from BASF introduces a state-of-the-art polymer that can make everyday concrete easy. MasterPolyheed series of admixtures improve concrete performance with excellent early strength and rheology. MasterPolyheed 8900 series has been formulated by incorporating a special polymer, making them robust admixtures, which not only accommodate variety of binders including supplementary cementitious materials in the mix, but also help in reducing the issues related to manufactured sand. MasterPolyheed 8900 series categorised to be a mid-range water reducing admixture, exhibits several unique properties such as improved cohesiveness, better rheology, higher early and later age strengths in concrete. These properties not only benefit the concrete producer but also the owner and consultants who now can specify with confidence the right grade of concrete. Moreover, the formulations components are available locally and produced in India, allowing the owners and developers to go ahead for green ratings for their buildings.
Improvement in rheology and cohesionRheology is defined as “a science of deformation and flow of matter”. Simplistically speaking, in concrete, rheology is the ease (non-stickiness) with which one mixes, transports/pumps and places concrete. This does not mean that high flow concretes are easy to work with since they can be sticky. Understanding concrete rheology is quite complicated and is generally disregarded unless very low water cementitious ratio concrete is produced. The right rheology of concrete has tremendous benefits which are enabled by MasterPolyheed 8900 series admixtures even in everyday concrete, one such is reducing pump operating pressure. Also the rheology improvement through MasterPolyheed 8900 means that the concrete batching plants will now be able to discharge concrete faster and with lesser effort. In addition to the above, MasterPolyheed 8900 series improves placement speed of concrete and helps to compact the concrete with less effort thus improving the productivity at site allowing the contractor and the owner to complete the projects on time with quality. The cohesiveness that is imparted by MasterPolyheed 8900 series makes the concrete less reliant on the anomalies of manufactured sand.
Another important factor in concrete is its cohesiveness and with the current scenario of river sand being banned, it is a herculean task to produce quality concrete. The use of manufactured sand in concrete as a substitution to river sand has brought along host of problems in concrete such as faster drop in workability retention, stickiness in the mix, inconsistency in mix, all leading to rejection of concrete. MasterPolyheed 8900 series of admixtures with its capability to impart cohesiveness to the mix helps in designing a mix that is less reliant on manufactured sand, thus alleviating the anomalies in concrete.
Authored by__Nilotpol Kar, Business Director – Construction Chemicals, BASF India Ltd.