What is the reason for adding water reducing agents to concrete?

Water reducing agent is a concrete admixture used in the field of building materials, which can be classified according to different standards such as appearance, water reducing agent capacity, composition materials, chemical composition, etc. Water reducing agents have the functions of reducing cement and water content, improving concrete plasticity, and reducing concrete shrinkage rate. The mechanism of action of water reducing agents includes four types: dispersing effect, lubricating effect, steric hindrance effect, and relieving effect.

What are the functions of water reducing agents?

1. Reduce the shrinkage rate of concrete solidification to prevent cracking of concrete components. Improving cold resistance is beneficial for winter engineering.

2. Without changing the proportion of various raw materials (excluding cement) and the strength of concrete, reducing the amount of cement and mixing a concrete water reducer with a cement mass of 0.2% and 0.5% can save more than 15% to 30% of the cement content.

3. High efficiency water reducing agent for mixed concrete can increase the service life of concrete by more than twice even if the normal service life of the building is extended by more than twice.

If the proportion of various raw materials (excluding water) and the degree of concrete collapse are not changed, and the amount of water used is reduced, the strength of concrete can be improved. The coarse steel and later strength are over 60% and 20% higher, respectively, than concrete without water reducing agents. Reducing water can achieve the pouring of high-strength concrete with C100 labels.

5. Without changing the proportion of various raw materials, the rheological and plasticity of concrete can be improved, enabling concrete construction to be carried out without self flow, pumping, or vibration, increasing construction speed and reducing construction energy consumption.