An Introduction to Concrete Admixtures

The late fifteen years, the development of concrete technology was enormous. A great part of it results in the increased use of chemical admixtures, which have been presented also a tremendous expansion. The authors try to present a comprehensive overview of the application of the chemical admixtures in concrete technology. Their effort has been focused to prepare a manual for the every day praxis. The book is devided into two parts: Part I: covers the basic and fundamental information about concrete and its main constituents (cement, water, aggregates). There are included also two chapters one for the natural additives (pozzolan, fly ash, silica fume) and one on sprayed concrete. The part I has been based on the European Norms (EN), without ignoring the existence of ASTM specifications when it is necessary. For the overseas readers it is given, at the end of the part I, a table with the correspondence EN and ASTM specifications Part II: is referred to the chemical admixtures. It covers the most important types, its use, general chemical and performance characteristics. Part II has been based on European norms and definitions published by EFCA.