Concrete

:This article is about the construction material. For the philosophical term, see Concrete (philosophy). For the comic book, see Concrete (comics). For the film see Concrete (film).

Additives

Additives are organic or non-organic materials in form of solids or fluids that are added to the concrete to give it certain characteristics. In normal use the additives make up less than 5% of the cement weight.

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The most used types of additives are:

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• Accelerators: Speed up the hydration (strengthening) of the concete.
• Retarders: Slow the hydration of concrete.
• Air-entrainers: Add and distribute air to the concrete.
• Plasticizers: Increase the workability of concrete.