Q. What are the different types of concrete plasticizer?

Answer

Plasticizers are also called as water reducing admixtures. As the name suggests, the purpose of a plasticizer is to enable a reduction of water requirement in the concrete making process. Plasticizers can be categorized into three different types and this categorization is done based on the amount of reduction of water requirement for concrete formation. The first one is a normal or a general plasticizer, and they can be used in order to reduce the water requirement by ten percent. The second class is called mid-range plasticizer and they had the ability to mitigate the water requirement up to the order of fifteen percent. The last kind or the third kind is called the super plasticizer, and they have been known to deliver a reduction in water requirement by thirty percent or sometimes more. Normal plasticizers are of the likes of calcium, ammonium lignosulphonates and sodium compounds. They reduce the water requirement by 10-15%, while polycarboxylates that are acrylic based are super plasticizers.