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Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that cures over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most widely used building material. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminium combined. When aggregate is mixed with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape.
Concrete is produced in a variety of compositions, finishes and performance characteristics to meet a wide range of needs. Modern concrete mix designs can be complex. The choice of a concrete mix depends on the need of the project both in terms of strength and appearance and in relation to local legislation and building codes. The design begins by determining the requirements of the concrete. These requirements take into consideration the weather conditions that the concrete will be exposed to in service, and the required design strength.
In this article we shall describe our quest and ultimate success in furthering our understanding of the action of superplasticizers on the rheology of cement and concrete. By specifically producing su
2008
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Adsorption isotherms of carboxylate type superplasticizers with different architectures have been measured on MgO considered as a non-reactive model powder. This system allowed us to study the influen