Study of the influence of water reducing and setting retarder admixtures of polycarboxylate“superplasticizers” on physical and mechanical properties of mortar and concrete

The aim of this article is to improve the physical properties and mechanical performance of mortars and concretes in the fresh and hardened state while reducing the amount of mixing water used and extending the setting time and the hardening of concrete. in this work, we have incorporated an admixture of advanced superplasticizers for prolonged slump retention “sp402” into the formulation matrix of concrete at various percentages ranging from 0.5% to 4% by weight of cement with a step of 0.5%, whilst partially substituting the mixing water by the last one in order to reduce the amount of water used in the mixing. the obtained results by different prospected formulations show that the addition of sp402 in the formulations matrix significantly reduces the amount of water used in the mixing and the water/cement ratio (w/c). we noticed that the initial and final times increase when the percentage of sp402 also increases. similarly, the porosity and capillary absorption decreased as a function of the increases in the mass fraction of sp402. however, the compressive strengths at a young age (2 days), median ages (7 days) and long-term (28 days) were improved. we have succeeded in improving the mechanical performance of mortars and/or concrete, including the porosity /the capillary absorption / the compressive strength and reducing the amount of mixing water used while modifying the setting time according to use requirements.