ICRETE: Making Concrete Economical

Kowshika V R, Executive Director, Amazecrete ICRETE offers many benefits apart from reducing cement content and giving high grades saving to ready-mix concrete companies; it helps reduce shrinkage and permeability in concrete slabs, increases the durability of concrete, and also works as a waterproofing compound.
Kowshika V R, Executive Director, Amazecrete


ICRETE has been extensively tested to check its benefits for Ready-Mix Concrete. Initially both fresh and hardened properties were studied and found to be satisfactory by reputed third party labs. The next step was measuring the cost benefits and savings of the material cost for each m3. This exercise was basically aimed to quantify the savings both in laboratory and field conditions in the Ready-Mix Concrete industry.

ICRETE, a grayish color powder, was invented by scientist Dr Ram Kumar after several years of research in concrete. For the study 53 GRADE cement conforming to IS 269 was selected. GGBS was taken from JSW, and Flyash from Ennore thermal power plant in Chennai. The crushed aggregates and manufactured sands were used after checking all the properties. All the trials were conducted with a pre-selected PC-based Hyperplasticiser and all the trials and production were repeated with the same sources of ingredients.


Uses & Benefits of ICRETE
ICRETE offers many benefits apart from reducing cement content. It also works as a water proofing compound, conforming to the requirements of IS 2645-2003.

• ICRETE can give a cement reduction of about 20kg of OPC (Type 1 cement or any type ,CEM1 ) when used at about 0.7%
• It can give a cement reduction of about 30 to 35 kg of cement when used at 1 to 1.2%
• It can reduce about 50 kg/m3 of cement from the existing cement content when used at about 1.5% to 1.6%
• When used at 2% to 2.25% by weight of cement, it can work like microsilica as finely ground SCMs (microfine minerals) etc.
• ICRETE enhances impermeability and hence durability of concrete

Benefits to concrete producer

• The product gives simple methods to make economical mixtures
• Savings for owner of readymix concrete company, which is very important (Rs 40 to 75) in medium strength mixes and more than Rs 100 to150 / M3 in higher grades like M40/ M50 etc. The higher grades savings are considered when ICRETE is used against some popular products like microsilica etc. (here use 2 to 2.5%).
• Gives Reduced Cement (CEM 1, Type 1 CEMENT, OPC/PPC/PSC) content which is important to owner, as this reduces dependability on cement supplies.
• It is a tool to increase use of Flyash /GGBS content in mixes.
• Readymix companies also have acknowledged the reduction of cracks in the concrete slabs, which are done with ICRETE that works as a Shrinkage Reducing Admixture.

Experiments
The lab experiments and later real time Ready-mix Concrete production were done to examine the efficacy of ICRETE for concrete against the benchmark of Ready-mix concrete mixes. A series of trials were done in the laboratories of many Ready-mix Concrete companies in Bangalore, Mangalore, Cochin, and Mumbai.


Results
OPC, OPC+GGBS, OPC+PFA (benchmark mixes) showed similar slumps to that of Cement Reduced ICRETE incorporated mixes. The ICRETE did not change the workability and the mixes were found to be fit for pumpable mixes. Even at a reduced Cement content of 75kg/m3, the ICRETE mixes showed almost similar strengths. Table 7-9 gives savings per m3 due to use of ICRETE.

Conclusions

• Based on trials and the rates considered, the savings are to the tune of 50 Rs to 130 Rs per cum, which is significant for a concrete producer.
• The Cement (Cementitious) Reduced ICRETE incorporated mixes have equally performed in terms of both slump and strength compared to reference Concrete.
• As any cement (Cementitious) reductions means lesser OPC usage, the concrete become more sustainable by using ICRETE.
• The 3rd party reports (which are not an added part of this article) also depicted that the said additive reduces permeability and all other durability properties are improved.
• The Ready-mix companies after using ICRETE reported reduced plastic shrinkage cracks, which is another benefit of using the product.

References

1. A Oner, S Akyuz, An experimental study on optimum usage of GGBS for the compressive strength of concrete, www.sciencedirect.com, Cement and concrete composites 29 (2007) 515-514.
2. Manjunatha, L. R., & Anvekar, S. R.(2015) Transition of Concrete Industry From Cement to Eco Friendly Industrial by-Products for Sustainable Green Growth in the Indian Construction Industry. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283350119.
3. L.R. Manjunatha, Sandhya. R. Anvekar, M.V. Yogananda (2014). Recent Developments In The Indian Concrete Industry In The Use Of GGBS In Concrete At RMC Batching Plants As Partial Replacement To OPC Cement And Its Effects On Concrete Durability And Sustainability In The Indian Context. December 2014. Conference: International Congress on Durability Of Concrete. Volume: 1. Doi:10.13140/2.1.3123.3609.





4. Raghavendra Y. B, Y. Ramalinga Reddy (2019) “Optimum Usage of GGBS In Ready Mix Concrete Industry”. International Journal Of Engineering And Advanced Technology (IJEAT) ISSN: 2249 – 8958, Volume-8 Issue-6, August 2019 .Pages 4542 -4553, Retrieval Number F8861088619/2019©Beiesp DOI: 10.35940/Ijeat.F8861.088619.





5. Manu Mohan, Dr. Elson John (2020) Study On Slump Retention Of Ready-Mix Concrete: A Review. pages 1784-1789, International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 07 Issue: 07 | July 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072.
6. Kanta Naga Rajesh, Ponnada Markandeya Raju, Kapileswar Mishra, Pavan Kumar Madisetti (2019) A review on sustainable concrete mix proportions. Pages 1-10, International Conference on Sustainable Systems and Structures (ICSSS 2019) IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1025 (2021) 012019 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1025/1/012019.





7. IS 10262-2019. (n.d.). Concrete Mix Proportioning — Guidelines. Bureau of Indian Standards.
8. IS 1199-2018. (n.d.). Fresh Concrete- Methods of Sampling, Testing and Analysis. Bureau of Indian Standards.
9. IS 12089-1987. (n.d.). Specification for Granulated slag for the manufacture of Portland Slag Cement. Bureau of Indian Standards.
10. IS 16714-2018. (n.d.). Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag for Use in Cement, Mortar & Concrete- Specification. Bureau Of Indian Standards.





11. IS 269 -2015. (n.d.). Ordinary Portland cement —Specification. Bureau of Indian Standards.
12. Is 383-1970. (n.d.). Specification for Coarse and Fine Aggregates from Natural Sources For Concrete. Bureau of Indian Standards.





13. IS 3812 (Part 1): 2013. (2013). PULVERIZED FUEL ASH — SPECIFICATION. Bureau of Indian Standards.
14. IS 456-2000. (n.d.). Plain And Reinforced Concrete - Code Of Practice. Bureau of Indian Standards.
15. IS 516-2018. (n.d.). Hardened Concrete- Methods of Test. Bureau of Indian Standards.





16. IS 9103 -1999. (n.d.). Concrete Admixtures - Specification. Bureau of Indian Standards.
17. IS-2386 (Part I, III, IV, V). (n.d.). Methods of test for Aggregates For Concrete. Bureau of Indian Standards.
18. ASTM: C 989-04, “Standard Specification for Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag for use in Concrete and Mortars”, ASTM, America.
19. Shetty, M. (1987). Concrete technology: Theory and practice.