Fritz-Pak News

11 June 2012

"It Won't Affect the Concrete": What Does This Really Mean?

Companies who develop new admixtures and chemicals for concrete frequently make this claim, based on internal testing. While ASTM standards exist for many admixtures, such as accelerators, water reducers and air entraining agents, standards for newer ones such as pump primers, pumping aids and viscosity-modifying compounds have not been established. As more admixtures are being developed to make concreting more efficient, the industry has also worked on developing standards to determine whether materials are affecting concrete or not.

Recently, ASTM approved a new Type S admixture specification under the ASTM C494 designation for concrete. Nearly 20 different parameters are measured under this specification to determine whether the added material is affecting concrete or not. Some of these parameters are compressive strength at 3, 7 and 28 days, 6 months and one year, flexural strength, length change, relative durability (freeze-thaw resistance), etc.

Once the Type S specification was published, we submitted some of our products for very thorough and lengthy testing. Our products Slick-Pak, Slick-Pak II and Super Slump Buster all meet the requirements of the new Type S specification. While for many years we have been telling customers that our materials don’t harm the concrete, we are now able to prove it as certified by independent laboratories. Copies of the test data and certifications are available if you need them. Our goal at Fritz-Pak is always to produce quality products for the concrete industry. We thank all of our customers for the confidence they have in us.

If you have any questions about our recent test data for any of our products, please let us know.

Fritz-Pak Corporation is a member of the American Concrete Institute, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the American Society of Concrete Contractors, including the Decorative Concrete Council, the American Concrete Pumping Association, and the International Packaged Concrete Manufacturer’s Association

For more information, contact David Ojeda, 1-888-746-4116, davidojeda@fritzpak.com