THE LAB TRIAL AND MIX DESIGN

Concrete is made up of cement, water, aggregate, SCMs and admixtures. Before you can pour your concrete and build your structure you need to determine the quantities of the aforementioned components for your mix, this is your mix design.

The mix design process starts on paper then moves to the lab for trial batches followed by field trials.

MIX DESIGN
• Confirm components of mix
• Determine the quantities

THE LAB TRIAL
• Test for compatibility and make adjustments

The purpose of a lab trial is to test for compatibility and make adjustments to the mix design. Lab trials are beneficial because you can make adjustments to the mix design without being restricted by the number of trials you can perform; in the lab setting you can perform hundreds of trials if needed while in the plant you are usually restricted to one or two trials.

Lab trials are not the time for mix design experimentation or development, this work happens long before lab trials. Trials are performed to verify the properties of fresh concrete such as workability and finishing and adjust the mix design in order to obtain the best combination of fresh concrete properties.

If possible it is best to use the same materials that will be used in the real world pour for the lab trial.

Contact our Kryton Technical Team for questions about how our concrete waterproofing admixture can work with your unique concrete mix design.