KALMATRON® SK SERIES CONCRETE

MIX DESIGNS

SK Series concrete has been designed to increase the field of application of conventional concrete mixes by upgrading their features up to the level of High Performance Concrete mix designs.   

Unlike conventional concrete the SK Series offers protection against acids, alkalis, chloride ion and total impermeability to oils and water ingress. Dependent on the technology of application we will provide aggregate variations to enable application by gunite, shotcrete, spray, and injection technologies. For environments with very high or low temperatures we can also recommend specified mix designs.

NOTICES

1. The amount of water varies with the original moistness of aggregates and might the subject to change by 5% only from the weight

   of water.

2.  Reduction of cement content is available by 15%. Add the same amount of Coarse aggregate by volume.

3. Application of any other additives, premixes, or products of incineration results in retardation and/or reduction of High Performance 

   Concrete features.     

 

Besides mixes shown in the table above, any mix design can be upgraded up to the required environmental and exploitation conditions, to provide maximum utilization of local building materials.    

TECHNICAL DATA

A typical SK Series mixes will display the following features:

Color:            Extremely dark-gray

Appearance:  Cohesive dry mix

Slump:   No greater than 120mm

Initial Set:      4 hours 30 minutes at 23 °C

Final Set:       6 hours 30 minutes at 23 °C

Pumpable:     Yes

Spray-able:    Yes (depending on aggregate size)

Bleed Water:  Extremely minimal

Impermeability:      100% tested at 14 atmospheres

SK Series concrete grade 40 has been tested with the following aggressive media:-

       Aggressive Medium Concentration              Notes

Sulfuric Acid                          25%         When acid comes into contact with SK Series concrete the surface will appear                                                                                   as if sandblasted.

Nitric Acid                              20%

                                                                          This effect is the SK Series concrete creating a greater surface

Phosphoric Acid                      20%area to counter balance the aggressive medium. 

                                                                          It has no detrimental effect on the concrete’s performance.

Salt                                       20%No effect

Ammonia                        15% No effect

Alkalis                             35%No effect

Sugar                              20%No effect

Sulfates                           30%No effect

Low Temperatures            -34oC      No effect 100 cycles

High Temperatures           400oC      Slight crazing 75 cycles

NOTES FOR DESIGN

1.  All SK Series concretes are waterproof.

2.  All SK Series concretes are darker in color.

3.  All SK Series concretes exhibit minimal bleed water.

4.  All SK Series concrete should be placed at no greater than 80mm slump.

Any adjustments that have to be made to the concrete mix should be consulted with your KALMATRON® CORPORATION representative. Please refer to Material Safety Data Sheet for precautions and personal protection.

PLACEMENT

No special techniques are required to place SK Series concrete. Placement is done using conventional concrete technology to the standard requirements.  However, you must be aware that a false set will occur if the concrete is left without working for 45 minutes or more.  As soon as a vibrating probe or physical force is utilized the material will once again flow like freshly poured concrete.

USES

Waterproofing concrete for car parks, roof decks, balconies, swimming pools, concrete tanks, bridges, tunnels, etc.

Acid Resistance for chemical manufacturing, sewerage tanks, bounded areas, electrolyte vapor, storage tanks etc.

Freeze/Thaw Resistance ideal for freezer rooms, cool rooms and areas exposed to rapid temperature change.

Chloride Ion Resistance for piles exposed to salt water, seawall construction, wharf construction, salt manufacturing etc.

Shotcrete easily with high build, minimal rebound.

BENEFITS

Low slump workability

SK Series concrete exhibits high workability at a very low slump. Vee Bee testing has confirmed that in conventional 25Mpa concrete measured at 80 slump, “for the same workability a 60mm slump SK Series should be used”.

Pumpability

SK Series concrete enables the concrete placer to pump concrete without having to excessively adjust the slump with super plasticizers etc.

Experience has shown that a 25Mpa SK Series concrete can be pumped as low as a 20mm slump and placed successfully for general slab construction.

Another example was a project completed with a 40Mpa SK mix pumped vertically to a height of 40 meters at a 60mm slump with no increase in line pressure.

High early strength

SK Series concrete, when placed according to the manufacturers’ specifications, will have an increase in compressive strength at day 1, 3 and 7 compared to the conventional concrete mix.  This increase in strength is generally 25%.

Cracking – Plastic and Shrinkage

SK Series Concrete has the ability to greatly reduce the prospect of plastic shrinkage cracking.  Due to its unique formulation SK Series concrete has minimum bleed water.  This reduction in bleed water greatly assists the concrete in curing leading to a more completed hydration phase thus reducing shrinkage.

Reinforcement

SK Series concrete offers 100% protection of the reinforcing steel by two methods.

The first method is by not allowing the water or aggressive media to come into contact with the steel.

The second method is that the SK Series concrete has the ability to encase the steel in a protective film of zinc oxide with a film thickness of .006 microns.

Exothermic Reactions

SK Series concrete has the ability to maintain a lower temperature during the hydration phase compared to conventional concrete. 

Testing on a 32Mpa conventional mix and a 32Mpa SK Series concrete mix has shown a core temperature difference of 25% during the critical hydration