GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – CTS Cement Manufacturing Corp. introduces Liquid Low-P™, a liquid admixture that protects steel reinforcement from corrosion by lowering concrete’s chloride ion penetrability and forming a protective layer around embedded rebar. Dosing Rapid Set® Cement with the liquid admixture produces very-low-permeability concrete that meets transportation department opening strength requirements in three hours.
Liquid Low-P™ can be added to Rapid Set® Cement concrete to resist corrosion of reinforcement steel in infrastructure exposed to high levels of chlorides, such as along coastal saltwater areas and where deicing salts are spread on roads and bridges in winter. In fact, a primary application for the mix is as a structural bridge deck overlay that’s faster and/or easier to produce and place than latex-modified concrete (LMC), low-slump, polyester polymer concrete (PPC), and silica fume overlays.
Compared to latex-modified concrete, which requires 24.5 gallons of liquid to produce 1 cubic yard of overlay, only half a gallon of Liquid Low-P™ is required to produce 1 cubic yard of Rapid Set® Cement concrete overlay. No costly specialized equipment is required.
Liquid Low-P™ is added to Rapid Set® Cement on the jobsite via an admixture tank on a mobile volumetric mixer. This empowers contractors to easily switch between placing standard Rapid Set® Cement concrete and very-low-permeability Rapid Set® Cement concrete.
A key aspect of Liquid Low-P™ is its ability to limit chloride ion penetrability. The lower the penetrability, the greater the concrete’s ability to protect embedded steel from corrosion. ASTM C1202 defines “very low chloride ion penetrability” as less than 1,000 coulombs, which Rapid Set® Cement properly dosed with Liquid Low-P™ achieves.
Admixture Adds to Rapid Set®’s Advantages
Rapid Set® Cement is a calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement that outperforms ordinary portland cement and portland limestone cement in durability as well as speed.
Produced, placed, and finished like those cements, Rapid Set® Cement cures much faster with much less shrinkage cracking, minimizing entry points for water and chlorides. No accelerators are required. It doesn’t contain tricalcium aluminate (C3A), the mineral phase that makes portland cement susceptible to sulfate attack. Finally, Rapid Set® Cement is less prone to alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in the presence of reactive aggregate, expanding the range of aggregate that can be used in a concrete mix.
To these inherent benefits Liquid Low-P™ provides additional protection against corrosion by reducing chloride ion penetrability and forming a protective layer around steel reinforcement.
“This admixture gives contractors the ability to expand services without having to invest in specialized equipment to place PPC or buy, store, and transport high volumes of latex,” says Vice President of Product Development Matt Sambol. “Now it’s easier than ever to produce very-low-permeability concrete that will protect rebar for years to come.”
Liquid Low-P™ is sold in 5-gallon (18.9-liter) pails. Click here for product details including dosage and testing results.
