Concrete  

 Mineral admixtures for functional performance and sustainability in concrete applications.

Omya offers a broad range of products and technical expertise for concrete, focusing on the required characteristics of the final product. With mineral admixtures, plasticizers and accelerators, Omya adds value to the full spectrum of concrete applications.

3D printing

Omya mineral plasticizers enhance “fine packing” and reduce the water/cement ratio for 3D printing applications, whilst our mineral accelerators provide nucleation sites.

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Architectural concrete

Omya’s products offer bright, white color yielding advantages for colored concrete. Closing/filling the pores/voids gives the concrete a very smooth surface, which improves the aesthetics for exposed concrete. 

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Eco Concrete

The synergy of selected ground calcium carbonates with supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, blast-furnace slag, silica fume or calcined clay, enhances the water/cement ratio, flow, packing and resistance to segregation.

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Heavy and lightweight concrete

Omya’s lightweight fillers enable a significant reduction in concrete density, which is important for large, heavy structures such as bridges or skyscrapers, as well as improving the thermal insulation of the concrete. In addition, our mineral plasticizers can be used to prevent segregation.

Unfinished building of reinforced concrete panels without windows; Shutterstock ID 170797346

Self compacting concrete (SCC)

Mineral plasticizers optimize the packing of the aggregate skeleton (increased paste content, filled voids of the sand) while improving its workability. This yields higher rheological stability, reduced segregation and better flowability.

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Shotcrete

Our mineral accelerator Betocarb UF provides nucleation sites that favor and accelerate the growth of cement hydrates.

 

This results in significantly improved early strength development. Betocarb UF works especially well for shotcrete in combination with chemical accelerators.

Concrete room interior with chaotic cubic structures and blue cloudy sky outside. Abstract architecture background, 3d illustration 516688888

Ultra high-performance concrete (UHPC)

The mineral packing and water to cement ratio can be optimized by using selected Omya ground calcium carbonate (GCC), which increases the total powder content and has a positive impact on flow, packing and fiber dispersion.

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Talk to an expert

Omya offers a series of performance evaluation methods to help customers define specific parameters to enhance formulations.

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Bringing sustainability to building materials

At Omya, sustainability is the key to future success and the ground basis of our offerings for the Construction world, since for us there is no innovation without the commitment to help build a more sustainable world.

Learn more about the use of calcium carbonate to improve sustainability
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Your questions answered

The choice of materials is central: local supplementary cementitious materials, the new green cement or free-clinker binder are a good choice. Sustainability can be improved by adding our Betocarb or Betoflow mineral products, which also help increase performance. 

Omya GCCs, depending on their fineness and type, influence the flowability, early-age (ie. 8 h with heat treatment) and 28 days’ strength. They also reduce the mixing water of the formulation, leading to higher efficiency of superplasticizers. 

In respect of the national concrete standards, the addition of ground calcium carbonate will minimize the clinker to cement ratio and maintain concrete handling performance and productivity.

Specific follow-up trials carried out in our and customers’ labs after the addition of fillers/commodity materials have proven that ground calcium carbonates of high purity and quality help the engineer to stabilize the quality of the formulation.

It’s important to check that the content is not higher than the value given by the current standards. Then, you want to focus on decreasing the level of strength, avoiding higher levels if not needed in your projects, and perhaps consider a new formulation.

Once you have selected your components, optimized your binder/superplasticizer couple, Omya’s ground calcium carbonate products can help you consolidate the desired result. 

Omya mineral plasticizer improves flow behavior with high compatibility with additives and admixtures used in the mix. Omya mineral accelerators accelerate compressive strength development.

Our products are CE marked and have an Environmental Product Declaration.  In some cases, the quality of the raw material and fineness of the mineral additive boost the whiteness of cement-based systems.

Customized optimization with Omyaflex

Omya Flex is a flexible product handling solution custom-built to fit and meet any requirement for an extensive selection of Omya products. We simplify product distribution and storage by providing both vertical and horizontal silos, along with an on-site slurrying solution. By minimizing the required space, costs, and time for silo delivery, commissioning, and construction permit processing, it is possible to eliminate the need for fixed anchoring and permanent foundations.s.

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