Workability Tests on Fresh Concrete Formulated with Eco-friendly Admixture

Extra-cellular compounds, secreted by microorganisms into their surroundings, can be integrated in concrete composition as admixtures. These substances are important in biofilm formation and some of them can be used as corrosion inhibitor of concrete reinforcement. This paper deals with products made with biological surface active compounds/agents allowing the development of more eco-friendly concrete. The influence of this environmentally friendly bio admixture on setting time, workability, bending and compressive strengths of various mortar based materials made of CEM I, CEM III and CEM V was studied. Mechanical tests were carried out to highlight the influence of admixture in workability and hardening of samples containing the biological product with ratio in the range of 0-2.5%. It was demonstrated that the presence of the new bio-compound admixture in mortar decreases their compressive strength after 28 days of standard curing, in spite of remaining higher than standard minimal strength. Furthermore, Vicat needle experiments have shown a tendency of this admixture to decrease the setting time. A discussion was finally proposed in order to correlate the setting times and the decrease of the mortar compressive strength, corresponding in fact to a hardening delay. This setting time delay could be linked to a delay of the admixtured mortar to increase its resistance. The slump results highlight the action of bio-admixture as a plasticizer on mortars because it increases their workability for a same water-cement ratio. This effect seems variable according to the added amount.