- A revolutionary technology that provides economical and ecological benefits to the construction industry
Shanghai, September 17, 2009 – BASF’s Construction Chemicals business in China has today launched the concept of Smart Dynamic Concrete™ (SDC), a new generation of highly flowable concrete which allows the construction industry to achieve faster and reliable concrete placement, higher concrete durability and improved energy efficiency during the placement process.
According to the China Concrete Association, the consumption of ready mixed concrete (RMC) exceeded 690 million cubic meters in 2008. This volume is expected to top 800 million cubic meters in 2009, as construction activity continues expanding and further conversion of site mixing to RMC occurs.
“We are proud to facilitate the birth of the new SDC technology in China, which we expect will move the concrete construction industry to the next level of technological capability,” said Mark Volmer, Group Vice President, responsible for BASF’s Construction Chemicals business in Asia Pacific. “Developed by our international team of scientists, the concept demonstrates how BASF’s concrete admixture innovations are able to support and advance the theme of sustainable construction.”
The SDC concept consists of a robust concrete mix design with less than 380 kg/m3 of total fines, a tailor-made GLENIUM® superplasticizer and RheoMATRIXTM, a BASF-exclusive, state-of-the-art Viscosity Modifying Agent (VMA), as the key element of this revolutionary concept. Due to the unique characteristics of the RheoMATRIXTM molecules, concrete mix-designs can now be optimized to achieve unmatched performance levels and offer benefits to multiple stakeholders in the construction value chain.
For contractors, SDC means faster placement process and reliable filling of reinforcement congested structure, hence lower costs, and a safer working environment because no vibration is needed. For owners, SDC results in buildings made with more durable concrete, subsequently longer life spans. For architects and designers, SDC allows them to design more complex shapes and get assurance that the designed concrete is really in the structure. For Ready Mix Concrete producers, SDC gives them the opportunity to provide value added concrete for their highest volume strength class (C30).
“SDC has many of the same values as conventional Self Consolidating Concrete, but it is more economical because it is specially designed for the 30 MPa strength class of concrete, which represents approximately 80% of the RMC market in China,” explained Dr. Bruce Christensen, Director of Technical, Marketing and Communications, BASF’s Construction Chemicals business Asia Pacific.
“By combining the stability advantages of traditional vibrated concrete with the fluidity characteristics of conventional high fines Self Consolidating Concrete, SDC is a smart technology to simplify the production and expand the application of highly fluid concrete into everyday concrete.” Christensen added.