Global Chemicals Japan

Development history - MIGHTY 21V-SG

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Declining birthrate and aging population sweeping the construction industry

"Concrete" is a building material widely used in the construction of a variety of structures. In general, concrete is poured into a mold, and then compacted under vibration.In recent years, by communicating with our customers, it has become clear that precast concrete manufacturing plants face a number of problems, including difficulties in securing workers due to the declining birthrate and retirement of experienced workers, and noise affecting nearby houses and nursing facilities due to changes in the surrounding environment in line with housing development."The issue of productivity and noise could be resolved if we could fill fresh concrete to the mold under little vibration..." This idea formed the starting point for the development of technology to improve concrete flow and casting properties under vibration.

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川上 博行 | Hiroyuki  Kawakami
Team Leader, Performance Chemicals Research
Responsible for concrete water reducing agent development

Superior flowabilities with less running

By increasing the fluidity of concrete, it is possible to reduce the intensity and frequency of vibration and reduce noise during work. On the other hand, if the fluidity is too high, the materials that make up the concrete will separate, reducing durability of the concrete after curing, which in turn will cause the quality to deteriorate. It was based on these concepts that we started to analyze how concrete acted from the viewpoint of rheology. We started work on the development of a water reducing agent that maximizes the flow properties of concrete while preventing material segregation by pursuing maximum fluidity with vibration under same slump. By incorporating such rheology control technology and a design suited to actual worksite conditions, we were able to develop a high-range water-reducing admixture that flowed smoothly to fill every corner of the mold and also keep static stability with no material segregation. The result was our MIGHTY 21V-SG.

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Zero noise when pouring concrete

Customers who have used MIGHTY 21V-SG have been very happy with the results and the improvement in productivity, reporting that vibration levels have been reduced by half, reducing noise on the worksite. They have also reported a drastic improvement in work efficiency because the poured concrete will fill the mold using a rod vibrator in place of a large external mold vibrator. The ideal, however, is to "completely eliminate construction site noise." We hope to contribute to the realization of "zero noise at construction sites" through further technological development.

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