Cemeco buoys Portland cement with Instacem

Portland cement has been the widely-used binder by the civil and construction industry because of its familiarity, low cost and wider availability. While Portland cement has been the choice of builders and architects, it is not without limitations. Some of its known drawbacks are its slow setting nature, need for water curing and crack durability issues owing to shrinkage. The need to overcome the problems associated with the cement drove the company’s research efforts that resulted in Instacem- a high-performance, chemically-engineered cement.

Most efficient building materials of all time
Instacem is a patent pending, chemically-modified, ultra-high performance hydraulic cement manufactured in accordance with ASTM C 1600. The unique properties of Instacemare its quick setting, curing free and rapid strength gain achieved by careful selection and processing of raw materials including pozzolansand minerals coupled with proprietary additives.

Concretes, grouts and mortars made with Instacem can achieve compressive strength over 20 Mpa or 3000 psi in as little as three hours. Because of Instacem’s ability to bind the extra water chemically in its microstructure, it does not shrink. This decreases shrinkage and problems such as cracks, warps associated with it. The reduced free water along with rapid curing allows quick return to service and allows impermeable overlays such as membranes and epoxy coatings to be applied on top of Instacem within 24-48 hours.

The proprietary additives present in Instacem assists in faster dissolution and precipitation of constituents of Instacem resulting in quicker conversion from liquid to a solid state when compared to ordinary Portland cement types.

Instacem’s unique formula provides protection for embedded and reinforcing steel due to its low water and chloride permeability. The rapid chloride permeability value for Instacem, when tested as per ASTM 1202 falls in the range of 400 colombs which was classified as very low. Also, the absence of tri-calcium aluminate makes it resistant to sulfates which is the main reason in ordinary Portland cement getting affected by sulfates. When tested for water permeability as per DIN 1048, the water penetration numbers are three times less when compared to the same mix made of ordinary Portland cement. Even though the product is marginally expensive than Portland cement on a first-cost basis, it actually leads to lots of cost savings and convenience when worked out on end to end cost.

The key features of Instacem include:
• High early strength
• Dries quickly- Quick setting (can be extended)
• Applied surface can be used in four hours
• Idea for application requiring small volume concrete
• Very less porosity
• Decreased water penetration
• Very high bond strength
• Increased fire resistance

Instacem can be used for the manufacture of product lines which include:
• Replacement for Portland cement in regular construction and repair applications with added advantages (like no curing, quick-setting properties ideal for a fast-track project. Non-shrink properties – ideal for grouting, applications, etc.).
• Raw material for making premixed products (rapid setting concrete repair mortars. Quick selling premixed plasters, fast selling floor creeds, crack fillers, anchoring grouts, microconcrete, etc.)
• Self-levelling underlayments
• Tile adhesives, tile joint grouts
• Concretes for low temperature applications
• Precast products
• Shotcreting/spray on cement.

For more information, please visit www.cemeco.in

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