Designation: C260 – 10
Standard Specification for
Air-Entraining Admixtures for Concrete1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation C260; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.
1. Scope* use in the work is essentially identical in concentration,
1.1 This specification covers materials proposed for use as composition, and performance to the air-entraining admixture
air-entraining admixtures to be added to concrete mixtures in tested under this specification.
the field. NOTE 1—It is recommended that, whenever practicable, tests with the
1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the air-entraining admixture be made using all of the ingredients of the
standard. The values given in parentheses are for information concrete proposed for the specific work, because the effect produced by
only. the air-entraining admixture may vary with the properties of the other
1.3 The text of this specification references notes and ingredients of the concrete.
footnotes which provide explanatory material. These notes and 4.2 Requirements for establishing compositional or chemi-
footnotes (excluding those in tables and figures) shall not be cal equivalence of a subsequent lot relative to a previous lot
considered as requirements of the standard. that was subjected to quality tests and found to comply with the
requirements of 5.1 shall be determined if agreed upon by the
2. Referenced Documents purchaser and the manufacturer. At the request of the pur-
2.1 ASTM Standards:2 chaser, the manufacturer shall recommend appropriate test
C183 Practice for Sampling and the Amount of Testing of procedures, such as infrared spectrophotometry (I.R.), pH
Hydraulic Cement value and solids content, for establishing the equivalence of
C185 Test Method for Air Content of Hydraulic Cement materials from different lots or different portions of the same
Mortar lot.
C233 Test Method for Air-Entraining Admixtures for Con- NOTE 2—Ultraviolet light absorption (UV) of solutions and infrared
crete spectroscopy of dried residues have been found to be valuable for these
purposes. The specific procedures to be employed and the criteria to
3. Terminology establish equivalence should be stipulated with due regard to the compo-
3.1 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard: sition and properties of the sample.
3.1.1 air-entraining admixture, n—for the purpose of this 4.3 At the request of the purchaser, the manufacturer shall
specification, a material that is used as an ingredient of state in writing the chloride content of the air-entraining
concrete, added to the batch immediately before or during its admixture and whether or not chloride was added during its
mixing, for the purpose of entraining air. manufacture.
4. General Requirements NOTE 3—Admixtures that contain chlorides may accelerate corrosion
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of embedded metals.
4.1 At the request of the purchaser, the manufacturer shall
state in writing that the air-entraining admixture supplied for 5. Optional Uniformity Requirements
5.1 A series of two or more samples from a manufacturing
1
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee C09 on lot will be considered sufficiently uniform to be properly
Concrete and Concrete Aggregates and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee composited into a single sample for quality testing provided
C09.23 on Chemical Admixtures.
Current edition approved Dec. 1, 2010. Published January 2011. Originally
they do not differ more than the amounts indicated in 5.4.
approved in 1950. Last previous edition approved in 2006 as C260–06. DOI: 5.2 A subsequent sample or composite sample shall be
10.1520/C0260-10.
2
considered in compliance with these requirements, so long as
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or they differ from the reference sample by no more than the
contact ASTM Customer Service at [email protected]. For Annual Book of ASTM
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on amounts listed in 5.4. The reference sample is the original
the ASTM website. sample tested to meet the requirements of 6.1. Any additional
*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.
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C260 – 10
optional, appropriate tests, such as infrared spectroscopy and 6.1.1 Resistance to Freezing and Thawing—The relative
ultraviolet light absorption, referred to in 4.2, also shall meet durability factor of concrete containing the admixture under
pre-agreed requirements. test shall be not less than 80. The relative durability factor shall
5.3 Determinations of uniformity shall be made in accor- be calculated as follows:
dance with the procedures given in the sections “Check Tests DF ~or DF1! 5 PN/300 (1)
for Uniformity” and “Procedure for Residue by Oven Drying”
RDF 5 ~DF/DF1! 3 100
of Test Method C233.
5.4 Allowable differences in results of uniformity determi- where:
nations shall not exceed the following amounts: DF = durability factor of the concrete containing the
5.4.1 The manufacturer shall provide an acceptable range of admixture under test,
pH that does not exceed 3.0 pH units. The pH of samples tested DF1 = durability factor of the concrete containing the
shall fall within this range. reference admixture,
5.4.2 The air content in percent of Test Method C185 P = relative dynamic modulus of elasticity in percent-
mortars prepared from successive lots shall not differ by more age of the dynamic modulus of elasticity at zero
than 2.0 from that for the acceptance sample. cycles (values of P will be 60 or greater),
5.4.3 The manufacturer shall provide acceptable limits of N = number of cycles at which P reaches 60 %, or 300
residue content not to exceed 612 % of the midpoint of the if P does not reach 60 % prior to the end of the test
limits. The residue content of samples tested shall fall within (300 cycles), and
these limits (Note 4). RDF = relative durability factor.
6.1.2 Length Change—After 14 days of drying, the length
NOTE 4—As an example, an admixture may commonly be produced
with residue content ranging from 5.0 to 6.5 %. The manufacturer would
change of the concrete containing the test admixture shall not
provide acceptable limits of 5.06 to 6.44 %, representing 612 % of the be more than 120 % of that of the concrete containing the
midpoint of the limits which is 5.75 %. reference admixture. When, after 14 days of drying, the length
change of the reference concrete is less than 0.030 %, the
6. Performance Requirements length change of the concrete containing the test admixture
6.1 The air-entraining admixture shall conform to the re- shall not be more than 0.006 percentage points greater than that
quirements in Table 1. of the reference concrete.
7. Sampling
TABLE 1 Physical RequirementsA 7.1 Opportunity shall be provided the purchaser for careful
Air-Entraining Admixtures sampling and inspection, either at the point of manufacture or
Time of setting, allowable deviation from control, at the site of the work, as specified by the purchaser.
h:min:
Initial: not more than 1:15 earlier
7.2 Samples shall be either “grab” or “composite” samples,
nor 1:15 later as specified or required by this specification. A grab sample is
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Final: not more than 1:15 earlier one obtained in a single operation. A composite sample is one
nor 1:15 later
Compressive strength, min, % of control:
obtained by combining three or more grab samples.
3 days 90 7.3 For the purpose of this specification, it is recognized that
7 days 90 samples will be taken for the two following reasons:
28 days 90
Flexural strength, min, % of control:B
7.3.1 Quality Tests—A sample taken for the purpose of
3 days 90 evaluating the quality of a source or lot of admixture will be
7 days 90 required to meet all the applicable requirements of this
28 days 90
Length change, max shrinkage
specification. Samples used to determine conformance with the
(alternative requirements):B,C requirements of this specification shall be composites of grab
Percent of control 120 samples taken from sufficient locations to ensure that the
Increase over control, percentage pointsD 0.006
Relative durability factor, min 80
composite sample will be representative of the lot.
Bleeding of the net amount of mixing water, max 7.3.2 Uniformity Tests—A sample taken for the purpose of
percent over controlE 2 evaluating the uniformity of a single lot or of different lots
A
The values in the table include allowance for normal variation in test results. from the same source will generally be subjected to a limited
The object of the 90 % compressive strength requirement for air entraining
admixtures is to require a level of performance comparable to that of the reference
number of tests as the result of agreement between the
concrete. purchaser and manufacturer (see Section 4). Such samples
B
C
Applicable only when required by the purchaser. shall be composite samples from individual lots when different
Alternative requirements, see 6.1.2, “percent of control” limit applies when the
length change of the control is 0.030 % or greater, “increase over control” limit
lots from the same source are being compared. When the
applies when the length change of the control is less than 0.030 %. uniformity of a single lot is being determined, grab samples
D
E
Applicable when shrinkage of control concrete is less than 0.030 %. shall be used.
Bleeding is computed as a percentage of the net amount of mixing water in
each concrete. The net mixing water is the water in excess of that present as
7.4 Liquid Air-Entraining Admixtures—Liquid admixtures
absorbed water in the aggregates. For example, a test concrete mixture that shall be agitated thoroughly immediately prior to sampling.
contains 4.65 kg of net mix water and produces 0.29 kg of bleed water would have Grab samples taken for quality or uniformity tests shall
6.24 % bleed water by mass of net mixing water. If a control mixture produces
7.05 % bleed water, the change in bleeding between the test and control concrete represent not more than 9500 L (2500 gal) of admixture and
mixtures would be − 0.81 percentage points. shall have a volume of at least 1 L (1 qt). A minimum of three
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C260 – 10
grab samples shall be taken. Composite samples shall be whenever practicable, tests be made in accordance with the
prepared by thoroughly mixing the grab samples selected and section on Materials for Tests for Specific Uses in Test Method
the resultant mixture sampled to provide at least 4 L (1 gal) for C233, using the cement proposed for the specific work.
quality tests. Grab samples shall be taken from different
locations well distributed throughout the quantity to be repre- 9. Rejection
sented.
9.1 The air-entraining admixture shall be rejected if the
7.4.1 Admixtures in bulk storage tanks shall be sampled
purchaser desires when it fails to meet any of the applicable
equally from the upper, intermediate, and lower levels by
requirements of this specification.
means of drain cocks in the sides of the tanks or a weighted
sampling bottle fitted with a stopper that can be removed after 9.2 After completion of tests, an admixture stored at the
the bottle is lowered to the desired depth. point of manufacture for more than 6 months prior to shipment,
7.4.2 Samples shall be packaged in impermeable, airtight or an admixture in local storage in the hands of a seller for
containers that are resistant to attack by the admixture. more than 6 months, shall be retested before use when
7.5 Nonliquid Air-Entraining Admixtures—Grab samples requested by the purchaser. It shall be rejected, if the purchaser
taken for quality or uniformity tests shall represent not more desires, when it fails to conform to any of the applicable
than 2 metric tons (2 tons) of admixture and shall have a mass requirements of this specification.
of at least 1 kg (2 lb). A minimum of four grab samples shall 9.3 Packages or containers varying more than 5 % from the
be taken. Composite samples shall be prepared by thoroughly specified weight or volume shall be rejected if the purchaser
mixing the grab samples selected and the resultant mixture desires. If the average weight or volume of 50 packages or
sampled to provide at least 2.5 kg (5 lb) for the composite containers taken at random is less than that specified, the entire
sample. Grab samples shall be taken from different locations shipment shall be rejected if the purchaser desires.
well distributed throughout the quantity to be represented.
7.5.1 Samples of packaged admixtures shall be obtained by 10. Packaging and Marking
means of a tube sampler as described in Practice C183.
10.1 The proprietary name of the air-entraining admixture
7.5.2 Samples shall be packaged in moisture-proof, airtight
and the net quantity in pounds or gallons (kilograms or litres)
containers.
shall be plainly indicated on the packages or containers in
7.6 Samples shall be thoroughly mixed before testing to
which the admixture is delivered. Similar information shall be
assure uniformity. When recommended by the manufacturer,
provided in the shipping advices accompanying packaged or
the entire sample of a nonliquid admixture shall be dissolved in
bulk shipments of admixtures.
water prior to testing.
8. Test Methods 11. Keywords
8.1 Determine the properties enumerated in Section 6 in 11.1 air content; air entraining admixtures; cement; con-
accordance with Test Method C233. It is recommended that, crete; pH, residue; specific gravity
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Committee C09 has identified the location of selected changes to this specification since the last issue,
C260–06, that may impact the use of this specification. (Approved December 1, 2010)
(1) Revised 5.2.
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