Tips, insights, and news from the concrete technology market

Today it’s +18 °C, tomorrow +7 °C, and the first frosts may arrive within a few days. For ready-mix concrete producers, such temperature fluctuations present a real challenge. It is essential to maintain the workability of the mix during transportation, ensure easy placement, and achieve consistent strength development.

COMPLEX K-3 is designed precisely for these conditions — a plasticizing admixture for ready-mix concrete that performs effectively under changing temperature conditions.

What does COMPLEX K-3 offer?

✔ Concrete mix workability ranging from P1 to P5
✔ Retention of workability for up to 2 hours at temperatures up to +25 °C
✔ Up to 50% of the final strength achieved by the 3rd day
✔ Up to 5% increase in strength at 28 days
✔ Potential cement savings of up to 13%
✔ Suitable for use at ambient temperatures ranging from +25 °C to −5 °C

Why is this important in autumn?

COMPLEX K-3 helps maintain the required technological properties of concrete during transportation by mixer trucks and placement on-site, even when weather conditions change.

Less dependence on temperature fluctuations, easier concrete handling, and opportunities to optimize production costs.

COMPLEX K-3 — when autumn is unpredictable, but concrete performance must remain stable!

Contact our specialists to determine the optimal dosage for your concrete mix design.

Underfloor heating systems have become an integral part of modern residential and commercial construction. However, the quality and reliability of such flooring depend not only on the heating equipment but also on the properly selected concrete or cement-based mixture used for the screed.

The concrete mixture must ensure uniform filling of the space around the heating pipes, proper compaction, and the formation of a homogeneous structure without voids or defects. Insufficient workability can make placing and compacting the mixture difficult, especially in areas where heating pipes are closely spaced. Excessive water addition, in turn, may negatively affect the strength and structure of the hardened screed.

This is why specialized plasticizing admixtures play an important role in preparing mixtures for underfloor heating systems.

COMPLEX K-16 is a superplasticizing admixture specifically designed for underfloor heating applications. It is used in the production of cement-based concrete and mortar mixtures, improving their technological properties and providing the required plasticity and workability.

The use of COMPLEX K-16 helps reduce the water demand of the mixture, improve its homogeneity and compaction, and facilitate placement around heating system pipes. Reducing the amount of mixing water contributes to the formation of a denser cement matrix and helps achieve the required strength characteristics of the screed.

Advantages of COMPLEX K-16:

✔ Increased plasticity and workability of concrete and mortar mixtures
✔ Reduced water demand
✔ Improved homogeneity and compaction
✔ Easier placement of the mixture around underfloor heating pipes
✔ Contributes to the formation of a dense cement matrix

The use of a properly selected admixture helps achieve the required technological properties of the mixture and ensures high-quality installation of underfloor heating systems.

The specialists at MISTIM will help you determine the optimal dosage of COMPLEX K-16, taking into account the characteristics of the cement, aggregates, mixture composition, and construction conditions.

The use of materials recovered from demolition and damaged structures is becoming one of the most promising and essential trends in the construction industry. Recycled aggregates and other reclaimed mineral materials help optimize the use of natural resources while supporting efficient reconstruction projects.

At the same time, these aggregates have specific characteristics that may affect the properties of concrete mixtures, including higher water absorption, non-uniform particle grading, and reduced workability stability. This is why selecting the right concrete admixture is essential.

Our technical specialists have developed the new COMPLEX K-20 admixture, specifically designed for the production of concrete mixtures containing recycled materials. The admixture provides effective water reduction, improves workability, promotes strength development, and helps optimize cement consumption without compromising the performance of hardened concrete.

For concrete producers, this means the ability to use recycled materials without sacrificing the technological properties of the concrete mix, ensuring consistent product quality while optimizing production costs. In addition, the reuse of construction materials contributes to reducing construction waste, preserving natural resources, and decreasing the land occupied by construction debris.

Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) is increasingly used in modern construction and the production of precast reinforced concrete elements. Its high flowability, ability to completely fill formwork without vibration, and excellent consolidation even in heavily reinforced structures make SCC an efficient solution for demanding construction projects.

In accordance with EN 206, self-compacting concrete is classified into slump-flow classes SF1, SF2, and SF3, allowing the appropriate consistency to be selected depending on the concreting method and structural requirements.

Producing stable and reliable SCC is impossible without a properly selected concrete admixture. A high-performance admixture provides the required flowability, resistance to segregation, effective water reduction, and retention of workability during transportation and placement.

For the production of self-compacting concrete, MISTIM offers a range of advanced superplasticizing admixtures developed for various concreting conditions.

KOMPLEKS K-17 is a universal solution for producing SCC in SF1–SF3 classes. The admixture provides excellent flowability, high water reduction, outstanding pumpability, and stable workability throughout transportation and placement.

KOMPLEKS K-18 is recommended for use during hot weather and elevated ambient temperatures. It combines a highly efficient superplasticizing effect with controlled setting retardation, allowing the concrete mix to maintain the required workability for extended periods, even during long-distance transportation.

KOMPLEKS K-12 combines superplasticizing performance with an additional hydrophobic effect. This makes it possible not only to produce highly flowable concrete mixtures but also to improve the watertightness and durability of hardened concrete, which is particularly important for structures exposed to moisture.

KOMPLEKS K-15 is a next-generation high-performance superplasticizer designed for high-strength and self-compacting concrete. Its significant water-reducing capability, even at low dosage rates, promotes the formation of a dense concrete structure, resulting in increased strength and long-term durability.

Our technical specialists will help you select the optimal admixture based on the cement type, concrete mix composition, and performance requirements of the finished concrete, ensuring consistent and reliable results under production conditions.

During the summer season, concrete producers often face the challenge of slump loss during transportation. High temperatures, traffic congestion, and long distances to the job site can cause concrete to begin setting before placement even starts.

To address these conditions, our company offers KOMPLEX K-11 — a plasticizing admixture with a retarding effect designed to maintain the workability and technological properties of concrete mixtures for extended periods at ambient temperatures of up to 40°C.

KOMPLEX K-11 improves the plasticity and workability of concrete, promotes proper compaction, and helps preserve the designed strength characteristics of concrete structures. Its retarding action prevents premature setting during transportation and concrete placement in hot weather conditions.

KOMPLEX K-11 is particularly effective for ready-mix concrete producers supplying remote construction sites or working in regions with high summer temperatures. The admixture helps maintain the initial slump of concrete mixtures for up to 4 hours without segregation, bleeding, or loss of workability.

Benefits of KOMPLEX K-11

✔ Maintains concrete workability for up to 4 hours

✔ Effective at temperatures above +20°C

✔ Prevents segregation and bleeding

✔ Improves plasticity and workability

✔ Enhances concrete compaction

✔ Preserves designed strength performance

✔ Reliable performance during long-distance transportation

KOMPLEX K-11 provides confidence that your concrete will retain its properties from batching at the plant to final placement on the construction site.

Admixtures of the COMPLEX system, based on many years of research and proven practical experience, help maintain full control over concrete mixes and construction mortars even in severe frost. They ensure stable workability of the mix, protection during transportation, accelerated strength development, and reduced risk of cracking. The admixtures are easy to integrate into any mix design and allow work to be carried out on site or in production without additional complications. This is a practical solution for the cold season, enabling confident planning of work without weather-related interruptions. The use of COMPLEX system admixtures makes concrete and mortars more durable and reliable.

COMPLEX K-5 is an optimal solution for concrete mixes at temperatures down to –10 °C. It maintains  mix workability and ensures rapid early strength development.

COMPLEX K-8 is designed for even harsher winter conditions — down to –15 °C. This admixture incorporates all the advantages of COMPLEX K-5 and works even more efficiently: it protects concrete from freezing, allows extended transportation time of the mix, and accelerates demoulding of finished products, making concreting reliable even in severe frost.

COMPLEX K-10 is specifically developed for mortars and mixes used at temperatures down to –12 °C. It provides stable plasticity, prevents segregation, and supports uniform hardening even in freezing conditions.

Thanks to COMPLEX system admixtures, cold weather does not hinder construction — concrete and mortars perform as required throughout the entire cold season.

In today’s conditions, civil protection has become a top priority. The construction of reliable shelters, radiation-protection facilities, and bomb shelters requires not only proper design but also the use of high-quality concrete capable of withstanding extreme conditions. That is why concrete admixtures are becoming a key element in the construction technology of such structures.

According to DBN V.2.2-5:2023 “Protective Structures of Civil Defense”, concrete for protective structures must meet the following requirements:

• Strength class – not lower than C20/25;
• Frost resistance – at least F150;
• Water impermeability – minimum W6-8;
• For areas with potential flooding — a monolithic structure with a solid foundation slab.

COMPLEX admixtures ensure effective achievement of the required concrete characteristics, combining components that optimize all key aspects of concreting protective structures, namely:

• COMPLEX K-17, K-18 – reduce the water-cement ratio, increase strength and density of concrete, and improve mix workability even in challenging conditions (dense reinforcement, complex geometry). In combination with COMPLEX K-1, they help achieve water impermeability up to W12.
• COMPLEX K-12 – increases frost resistance to F300.
• COMPLEX K-11 – adapts concrete to ambient temperatures, which is critically important for monolithic works in hot climates up to +45 °C.
• COMPLEX K-1 – protects concrete from moisture penetration, reduces capillary water absorption, and increases the durability of structures, which is especially important for construction in areas prone to flooding or with a high groundwater level.

We provide technical support and adjust concrete compositions for specific conditions, accompanying the implementation of the project from start to completion.
Technological Service

Need to improve the workability and quality of your concrete mix without losing strength or adding excess water? Then COMPLEX-17 is exactly what you need!

A polymer-based superplasticizer that increases concrete mix workability from S1 to S5 without reducing grade strength, while also boosting early strength performance – up to 30% at 1 day.

The admixture has a wide temperature range of use (-3 °C to +30 °C):

• Protects your concrete in cold weather.
• Extends placing time during hot summer days.

Interested or want to learn more?
Our technical support service is at your disposal: +380504350441