Air-entraining agents is a type of admixture.
Air entrainment is the intentional creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete. The bubbles are introduced into the concrete by the addition to the mix of an air entraining agent, a surfactant (surface-active substance, a type of chemical that includes detergents). The air bubbles are created during mixing of the plastic (flowable, not hardened) concrete, and most of them survive to be part of the hardened concrete. The primary purpose of air entrainment is to increase the durability of the hardened concrete, especially in climates subject to freeze-thaw; the secondary purpose is to increase workability of the concrete while in a plastic state.
I was just reviewing this earlier this morning for the SS exam I am taking next month. Great post!
I’ve now moved on to Seismic design.
I’m taking BDCS next but I don’t know when yet haha.. Good luck!!
If you did well on CDS you’ll do fine on BDCS. Just practice the vignette and review CDS. You’ll do fine. It’s really not that bad.