How to Form Self-Levelling and what do you think about it?

Part 1- How to Form Self-Leveling and what do you think about it?

Presentation

This work aims to give a deep understanding of a method of how to proceed to formulate self-levelling, to give a perspective of all the factors to take into account when undertaking the task of producing self-levelling agents.

During my 20 years of working in the area of self-levelling mortar, I had many opportunities to develop and improve the self-levelling plaster base product.

This year I took on the task of offering, supplying and implementing in other mortars companies the Premix Werden for self-levelling gypsum base that I developed during the period I was Warden’s Chief Operating Officer monolithic high floors.

My goal is to provide companies interested in manufacturing their own self-levelling using our Premix Werden plus all our technical support needed to develop and introduce the self-levelling in your region.

Therefore, I present the article below that will help companies better understand the product and define what kind of self-levelling the market of their region needs.

Introduction

In this article, I will try to give an overview of all the different aspects of the formulation of a self-levelling. The information of this work is based on the experience I had as Werden Operational Director Floor, courses, specialization, seminars, symposia, fairs, visits to supplier of inputs for business and production and application of self-levelling beyond the knowledge and experience of several Development professionals with extensive experience in self-levelling formulations and other types of dry mortars.

 This work aims to give a deep understanding of a method of how to proceed with self-levelling formulations, to give a perspective of all the factors to be considered to produce self-levelling agents.

The formulations discussed in this paper are largely based on the "European" tradition of self-levelling product. I will highlight two strategic criteria of great importance that will be analyzed here:

Pumping Capacity

Abrasion Resistance

2. The Different Steps of Formulating an SLS Formulation--(Self Levelling Screeds).

A good formulation depends on several factors. Some factors can be controlled and adjusted as the raw material, but some factors are uncontrollable like temperatures and environment at the building site.

To have a good formulation you need to think about all different demands. The different demands will not have the same magnitude of importance, but it is essential to think of all and to recognize all the aspects that influenced the final SLS.

In order to have wording to start and refine, the procedures discussed in the following paragraphs will guide you to a well-defined SLS. This procedure is based on years of experience formulating and producing self-levelling.

The procedure is divided into five factors: Specification, Production, Self-leveling Application, Construction Site, Experience, and Tradition.

The different factors will be discussed in detail in this article and each factor will be exemplified with the appropriate action.

2.1 Specification

The specification is all the information you have about the product you are about to supply and the product profile such as: Drying time, initial and final handle, Compressive strength, Fluidity, Application time, Drying time, Surface to be applied, the dosage of water to be added, the ideal temperature for application etc. In the specification, it is important to remember how and where the product will be used.

2.2 Production

The internal production of self-levelling inside the factory and outside the factory at the time of application has its peculiar needs. Many forget production and installation! If your company is not equipped with the proper equipment and technical personnel, this can cause an obstacle to produce the product or a large part to hit the product. The quality, type and specification of the raw material can also have a profound impact on the production and quality of the product. The important question to ask at this time is: How much is your formulation so good to compensate for variations in raw material? This is one of the most common reasons for product failures within the factory.

2.3 Loads

The loads can be divided into 2 distinct groups: ACTIVE and PASSIVE loads.

Active loads can be fly ash and blast furnace slag.

Passive loads can be Sand and Calcareous Stone

The raw material must be stable and consistent from the collection point, receiving at the factory, within the process to give the same properties to the SLS. Active loads vary greatly in quality and standard. So it is important to know that additives in the SLS formulation will never be able to fully compensate for load variations. It is necessary to work altogether.

2: 4 Manipulation at the Construction Site; Construction site

At the construction site, many external factors interfere with SLS applied. Some of them are impossible to act. Sometimes the condition of the construction site presents different conditions for which the product was designed. In these circumstances, it is better to change to another product more suitable for the condition of the work. Keeping the product designed without considering the conditions of the construction site will result in complaints; evaluate both the technical and economic condition. These conditions can be temperature, wind and rain. Other conditions may be the amount of water that is mixed in the mortar and the quality of the water. All these factors will change the properties of the SLS. Additives will not balance these variations. The biggest external factor that interferes with SLS product quality is the amount of water that is mixed into the product. Manufacturers of mortars such as Automatic Dozers and Rotameters have improved control of water addition.

2: 5 Experience and tradition

Experience and Tradition at the Construction Site can create many problems in the application, for example, "We always use more water" or "We always work this way or the other" The Experiences and Traditions, let's call it that, are strong factors and can cause Of course many problems at the Construction site. It is necessary to consider this factor, work the subject slowly to re-educate and change it slowly.

Information about new properties and how to work with the new product is extremely important. If some improvement or change of product, for example, a new formulation with improved properties, it is advisable, wise to change the name of the product to a new name.

This will minimize misunderstandings about what is old and new in the SLS formula and properties.

Continue Part 3 next