Action of admixtures on Fondu cement: Part 1. Lithium and sodium salts compared

Measuring the conductivity of stirred and diluted suspensions of Fondu cement enables the action of admixtures on the dissolution and induction periods to be determined. These events occur before the massive precipitation of hydrates leading to setting of the paste. These new results, compared to those obtained on paste, are useful in determining the mechanisms of interaction between Fondu cement hydration and admixtures. The behaviour of lithium and sodium salts is a result of the sum of the interactions due to their cationic and anionic parts. Experiments with lithium salts seem to be compatible with the hypothesis of an induction period kinetically controlled by a nucleation and growth process of AH₃ at 2°C