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INTRODUCTION
One of the most important quality criteria for gypsum plaster
is a constant setting profile. Influencing factors include
temperature and humidity, the storage time and gypsum raw
material variations. The simple, reliable and efficient handling
of gypsum plaster requires a controlled and stable setting
characteristic. In most gypsum production sites continuous
TECHLINE1 - 1
TEST METHODS
Setting time/Gypsum hydration
Ultra Sound Velocity
The principle of the ultrasonic testing device for mortars
is based on a transmission measurement where the sound
wave velocity and the transmitted energy are continuously
monitored.
The operating principle is based on the fact that a pasty
material has a lower sound velocity compared to a solid
material. Since the signals are recorded continuously in
certain intervals, it is possible to observe the complete
setting behaviour of gypsum plaster.
800
SOUND VELOCITY v [m/s]
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
2 - TECHLINE1
Working Steps
The application of gypsum spray plaster requires a whole
series of working steps. It takes about 3 hours of work from
the projection of the gypsum mortar onto a vertical wall until a
spotless smooth surface is generated.
The timing of these working steps depends on the increasing
strength of the plaster paste. In the real application the
hardening of the gypsum can have two different origins. One
of them is the chemical hydration of the gypsum hemihydrate
and the second one is the loss of water to the absorbing
substrate and to the atmosphere due to evaporation. Both
processes run in parallel and at a first glance, they can not be
kept apart. However, the addition of cellulose ether provides
water retention to the plaster and prevents loss of water to
the absorbing brick substrate.
STEPS 1 & 2
Figure 3:
Spraying and the first
even out after 5 minutes
800
STEP 3
Figure 4:
Paring of surface after 60
80 min corresponding to
sound velocity of 125 m/s
700
600
500
400
300
125 m/s
200
100
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
TECHLINE1 - 3
800
STEP 4
Figure 5:
Rough finishing after
120 min corresponding to
sound velocity of 300 m/s
700
600
500
400
300 m/s
300
200
100
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
The plaster is treated with a wet sponge or a felt. The top layer will get enriched with a creamy
paste of fine gypsum particles.
800
STEP 5
Figure 6:
First smooth finishing
after 150 min; sound
velocity of 550 m/s
700
550 m/s
600
500
400
300
200
100
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
The gypsum plaster has achieved the required stiffness; the smooth finishing is accomplished with a
metal trowel applied with the required strength.
800
STEP 6
Figure 7:
Last smooth finishing
after 170 min; sound
velocity of 650 m/s
700
600
650 m/s
500
400
300
200
100
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
The hydration process continues and the smoothing step is accomplished with a glossy defect free
surface. Proper adjustment of the setting curve is necessary to ensure that the working steps on the
construction site can be performed within a specified time frame of 2 3 hours.
The selection of the right retarder and accelerator is critical to achieve the desired results. The detailed knowledge of their kinetic effects on the gypsum setting process is a prerequisite for successful formulation development. We have studied a number of commonly used additives and their effect
on gypsum setting retardation or acceleration.
4 - TECHLINE1
Tartaric acid
Malic acid
Polyphosphate
Monohydroxy
succinic acid
Phosphate condensates
Application
Gypsum spray
plaster (GSP)
Gypsum plaster
Grain size
100% < 63 m
100% < 63 m
Chemical structure
Effect
Table 1: Retarder properties
Retarder
As retarder, we used in our experiments tartaric acid, malic
acid and polyphosphate. The setting time trials were carried
out with the two different hydroxycarboxylic acids as setting
retarders.
Tartaric acid is widely used in the GSP industry as it delays
gypsum setting very effectively. Natural tartaric acid finely
milled (100% <63m) is recommended.
Malic acid delays less in comparison to tartaric acid. The
time span between the start of the setting and finish is
shorter. Manual gypsum plaster is a typical application.
The polyphosphate (Targon G2, BK Giulini GmbH) is in most
cases used as an additional retarder. It delays specifically
the end of the setting process. The most important retarder
properties are summarized in Table 1.
Accelerator
Calcium sulphate dihydrate is widely used to accelerate
the setting of gypsum plasters. The powder is produced in
specially designated gypsum plants with the necessary milling
equipment as the particle size distribution is very important
for the performance.A typical dihydrate accelerator is Casonic
DH 50/45 (VG-Orth, Germany). This product has a very fine
granulometry (80% < 20 m) which causes a high specific
surface area of 6000 cm2/g. The calcium sulfate dihydrate
particles work as seed crystals during the gypsum setting
process . The higher the number of fine particles, the better
the accelerating effect will be. However, the finest calcium
sulphate dihydrate powders are subject to rapid aging. Longer
storage time will result in significant loss of accelerator
effectiveness as the fine particles agglomerate under the
influence of humidity.
GSP compound
99.5 pbw
0.02 pbw
Air-entraining agent
0.012 pbw
Malic acid
Polyphosphate Targon G2
Dihydrate
0.22 pbw
TECHLINE1 - 5
130 min
800
700
600
500
400
0,04% T G2
0,06% T G2
0,06% T G2
without T G2
90 min
300
200
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
Figure 9:
Ultrasonic Monitoring of GSP with Polyphosphate Targon G2
and a fix amount of 0.04%Tartaric Acid
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
0,04% TA
0,06% TA
0,06% TA
200
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
Figure 8:
Ultrasonic Monitoring of a GSP retarded with Tartaric Acid (TA)
6 - TECHLINE1
800
no Dihydrate
0,08% DH
0,14% DH
0,20% DH
0,24% DH
0,28% DH
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
Figure 10:
Ultrasonic Monitoring of GSP with Dihydrate (DH) and a fix
amount of 0.06%Tartaric Acid and 0.07% Targon G2
Curve No.2 (0.12% malic acid) in figure 8 is too fast even for a
gypsum manual plaster. Adding more retarder would make the
formulation too expensive. However, blending of two different
hydroxy carboxylic acids as retarders gives additional freedom
to formulate. In our example we have combined 0.04% of
tartaric acid with 0.06% of malic acid. Within the first 6 hours,
the setting profile is nearly identical to curve No.1 (0.06% of
tartaric acid).
The combination of two retarders has other advantages. It is
well known that some retarders have a very strong influence
on the crystal structure. They will eventually have an impact
on the strength properties of the final product. Figure 9 shows
the sound velocity of the same test described in Figure 8,
however, over 24 hours.
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
800
700
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
TIME t [min]
600
Figure 12
Long term Ultrasonic Monitoring of GSP, comparison Tartaric
Acid (TA), Malic Acid (MA)
500
400
300
+0,06% TA
+0,12% TA
+0,04% TA;
+0,06% TA
200
100
0
+0,06% TA
+0,12% MA
+0,04% TA;
+0,06% MA
50
100
150
200
250
300
TIME t [min]
Figure 11:
Ultrasonic Monitoring of GSP with Dihydrate (DH) and a fix
amount of 0.06%Tartaric Acid and 0.07% Targon G2
Curves No. 1 and 3 are almost identical for the first 6 hours.
The plaster which was retarded with only tartaric acid (No.1)
did hardly show any further increase in sound velocity after
the first 6 hours. The plaster formulation with a combination
of retarders continued to develop strength for 24 hours. The
slope of the increase of sound velocity was similar to plaster
No. 2 which contained only malic acid as retarder.
TECHLINE1 - 7
CONCLUSIONS
The use of different retarders and accelerators is state-of-theart in the gypsum industry for the production of gypsum spray
plaster and of other gypsum based products. The use of these
additives allows influencing the start and finishing of the
gypsum setting reaction and the slope of the setting curve.
The setting process can be very well adjusted to the specific
application needs. This adjustment is also required to
homogenize the effect of gypsum raw material variations
which have a strong impact on the setting process.
AuthorS
A. Hecker, Dr. R. Baumann
The Dow Chemical Company