Abstract
A study of the rate of hardening of concretes which contain inorganic accelerators demonstrates the superior performance of calcium chloride. However, there are significant changes in the compressive strength of concretes at various ages when accelerators are employed. Calorimetric studies of cement mortars show the advantages as an accelerator that calcium chloride maintains over other inorganic salts. Also, calorimetric tests demonstrate what appears to be different mechanisms of acceleration between different kinds of accelerators. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques were applied to a study of the effect of calcium chloride and calcium formate on the early stages of hydration of a cement. DTA patterns show definite differences between the function of the accelerators.
