A Review on the Use of Salt and Sugar as Natural Admixtures in Concrete

Due to the large increase in construction nowadays, the focus on the reduction of waste in the environment and saving cost becomes crucial. This issue, if solved, will conserve natural materials and make an eco-friendly environment. According to this, the use of natural materials, specifically in concrete/mortar, will shape a green and sustainable environment. One of the most used materials in construction is concrete where some additives like accelerators and retarders are added in order to enhance and modify some properties of concrete. These additives are beneficial and important to be used specifically in case of different weather conditions. Weather conditions play a vital role in the variation of concrete properties. In cold weather, accelerators like salt are added to concrete; however, in hot weather, sugar can be used as a retarder. These affects the initial and final setting time of concrete. This paper is a review on the effect of natural admixtures on the properties of concrete including slump, setting time, density, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), flexural strength, split tensile strength, compressive strength, carbonation.