Not every pour happens under ideal conditions. When the job has to deal with tight possession windows, variable weather conditions and remote sites, the mix needs to perform exactly as specified.
The CTS Rapid Set® Additives range gives you direct control over such variables. Each additive is formulated specifically for use with CTS Rapid Set® cementitious products to ensure that performance is predictable and repeatable.
Retarder for extending working time in high-temperature conditions or long-haul pours where delayed set is required.
Learn MorePlasticiser to increase the fluidity of the mix without adding water. Maintains strength while improving placement in congested reinforcement.
Learn MoreAdmixture to protect reinforcement from corrosion in aggressive environments, such as marine, industrial and chemical exposure.
Learn MoreAccelerant for FastPatch polymer systems. Reduces cure time and extends cold-weather working range.
Learn MoreBonding primer for FastPatch polymer systems. Improves adhesion to concrete, asphalt and metal substrates.
Learn MoreAdditives change how a mix behaves on site. This table shows which one to reach for when you need to speed up or slow down the set, improve flow, add corrosion protection, or prime a surface before you patch.
Best for Customising the mix for specific environments
| Product | Accelerant (speed up) | Retarder (slow down) | Increase fluidity | Waterproofing / corrosion | Bonding agent (primer) | Cold weather aid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set Control® | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Flow Control® | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Fast® | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Corrosion Inhibitor® | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| FastPatch® Kicker | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| FastPatch® Polyprime | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Each additive is formulated to optimise the set time, flow or protection of the Rapid Set® mix without affecting the system's high early strength performance. The mix is configured to what the pour actually requires.
Additives allow you to achieve the slump, spread and flow required for the application without increasing the water-cement ratio. Compressive strength and durability are maintained.
The range includes products designed to repel water and reduce chloride ion penetration, which are critical for reinforced concrete in aggressive or corrosive service environments.
Set time can be accelerated or retarded to suit ambient conditions. Through cold weather pours, summer placements and heated environments, the mix responds to what the site demands.
Yes. The CTS Rapid Set® Additives range is formulated specifically for use with CTS Rapid Set® cementitious products. They are compatible across the Rapid Set® system, be it Concrete Mix, Cement All, Mortar Mix or other products in the range.
In some applications, yes. However, combining additives affects set time, workability and strength gain in ways that need to be understood before the pour. Speak with our team before using multiple additives together to confirm compatibility and dosing for your specific strength grade.
When used as directed, the additives are formulated to modify specific properties, such as set time, workability or corrosion protection, without compromising the high early strength performance that the Rapid Set® system is designed to deliver.
A standard cementitious mix is formulated for standard conditions. Most pours aren’t standard. Tight possession windows, variable temperatures, aggressive exposure and remote sites all place demands on a mix that the base product wasn’t built to handle alone. And that’s the gap cement additives are designed to close, with quality built in from production through to the finished structure.
At a material level, additives change how cement particles behave once water is introduced. They can slow or accelerate the setting process, alter how the mixture flows or reduce the risk of segregation during placement and transport. Each additive in the Rapid Set® range is developed to interact predictably with the base product, so the outcome on site matches what was specified in the mix design.
The result shows up in the finished concrete matrix long after the pour is complete. On infrastructure, aviation, road, asset maintenance, industrial and commercial projects, additives contribute:
Reducing the risk of surface and structural cracking as the mix cures and ages.
Limiting how much moisture the finished structure absorbs over its service life.
Maintaining mechanical strength even where set time or workability has been adjusted.
These characteristics benefit concrete structures exposed to freeze-thaw cycles, chemical attack or ongoing moisture. In those conditions, durability isn’t a bonus. It’s the specification. And getting it right is crucial to the solutions Antoun provides.
Getting the water-cement ratio right is one of the hardest calls to make under site conditions, in either direction. Add too much water for workability and mechanical strength drops. Add too little and the crew can’t place or finish the pour properly. Construction chemicals exist largely to remove that trade-off.
Flow Control® is a direct example, achieving the workability a crew needs without adjusting the water content of the mix, so water permeability and long-term waterproofing performance aren’t compromised for the sake of an easier pour. The ability to hold that balance matters most for transportation infrastructure, such as bridge decks, roads and marine structures, where water ingress is the primary long-term risk.
This is also where reinforced concrete faces its most persistent challenge. Chloride penetration and water ingress are the leading causes of premature failure in coastal, marine or chemically aggressive environments. Corrosion Inhibitor® reacts with the mix to limit chloride penetration and shield embedded steel, giving these structures the service life their exposure demands.
Architects and engineers rarely specify concrete in isolation. They specify it against a set of site-specific challenges: exposure, programme, load and placement geometry. That’s the thinking behind how the Rapid Set® Additives range was developed. Rather than one general-purpose product, the range offers versatility through the inclusion of additives that each target a specific characteristic of the mix:
These admixtures increase or reduce a particular property without affecting the high early strength performance the Rapid Set® system is built around. Specifying across the range keeps set time, flow and protection working within a single, coordinated system. This is a methodology Antoun has refined across the industry since 1979, and continues to apply to whatever the site brings next.
Specify the right additive from the start. Contact our team today.
