Workability and Air Entrainment

The workability of a concrete mix is influenced by air entrainment. In accordance with the recommendation of the DOE Method, Firstmix assumes that a normal degree of air entrainment, corresponding to an Air Content Percentage of 4.5, improves the workability by one level of workability. Linear Interpolation is used to estimate the effect of a given Air Content Percentage, and a change of one level of workability is considered to increase or reduce the slump by a factor of 3.0.

The influence of air entrainment on the workability may be explained by the entrained air bubbles acting as particles, over which the aggregate can slide.