ABSTRACT

Throughout the life of concrete, water has central importance. It is an essential ingredient in
the mixing, curing, and hardening of concrete. Its exchange with the surroundings causes
hardened concrete to shrink, swell, and possibly crack. Its presence in hardened concrete
influences strength and creep. It plays a central role in deterioration caused by frost action or
alkali-silica reactions. Obviously, control of water is important to concrete. This report gives
an overview of some of the opportunities offered by the use of superabsorbent polymers
(SAPs) for achieving that control. Super absorbent polymer (SAP) is a material of wide range
of possibilities in the field of civil engineering. The role of SAP in reducing shrinkage in
High performance concrete by acting as an internal curing agent is being discussed. Its
composition, kinetics of water absorption are described. A study on the various factors
influencing the behaviour of SAP added as admixture in concrete by varying different
parameters was done .Current application in the construction field and its expected
applications in other fields are also mentioned .
Keywords: Curing,Shrinkage,Frost action,Admixture,