What are surface voids in concrete?

Surface voids in concrete elements are one of the most common surface issues in the pre-cast industry. In this short blog article, we explain briefly what surface voids are and how they are created.

Surface voids are holes on the surface of concrete element that every concrete producer has experienced at some time. Surface voids result in secondary repair costs in terms of time, labour and materials and in extreme cases can result in very expensive reject product.

There are three main factors that influence the development of surface voids:

• Air – when air gets stuck in the concrete mix, surface voids are created because the concrete isn’t correctly consolidated;
• Concrete release agent – incorrect application of the release agent results in oil pools that, resulting in the surface voids;
• Quality concrete – poor or inconsistent concrete quality results in both surface voids and honeycomb surfaces;

With Ecoratio's release agents you have the confidence in the knowledge that our products are both user and environmentally friendly and have the ability to produced the best quality concrete elements in comparison with all other release agent producers. See for yourself:

You can read how you can prevent surface voids in your concrete elements in the quality guide in concrete production.

This eBook can be downloaded free of charge and without obligation: