A concrete mixer is a machine that combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. Concrete mixers are often used so that the concrete can be made at the construction site, giving the workers ample time to use the concrete before it hardens. An alternative to a machine is mixing concrete by hand. These machines are utilized across various sectors so that the concrete can be prepared at the construction site which gives the workers sufficient time to use the mixture before it hardens. On the other hand, the utilization of cement mixers at construction sites not only saves time and labor but also minimizes the formation of cement lumps. Using these mixers enhances the output of the workers and results in a relatively economical and productive process.
The rapid urbanization, rising populations, strong economic growth, and growth in construction activity are expected to fuel the demand of the concrete mixers. This coupled with the development of smart cities across the globe is providing impetus to the growth of the market. Additionally, rising government spending on public infrastructure development is also bolstering the sales of cement mixers across the country. Concrete mixers are used in various applications and they can be divided into two broad categories Batch Mixer and Continuous Mixer. There are different types of machines under these two subdivisions each of them are explained below.
Different types of concrete mixers
Batch mixers
This type of mixer produces concrete one batch at a time. Batch mixers either have a drum or a pan, consisting of blades, which when rotated prepares the concrete mix. The speed of rotation, angle of the blades and in some cases the angle of inclination of the drum can be controlled. These are the most commonly used concrete mixers and are highly preferable to be used in small and medium-sized construction sites. Modern models come with fine-tune the mixing process system. Each batch can be precisely adjusted, batch mixing is often preferred for products that must undergo strict quality testing. This flexibility also makes batch mixing ideal for powdery ingredients that are chemically sensitive and prone to changing over time. Batch mixers make it possible to first blend a portion of the ingredients before loading additional ingredients. In this way, batch mixers can perform multiple mixing processes. The new series comes with a discharging door with big radius and additional discharging blade permit a more fast discharge operation respecting the actual mixers present in the market. The high simplicity of the secondary gearbox and the employ of a commercial type primary gearbox permit very simple maintenance operations and highest operational reliability. Bath mixers are categorised as drum mixer type and pan mixer type.
- Drum mixer type
This type of mixers consist of a double conical frustum shaped drum. Depending on its type, the drum either has a single set of blades or multiple sets of blades which are used to mix, prepare and discharge the concrete mixture. Drum mixers are available in a variety of configurations to suit many different needs and applications. The drum mixer uses a paddle with numerous blades curving in different directions; this is called a swing-blade paddle. The swing-blade design allows the drum mixer to maximize liquid movement within the rotating drum, which cuts down on time spent mixing. Drum types mixers are classified into three types.
- Tilting Drum mixer
Tilting drum concrete mixer mixes the ingredients while forward rotating, and discharges while reversing the concrete mixer drum. Tilt drum concrete mixer is often used to blend plastic and semi dry concrete. Laes models come with many advantages such as low noise, stable operation, convenient movement, high working efficiency, high quality and high productivity, tilting drum type concrete mixer is especially suitable for the construction of roads, bridges, water and electric engineering. Our tilting drum concrete mixer totally conforms to national standard, and it has distinguished features of small footprint, easy installation and portable transferring, which has easier movement than stationary concrete mixer. In these tilting drum mixers, the mixer of concrete will be discharged from the drum by tilting it towards down. It could quickly discharge the process and it is used for the huge projects.The efficiency of mixing in this mixer mainly depends on the following factors:, angle of blades, blades size and shape of the drum. Tilting drum mixers are suited for preparing concrete with low workability and large size of aggregates. These mixers are highly preferable for large construction sites or applications where construction work is carried out intensively.
- Non-Tilting Drum mixer
In this type of mixer the mixture of concrete does not get tilted and in this methodology, the drum of the mixer rotates itself about its horizontal axis. Finally, for discharge, the chute is placed in an inclined position that will get the mix of the concrete from the drum that then discharges out. These drum mixers come with a non-tilting drum which rotates on its horizontal axis to produce concrete. They have openings at both the ends. The ingredients required to produce the mix are fed from one end and the mix is collected from the other. The mix is collected by attaching a chute to the opening of the drum. The blades in these mixers also help in the extraction process. Non-tilting drum mixers. It is used in small construction sites.
- Reversing Drum mixer
A reversing drum mixer is a type of concrete mixer that produces concrete in single batches. The entire drum rotates around its axis as materials are loaded through a charge chute at one end of the drum and exit through a discharge chute at the opposite end of the drum. Each facet unload and the end-dump models provide the power for concrete or different blending material to be loaded manually within the drum, as well as newer fashions that are self-loading. In reversing drum concrete mixers rotation reversal takes place for the various actions. The drum consists of 2 openings, one opening is for ingredients keeping and other opening is for mix discharging.
- Pan mixer type
This type of mixer has a cylindrical pan instead of a drum in which concrete is prepared. Just like drum mixers, these mixers also have blades which facilitate the process of mixing. These blades are generally shaped like a star to ensure optimum efficiency. In this pan, concrete mixing is done by a series of balded arrangements in the shape of a star inside the pan. These mixers also have blades which facilitate the process of mixing. These blades are generally shaped like a star to ensure optimum efficiency. Pan mixers are also erect rotating shaft concrete mixers, which is perfect for getting an extremely complex mix completely combined together, as well as keeping a solid, continuous momentum going through the combining procedure.concrete mixers that are pan can be very big really – even capable of holding up to 1000 gallons for large-scale, industrial use. The They also have scrapers attached to avoid sticking of mortar to the surface of the pan. The pan type concrete mixers are further divided into two types.
- The first type is the one in which the circular pan type concrete mixer is constant while just blades arranged in a star manner rotate about the vertical axis of the pan.
- Second type is the one in which the circular pan rotates and star blades stay in static position. However, in these two cases, the mixing is done efficiently and the mixture is taken through the hole present in the center of the pan.
Continuous mixers
This type of mixer’s primary function is mainly to mix, load and to discharge the mix continuously until the entire work is done or until the work break occurs. In this machine, materials loading is done continuously by the screw feeders. Continuous mixtures are mainly used for large projects such as bridges, dams and construction of high rise buildings to name a few. The batch mixers are two types: Drum mixer type and Pan mixers type. A continuous mixer is often the best choice for high volume projects where speed and efficiency is a priority. It should only be used when mix ratios can differ between batches. When more specific ratios are required, batch mixing is typically the better option. Some manufacturers may even use continuous mixing to smooth out many different batch mixes to make the finished product more homogeneous. In this scenario, each batch is removed from the batch mixing equipment and fed into the continuous mixer along with all other batches. Continuous mixe is associated with a number of benefits that are not found with batch mixing. Continuous mixing is much faster, and requires a smaller number of staff. The process of feeding ingredients is automated, and the batches are fed out automatically without the need for refilling or removal.
