Sikadur®-42 IN — 3-Component High Performance Pourable Epoxy Grouting System
Three-part, moisture-tolerant epoxy grouting system that pours into 25-75 mm pockets and carries dynamic machinery loads with high early strength.
What is it?
A 3-part, solvent-free, pourable epoxy resin grout (resin, hardener and pre-batched aggregate) engineered for high-precision machine bedding.
Where is it used?
Under machine bases, compressors, pumps and presses; bridge bearings; crane tracks; anchor and starter-bar fixing in refineries, steel plants and forging shops.
Why use it?
It develops ~100 N/mm2 compressive strength in a single day, tolerates damp substrates, resists vibration and creep, and stays non-shrink under sustained load.
How is it applied?
Mix Part A into Part B for 3 minutes, blend in the aggregate Part C, then pour into a formed pocket with a 100 mm grout head in 25-75 mm lifts.
About Sika Sikadur-42 HES IN
Sikadur-42 HES IN is Sika’s high-early-strength epoxy grouting system for the situations where a cementitious grout simply cannot cope: rotating and reciprocating machinery that transmits vibration and impact into its foundation, tight bedding gaps that must be filled without voids, and plants that need equipment back in service within a day. Supplied as three pre-batched parts, a resin (Part A), a hardener (Part B) and a graded aggregate (Part C), it mixes on site into a flowable concrete-grey paste that self-levels into the pocket and cures to a dense, chemically resistant mass. Because the whole system is pre-weighed, the field crew is not left guessing at ratios, which is where most epoxy-grout failures start.
For engineers and contractors across Delhi NCR and pan-India, the appeal is the combination of speed and load capacity. The grout reaches roughly 100 N/mm2 compressive strength at just one day and around 120 N/mm2 by 28 days, far beyond what any Portland-based grout offers, while its low creep and good vibration resistance let it hold precision-aligned machinery in position for years. It is moisture-tolerant, so a matt-damp concrete pocket does not stop the pour, and it is placeable from +10 degC, which matters for winter commissioning schedules. Space Arc Engineering supplies it as an authorised Sika channel partner, with the technical backup to match the grout to the actual bearing loads on your foundation.
The technical insight
The performance comes from the epoxy binder rather than a cement matrix. In a cementitious grout, strength depends on hydration and the material stays porous, shrinks slightly as it dries, and softens where oils and dilute acids attack it. Sikadur-42 HES IN instead cures by a cross-linking reaction between the resin and hardener, forming a rigid, effectively impermeable polymer that bonds the pre-graded aggregate into a monolithic block. That chemistry is why it can be moisture-tolerant (the reaction is not water-dependent), why it develops near-full strength in 24 hours instead of 28 days, and why it shows very low water absorption (~0.05%) and a low coefficient of thermal expansion (1.9 x 10⁻⁵/K), keeping it dimensionally stable under a hot, vibrating machine. The graded aggregate is the second half of the design: it maximises the effective bearing area (>85% per ASTM C1339) and holds the coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of concrete and steel, so the grout, the baseplate and the foundation expand together instead of debonding. The one behaviour engineers must respect is polymer creep, which is why the datasheet fixes the long-term design load at one-quarter to one-fifth of the short-term failure load.
Where it is used
- Bedding baseplates and soleplates for light and heavy machinery, including heavy-impact and vibratory equipment
- Under-grouting reciprocating engines, compressors, pumps and presses that transmit dynamic loads
- Installing bridge bearings and grouting mechanical joints in roads, bridges and deck slabs
- Anchoring starter bars, tie rods, fasteners, dampers, crash barriers and fence or railing posts
- Grouting crane tracks, light rail and ballastless/direct rail fixing in tunnels and over bridges
- Foundation and equipment work in refineries, chemical plants, steel and forging plants
- Repairing spalled concrete, industrial floor slabs, runways and guide cones
- Hole and void filling where a high-strength, chemically resistant fill is required
Key advantages
- High early strength: about 100 N/mm2 compressive at 1 day lets equipment be recommissioned fast
- Moisture-tolerant, so it can be poured onto matt-damp (but not flooded) substrates
- Non-shrink and low-creep, holding precision alignment of machinery under sustained load
- Good vibration and impact resistance, suited to reciprocating and heavy-impact machines
- Pre-batched three-part units remove on-site mixing-ratio errors
- Good flowability for void-free filling of 25-75 mm pockets under a 100 mm head
- Chemically resistant and effectively impermeable to most liquids and water vapour
- Placeable from +10 degC, supporting low-temperature and winter commissioning
Limitations & considerations
- Per-pour thickness is limited to 25-75 mm; deeper pockets need staged pours with each layer cooled and hardened first (last layer minimum 40 mm)
- Pot life is only about 60 minutes at +30 degC and shortens further in heat and with larger mixed volumes, so placement must be planned
- Polymer creep means long-term design load must be kept to 1/4-1/5 of short-term failure load, requiring a structural engineer’s sign-off
- Substrate must be sound and at least matt-damp with no standing water; contamination by oil, grease or laitance sharply reduces bond
- Concrete must be at least 28 days old and mechanically prepared to an open, gripping profile; steel needs a bright, blasted finish
- Higher material cost than cementitious grout, so it is specified where dynamic load, chemical exposure or fast turnaround justify it
Selection & best practice
Build a leak-tight, release-treated formwork that maintains at least a 100 mm grout head, ideally with an inclined trough or grout box on the pour side to keep flow continuous and push out air. Mix full units only, never partial batches: stir Part A, add it to Part B and mix for at least 3 minutes with a slow-speed drill (max 300 rpm), then blend in the aggregate Part C only until uniform, avoiding excess air entrainment. Pour from one side in a single continuous operation so the grout advances as a front and does not trap voids, aiming for a 3 mm rise above the underside of the plate. Keep product, ambient and substrate temperatures within the +10 to +35 degC window, watch the dew point (substrate at least +3 degC above it), and clean tools with Sika Colma Cleaner before the resin hardens. For deep pockets, pour in lifts, let each layer cool and harden, and keep the final lift at least 40 mm.
Specifications
| Chemical base | 3-part epoxy resin with selected fillers and graded aggregate |
| Compressive strength (ASTM C579, +30C) | ~100 N/mm2 (1d), ~110 (3d), ~115 (7d), ~120 (28d) |
| Tensile strength | ~20 N/mm2 (7 days, +30C, ASTM D638) |
| Flexural strength | ~40 N/mm2 (7 days, +30C, EN 196) |
| Modulus of elasticity | ~14,000 N/mm2 (compression & flexure, +30C) |
| Mixing ratio (by weight) | Part A : B : C = 4.5 : 1 : 21 |
| Consumption | ~2.0 kg/m2 per mm of thickness |
| Layer thickness | 25 mm minimum to 75 mm maximum per pour |
| Pot life / packaging | ~60 min at +30C; A+B+C pre-batched 26.5 kg x 2 sets |
Industry use cases
Power & Heavy Industry
Bedding turbine, compressor and pump baseplates where vibration, impact and fast recommissioning rule out cementitious grout.
Refineries & Chemical Plants
Grouting equipment foundations exposed to oils, fuels and dilute chemical spillage that would attack a porous cement grout.
Infrastructure & Bridges
Setting bridge bearings and filling mechanical deck joints that must carry cyclic traffic loads without shrinkage gaps.
Rail & Metro
Direct and ballastless rail fixing, crane tracks and light rail in tunnels and over bridges needing high-strength, low-creep bedding.
Steel & Forging Plants
Anchoring presses, hammers and reciprocating machinery that pound their foundations with heavy-impact dynamic loads.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sikadur-42 HES IN the same as the older Sikadur-42?
How much grout will I need?
Can I pour it onto a damp foundation?
What thickness can I grout in one pour?
How long do I have to place it after mixing?
When should I choose this over a cementitious grout?
How we position Sika Sikadur-42 HES IN
Within Sika’s own range, Sikadur-42 HES IN is the high-early-strength dynamic-load workhorse; pair it with Sikadur epoxy primers and Sika Colma Cleaner for tool cleanup, and step across to Sika’s cementitious SikaGrout family when the pocket is large, statically loaded and cost-driven rather than dynamic. Where a specifier prefers a free-flowing epoxy for very tight gaps and long flow paths, our Fosroc Conbextra EP grouts are a direct alternative. For everyday non-dynamic baseplate and pocket grouting, our cementitious high-flow grouts from Fosroc (Conbextra GP/HF), MC-Bauchemie and UltraTech deliver comparable positioning at lower cost. Space Arc can match the grout to your measured bearing loads and site conditions across Delhi NCR and pan-India.
Fosroc Conbextra EP75 — Specify this Fosroc free-flowing three-component epoxy grout when you need long, self-compacting flow paths into tight 10-75 mm gaps without vibration and are standardised on the Fosroc system.
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Source Sika Sikadur-42 HES IN for your project
Authorised distribution, technical advice & professional application across Delhi NCR and Pan-India.