The Effects of Gradation and Admixture on the Pumice Lightweight Aggregate Concrete

Abstract

The usage of lightweight concrete, which has some advantage over ordinary concrete, has increased to a remarkable level in recent years. Many researchers have investigated the possible uses of lightweight concrete in terms of its strength, density and other mechanical and physical properties. The desired quality for lightweight concrete can be obtained through the proper selection of admixtures and proper grading of the lightweight aggregate. In this article, an experimental investigation on the production of moderate-strength lightweight concrete with pumice, according to the ACI standard, is presented. The gradation curves' (which fall within A16-C16 gradation curves, Turkish Standard Code, TS706) performances were investigated in terms of strength and density. The addition of superplasticizer and air-entraining admixtures improved the strength-to-density ratio of the hardened concrete and the workability of fresh concrete. As a result of this study, lightweight concrete blocks having a minimum compressive strength of 6.56 N/mm(2) and a density of 1300 kg/m(3) were obtained. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.