LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

STUDENT:

Tatiana ESPINOZA

TEACHER:

Janet MENDEZ

2016
 LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

Concrete has been consolidated as one of the most widely used materials in
construction due to its strength and durability, however it is a very heavy material
which causes an increase in the cost and limits the height of the buildings. For
these reasons, builders began to investigate ways to make it lighter.

In the beginning, the pumice stones were used in Roma, then others porous
volcanic stones. However the use of artificial materials as processed industrial
wastes is more common in the present, but there are a wide variety of used
materials.

This monograph is about lightweight concrete, its properties, advantages and

disadvantages and its applications in the construction. Due to its great versatility,
its important to know its characteristics to improve new constructions.

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INDEX
I. DEFINITION ........................................................................................................ 3

II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................ 3

III. PROPERTIES .................................................................................................. 5

3.1. DENSITY ......................................................................................................... 5

3.2. CONCRETE COMPRESSIVE STRENGHT ................................................. 6

IV. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES .................................................... 7

4.1. ADVANTAGES ............................................................................................... 7

4.1.1. Low density ............................................................................................. 7

4.1.2. Thermal and acoustic insulation ........................................................ 9

4.1.3. Reduction of loads ................................................................................ 9

4.2. DISADVANTAGES ....................................................................................... 10

V. APPLICATIONS ............................................................................................... 10

5.1. STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS ................................................................ 11

5.2. NON-STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS ...................................................... 11

VI. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................ 12

VII. REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 13

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 LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

LIGHWEIGHT CONCRETE

I. DEFINITION

Since its inception, lightweight concrete has been obtained through various
methodologies, for example the use of light foams or the total and partial
replacement of conventional aggregates by low density aggregates. Due to the
diversity of materials used, most authors dont agree with a single definition of
lightweight concrete.

However, lightweight concrete is generally accepted as that concrete which by

any method has become lighter than conventional concrete wich is made of
cement, sand and gravel.

II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Although lightweight concrete has become

more familiar in recent times, its use dates
back to ancient times. It is known that the
Romans used pumice aggregates for the
construction of the Copula of the Pantheon of
Rome in 200 AD.

At first, lightweight concrete was restricted to the use of porous volcanic stones
cemented with limestones. Later, processes were developed to obtain porous
materials by the addition of air or foam agents and at the same time, the
production of expanded artificial aggregates began. At the present, its common
to use ash and processed industrial waste, as aggregates for lightweight
concrete.

Research in the field of lightweight concrete began around 1900 with aerated or
cellular concretes made from chemical processes. However, the vast majority of
initial results were negative. In 1924, Erikson obtained a cellular concrete made
of silica and lime that combined with bituminous clays produced lightweight
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concrete known as Ytong. In 1934 the Siporex concrete was patented in

Switzerland, wich was developed by a steam-curing process devised by Eklund.
In the Soviet Union, lightweight foam concrete was used in the form of reinforced
units during 1938, using methods introduced by Kudriashoff. In Hungary, blast
furnace slag was used as a base to form lightweight structures during 1907. In
Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, the United States and Russia, during the
period 1910-1940, techniques were developed for the elaboration of lightweight
cellular concretes, aerated or based on expanded or processed aggregates,
obtaining various types of lightweight concrete with good results.

After the Second World War, the

application of these materials
reached a considerable
development, even being used for
the construction of ships. Also,
techniques were developed for the
use of ash from boiler waste to the
preparation of light aggregates.
Recently, industrial processes for the
expansion of minerals such as perlite and vermiculite have got great importance,
due to their use as lightweight aggregates.

As the use of lightweight concretes in the construction was extended, it was

requested better materials; therefore, it was necessary to refine and to develop
even more the technology of elaboration of these concretes. So nowadays we
can get concretes with low density and high strength, such as those made of
clays and expanded slates, which can develop compressive strengths of 280 to
500 kg/cm2, with unit weights between 1 400 and 2000 kg/m3.

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III. PROPERTIES

3.1. DENSITY

When talking about lightweight concrete is also necessary to talk about its
density, which is directly related to its weight. Density is the parameter that
most defines a lightweight concrete because it controls several of its
physical properties, being also the parameter of greater variability. This
variability, caused by the diversity of densities of the materials used to
lighten the concrete, results in concretes with a wide range of densities.

For several years the concrete was considered lightweight only if its
density don't exceed the limit value of 1600 kg / m3. However, in order to
extend the applications of lightweight concrete to its use in structural
elements, concretes with densities until 1850 kg / m, which were also
considered lightweight concrete. Despite this, according to Neville, Pecce,
Ceroni, Bibb and Acierno, a concrete can be considered lightweight if its
density is smaller than the conventional density accepted for a concrete of
normal weight, which varies from 2200 to 2600 kg/m.

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3.2. CONCRETE COMPRESSIVE STRENGHT

The lightweight concrete compressive strength makes it possible to
identify possible applications of this. When identifying its applications, it
will be possible to differentiate between a concrete with structural capacity
and a non-structural concrete, destined to elements that don't support an
additional load to its own weight.

It is thus that the American Concrete Institute in its norm ACI-318-08 (ACI
Committee 318, 2008) defines structural lightweight concrete as one
whose compressive strength is higher than 172 kg/cm2 and its density less
than 1842 kg/m3.

On the other hand, the italian norm UNI 7548 gives a largest definition of
lightweight concrete, which includes non-structural lightweight concrete.
So lightweight concrete is classified as follows:

Non-structural lightweight concrete: density less than 1200 kg/m3 and

compressive strength less than 150 kg/cm2.
Structural lightweight concrete: density in a range of 1200 - 2000 kg/m3
and compressive strength in a range of 150 - 250 kg/cm2.
Structural lightweight concrete: density in a range of 1200-2000 kg/m3
and compressive strength higher than 250 kg/cm2.

It's important to mention that there isn't a simple correlation between the
resistance of the aggregate used in lightweight concrete and its
compressive resistance, different aggregates can produce concretes that
vary widely in their structural behavior. This variation makes it necessary
to carefully evaluate the range of aggregates used in lightweight concrete
and their influence on concrete.

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IV. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Although the complete characterization of a concrete depends on the

materials used in its elaboration, there are common characteristics among
lightweight concretes which dont vary much and allow to identify
advantages and disadvantages in them.

4.1. ADVANTAGES

The advantages of this type of concrete are:

It allows to reduce the weight in structures and loads to the

foundation.
Due to its thermo-acoustic characteristics.- It offers a significant
saving in the consumption of electric energy, particularly in extreme
climate.
Compaction isnt required; its placement and finishing are more
economical.
Uniform and controlled setting.
Low density.
Good thermal insulation.
Good acoustic insulation.
Higher fire resistance than conventional concrete.
Excellent workability.
Low modulus of elasticity.

Of these, the most important advantages are:

4.1.1. Low density

Undoubtedly the low density of lightweight concrete is its most significant

advantage, hence its designation as lightweight. The consequent
reduction of the weight of the concrete that is associated with a low density,
will allow to produce elements with smaller mass and smaller dimensions
which is a direct advantage in elements subjected to seismic loads. This
would allow the creation of larger buildings, such as taller buildings or

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longer bridges, taking into account the required concrete strength for these
applications.

Prefabricated elements with lightweight concrete have significant

advantages over prefabricated units produced with normal weight
concrete. These include savings in transport and handling value,because
normal-weight concrete elements are difficult to transport in large
quantities due to weight restrictions on roads, which restrict the amount of
elements that can be transported on a trip, even if there is space available
in vehicles. This limitation becomes more important due to the
constructions become larger.

For the concrete placed in site, the lightweight concrete causes a reduction
in the quantity of support elements (formwork), wich are necessary for the
support in the hardening stage. This advantage becomes of greater
importance in concreted elements in great depths, where the placement of
supports has great difficulty.

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4.1.2. Thermal and acoustic insulation

The lightweight concrete with a cellular structure is suitable for producing

insulation elements, with energy absorption capacity. This energy
absorption capacity allows a high insulation capacity, both thermal and
acoustic. The thermal and acoustic absorption depends mainly of the
density, if the density of the concrete is low, so its insulation capacity will
be great and its strength will be smaller.

In this aspect, the porosity of the concrete also intervenes, the lightweight
concretes are more porous than normal weight concrete, these introduce
considerable amounts of air to the material, which is a poor heat conductor,
so the thermal insulation increases.

The low conductivity of lightweight concrete causes the energy, sonorous

and acoustic, become heat dissipated in the concrete channels, reducing
the passage of heat and sound from side to side.

4.1.3. Reduction of loads

Another advantage derives from the density of the lightweight concrete,

which is the reduction of loads by its own weight contributed by the
elements to the structure. This reduction has several benefits in terms of
costs.

Lightweight concrete has made it possible to design projects where weight

was the limiting factor in the design. In reticular structures, for example,
frames must carry loads of floors and walls; considerable savings can be

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achieved in their cost if slabs, partition walls and exterior finishes are made
of lightweight concrete.

The reduction in the dead loads of a structure reduces the amount of work
directed to foundations, structural steel and any element that serves as a
support in the structure, this decrease in quantity causes a direct reduction
in costs. In addition, significant reductions in the size of elements such as
columns can be achieved, which increase the available area for circulation
in buildings.

4.2. DISADVANTAGES

The disadvantages of this type of concrete are:

Lightweight aggregates may be more expensive than common

gravel, but this difference may be compensated by lower
transportation costs and may even influence the type of foundation
favorably.
Because the modulus of elasticity is low, greater deformations can
occur than in conventional concrete.
The degree of incidence in the water-cement ratio cant be
determined due to its high absorption.
The drying shrinkage is greater than in conventional concrete and
therefore must be taken into account in the dimensioning of the
construction elements.
Lack of experience in the use of lightweight concrete can creates
drawbacks in its use and processing.
Due to its high absorption, iron corrosion problems occur, but this
problem is reduced by increasing the iron coating.

V. APPLICATIONS

The applications of a concrete can generally be identified based on its

mechanical strengths and other specific properties. However, in the case
of lightweight concrete, resistance is the factor that allows the identification

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of the structural and non-structural applications of concrete. A generalized

classification of these applications is presented below:

5.1. STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS

Structural elements of reinforced concrete.
Prestressed concrete elements.
Bridge boards.
Slabs of concrete (Concrete shell).

5.2. NON-STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS

Walls, floors and unload decks.
Elements with thermal insulation.
Repair of floors.
Modular elements without load.

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VI. CONCLUSIONS

Lighweight concrete is a type of concrete, which has lower density than the
conventional concrete. It can be produced with a wide variety of materials,
such as naturals and artificial, which originate concretes with different
properties and applications.

The mainly advantages of lightweight concrete are its low density, thermal
and acoustic insulation and reduction of loads. These allow a significant
saving in cost due to saving in transport and the quantity of materials.

On the other hand, lightweight concrete has some disadvantages, mainly

in the construction process. However its advantages are bigger than its
disadvantages.

This type of concrete can be used in structural elements as elements of

reinforced concrete, slabs and brigde boards. And in non-structural
elements as walls, floors and unload decks.

Therefore lightweight concrete is a versatile material with great advantages

in the construction.

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VII. REFERENCES

Concrete technology. Neville. Mexico. 1977.

Influence of expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) on the weight and
compressive strength of Concrete. Lituma & Zhunio. 2015.
Lightweight concrete. Valdez, Surez & Proao, n.d.
Lightweight concrete. Short & Kinniburgh. 1963
Steelconcrete bond behaviour of lightweight concrete with expanded
polystyrene (EPS). Pecce, Ceroni, Bibb & Acierno. 2013.
The Value Compressive Strength and Split Tensile Strength on
Concrete Mixture With Expanded Polystyrene Coated by Surfactant
Span 80 as a Partial Substitution of Fine Aggregate. Hidayat &
Siauwantara. 2014.
Overview of lightweight concrete. Recovered from:
tesis.uson.mx/digital/tesis/docs/2702/Capitulo1.pdf.

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