International Journal of

Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre) E-ISSN : 2454-8006

DOI: http://doi.org/10.31695/IJASRE.2018.32788 Volume 4, Issue 7

July - 2018

Experimental Analysis of Light Weight Concrete

R. Aisswarya
P.G. Scholar, Dept. of Civil Engineering
Veltech HighTech Engineering College
Avadi, Chennai
India
_______________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
Background/Objectives: Lightweight concrete is widely accepted due to its low density. LECA is an artificial lightweight
aggregate made of clay having very low specific gravity. It is possible to develop lightweight concrete using LECA with a dry
density of 1200 kg/m3 up to 1450 kg/m3.
The significance of lightweight concrete is reduced mass and improved thermal and sound insulation properties while maintaining
adequate strength. These properties of lightweight concrete depend on the properties of lightweight aggregate (LECA). For
developing lightweight concrete of required strength and properties the different engineering properties of LECA has to be
studied.
Methods/Statistical analysis: The different special properties mentioned for LECA lightweight concrete opens a wide applicability
in the concrete industry and in structural members. For acceptance of concrete as structural concrete, it must possess sufficient
resistance to repeated loading (cycling loading) which is predominant during the earthquake. The concrete cubes are casted with
the nominal mix, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% replacement of coarse aggregate by LECA and the acceptable characteristic
strength attaining for the mix is calculated and the slabs are casted with the respective mix.
Findings: The cyclic loading can be stimulated in the laboratory using a loading frame and hydraulic jack with sufficient setup.
Using such a setup the cyclic behavior of lightweight concrete slabs as well as control composite slabs can be studied. These test
results can be used to suggest methods to develop structural lightweight concrete with desirable properties.

.Keywords: Cyclic loading, lightweight aggregate, lightweight concrete, repeated loading.

_______________________________________________________________________________________
1. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the second largest used material in the world. Since the invention of Portland cement by Joseph Asphdin, the
development of concrete and its industry begins. The significance of concrete such as strength, durability, mass production and
mould ability made it reliable and acceptable in construction industry. The introduction of different materials in and apart from its
ingredients makes it possible to produce different species in concrete.

Concrete has its own nature of its mass and density. As considering its density, it has a dry density of 2400 kg/m3. This self-
weight of concrete restricts the designer to provide extra steel to compensate its self-weight. This can be effectively encountered
by developing lightweight concrete.1,2

1.1 Light Weight Concrete

Concrete having an over-dry density range of approximately 300 to a maximum of 2000 kg/m3, with corresponding cube
strengths from approximately 1 to over 60MPa and thermal conductivities of 0.2 to 1.0 W/Mk are considered as light weight
concrete.3,4,5 These values can be compared with those for normal weight concrete of approximately 2100-2500 kg/m3, 1.5 greater
than 100 MPa and 1.6-1.9 W/mK. The principle techniques used for producing lightweight concrete can be summarized as
follows :

1. Omitting the finer fraction of normal weight aggregate to create air-filled voids using a process pioneered by Wimpey in the
UK in 1924 (no-fibes concrete).
2. Including bubbles of as in a cement paste or mortar matrix to form a cellular structure containing approximately 30-50 per
cent voids (aerated or formed concrete)
3. Replacing, either wholly or partially, natural aggregates in a concrete mix with aggregates containing a large proportion of
voids (lightweight aggregate concretes).

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R. Aisswarya et. al., Experimental analysis of light weight concrete

1.2 Classification Of Light Weight Concrete

Figure . Types of Light Weight Aggregate

No-fines concrete

It is a mix of cement, water and coarse aggregate with fines (sand) omitted. This result in each particle of coarse aggregate is
coated with a layer (up to about 1.3mm) of cement paste which bonds it to adjacent particles in point to point contact to leave
interstitial voids. In non-fines aggregate concrete the voids are interconnected to produce a porous open textured concrete the
reduced density, strength and shrinkage. Maximum aggregate size can range from 7 to 75mm but is usually from 10 to 20 mm.
For normal weight aggregates, aggregate/cement ratios from 6 to 10 produce densities of between 1200 and 1900 kg/m 3.

Aerated and foamed concrete

Aerated concrete containing intentionally entertained voids in the hardened cement paste or mortar matrix to form a cellulose
structure of low density are known as aerated cellular, gas, foamed or foam concretes. They are divided into two principle types
namely aerated and foamed. The air can be introduced into a mortar or concrete mix using two principle methods. First, using first
using foam generator and second, a synthetic or protein based foam producing admixture mixed with other constituents in a
normal mixer or high-shear mixer. The resulting bubbles in the hardened concrete should be discrete and usual bubble size is
between 0.1 and 1mm.

Light Weight Concrete

The variety purpose of lightweight aggregate concrete is recognized by RILEM and classified as per (RILEM, 1978)21.

Classification of lightweight concrete

Table 1: Properties of LECA

Class and Type
II
Properties I III
Structural
Structural Structural
/ Insulating
Compressive Strength
(MPa) >15 >3.5 >0.5

Coefficient of thermal
expansion (W/Mk) - <0.75 <0.3

Approximate density
1600-2000 <1600 <1450
(Kg/m3)

Natural light weight aggregate include Pumice, diatomite, scoria, volcanic, sawdust, rice husk. Artificial aggregates include
artificial cinders, coke breeze, foamed slag, thermacoal beads, LECA.

LECA LIGHT WEIGHT AGGREGATE CONCRETE

Light weight concrete can be made from LECA as coarse aggregate. They are light enough and their lightness is due to the
porosity present in the material by heating the clay to the temperature of 1300 degrees. In the heating process, the wet clay starts
to expand by having porous inside and hence the LECA becomes light in weight.

WORLDWIDE ACCEPTANCE OF LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE

Structural light weight concrete is defined as a concrete with an oven dry density of no greater than 2000kg/m3 there are variations
in certain parts of the world. For example, in Australia structural light weight concrete is considered to be a concrete made with
light weight coarse aggregate and normal weight fines resulting in a saturated surface-dry density of not less than 1800kg/m3. In

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DOI: 10.31695/IJASRE.2018.32788
International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre), Vol 4 (7), July - 2018

the USA structural lightweight aggregate concrete is considered to be an concrete with air dry density of less than 1810 kg/m 3. In
Russia lightweight concrete is defined in terms of its compressive strength.

NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

a. Low Density: It can be used to reduce the self-weight of structure.

b. Compressive Strength: It can be effectively use in structural components.
c. Low Thermal Conductivity Concrete: The lower thermal conductivity of LECA provides less heat loss. LECA has 4 times the
R-Value of typical sand and gravel aggregate concrete. This significant R-Value increase both slow heat transfer and
eliminates or reduces moisture condensation on walls and ceilings.
d. Workability, Appearance, Acoustics: Workability particularly in nailing, sawing and drilling, Acoustic ranges are high.

The repairing and strengthening processes are aims to improve the performance of the concrete members, restore and increase the
strength and stiffness of the concrete, improve the appearance of the concrete surface, increase water tightness, prevent access of
corrosive materials to the reinforcing, and improve the overall durability of the concrete members.

2. METHODOLOGY

Figure. 2 Methodology chart

2.1 Material Specification

i. Cement : Ordinary Portland cement , 53 grade conforming to IS : 12269 – 2013

ii. Fine Aggregate : Locally available river sand conforming to grading zone II of IS : 383 – 1970
iii. Natural Coarse Aggregate : Locally available crushed blue granite stones conforming to grade aggregate of nominl size 20mm
as per IS 383 – 197010
iv. LECA : Manufactured from Future Farms , Velacherry.

2.2 Material Testing

Cement
i. Specific gravity test : Specific gravity test as per IS: 2720 – Part 3 was conducted.
ii. Standard Consistency Test : To find specific gravity, as per IS: 4031 – 1988 & standard consistency was found to be 38%.
iii. Setting time of cement : Initial & final setting time is found out as per IS 12269 1987 Specifications.
Initial setting time : 95 min
Final setting time : 345 min9
iv. Compressive Strength : Test is conducted based on IS 12269 – 19879. Average compressive strength of cube mortar at 28 days
is obtained as 58.3 N/mm2
Fine aggregate
Clean and dry sand available locally will be used sand passing through IS4.75mm sieve will be used for casting all the specimens.
The following experiment were conducted to find out the properties of F.A as per IS-2386
i. Specific gravity test : The specific gravity is found to be 2.36
ii. Sieve analysis : The fineness modulus value is calculated as 2.75.
iii. Water absorption test: The water absorption is found to be 0.917%

Coarse aggregate

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R. Aisswarya et. al., Experimental analysis of light weight concrete

The following experiment were conducted on normal coarse aggregate and light weight expanded clay coarse aggregate to find
out the properties of coarse aggregate as per IS-2386:196311,12.
i.Specific gravity test: The specific gravity for ordinary coarse aggregate is calculated as 2.67 and for pumice coarse aggregate is
0.44.
ii. Water absorption test: The water absorption for ordinary coarse aggregate is found as 1.1%
iii. Sieve analysis: The fineness modulus for quarry coarse aggregate=7.27. 12,11
iv. Impact test: the impact strength of normal coarse aggregate as 7.29%

Steel
The steel reinforcing bars of Fe415 grade are tested under universal 1786:2008.The test results are represent in the table below.

Table 2: Property of Steel

Yield tensile strength 481N/mm2

Ultimate tensile strength 552N/mm2

Water
Casting and curing of specimen were done with the potable water. Water is used for both mixing and curing shall be clean and the
amounts of deleterious material and such as oil, acids, alkalis, salts, sugar, organic material or other substance that may be
deleterious to concrete or steel.

Mix Design
General
The process of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete and determining their relative amounts with the objective of producing a
concrete of the required strength, durability and workability as economically as possible is termed the concrete mix design

Mix design for M25 grade concrete

The mix design for obtaining the amount of cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate are calculated based upon the code IS
10269:2009.Finally derived mix proportion is as follows. 13
Cement Water F.A C.A W/C ratio
480kg/m3 192kg/m3 576kg/m3 1100kg/m3 0.40
To expression the proportion in the usual way
Cement : FA : CA
1 : 1.2 : 2.29

CONTROL AND LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE.

For a comparative study M25 grade concrete is chosen as concrete. The control is worked out design mix with 1:1.2:2.29 with a
W/C ratio of 0.4.Light weight concrete is produced by complete replacement of coarse aggregate with LECA coarse aggregate in
derived M25 mix.10,11,12 Expanded clay aggregate is crushed and dressed to 20mm aggregate. Due to high water absorption
property of LECA lightweight aggregate pre-wetting of aggregate is done prior to concreting. 24 hours of wetted aggregate is
taken out and water is wiped out. The ingredients are mixed with water thoroughly to get a uniform mixture. The fresh and
hardened properties of concrete are important due to their influence in performance of concrete as a load bearing member.

Fresh concrete properties

SLUMP CONE TEST

The concrete slump test is an empirical test that measures the workability of fresh concrete. It measures the consistency of the
concrete in that specific batch. This test is performed to check the consistency of freshly made concrete.
Slump value for fresh control and LWC

Table 3: Slump Value for LW concrete and Control concrete

Control concrete LW Concrete

Standard
TRAIL Diameter
In cm Spread dia in cm Flow% Spread dia in cm Flow%

1 30 31.2 24.8 33 32
2 30 31.6 26.4 32.7 30.8
3 30 32 28 32.9 31.6
AVG 30 26.4% 31.5%

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International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre), Vol 4 (7), July - 2018

HARDENED CONCRETE PROPERTIES

Casting of Concrete
The six concrete cubes and cylinder specimens are casted for tests conducted at 7 and 28 days. For casting cube specimen cube
moulds of size 150x150x150 and for cylinder 15mm dia 8. And 30mm high cylindrical moulds are used. The inner surface was
thoroughly cleaned and a thin layer of grease was coated. The concrete was filled and compacted to three layers with standard
tampering bar and after the top layer was compacted, the surface of the concrete was finished in level with top of the mould using
a trowel.
Compressive strength test :
The strength of concrete cubes are tested after 7 and 28 days. It is done as per IS 516 : 1959. The compressive strength should not
be less than 25N/mm2.

Cylinder split tensile strength test

The test is conducted at 7th and 28th day. It is done as per IS 456 : 2000 and IS 5816 : 1999. The split tensile strength of the
concrete should not be less than 1/10 of fck.

TEST RESULTS
Table 4 TEST RESULTS

SPLIT
COMPRESSIVE
SPECIMEN TENSILE
STRENGTH
STRENGTH

Nominal 40.75 3.95

10% Replacement 37.5 3.35
20% Replacement 35.53 3.15
30% Replacement 32.35 2.84
40%Replacement 24.73 2.24

TESTING OF COMPOSITE SLAB UNDER CYCLIC ROAD

Composite slab
A slab is a structural element capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The simply supported slab is the
simplest case for analysis. The flexural and shear capacity of slab depends on provided cross sectional dimensional, longitudinal
reinforcement, shear reinforcement and type of loading1,14,2,4,3. Two point loading is commonly applied loading experimental
studies. The equidistant load applied from both sides at a distance Le/3 distance from the support avoid stress concentration and
spreads applied load.8,7

Cyclic load
Cyclic loading is a time dependent fluctuating load with loading and unloading cycles. It induces cyclic stress and fatigue in
members this type of loading is characteristic of earthquake vibrations and predominant in bridge decks. The fatigue and cyclic
stresses induces nonlinear behaviour which adversely affects loading carrying capacity of structural member. 6.7,8

Design of Composite Slab

A slab of size 1250x600x100mm is adopted for laboratory testing. The Re-entrant profiled composite slabs are used as main
reinforcement. The slabs are designed as one way slab. The overhanging distance on either side is taken as 100mm.The effective
span of the slab is 1050mm.A minimum of 8mm dia bars at 230mm center to center is provided at the distance of 25mm from the
top to take care of Thermal and Shrinkage cracks.

CASTING OF COMPOSITE SLAB SPECIMEN:

Two light weight concrete slabs are scheduled for testing. Bars bending of reinforcement was done for secondary reinforcement
.The prepared reinforcement gauges are laid in position inside the mould. The ingredients for control concrete is weight batched
based on mix ratio and uniform mix mixer machine is used and compacted into two layers using standard tamping rod. Then the
concrete is trowel finished kept for setting and cured for 28 days .The same procedure for casting and curing of control mix is
followed for light weight concrete also.

TESTING OF SPECIMEN
Test set up :
Cyclic loadings are stimulated on slab specimen using loadings frame and 100T capacity hydraulic jack. Force for loadings is
derived from the reactions between horizontal slab in loading frame and supports. The applied load is accurately measured with a
100T capacity proving ring mounted in between loading frame and hydraulic jack. The deflection occurs as a result of loading is
measured with a dial gauge of 0.002mm accuracy.

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R. Aisswarya et. al., Experimental analysis of light weight concrete

Figure 3 TEST SET UP

Test procedure

Cyclic loading a type of fluctuating loading is stimulated applied and controlled by the entire loading setup. The governing
parameter is resultant displacement in which the displacement is controlled to measure the force applied. The expected deflection
is divided into seven cycles. In each cycle three numbers of repetitions for same set of loads are applied. Cyclic loading is
stimulated by applying maximum load in each cycle as step by step.
The load and deflection corresponds to loading and unloading are noted. The loading procedure is continued till the entire sets of
cycles are completed the load vs deflection curve is plotted.

Fig 4 Loading of Slab in Loading Frame

MATERIAL TEST RESULTS

Table 6 Comparison between experimental an limiting Value

S.N Property Experimental Limiting Value

Value
1 Specific gravity of cement 3.17 3.15
2 Standard consistency of cement 32% 33%
3 Initial setting time of cement 95min IS 12269-1987 not<30min clause 5.3
4 Final setting time of cement 345 min IS 12269-1987 not>600m in clause 5.3
5 Average compressive strength test 58.3N/mm2 Not<53 N/mm2
of cement mortar cube 28 days as per IS 12269-1987
6 Specific gravity of F.A 2.68 2.6-2.7
7 Sieve anaylsis of F.A FM=2.75 Medium sand 2.6-2.9
8 Water absorption test on F.A 0.971% <2%
9 Specific gravity test for C.A 2.67 Approximate C.A 2.7
10 Specific gravity test for LECA 0.44 -
11 Water absorption test for C.A 1.11% <5%
12 Sieve analysis of C.A FM=7.27 6.6-8.0
not>45% for concrete other than wearing
13 Impact test of C.A 7.29% surface per IS 283-1970

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The tests are conducted to drive an accurate mix design and for studying the properties of Expanded clay aggregate. The water
absorption of LECA lightweight aggregate seems to very low and the specific gravity tests results indicate the range of light
weight property. The impact value is not very high in comparison with normal aggregate but within limit.

CUBE COMPRESSIVE AND SPLIT TENSILE STRENGTH TEST RESULTS

The compressive strength and cylinder split tensile strength results of LWCA,s are comparatively less than the control mix. It is
found that, the strength of the concrete decreases with the increase in LECA as a coarse aggregate.

Figure 5 Compressive Strength Result

Figure 6. Split tensile Strength Result

LOAD DEFLECTION BEHAVIOUR:

The load deflection behaviors of slabs are interpreted based on plotted load vs deflection graph as shown.

Fig 6 Load Deflection Curve for Composite Slab Under Cyclic Loading

ANALYTICAL STUDY:
The cyclic loading applied to the composite slab is validated analytically using various software such as ANSYS, ABAQUS and
COMFLOR. In the analysis the COMFLOR software is used.

The COMFLOR software is developed by the TATA steels for the analysis, especially for the behavior of composite slabs under
static and cyclic loadings. The softwares are developed based on the two major codal provision such as Eurocode 4 and BS 5950.

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R. Aisswarya et. al., Experimental analysis of light weight concrete

The m-k method and partial shear connection method are the two method are designed in this software. The COMFLOR software
V9.0 IS developed by TATA steel for the analysis of profiled steel sheeting composite deck slabs under static and cyclic loading.
The designs are checked for Construction stage, composite stage, fire and serviceability check. The deflection limit is used under
EC4 and BS 5950 codal provisions.

.
Fig 7 COMFLOR Software Display for profile type

Fig 8 Longitudinal Shear Method COMFLOR Software

Figure 9. BMD, Shear force and Deflection Diagram

CONCLUSION
1. Structural light weight concrete can be developed by full replacement of 20mm lightweight LECA coarse aggregate in M25
grade control mix.
2. The materials test result on water absorption of LECA aggregate and trail concrete cube specimen prepared indicates the
necessity of pre wetting of LECA aggregate prior to concreting to compensate the high water absorption.
3. The reinforced structural light weight concrete composite slabs tested under cyclic has reasonable and comparable ultimate
load capacity with control composite slabs.
4. The initial cracking load observed and ductility factor calculated indicates the better performance of light weight concrete.
5. The stiffness degradation study indicates that LWC slabs have lesser stiffness than control composite slabs.

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6. The energy absorption capacity of light weight concrete composite slabs are much lower than concrete slabs throughout the
entire cycles. This is due to lesser strength properties of concrete.
7. When comparing ultimate flexural capacity of LWC and control concrete composite slabs, LWC composite beams have
reasonable flexural capacity.

REFERENCES
1. Fakir Altun, Bekir Aktas, Investigation of Reinforced Concrete Slab behaviour of steel fiber added light weight concrete,
Construction and Building Materials, Vol-38, 2013.

2. Zahir kuhail, Samir Shihada, Mechanical Properties of Polystyrene Light weight concrete, Journal of the Islamic
University of Gaza, Vol 11, No 2 , 2003.

3. Akmaluddin, Effect of tensile reinforcement ratio on the Effect of Moment of Inertia of Reinforced Concrete beam for
Short term deflection calculation, Vol 43. No 3, ITB Journal of Engineering Sciences, 2011.

4. Aamer Najim Abbas, Experimental Study on Reactive powder and normal concrete rectangular beams under different
loading rates, International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology Structures, Vol 2, No 2, June 2014.

5. Pawade Prashanth Y, Nagarnaik.P.K, Influence of silica fume in enhancement of flexural strength of steel fibre concrete
and their relationship, International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering, Vol 2, No 1 , 2011.

6. S.Agus, B.Ismail and S.Amirkhan, The performance Evaluation of Light weight Concrete plies on UTHM’s soft soils
under static and dynamic loading tests, International Journal of Intergrated Engineering, 2010.

7. Vishwas P.Kulkarani, Sanjay Kumar B, Gaikwad, Comparative study on coconut shell aggregate with conventional
concrete, International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology, Vol 2, Issue 12, June 2013.

8. Q.L.Yu, P.Spiesz, Development of Cement based light weight composites-mix design methodology and Hardened
properties, Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol 44, 2013.

9. IS 12269-1987 Indian Standard Specification for 53 grade ordinary Portland cement (first reprint1993), Bureau of
Indian Standards, New Delhi.

10. IS 383-1970 Indian Standard Specification for coarse and fine aggregate from natural sources for concrete (second
revision), Bureau of Indian Standards , New Delhi.

11. IS 2386(part 1): 1963 Indian Standard Methods of test for aggregate for concrete part 1particle size and shape(Eleventh
Reprint),Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

12. IS 2386(part III): 1963 Indian Standard Methods of test for aggregate for concrete part III specific gravity,Density,
voids,Absorption and Bulking(Eighth reprint March 1997), Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

13. IS 10262-2009, Indian Standard concrete mix proportioning –Guidelines(first Revision), Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi.

14. IS 456-2000, Indian Standard plain an reinforced concrete-code of practice(Fourth edition), Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi.

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