Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Seminar Report
On
Submitted to
Department of Civil Engineering
In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
Bachelor of Technology In
Civil Engineering
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CERTIFICATE
Certified that seminar work entitled Light Weight Concrete is the bonafidework carried
out in the seventh semester by in partial fulfilment for the award of Bachelor of
Technology in Civil Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University during the
academic year 2014-2015. Who carried out the seminar work under the guidance and no part
of this work has been submitted earlier for the award of any degree.
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ABSTRACT
Lightweight concrete can be defined as a type of concrete which includes anexpanding agent in that
it increases the volume of the mixture while giving additionalqualities such as nailbility and
lessened the dead weight. It is lighter than theconventional concrete. The use of lightweight
concrete has been widely spread acrosscountries such as USA, United Kingdom and Sweden.
The main specialties of lightweight concrete are its low density and thermalconductivity. Its
advantages are that there is a reduction of dead load, faster building ratesin construction and lower
haulage and handling costs.
Lightweight concrete maintains its large voids and not forming laitance layers orcement films when
placed on the wall. This research was based on the performance ofaerated lightweight concrete.
However, sufficient water cement ratio is vital to produceadequate cohesion between cement and
water. Insufficient water can cause lack ofcohesion between particles, thus loss in strength of
concrete. Likewise too much watercan cause cement to run off aggregate to form laitance layers,
subsequently weakens instrength.
Therefore, this fundamental report is prepared to study activities andprogress of the lightweight
concrete. Focused were on the properties of lightweight concrete such as compressive strength,
water absorption and density and its applications in various fields of civil Engineering construction.
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Table of Contents
Abstract
Acknowledgement
1. INTRODUCTION6-11
1.1 Light Weight concrete
1.2 Types of Light Weight Concrete
1.2.1 No-fines concrete
1.2.2 Light weight aggregate concrete
1.2.3 Aerated concrete or Cellular Concrete
2. PRODUCTION OF LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE 12-13
2.1 Mix Proportioning
2.2 Batching Of Materials
2.3 Mixing &Transportation
2.4 Placing
2.5 Curing
3. ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE
3.1 Compressive Strength
3.2 Strength-Density Relationships
3.3 Tensile &Flexural Strength
3.4 W/C Ratio & Workability
3.5 Water Absorption
3.6 Creep & Shrinkage
3.7 Density
3.8 Fire Resistance
3.9 Sound Insulation
3.10 Thermal Conductivity
4. APPLICATIONS OF LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE
4.1 Architectural Applications
4.2 Geotechnical Applications
4.3 Other Applications
5. ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
5.1 Advantages of LWC
5.2 Disadvantages of LWC
Conclusions 24
References 25
14-18
19-22
23
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thanks everyone who had contributed to the successful completion of this report.
Throughout this report, I have received so much help, cooperation and encouragement from so
much party that need to be duly acknowledged.
I would like to express utmost gratitude to my seminar guide Er.V.K.Singh for his fruitful
advice,guidance.
I would also like to thank our H.O.D. Prof. MZ Khan, for his constant inspiration &
valuable support.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is one of the oldest manufactured construction material and it has been useextensively in
the construction of various structures since ancient day. Thecontinuous research and development of
concrete has resulted in the production ofmany types of concrete. Each of the concrete possesses
their own unique characteristic to meet and suit the demand of industry. One of the concrete that
itpopularity increase drastically in recent year is lightweight concrete. Theclassification of type of
concrete is mainly depending on the concrete density. Thepractical range of concrete density for
lightweight concrete is between 300 kg/m3 and1850 kg/m3.
Due to the practical and economic advantages it possesses, the demand forlightweight concrete has
increasing over the years and has been partially used asstructures such as panel wall, roof slab and
etc. Using a lower density concrete can,therefore, significantly reduce the self-weight of concrete
structure with aconsequence allowing the reduction of columns and foundation size and other
loadbearing elements and a corresponding reduction in term of cost. Other advantages oflightweight
concrete included it good thermal insulation properties, better fireresistance and more convenience
in handling the concrete as the total mass ofmaterials to be handled is reduced, which then lower the
haulage and handling costand increase the productivity.
cement paste by suitable foaming agent.By proper control in dosage of foam, a wide range of
densities of foamedconcrete ranging from 400 kg/m3 to 1600 kg/m3 can be obtained for application
tostructural, partition, insulation and filling grades. The production of stable foamconcrete mix
depends on many factors viz., selection of foaming agent, method offoam preparation and addition
for uniform air-voids distribution, material section andmixture design strategies, production of
foamed concrete and performance withrespect to fresh and hardened state are of greater significance.
Incorporation of pozzolans, either naturally occurring or artificially made intoconcrete has been in
practise since the early civilisation.Besides its economic advantages, the main reason for their use is
that they can giveuseful modification or enhancements to concrete properties. Many researchers
havestudied the use of agricultural waste as constituents in concrete, namely rice-husk ashand
sawdust ash. Their study haverevealed that agricultural waste ashes contained high amount of silica
in amorphousform and could be used as a pozzolanic material.
1.2.1NO-FINES CONCRETE:
No-fines concrete can be defined as a lightweight concrete composed of cementand coarse aggregate
i.e. omitting fine aggregates. Uniformly distributed voids are formed throughout its mass. Themain
characteristics of this type of lightweight concrete is it maintains its large voids andnot forming
laitance layers or cement film when placed on the wall. Figure 1 shows oneexample of No-fines
concrete.
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(i)Natural Aggregates:
The use of lightweight (LWAC) can be traced to as early as 3,000BC, when Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa were built during the Indus Valley civilization.
In Europe, the use of LWCA occurred 2,000 years ago when the Romans built Pantheon, the
aquaducts, and the Colosseum in Rome.
The pumiceis still used today in certain countries, such as Germany, Italy and Japan.
In some places, like Malaysia, palm oil shells are used for making LWAC.
Earlier lightweight aggregates (LWAs) were of natural origin, mostly volcanic: pumice,
tuffetc.
They function as active pozzolanic materials when used when used as fine aggregates.
Type Of Aggregate
Lightweight
Concrete
No-fines concrete
Grading of Aggregate
(Rangeof Particle Size)
Natural Aggregate
Blast-furnace slag
Clinker
sieve
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Partially compacted
Clinker,Foamed slag
lightweight
Expanded
aggregate concrete
Sintered
clay,
pulverized-fuel
ashand pumice
Structural
concrete
Continues grading from
lightweight
aggregate concrete
pulverized fuel
Ash
content
(5mm and fines) toproduce
aworkable and dense concrete
Aerated or Cellular
Concrete
powder,passing a 75 m BS sieves,
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Materials are mixed thoroughly in a mixing plant fitted with foam-generating plant and
pumping units.
Water to be added is adjusted for moisture content of sand. The foam is injected into mix
rather than added on to mix.
2.4 PLACING:
Properly designed foam concrete has a stable burble structure and can be pumped to
normal heights without loss of entrained air.
A squeeze-type pump is referred over a screw-feed pump.
Foam concrete produced and delivered at the site can be pumped up to height of 60 m and
placed like Self compacting concrete.
2.5 CURING:
(i)Air Curing:
This is probably the easiest and most popular method of curing.
It is a slow, but acceptable system which enables a turnaround of moulds every 24 hours on
average, depending on the ambient temperature.
(ii)Steam Curing:
When precast Aerated Concrete panels and slabs are made under factory conditions in
order to induce an early strength into the concrete by applying heat from steam to the
underside of the moulds.
Steam curing is not begun until at least five hours after casting, and even then the increase
in temperature is well controlled and should not exceed 70C (167F).
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voids throughout the samplecaused by the foam in the mixture will lower the density. As a result,
compressive strength willalso decrease with the increment of those voids.
To understand how water content affects concrete, we need to consider how the water reacts in
the mix. Placing Concrete by Pumping Methods, considers two types of water in lightweight
concrete: free water and absorbed water.
Free water influences the volume of the mix, the slump and workability of the mix, and the
amount of water available for cement hydration reaction. Absorbed water is held in the pores of
the lightweight aggregate. During mixing, some free water is converted to absorbed water,
reducing the slump and the amount of water available for hydration. In addition, the pumping
pressure drives additional free water into the porous lightweight aggregate, further reducing
slump between the pump hopper and the point of discharge. To reduce the amount of mixing
water absorbed by the lightweight aggregate, concrete suppliers pre-saturate the lightweight
aggregates to fill the pore spaces prior to mixing. Concrete suppliers frequently use waterreducing admixtures to help reduce the total amount of mix water and, consequently, the amount
of water that will potentially leave the slab over time.
In both normal-weight concrete and lightweight concrete, water that is not consumed in the
hydration of the cement particles slowly evaporates through the exposed surfaces of the concrete
which, as is later discussed, can create problems with floor finishes. Almost all concrete mixes
contain more water than necessary for the cement hydration reaction, but the excess water
facilitates placement and finishing. After the cement paste has hardened, the hydration reaction
continues, albeit at a slower pace, throughout the life of the concrete as the excess water
evaporates. In lightweight aggregate, some absorbed pore water will be drawn out and contribute
to more complete hydration of the cement in a layer around the aggregates, but there will still be
significant amounts of absorbed water remaining in the pores which, will escape over time.
3.5WATER ABSORPTION:
These properties are particularly important in concrete, as well as being importantfor durability.
It can be used to predict concrete durability to resistcorrosion. Absorption capacity is a measure
of the porosity of an aggregates; it is alsoused as a correlation factor in determination of free
moisture by oven-drying method.
The absorption capacity is determined by finding the weight of surface-drysample after it has
been soaked for 24 hr and again finding the weight after the samplehas been dried in an oven; the
difference in weight, expressed as a percentage of the drysample weight, is the absorption
capacity.
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3.7 DENSITY:
The density of both fresh and hardened concrete is of interest to the partiesinvolved for
numerous reasons including its effect on durability, strength and resistanceto permeability.
Hardened concrete density is determined either by simple dimensional checks, followed by
weighing and calculation or by weight in air/water buoyancy methods. To determine the density
of lightweight concrete sample, the simple density test method is preferred.
Fresh Density Test (ASTM C796, 2004)
A 1 litre capacity container was tarred to zero at weight machine and overfilled withfresh
lightweight foamed concrete. The fresh lightweight foamed concrete wascompacted by slight
tapping at the sides of the container to allow consolidation offresh lightweight foamed concrete.
The excess lightweight foamed concrete wasstruck off and any excess lightweight foamed
concrete found on container surfacewas wiped off. The 1 litre container was then weighted to
obtain the fresh density ofLFC.
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3.10THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY:
Lightweight foamed concrete possesses excellent thermal insulation properties due toit pore
structure content in it. A study showed that the thermal conductivity of lightweightfoamed
concrete is 5 to 30 % of those measured on normal weight concrete. Therange of thermal
conductivity for dry densities value of 600-1600 kg/m3 is between0.1 and 0.7 W/mK, reducing
with decreasing densities. Besides the density of concrete, moisture content in concrete is
anotherparameter
which
affects
the
thermal
conductivity
significantly, since
water
hasconductivity about 25 times that of air. So, when the air in the pores has beenpartially
displaced by water or moisture, the concrete will have greater thermalconductivity.
Summary of properties:
Summarising all the aspects pertaining to the structureand properties of aerated concrete, the
salient observationsare:
i.
The method of pore-formation and curing plays a significant role in its microstructure
ii.
and properties;
The properties are influenced by the density and thus, they should be qualified with the
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
shrinkage;
Aerated concrete exhibitsgood functional performance characteristics.
Lightweight concrete has been used since the eighteen centuries by the Romans.The application
on the The Pantheon where it uses pumice aggregate in the constructionof cast in-situ concrete
is the proof of its usage.
In USA and England in the latenineteenth century, clinker was used in their construction for
example the BritishMuseum and other low cost housing. The lightweight concrete was also
used inconstruction during the First World War. The United States used mainly for
shipbuildingand concrete blocks. The foamed blast furnace-slag and pumice aggregate for
blockmaking were introduced in England and Sweden around 1930s.
Nowadays with the advancement of technology, lightweight concrete expands its uses.Example
in the form of perlite with its outstanding insulating characteristics. Itis widely used as loose-fill
insulation in masonry construction where it enhances fireratings, reduces noise transmission,
does not rot and termite resistant. It is also used forvessels, roof decks and other applications.
Figure shows some examples of lightweightconcrete used in different forms.
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It is ideally suited for precast concrete products as larger units can be handled with the same
handling equipment or manually for same size units, resulting in speed and economy in
construction. These units in addition to smaller ones can be lifted or managed by down-sizing
machinery resulting in reducing site carnage requirements and maximizing the number of
concrete elements on trucks without exceeding highway load limits reducing transportation
delivery cost.
1. LIGHT PRECASTE BLOCKS:
3. HOLLOW CORE:
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in
commercial,
industrial,
electricity,
gas
or
oil
Thermal Fills
Pavement Base
Controlled Structural Fill
Anti-corrosion Fill
Erosion Control / Soil Stabilization
Conduit / Pipe Bedding
Bridge Approach / Abutment
Insulating / Isolation Fills
Site Reconstruction
Void filling for abandoned underground and mining facilities, wells, tunnel shafts, or
additional cavity fill.
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CONCLUSIONS
Lightweight concrete can be utilized as a normal concrete replacement structure shield.
Aerated Concrete and Lightweight Aggregate Concrete also can be use as energy
absorbent.
It has a lower modulus of elasticity and higher tensile strain capacity further provides
better impact resistance than normal weight concrete.
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REFERENCES
www.wikipedia.com
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