The strength of lightweight aggregate in concrete - A Review

Abstract

Concrete elements are the heaviest weight in structure, and it is the main component of the dead load in structure. Lightweight concrete is used to minimize overall dead load in structures, and also has a remarkable fire resistance quality more than normal weight aggregate concrete. Lightweight concrete can be characterized as a concrete consists of normal and artificial lightweight aggregate such as lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA). LECA produced in a rotary kiln which is approximately 50% lighter than normal aggregate, which is a new method in minimizing concrete self-weight. The main purpose of concrete in structure is to resist the compression stresses, the tests need to prove the effectiveness of using LECA in concrete to produce acceptable compression strength. For this reason, many attempts has been made to discuss and review the strength of structural element using LECA. This paper reviews several tests for the strength of LECA concrete by determining the mechanical properties such as flexural strength and compressive strength. The LECA concrete compressive strength is found to be slightly lower than normal weight aggregate concrete. It can be seen from researches results that LECA concrete produced medium strengths, both in compressive and flexural.