Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 658662

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Construction and Building Materials

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Characteristics of lightweight concrete containing mineral admixtures

M.J. Shannag *,1
Department of Civil Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 4 April 2010
Received in revised form 19 July 2010
Accepted 28 July 2010
Available online 21 August 2010
Keywords:
Lightweight concrete
Mineral admixtures
Stress
Strain

a b s t r a c t
This research investigates the properties of fresh and hardened concretes containing locally available natural lightweight aggregates, and mineral admixtures. Test results indicated that replacing cement in the
structural lightweight concrete developed, with 515% silica fume on weight basis, caused up to 57% and
14% increase in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, respectively, compared to mixes without
silica fume. But, adding up to 10% y ash, as partial cement replacement by weight, to the same mixes,
caused about 18% decrease in compressive strength, with no change in modulus of elasticity, compared to
mixes without y ash. Adding 10% or more of silica fume, and 5% or more y ash to lightweight concrete
mixes perform better, in terms of strength and stiffness, compared to individual mixes prepared using
same contents of either silica fume or y ash.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Lightweight concrete (LWC) has been used for structural purposes for many years. The density of LWC typically ranges from
1400 to 2000 kg/m3 compared with that of 2400 kg/m3 for normal
weight concrete (NWC). Some of the techniques used for producing
LWC include using natural lightweight aggregates such as pumice,
diatomite, and volcanic cinders, or articial by-products such as
perlite, expanded shale, clay, slate, and sintered pulverized fuel
ash (PFA). Lightweight concrete has established itself as a suitable
construction material whenever the conditions require strict savings in the dead-loads in structures and energy conservations
and whenever there is an abundance of local lightweight aggregates [15]. The demand for lightweight concrete in many applications of modern construction is increasing, owing to the advantage
that lower density results in a signicant benet in terms of loadbearing elements of smaller cross sections and a corresponding
reduction in the size of the foundation. However, despite the efforts to improve the strength/weight ratio and versatility of structural lightweight concrete (SLWC), more research is needed for
exploring the potential application of this important building
material in structural design [612].
Lightweight aggregate (LWA), can be used for making masonry
blocks, wall panels, precast concrete elements, structural in situ
concrete, screeding and cladding. Its presence in concrete reduces
the dead weight of structure. The cellular structure of the aggregate gives thermal insulation properties. One of the main problems

* Tel.: +966 1 467 6928; fax: +966 1 467 7008.

E-mail addresses: mjshanag@ksu.edu.sa, mmshannag@just.edu.jo
1
On leave from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan.
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.07.025

associated with the use of conventional LWA produced from clay,

slate and shale in concrete is that these porous aggregates absorb
a very large quantity of the mixing water [5]. The presence of a
shell structure on the LWA signicantly inuences the mechanical
properties of the lightweight concrete. When the lightweight
aggregate concrete is constituted with stiff aggregates, stresses
are transmitted between cement phases. Failure cracks will extend
along the shells of the aggregates similar to that of the normal
weight aggregates. For the soft aggregates or the aggregates without the shell, failure mechanism can be totally different since
cracks will pass right through the aggregates [6].
The main objectives of this investigation include: (1) developing
lightweight concrete (LWC) mixes suitable for structural applications using locally available materials, (2) studying the properties
of the LWC mixes developed, including workability, density, compressive and tensile strength, and (3) studying the compressive
stressstrain behavior of the LWC mixes developed.

2. Experimental program
The experimental program focused on investigating the properties of fresh and
hardened concretes containing locally available natural lightweight aggregates, and
mineral admixtures. A total of ninety-nine 100 mm cubes, and sixty-six
100  200 mm cylinders were cast to measure the density, compressive and splitting tensile strengths, and stressstrain diagram in compression.

2.1. Materials
The materials used in this investigation include lightweight aggregates (LWA),
cement, silica sand, and admixtures. The LWAs were volcanic tuffs of scoria origin
available in the outskirts of Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia. Fig. 1 shows enlarged photos
for the natural LWA used in this investigation. The physical properties of the aggre-

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M.J. Shannag / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 658662

gates were determined following ACI and ASTM standards [1,13], as shown in Table
1a. A brief summary of the properties of other materials used, is presented in Table
1b.

2.2. Mix proportions

The absolute volume method, ACI 211 [3], was used for designing the basic concrete mix. The nal mix was optimized for workability, density and strength, using
the following ingredients: cement, silica sand, natural lightweight coarse and ne
aggregates, silica fume, y ash, high range water reducers, and water. After casting
many trial mixes, and making necessary adjustments, the concrete mix that
achieved relatively a good degree of workability, minimum density and an acceptable level of strength was considered as a basis for further investigation of the effect
of mineral admixtures on the behavior of SLWC. The concrete mixes designed in this
investigation were of similar workability and water to cementitious materials ratio.
They consisted of about 400 kg/m3 of Portland cement with the addition of 0%, 5%,
10% and 15% of silica fume and y ash by weight of cement. The details of these
mixes are listed in Table 2.

Fig. 1. Natural lightweight aggregates used in this investigation.

2.3. Mixing and casting

Table 1a
Physical properties of lightweight aggregates used.
LWCA (Madina)

LWFA (Madina)

Density (kg/m3)
Loose
Rodded

965
1071

996
1040

Density (gm/cm3)
Dry
SSD

2.04
2.1

2.10
2.15

Water absorption (%)

LWCA

LWFA

Time
10 min
30 min
1h
2h
4h
24 h

3.2
3.7
4.2
4.7
5.1
6.9

2.8
3.5
3.9
4.3
5.6
6.3

Cylinder compressive strength of LWA

4.5 MPa

2.4. Curing and casting

After casting, the specimens were covered with wet burlap and stored in the
laboratory at 23 C and 65% relative humidity for 24 h and then demoulded and
placed under water. Each specimen was labeled as to the date of casting, mix used
and serial number. The specimens were then taken out of water a day before testing
and dried in air.

Table 3
Slump and density of LWC determined in this investigation.

Table 1b
Physical properties of cement, sand, and admixtures used.
Type of material

Portland cement (type I)

ASTM C 150 [14]
Silica fume (powder form)
Fly ash (powder form)
Superplasticizer ASTM
494-type D [14] (liquid
form)
Silica sand (natural)

The concrete mixes were prepared using a tilting drum mixer of 0.05 m3 capacity. The interior of the drum was initially washed with water to prevent water
absorption. The coarse and medium aggregate fractions were mixed rst, followed
by adding the amount of water absorbed by the aggregates and allowed to rest for
30 min to minimize the variation in the initial slump caused by the high water
absorption of lightweight aggregates; then silica sand was added, followed by adding cement, y ash, silica fume, and the water containing about 75% of the superplasticizer. One-fourth of the superplasticizer was always retained to be added
during the last 3 min of mixing period. The concrete mixes were poured in cubic
and cylindrical molds, and compacted using a vibration table at low speed. After
each mold was properly lled the vibration speed was increased to medium speed
to ensure sufcient compaction.

Density
(gm/
cm3)

Specic surface area (m2/kg)

3.15

300

2.2
2.3
1.21

2000
500

2.6

Fineness modulus: 1.65, water

absorption: 0.5%, density: 1620 kg/
m3

Mix no.

Slump (mm)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

160
150
90
110
130
180
180
155
150
160
160

Density (kg/m3)
Fresh

Air dry

Oven dry

2050
2040
2025
2032
2066
2050
2053
2060
2039
2032
2030

1950
1971
1946
1995
1968
1958
1947
1970
1947
1954
1935

1847
1852
1854
1878
1898
1896
1854
1834
1851
1820
1817

Table 2
Concrete mix proportions in kg/m3 using natural lightweight aggregates from Madina region.
Mix no.

Cement

Fly ash

Silica fume

Silica sand

LWCA

LWFA

Water

Superplasticizer (L)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

400
380
360
340
380
360
360
340
340
320
320

0
0
0
0
20
40
20
40
20
40
20

0
20
40
60
0
0
20
20
40
40
60

200
199.3
198.6
200
199.2
198.7
198.6
198
197.9
197.3
199.2

550
548
546
550
548.2
546.6
546.3
544.6
544.3
542.6
548.2

350
348.7
347.4
350
348.9
347.8
347.6
346.5
346.4
345.3
348.9

250
249.1
248.2
250
249.2
248.4
248.3
247.5
247.4
246.6
249.2

1
3
3
4
2
1.5
3
2
4
4
3

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M.J. Shannag / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 658662

3. Results and discussion

The performance of the LWC mixes developed in this investigation was evaluated by determining the following properties: density, workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength,
and stressstrain diagram.

lightweight aggregates, LWA, and mineral admixtures seems to

be feasible. The concrete produced possesses 28 days compressive
strength of about 22.543 MPa with a corresponding air dry density of about 19351995 kg/m3 which falls slightly above the ACI
requirements of 1850 kg/m3.
3.4. Splitting tensile strength

3.1. Workability
The workability of the concrete mixes cast in this investigation
was measured using the slump test. The slump test results listed in
Table 3 indicate that most of the LWC mixes showed a slump values ranging from 90 mm to 180 mm immediately after mixing. The
larger slump for LWC is desirable in order to account for the gradual loss in workability, caused by the high water absorption of the
aggregates, which may occur 12 h after mixing, i.e. at the beginning of pouring the concrete in the formwork. To be within the
scope of this investigation, the workability of all the LWC mixes
cast, was kept almost the same by changing the dosage of superplasticizer whenever needed, in particular for the mixes containing
relatively high percentages of silica fume and y ash.
3.2. Density
In this investigation, the densities of all the LWC mixes cast,
including fresh, air dry and oven dry were determined and presented in Table 3. The fresh densities shown in Table 3 indicated
that most of the LWC mixes made, showed a density varying from
2025 kg/m3 to 2066 kg/m3. Since the aggregates in the fresh state
were completely saturated with water, therefore the fresh densities were considerably higher than the corresponding air dry and
oven dry densities as shown in Table 3. Most of the specication
standards classify structural lightweight concrete based on air
dry density not exceeding 2000 kg/m3 [2]. The air dry density
shown in the table varied from 1935 to 1995 kg/m3. It can be noticed that the range of air dry density complies with the European
specications for structural LWC of air dry density not exceeding
2000 kg/m3, but does not meet ACI requirements of air dry density
not exceeding 1850 kg/m3. It should be noted that the air dry densities can be reduced to meet ACI requirements by making some
adjustments on the composition of the mixes without sacricing
the structural strength required at 28 days. It can be observed from
Table 3 that the oven dry unit weights of the LWC mixes developed
varied from 1817 to 1898 kg/m3.
3.3. Compressive strength

The 28 days splitting tensile strengths and the corresponding

compressive strengths at the same age, for the lightweight concrete mixes cast in this investigation are listed in Table 4. Majority
of the splitting tensile strength test results for air dried LWC shown
in the table were about 89% of the corresponding compressive
strength. This is slightly below the standard range reported in
the literature of 10% for normal weight structural concrete [3]. This
could be due to the cellular structure of light weight concrete that
enhanced the initiation and growth of microcracks under tensile
loading, and thus resulted in larger decrease in tensile strength
compared to normal weight concrete.
3.5. Stressstrain diagrams in compression
The compressive behavior of the LWC mixes proposed in this
investigation can best be understood by plotting the complete
stressstrain response. All specimens were tested under uniaxial
compression as shown in Fig. 2, by applying a vertical load gradually until they reached complete failure. During the test, the displacement readings of the vertical LVDTs were recorded with the
corresponding load. The readings of the vertical LVDTs attached
to the specimen sides with a gage length of 120 mm were used
to record the axial deformation and axial strains at the surface of
the specimen. The axial strains determined were also double
checked by pasting two electrical strain gages of 60 mm gage
length on the sides of each specimen. The results of all tested specimens were recorded and analyzed in terms of their axial stress
strain curves as shown Figs. 36.
The shape of the stressstrain curves of the LWC tested, can be
characterised with a linear elastic response up to about 4050% of
its ultimate load carrying capacity; a curvilinear response up to the
peak followed by a post peak curvilinear segment of decreasing
slope. Close to the peak load, vertical hairline cracks started
appearing on the surface of the specimen. The number and width
of these cracks kept on increasing with further increase in axial
load until they formed a major shear crack at an angle of 45 with
the longitudinal axis of the cylinder. Because of the porous nature
of LWA, the vertical cracks passed through the aggregates, and thus

The test results listed in Table 4, indicate that producing structural lightweight concrete, SLWC, using locally available natural

Table 4
Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity, of LWC
mixes at 28 days.
Mix
no.

Compressive
strength (MPa)

Splitting tensile
strength (MPa)

Modulus of
elasticity (MPa)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

29.3
28.8
38.0
43.2
27.7
22.5
32.2
32.4
39.0
33.7
36.7

2.75
3.15
3.47
3.18
2.68
2.76
2.91
2.39
3.44
2.86
2.64

19,788
19,343
20,413
22,477
20,795
19,751
18,696
17,457
20,213
18,694
18,587

Fig. 2. Test setup and instrumentation of the specimen used for determining the
complete stressstrain diagram.

M.J. Shannag / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 658662

50

5% Silica Fume
10% Silica Fume
15% Silica Fume
0% Silica Fume

45

Compressive Stress (MPa)

661

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Strain mm/mm (10-6)

Fig. 3. Effect of silica fume on the compressive behavior of LWC.

Fig. 4. Effect of y ash on the compressive behavior of LWC.

Fig. 6. Effect of silica fume, and y ash on the compressive behavior of LWC.

14% in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity respectively

compared to mixes without silica fume. But, adding up to 10% y
ash, to the same mixes, caused about 18% decrease in compressive
strength, with no change in modulus of elasticity, compared to
mixes without y ash. The mixes containing 10% or more of silica
fume, and 5% or more y ash, Figs. 5 and 6, exhibited a considerable
increase in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity compared to individual mixes containing same content of either silica
fume or y ash.
The increase in the strength of the LWC due to the addition of
silica fume and y ash may be attributed to the improved aggregatematrix bond associated with the formation of a less porous
transition zone and a better interlock between the paste and the
aggregate [15,16]. The aggregatematrix bond improvement induced by these admixtures is probably the result of a combined ller and pozzolanic effect. The ller effect leads to reduction in
porosity of the transition zone and provides a dense microstructure
and thus increases the strength of the system. The pozzolanic effect
helps in the formation of bonds between the densely packed particles in the transition zone through the pozzolanic reaction with the
calcium hydroxide liberated during the hydration of Portland cement [15,16]. Therefore, it is recommended to use silica fume, y
ash blends in producing structural LWC without sacricing
strength and workability by incorporating the required dosage of
superplasticizer.

Fig. 5. Effect of silica fume, and y ash on the compressive behavior of LWC.

forced longitudinal pieces of the cylinder to split apart. Typical failure modes of some of the LWC specimens tested are shown in
Fig. 7.
Fig. 3 illustrates that by adding up to 15% of silica fume, to the
mixes containing LWA, caused a signicant increase of 57% and

Fig. 7. Typical failure modes of LWC cylinders tested under axial compression.

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M.J. Shannag / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 658662

4. Conclusions
Based on the test results of this investigation, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Lightweight concrete (LWC) mixes suitable for structural applications were developed using locally available natural lightweight coarse and ne aggregates. The mixes developed had a
compressive strength range of 22.543 MPa; an air dry density
of 19351995 kg/m3; and a high degree of workability.
2. The stressstrain diagrams plotted for the structural LWC mixes
developed were comparable to typical stressstrain diagrams
for normal weight concrete with relatively larger strain capacity
at failure in case of LWC.
3. Replacing cement with 515% silica fume on weight basis for
LWC, caused up to 57% and 14% increase in compressive
strength and modulus of elasticity respectively compared to
mixes without silica fume. But, adding up to 10% y ash, as partial cement replacement by weight, to the same mixes, caused
about 18% decrease in compressive strength, with no change
in modulus of elasticity, compared to mixes without y ash.
Adding 10% or more of silica fume, and 5% or more y ash
caused a considerable increase in compressive strength and
modulus of elasticity compared to individual mixes containing
same contents of either silica fume or y ash.

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge the nancial support provided by the Research Center at the College of Engineering of King
Saud University. He is also grateful to the engineers and the technicians at the research center, and concrete and structural labora-

tories for their assistance during the execution of the experimental

program.
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