Study on effect of light weight aggregates on structural performance of concrete

Abstract

The present work aims to study the effect of light weight aggregates on structural performance of concrete. In this study, experiments were conducted to study modulus of elasticity, stress-strain behaviour, bond strength, flexure behaviour at different span to depth ratios on light weight and normal concrete specimens for appropriate comparison. For the tested specimens, significantly lower modulus of elasticity was observed for light weight concrete than normal concrete. Light weight concrete was found to be more brittle in nature i.e., the specimen failed rapidly after reaching peak stress. From the pull-out test, the bond strength of light weight concrete was found to be about same as that of normal concrete. For the both flexure dominated and shear dominated beams, significant difference was not observed between strength and stiffness of two types of concrete. The comparison between experimental and ACI 318-2019 theoretical short-term deflections showed that the equation gives lower values for both lightweight concrete and normal concrete beams. The work does not aim to arrive at generalized conclusions but to create confidence in engineering community for the promotion of structural grade light weight concrete and the scope of this study is limited to M40 grade concrete.