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Preliminary characterization of the mechanical and durability properties of lightweight concrete from Colombian expanded clay aggregates

Nowadays, lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) made from expanded clay aggregates has become a widely used material around the world. However, the use of this type of concrete has not been implemented on a long scale in Colombia, because expanded clay aggregates have not been fully characterized and tested. For this reason, the objective of this study is to characterize some mechanical and durability properties of lightweight aggregate concrete from Colombian expanded clay. For this purpose, samples of normal-weight aggregate concrete (NWAC), and samples of lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) with four different contents of expanded clay aggregates (12.5%, 25.0%, 37.5%, and 50.0% by volume of aggregates) were casted. Subsequently, the workability of the fresh concrete, bulk density, compressive strength, and the chloride penetration resistance of hardened concrete samples were characterized. The results showed the inclusion of clay aggregates modifies some properties of the concrete; replacement of 50% of the clay aggregate causes the compressive strength of concrete to decrease by up to 36%. However, the chloride penetration resistance was reduced by 33.8%. Likewise the concrete bulk density decreased by 22.4%. Accordingly, it is preliminarily concluded that expanded clays from Colombian sources have great potential for implementation as aggregates in the manufacture of structural lightweight concrete with allowable mechanical strength but enhanced durability properties.