The influence of lightweight aggregate on the physico-mechanical properties of concrete exposed to freeze-thaw cycles

A laboratory investigation was carried out in order to evaluate the quality of concrete with 10%, 20% and 30% combination of pumice aggregate and expanded perlite aggregate instead of fine aggregate (0-2 mm), and 0.1% air-entraining agent ratio. Several properties related to durability were determined, and particular attention was put on the resistance of the concrete mixes to the freezing and thawing cycles based on ASTM C 666, procedure B. Compressive strength and unit weight of concrete were decreased with increase of LWA but water absorption and sorptivity coefficient of concrete were increased before and after 100 freeze-thaw cycles. After 100 cycles of freeze-thaw 10% pumice aggregate and expanded perlite aggregate increased compressive strength of samples 3 and 4% respectively when compared to control samples. Reduction in the compressive strength due to the air-entraining agent was around 9% after 100 freeze-thaw cycles. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.