USE OF ALUMINIUM POWDER IN THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

7/23/2019 USE OF ALUMINIUM POWDER IN THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

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Technical Report for Masters Project

All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means

without the written permission of Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

USEOFALUMINIUMPOWDERINTHEPRODUCTIONOFLIGHTWEIGHTCONCRETE

K.W.Tan1*

and Redzuan Abdullah2

1Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia2Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

*Corresponding author:[email protected]

Abstract:Lightweight concrete is a concrete of in which its made with entrapped air and have

lower density than normal concrete. Its gives the dry density value lower than 2000km/m3which

is much higher than normal concrete (2000kg/m3). This study is to attempt to produce the

structural lightweight concrete with mixing the stone chipping, sand and with the aluminiumpowder however, the experiment is focusing on determining the effect of optimum content of

aluminium powder in the normal concrete. The concrete was test to determine the compressive

strength, density and water absorption. Fifteen cube samples of lightweight concrete were

prepared with different percentage of aluminium powder content which varies from 0.2% to

0.8% of the weight of cement content. The size of cube sample used was 150mm x 150mm

x150mm with constant water cement ratio of 0.5 and the cement: sand ratio of 1:3.15. British

Standard used as a reference for preparing the cube samples.

Keywords:Lightweight concrete, Aerated lightweight concrete, aluminium powder, stone

chipping, compressive strength, water absorption and density

1.0 Introduction

Lightweight concrete can be defined as a type of concrete which includes an expanding

agent in that it increases the volume of the mixture at the same time it also gives

additional qualities such as nailbility and lessened the dead weight of a building. Apart

from it, it is also lighter than ordinary normal weight concrete. According to Short and

Kinniburgh (1978), Teo, et al. (2006) and Ravindrarajah et al. (1993), there are fourestablish method that can be used to product lightweight concrete: (i) Using air bubble;

(ii) Using hollow or porous aggregate; (iii) Using solid lightweight material such as

coarse aggregates and (iv) Using coarse aggregates to product no-fine concrete.

Topcu I.B. (1997) explained that many productions of lightweight concrete had been

designed to successfully use in wide range of construction from conventional dwelling

to complex highly specialised structure. Lightweight concrete is used as heat insulation,

thermal acoustic application, void infilling, roofdeck insulation application, bridge

approach for undulating prevention, bridge deck, soft ground base for roads, for housing


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2 Technical Report for Masters Project

raft foundation and many more on infrastructure applications either as unit or pre-cast

and cast in-situ. However, only aerated concrete using aluminium powder was discussed

in this study.

1.1 Problem Statement

Construction industry is developing rapidly due to exponential growth of human

population. It increases the demand for raw materials. However, the sources for

materials such as granite and gravel are decreasing. The uses of gravel or granite in

concrete works increase the weight of structure. So, it is needed to find an alternative

way to reduce construction weight. Thus, the application of lightweight concrete in the

construction industry is seen can overcome these problems. Lightweight concrete can

produce light structures and it mostly does not use granite or gravel. However, the

performance of lightweight concrete is depending on their permeability. If the concreteis highly permeable which means that the pores of the concrete are interconnecting due

to excessive usage of aluminium powder, therefore water can easily enter and ingress

into concrete which may reduce the durability of concrete. Thus, it can affect the

strength as well as the density of the lightweight concrete. Furthermore, water

absorption is an important factor due to the porous structure of aerated lightweight

concrete. If the percentage of water absorption is too high, the lightweight concrete is

able to absorb more water; therefore, the porosity of lightweight concrete will increase

and produced more void. Thus, it will affect the strength, density as well as the

durability of lightweight concrete.

1.2 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this study is to determine the optimum content of aluminium powder used in

concrete mixture. Several objectives need to be set out as follows in order to achieve the

aim of the study:

To product a new lightweight concrete in which contains aluminium powder and as

the result the strength might be sufficient for structural element.

To study the new developed lightweight concrete in terms of compressive strength,

density and water absorption based on different portion of aluminium powder.

2.0 Research Methodology

2.1 Material Used and Preparation

A total 15 cube samples were prepared in this study. Codes of Practice such as BS

4551:1998 Part 1 specify the methods of testing mortars which includes testing for

compressive strength, density and water absorption. Based on these testing, the optimum

strength, density and water absorption of aerated concrete can be defined thus concludes


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Technical Report for Masters Project 3

the optimum content of aluminium powder used in the mix design. Materials used in this

study were Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), fine sand, stone chipping, water, and

aluminium powder. The concrete specimens of 150 x 150 x 150 mm were produced by

hand mixing. The constituents of each sample were weighed according to their

proportions. After it is weighed, fine aggregate and cement were mixed together by hand

until all the constituents mixed uniformly. Next, water was added to the mixture

gradually while mixing was carried out to ensure the mixture mixed uniformly. At final

stage of mixing, aluminium powder was added to the concrete mixture to allow the

reaction with the calcium hydroxide present in cement thus producing hydrogen gas or

air bubbles in concrete mix. All the mixtures were mixed by following the same

procedure but using fix proportion of materials except varying the amount of aluminium

powder content and the cube samples then need to be cured for 28 days.

2.2 Aggregate Gradation

Sieve analysis of sand is done in according with BS 882: Part 2: 1992. Natural sand is

prepared separating the sample in many sizes by using the standard sieves in which used

in fine aggregates and then remix these individual sizes using the calculated satisfying

percentages retained on each sieve to prepare the tested specimens used in concrete.

According BS 882: Part 2: 1992 that sand mainly passing a 5.0 mm BS 410 test sieve

and containing no more coarser material than is permitted. However, the grading

requirements and properties for all types of fine aggregates are tabulated in Table 1.

Table 1 shown a wide range of grading of fine aggregate is acceptable for concrete.

When determined in accordance with BS 812-103.1, using test sieves of the sizes givenin Table 1 complying with BS 410, full tolerance, the grading of the sand shall comply

with the overall limits given in Table 1. Additionally, not more than one in ten

consecutive samples shall have a grading outside the limits for any one of the grading C,

M or F, given in Table 1.

Table 1: Sand

With Reference from BS 882-1992 Table 4: Sand


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ORDINARY

PORTLAND

CEMENT

ALUMINIUM

POWDER

STONE

CHIPPINGSAND WATER

(kg/m3) (gram) (kg/m

3) (kg/m

3) (kg/m

3)

1 AL00 400.0 0.20% 140 1260 200

2 AL02 400.0 0.40% 140 1260 200

3 AL04 400.0 0.60% 140 1260 200

4 AL06 400.0 0.80% 140 1260 200

5 AL08 400.0 0% 140 1260 200

1 0.2% - 0.8% 0.35 3.15 0.50

SAMPLE NO.No.

Ratio by Unit Volume

2.3 Mix Proportion

The mix proportions for every sample were shown in Table 2. The mix proportion of the

preparing the aerated concrete admixture was estimated based on BS 1881: Part 125:

2013. The cement and sand ratio of 1:3.15 was used in the mortar mix design and the

water cement ratio provided was 0.5. Stone chipping as coarse aggregate was used in

mortar mix design was 0.35. Different percentage of aluminium powder was used from

range 0.2% to 0.8% of cement content in mix design.

Table 2: Mix Proportions

2.4 Trial Mix

The raw materials required for this project are Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with

class strength of 42.5, natural fine aggregate (4.75 mm), aluminium powder and stone

chipping, 5 mm. After all the raw materials are prepared, batching process is

commenced. The method is according to BS EN 206-2013. There are 5 series of

batching required for this project. A total numbers of 15 concrete cube specimens (150

mm x 150 mm x 150 mm steel mould) will be prepared as shown on Figure 1, with 5

nos. of cube specimens for each series of aerated aggregate concrete. For this research

purpose, we only test for 28 days as we only concern on the actual strength that can beachieved for the aerated aggregate concrete.

2.4.1 Density Test

In this study, the density of the concrete specimens was measure in accordance with BS

12390 7:2009. Moreover that concrete density was determined based on normal dry

density method. Soon after the concrete being cured, the samples were weighed and

dried in an ambient temperature for 24 hours. Short & Kinniburgh (1978) mentioned

that the samples were weighed again to calculate its density in kg/m3. The density is


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usually referred to oven-dry specimen or in some case to material in which has reached

equilibrium with normal air condition. The various content of aluminium powder in the

lightweight aggregate concrete can be obtained by comparing it with control specimens.

The concrete dry density can be calculated by using equation (1).

Figure 1: All Cube Mould Had Been Set

2.4.2 Water Absorption

Water absorption is an important factor due to the porous structure of aerated

lightweight concrete. The water absorption test is done using the samples prepared at the

ages of 28 days. If the percentage of water absorption is too high, the lightweight

concrete is able to absorb more water therefore; the porosity of lightweight concrete will

increase and produced more void. Thus, it will affect the strength, density as well as the

durability of lightweight concrete. Water absorption is expressed as the percentageabsorbed water by concrete relative to the normal air dry mass. The testing procedure of

water absorption of concrete specimen is as follow: (1) specimen was immersed in water

in room temperature (20 5oC); the weight of specimen was recorded every day until no

significant weight change. (2) The specimen was dried in an ambient temperature for 24

hours and the weight of specimen was recorded. The purpose of water absorption test is

to identify the capability of concrete to absorb water into its pores. The test procedures

are as explained in chapter three of this thesis. Fifteen specimens were prepared and

tested for water absorption after 1 day immersed into water. Measuring absorption for

each cube specimen can be derived from equation (2):

Concrete Dry Density =Cube Mass (kg)

Cube Volume (m3) ()


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Where,

WA = Water absorption of test specimen, (%)

Mi = Mass or Weight of wet specimen, (kg)

Mo = Normal dry mass or weight of test specimen at room temperature for 24 hours,

(kg)

2.4 Compressive Strength Test

The cubes were tested at 28 day to determine compressive strength. The cubes were

tested on the suitable capacity of the concrete. The approximate rate of loading was 0.2to 0.4 kN/sec (reading from the machine) for cube of 150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm and

loading was gradually increase until it achieved the expected maximum compressive

strength. Each sample was placed at the centre in the compressive testing machine with

the cast face in contact with the platens. The compressive strength it can be derived from

equation (3) that outlined in BS EN 12390-3: 2009.

3.0 Result & Analysis

3.1 Grading Analysis

The standard grain size analysis or sieve analysis test determines the relative proportions

of different grain size as they are distributed among certain size range. The sieve

analysis was done in the compliance with BS 882:1992. The grain size distribution is

shown in Table 2. Furthermore, the sieve test result expressed as a plot of the BS

grading requirement relative to the grading determine from the test aggregate. However,

the grading envelope for BS 882 is shown as Figure 2.

3.2 Dry Density of Aerated Concrete

For this study, cube samples were used to obtain the density of aerated concrete. The dry

density of aerated aggregate concrete will be taken and recorded in Table 3. The density

of concrete was measured in accordance with BS 4551-1-1998. Density was determined

after curing in room temperature for 28 days. Figure 3 shows the average normal dry

density graphs and it also shown the linear relationship between average density and

aluminium powder content, the maximum density obtained is 1950kg/m3 while the

minimum density obtained is 1874kg/m3. The graph shows the linear relationship of

WA,(%) = Mo, (kg) Mi, (kg)Mo, (kg)

100% ()

Compressive Strength, = Maximum Compression Axial Load Applied (N)Cube Cross Sectional Area (mm2) ()


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Sieve SizeMass of

empty sieve

Mass of

Sieve + FA

Weight

Retained

(g)

Percentage

Retained

(%)

Percentage

Pass ing (%)

2.360 436.7 451.5 14.8 1.5 0.1

1.180 526.6 534.2 7.6 0.8 0.1

0.600 346.2 360.2 14.0 1.4 0.1

0.300 318.3 805.7 487.4 48.8 4.9

0.150 389.0 811.4 422.4 42.3 4.2

0.075 288.4 321.6 33.2 3.3 0.3

0.000 268.9 288.0 19.1 1.9 0.2

998.5Total Weight

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

0.010 0.100 1.000 10.000

PercentageofPassing(%)

BS Sieve Size (mm)

Grading Envelope for Sieve Analysis

average density and aluminium powder content. Thus it can be concluded that the

density of aerated concrete with 0.8% of aluminium powder had achieved the required

density of lightweight concrete which is 1874kg/m3.However, it is theoretically possible

to reduce the densities of the concrete if an air dry density method was applied for the

density test.

Table 2: Sieve Analysis Test Result

Figure 2: Grading Envelope for Sieve Analysis


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1 2 3

AL00 - 0.0% Al. Powder 28 1949.706 1955.294 1946.176 1950.392

AL02 - 0.2% Al. Powder 28 1923.235 1932.941 1912.059 1922.745

AL04 - 0.4% Al. Powder 28 1895.000 1927.353 1900.000 1907.451

AL06 - 0.6% Al. Powder 28 1946.471 1963.529 1782.059 1897.353

AL08 - 0.8% Al. Powder 28 1861.471 1867.059 1893.824 1874.118

Concrete Series

Concrete Dry Density, (Kg/m3)

Cubes Average

Age

(Days)

y = -8897.1x + 1946

1700.0

1750.0

1800.0

1850.0

1900.0

1950.0

2000.0

0.00% 0.20% 0.40% 0.60% 0.80% 1.00%

AverageDensity,(

kg/m3

(/ )

Average Density Versus Aluminium Powder Content

Aluminium Powder (%)

Table 3: Dry Density for Aerated Aggregate Concrete

Figure 3: Average Density versus Aluminium Powder Content

3.3 Water Absorption

The purpose of water absorption test is to identify the capability of concrete to absorb

water into its pores. Figure 4 shows the average percentage value of normal water

absorption. From Figure 4 it can be seen that the range of average water absorption of

aerated concretes as compared to normal concrete was 0.15% to 0.58%. Therefore, it can

be concluded that the higher content of aluminium powder used in aerated concrete, the

higher the percentage of water absorption in concrete, thus it may reduce the density aswell as strength of concrete. The mass of water absorption of the cube specimen series is

shown in Table 4 while the average percentage of water absorption is shown in Table 5.

3.4 Compressive Strength

For compressive strength test, the load was applied to the cube gradually until failure

occurs. The results will be tabulated in Table 6. Figure 5 shows a graph of average

compressive strength for all specimens. The linearity relationship of graph shown in

Figure 5 can be concluded that the more percentage content of aluminium powder used


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1 2 3 1 2 3

AL00 6 .973 6.768 6.942 6.935 6.721 6.898

AL02 6 .910 6.949 6.966 6.866 6.883 6.914

AL04 6 .845 6.938 6.892 6.787 6.867 6.838

AL06 6 .848 6.957 6.735 6.793 6.884 6.675

AL08 6 .771 6.771 6.957 6.685 6.691 6.878

CUBE

Weight of Normal Dry

Cube - 24HR, (Kg)

CUBESAMPLE

Weight of Wet Cube, (Kg)

1 2 3 1 2 3

AL00 0.00 0.038 0.047 0.044 0.55% 0.70% 0.64%

AL02 0.20 0.044 0.066 0.052 0.64% 0.96% 0.75%

AL04 0.40 0.058 0.071 0.054 0.85% 1.03% 0.79%

AL06 0.60 0.055 0.073 0.060 0.81% 1.06% 0.90%

AL08 0.80 0.086 0.080 0.079 1.29% 1.20% 1.15%

SAMPLE

Water Absorption, (Kg)Percentage of Water

Absorption, (%)Average

Percentage of

Water

Absorption

(%)

CUBE CUBE

Aluminium

Powder

Content

(%)

0.63%

0.78%

0.89%

0.92%

1.21%

1 2 3

AL00 28 0.00 12.889 12.889 12.889 12.889

AL02 28 0.20 12.333 11.889 11.556 11.926

AL04 28 0.40 10.778 10.000 11.222 10.667

AL06 28 0.60 10.000 10.000 10.778 10.259

AL08 28 0.80 9.556 10.000 9.556 9.704

ConcreteSeries

Age(Days)

AluminiumPowder

Content (%)

Compressive Strength, (N/mm3, MPa)

Cubes

Average

in the mortar mix design, the lower the compressive strength of aerated concrete

produced.

Table 4: Mass of Water Absorption

Table 5: Average Percentage of Water Absorption

Table 6: Compressive Strength of Aerated Aggregate Concrete


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y = 0.65x + 0.626

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0AveragePercentageofWaterAbsorpt

ion

(%)

Aluminium Powder Content (%)

Average Water Absorption versus Aluminium Powder Content

Aluminium

Powder

y = -4.0185x + 12.696

7.000

8.000

9.000

10.000

11.000

12.000

13.000

14.000

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90

AverageCompressiveStr

ength(MPa)

Aluminium Powder Content (%)

Average Compressive Strength Versus Aluminium Powder Content

Aluminium Powder (%)

Figure 4: Average Percentage of Water Absorption

Figure 5: Graph of average compressive strength for samples at 28 days

4.0 Conclusions

The result can be summarized as follow:

1. In this study the higher the content of aluminium in the concrete and the higher the

water absorption rate.


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2. For this study, no bubbles appear or spot.

3.

The optimum content of aluminium powder which was in the range of 0.6% to 0.8%

is satisfied the lightweight requirement in accordance with BS 206-1:2000 because

the density is lower than 1900kN/m3.

4.

The compressive strength of aerated concrete was decrease linearly as the

percentage of aluminium powder increase.

5. The normal dry density of aerated concrete was decreases linearly as the percentage

of aluminium powder increases. However, it is theoretically possible to reduce the

densities if an air dry density method was applied for the density test.

6.

The average percentage of water absorption increases linearly as the amount of

aluminium powder increases. The highest average of water absorption will directly

reduce the density as well as affecting the strength of aerated concrete.

7. Linearity relationship can be determined from compressive strength, density and

water absorption graphs. These linearity relationships indicates that the aluminium

powder content directly influence the strength, density and water absorption of

aerated concrete.

References

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Chandra, S. and Berntsson, L., (2002), Lightweight Aggregate Concrete: Science,

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USE OF ALUMINIUM POWDER IN THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

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