C-S-H

INFLUENCE OF LIGHTWEIGHT AGGREGATE ON THE DURABILITY AND

MICROSTRUCTURE OF CONCRETES
P. Vargas1, N. Marín Alzate2, J. I. Tobón3
1,2,3 Departamento de Materiales y Minerales, Grupo del Cemento y Materiales de Construcci ón, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia.
Email: pvargas@unal.edu.co

Q: Quartz, Silicon Oxide,

A: Albite, Aluminium oxide

ABSTRACT
AN Anorthite, Calcium aluminosilicate
H: Hematite , Iron oxide

High degree of
crystallinity
To fully appreciate lightweight concrete (LWC) is essential to
understand the intrinsic nature of lightweight aggregates (LWA) and A B
how they influence the properties of concrete made from them. The
LWA have within their mass an array of vesicles or air void. The size, Q: Quartz, Silicon Oxide,
A: Albite, Aluminium oxide

spacing and degree of interconnection of the vesicles make these Low degree of

aggregates capable of producing concrete with lower density of about crystallinity

1850 kg/m3, whit advantages such as increased thermal insulation, C D

extended moist curing and increased durability. Fig.1 . A) LWA aliven. B) SEM aliven,
This paper investigates the influence of sulfates attack on concrete (C) perlite, (d) SEM perlite Fig.2 . X-ray diffractogram
mineralogical composition
containing pumice, expanded clay (both coarse aggregate) and nano- A) perlite. B) aliven
RESULTS
silica (NS). The effects of LWA on the microstructure of the ITZ around
the lightweight aggregate, and how the NS improves the ITZ and
cement matrix and increase the resistance of sulfate attack.

METHODOLOGY 

STAGE 1: STAGE 3:
STAGE 2: Fig.3 compressive strength of LWC at 7
Materials and Morphological evaluation Fig.4 Expansion LWC after 15 week
Evaluation of concretes and 28 days of curing sulfate attack
characterization LWC concrete

 Chemistry (FRX)  Morphology (SEM)

 Mineralogy (XRD)
 Morphology (SEM,
BET)
 Physics, density and
water absorption
 Compressive strength
 Physics, density and
water absorption
 Sulfate attack
 Chemical composition
(EDS)
 Morphology, (optical
microscopy)
Fig.5 Expansion sample PECS – 10 Fig.6 Expansion sample ALCS – 10
after sulfate attack after sulfate attack

MATERIALS AND CHARACTERIZATION

CS
C-S-H

Table 1. Chemical composition of aggregates and cement TMS

C-S-H CS

Weight %
Chemical composition
Perlite Aliven OPC
Silicon Oxide (SiO2) 72.45 59.67 20.9 Fig.7 ITZ SEM micrograph sample Expansion Fig.8 ITZ SEM micrograph sample Expansion
Aluminum oxide (Al2 O3) 13.38 16.95 4.72 sample PECS – 10 after sulfate attack sample ALCS – 10 after sulfate attack
Iron oxide (Fe2 O3) 1.35 9.79 3.20
0.08 4.13 1.80
Magnesium oxide (MgO)
1.20 3.57 60.69 CONCLUSIONS
Calcium oxide (CaO)
3.40 2.07 0.37
Sodium oxide (Na2O)
2.92 0.75 3.68 The greater superficial area and porosity of perlite allows increased the water
Ignition losses at 1000°C
absorption on the aggregate surface causing further expansion in the
concrete, attributed to the direct migration of magnesium sulfate through the
Table 2. Physical properties of aggregates aggregate.

Surface area Shape index Density Water Pores area REFERENCES

Aggregate
(m2/g) (%) (kg/m3) absorption (%) DIP (%) Collepardi, M. 2003. A state-of- the-art review on delayed ettringite attack on concrete.
Perlite 2.10 21.2 304.8 44.0 63.2 Lee, S. T., H. Y. Moon, and R. N. Swamy, 2005, Sulfate attack and role of silica fume in
Aliven 1.13 23.9 519.9 10.3 70.5 resisting strength loss
* Particle size 7,5 mm    Lo, T. Y., H. Z. Cui, W. C. Tang, and W. M. Leung, 2008, The effect of aggregate absorption
on pore area at interfacial zone of lightweight concrete

CEMENT AND BUILDING MATERIALS GROUP, UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA