RATE OF ABSORPTION OF WATER

BY LITECRETE LIGHTWEIGHT
CONCRETE AND NORMAL
CONCRETE

ACCORDING TO THE ASTM C1585 - 04

AUCKLAND UNISERVICES LIMITED

a wholly owned company of

THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

Prepared for: Consultants:

Litecrete (NZ) Ltd Mark Byrami
PO Box 272 1386 Senior Technician
Papakura Civil and Environmental Engineering
The University of Auckland

Date: 30 October 2006 Our Ref: 10646.04

Reports from Auckland UniServices Limited should only be used for the purposes for
which they were commissioned. If it is proposed to use a report prepared by
Auckland UniServices Limited for a different purpose or in a different context from
that intended at the time of commissioning the work, then UniServices should be
consulted to verify whether the report is being correctly interpreted. In particular it is
requested that, where quoted, conclusions given in UniServices reports should be
stated in full.

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Table of Contents page

List of Tables, Figures and Photos 4

Method of testing 5

Specimens 5

Results and Calculations 7

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Table 1: Properties of both types of concrete used in the test.

Table 2: Specimen properties.

Table 3: Absorption test results of both types of samples.

Figure 1: Schematic of testing procedure.

Figure 2: Initial Rate of Water Absorption for both types of concrete.

Figure 3: Secondary Rate of Water Absorption of normal concrete.

Figure 4: Secondary Rate of Water Absorption of lightweight concrete

Photo 1: Normal concrete sample after four hours.

Photo 2: Normal precast concrete sample after one day.

Photo 3: Lightweight concrete sample after one day.

Photo 4: Lightweight concrete sample after three days.

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Method of Testing:

The test method used was ASTM C1585 – 04: “Measurement of Rate of Absorption

of Water by Hydraulic Cement Concrete”. This test method determines the rate of

absorption (i.e. sorptivity) of water by hydraulic cement concrete by measuring the

increase in the mass of a specimen resulting from absorption of water as a function of

time when only one surface of the specimen is exposed to water. The exposed surface

is immersed in water (the water depth is 1 to 3 mm only) and water ingress of

unsaturated concrete dominated by capillary suction during initial contact with water.

Treating and Conditioning the Specimens:

The standard method is to cure the specimens in an oven for three days, at a

temperature of 50°C and relative humidity of 80%. The relative humidity is achieved

using potassium bromide. As an alternative to the standard test method, potassium

bromide was not used.

The specimens - three samples each of normal concrete and lightweight concrete -

were cured in the oven for three days at a temperature of 50°C. All of the samples

were kept in the same environmental condition in the laboratory during the period of

the testing programme. Figure (1) show the schematic of the testing procedure.

Specimens:

Both sets of samples (normal concrete and lightweight concrete) were each aged 28

days and supplied by Litecrete (NZ) Ltd. The properties of each are shown in

Table(1). Lightweight concrete samples mix consist of: cement, coarse pumice, fine

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pumice, polypropylene fibre, water and admixture. Normal concrete samples mix

consist of: cement, sand, coarse aggregate (greywacke) and water.

Strength, Density,
Type of concrete MPa kg/m3
Lightweight concrete (average for three samples) 13.3 1235
Normal concrete (average) 28.6 2341

Table (1): Properties of both concrete mixes used in the test.

Lightweight
Specimen properties concrete Normal concrete
Diameter (mm) 101.8 100
Thickness (mm) 51 51
Water temperature °C 18 18
Mass before sealing (grams) 536.6 915.3
Mass after sealing (grams) 544.8 921.6

Table (2): Average sample, dimensions and mass.

Plastic sheet Sealing

Pan material

Specimen 50 mm
depth
of the
sample

1-3 mm
water Supports
Exposed surface
depth

Water

Figure (1) Schematic of the testing procedure.

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Test Results and Calculations:

In table (3) the readings of the test and the value of the Absorption (I) is found using

the following equation:

I = mt / (a* d) where mt = the change in mass in grams, at

different time (t)

a = exposed area of the specimen, mm².

d = density of water in g/mm³.

Figure (2), (3) and (4) below show the Absorption (I) plotted to the square root of the

time and from the developed curve the Initial and Secondary Rate of Water

Absorption can be determined.

Initial and Secondary Rate of Water Absorption:

• The Initial Rate of Water Absorption is defined as the slope of the line, which

is drawn using least squares, linear regression analysis, to fit the curve of

Absorption (I) plotted against the square root of time. The points plotted were

from one minute to six hours.

• Secondary Rate of Water Absorption is calculated in the same manner, with

the points of time plotted from one day to seven days.

Note: To achieve the initial or secondary rate of water absorption using this method

there should be a correlation coefficient of more than 0.98. This is calculated using a

spreadsheet programme:

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• Initial Rate of Water Absorption for lightweight concrete = 107 x 10-4

mm/√sec. R = 0.99.

• Initial Rate of Water Absorption for normal concrete = 215 x 10-4 mm/√sec.

R=0.99.

• Secondary Rate of Water Absorption for lightweight concrete = 29 x 10-4

mm/√sec. R=0.98.

• Secondary Rate of Water Absorption for the normal concrete = 4 x 10-4

mm/√sec. R=0.98.

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Test Data:

Lightweight concrete Normal concrete

Testing
√Time, m
time, m, (gram) I, (mm) I, (mm)
(Sec1/2) (gram)
(Sec)
60 7.7 1.10 0.14 2.65 0.34

300 17.3 2.33 0.29 5.15 0.66

600 24.5 3.21 0.39 6.73 0.86

1200 34.6 4.30 0.53 8.66 1.10

1800 42.4 5.05 0.62 10.22 1.30

3600 60.0 6.63 0.81 13.35 1.70

7200 84.9 8.70 1.07 17.59 2.24

10800 103.9 10.27 1.26 20.59 2.62

14400 120.0 11.53 1.42 22.98 2.92

18000 134.2 12.57 1.55 24.88 3.16

21600 147.0 13.54 1.67 26.48 3.37

86400 293.9 19.71 2.36 40.12 5.10

172800 415.7 23.82 2.85 40.81 5.19

266400 516.1 26.60 3.18 41.23 5.24

345600 587.9 28.54 3.41 41.49 5.28

604800 777.7 32.13 3.84 41.99 5.34

691200 831.4 33.12 3.96 42.13 5.36

Table (3): Average absorption of normal concrete and lightweight concrete samples.

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 Initial rate of water absorption

4.000

y = 0.0215x + 0.3231
2
3.500 R = 0.9944
Initial Rate of Water
absorption:
Litecrete = 10.7E-3
3.000 Normal concrete = 21.5E-3

2.500
Absorption, I, mm

Litecrete
Normal Concrete
2.000
y = 0.0107x + 0.1265 Linear (Normal Concrete)
2
R = 0.9952 Linear (Litecrete)
1.500

1.000

0.500

0.000
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0
SQRT Time, (sec)^0.5

Figure (2): The absorption plotted against square root of time, for both concrete
types, plotted from one minute to six hours.

Secondary Rate of Water Absorption, Litecrete

4.500

4.000
Absorption I, (mm)

3.500

y = 0.0029x + 1.6104
2
R = 0.9829

3.000

2.500

2.000
200.0 300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0 800.0 900.0
Square Root time (sec^0.5)

Figure (3): the absorption plotted against square root of time, for lightweight concrete
specimens, plotted from one day to eight days.

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 Secondary Rate of Water Absorption Normal Concrete

5.380

5.360
y = 0.0004x + 5.0363
2
R = 0.9883
5.340

5.320

5.300
I , (mm)

5.280

5.260

5.240

5.220

5.200

5.180
300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0 800.0 900.0
SQRT time (s^0.5)

Figure (4): the absorption plotted against square root of time, for normal concrete
specimens, plotted from one day to eight days.

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Water Ponding

The tests results showed that the water penetrated through the samples, ponding on

the top surface at varying volumes for each type of concrete. Water penetration was

evident by ponding on the surface of the normal concrete in less than five hours,

whereas for the lightweight concrete samples this ponding phenomenon was not

evident until after three days. Photos (1) and (2) show the amount of water on top of

each sample of normal concrete and photos (3) and (4) show the results for the

lightweight concrete.

Photo (1): Normal concrete sample shows traces of water saturating 25% of the

surface area after less than five hours from the start of the test.

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Photo (2): Normal concrete sample after one day; the top surface area is fully

saturated.

Photo (3): Lightweight concrete sample after one day’s testing shows no trace of

water on the top surface.

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Photo (4): Lightweight concrete sample after three days from the start of the test,

showing 10% saturation of the top surface area.

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