TYPES OF CONCRETE

UNIT III
LIGHT WEIGHT AGGREGATE CONCRETE
Conventionally cement concrete is a very heavy building material.
For structure such as multistorey buildings it is desirable to reduce
the dead load.
Light weight concrete is most suitable for such construction works.
It is best produced by entraining air in the cement concrete and can
be obtained anyone of the following methods:
By making concrete with cement and coarse aggregate only.called as
no-fines concrete. Suitable aggregates are- natural aggregates,
blast furnace slag, clinker, foamed slag etc.
By replacing coarse aggregate by porous or cellular aggregates.
Known as cellular concrete.
Classification
Based of manufacturing method-
1. Foam concrete obtained by mixing cement paste or mortar with
stablized foam. This is suitable for heat insulation purposes.
2. Gas concrete- also known as aerated concrete. Adding gas forming
substance as aluminium powder.

Based on type of binding material-
1. Gas and foam concrete(portland cement)
2. Gas and foam concrete(lime and silica)
3. Gas slag and foam slag concrete(lime and finely divided blast
furnace slag or fly ash)
Types of light weight aggregates
The main natural aggregate are diatomite, pumice, scoria,
volcanic cinder and tuff; except for diatomite, all of these are of
volcanic origin.
Natural lightweight aggregates are not extensively used.
Artificial aggregates are known by a variety of trade names but
are classified on the basis of method of manufacturing.
First type is aggregates produced by the application of heat to
expand clay ,shale, slate, diatomaceous shale, perlite, obsidian and
vermiculite.
Second type is obtained by special cooling process through which
an expansion of blast furnace slag is obtained.
Third type are industrial cider.


Characteristics
Density 300-1200 kg/m3
Strength high compressive strength in relation to density. The
tensile strength is about 1/5 th of the compressive strength.
Thermal insulation-is about3-4 times more than of bricks and
about 10 times than that of concrete.
Fire resistance is excellent.
Sound insulation is poor.
Durability-aerated concrete is slightly alkaline. Due to its porosity
and low alkalinity the reinforcements may be subjected to corrosion and
as such require special treatment.
Reparability- cellular concrete can be easily sawn , drilled or nailed
which makes for easy construction and repair.
Economy- due to light weight and high strength to mass ratio, the
cellular concrete are quite economical.
Applications
Low density cellular concrete is used for precast flooring and roofing units.
Load bearing walls using cellular concrete blocks.
As insulation cladding to exterior walls of structure.
Aerated concrete
Introduce air bubbles into the plastic mix of mortar(cement and
sand0 in order to produce a material with cellular structure,
containing voids between 0.1-1 mm.
The resulting concrete is known as aerated or cellular concrete.

The two basic methods of producing aeration are
Gas concrete is obtained by a chemical reaction generating a gas in
the fresh mortar so that when it sets it contains a large number of air
bubbles.
Foamed concrete is produced by adding a foaming agent(usually
some form of hydrolyzed protein or resin soap) to the mix. The agent
introduces and stabilizes air bubbles during mixing at high speed.
No-fines concrete
This concrete is obtained by omitting fine aggregates from the mix
There is an agglomeration of nominally one size coarse aggregates
particles, each surrounded by a coating of cement paste upto about
1.3mm thick.
It has large pores within the body of concrete, which is responsible
for its low strength but rate of water penetration is low.
Compared to ordinary concrete no-fines concrete compacts very
little. Vibration should be applied for very short period only as
otherwise the cement paste would rum off.
Although the strength of no-fines concrete is lower than of normal
concrete, this strength coupled with lower self weight is sufficient for
use in buildings, even in many storey.
FIBRE REINFORCED CONCRETE
Concrete is modified by short discrete fine fibres of asbestos, steel, sisal,
glass, carbon, poly-propylene, nylon, etc.
Asbestos fibres so far have proved to be commercially successful.
The improvement in structural performance depends on strength
characteristics, volume, spacing, dispersion and orientation, shape and
their aspect ratio(ratio of length to diameter) of fibres.
Advantages:
1. Strength of concrete increases.
2. Fiber helps to reduce cracking and permits the use of thin concrete sections.
3. Mix becomes cohesive and possibilities of segregation are reduced.
4. Ductility, impact resistance, tensile and bending strength are improved.

Disadvantages:
1. Fiber reduces the workability of mix and may cause the entrainment of air.
2. Steel fibres tend to intermesh and form balls during mixing of concrete.

Application
Fiber reinforced concrete is useful in hydraulic structure, airfield pavements,
highways, bridge decks, heavy duty floors, and tunnel linings.

POLYMER CONCRETE
The strengh of concrete