Engineering Properties, Microstructure and Strength Development of Lightweight Concrete Containing Pumice Aggregates

Lightweight aggregate concretes are widely incorporated in construction and development. This study presented an experimental investigation on the engineering properties of volcanic pumice lightweight aggregates concretes. Three groups of lightweight concretes: 1—coarse pumice aggregates (2–6 mm), 2—course pumice aggregates (2–6 mm)/sand size pumice aggregates and 3—course pumice aggregates (2–6 mm)/sand fraction were built and the physical/mechanical aspects of them were studied. The results of the compressive strength, density, water absorption, pH and shrinkage showed that these lightweight concretes were affected by the type of aggregates, the cement paste and the interfacial zone between cement and aggregates. One grain size pumice (2–6 mm) showed best compressive strength (65 kg/cm²), density of 0.60 g/cm³, linear shrinkage 0.4 % and high water absorption 29.73 %. Strength minerals represented by calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) and calcium-aluminate-hydrate (CAH) leading the concrete strength.