Mixture Design, Strength, Durability, and Fire Resistance of Lightweight Pumice Concrete

摘要

This paper presents the development of lightweight volcanic pumice concrete (VPC) using pumice as aggregate illustrating 21 concrete mixtures. Fresh, mechanical, and durability properties of VPC mixtures such as slump, air content, compressive strength, tensile strength, density, modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, and water permeability are described. The fire resistance of VPC subjected to elevated temperatures (maximum up to 800 ℃ [1472 °F]) for different durations (maximum up to 2 hours) is also described. The performance is judged based on residual strength and physical changes of VPC compared with normal density concrete (NC). The investigation suggests the production of VPC for structural applications having satisfactory strength and durability characteristics. The strength of both VPC and NC is found to decrease with the increase of duration of fire and temperature. VPC shows better residual strength and strength retaining capacity compared with NC after exposure to elevated temperatures for different durations.