Experimental Investigation on Artificial Light Weight Fly Ash Aggregates in Concrete

Abstract

Construction sector has a significant influence on environment. Massive amounts of natural resources are used by these industries. A desirable alternative to disposal has been the recycling or reuse of industrial by-products. The usage of artificial aggregates plays a crucial role in this developing infrastructural era, sustainable development and energy efficient building construction. This paper studies the effect of artificial light weight fly ash aggregate in concrete and its mechanical properties. Artificial light weight fly ash aggregates can be produced by a process called pelletization by nodulizing the fly ash with the correct amount of water and binder in a pelletizer and further hardened by cold bonding method. The cold bonding technique is more conservative than other methods of hardening due to the use of minimum energy. Natural aggregate replacement adopted for artificial cold bonded lightweight aggregate are 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% and metakaolin is added by 10% of weight of cement to concrete for achieving more strength [, ]. The concrete formed is light in nature and has the additional benefit of reducing overall cost savings, especially in transport and placement, it has good sound absorption, fire resistance and high thermal insulation properties. In this paper an experimental study has been conducted to know about the mechanical properties of artificial light weight fly ash aggregates through partial and complete replacement of coarse aggregates and find optimum percentage of replacement and also its effects on the properties of concrete by compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength.