Investigation on optimal lightweight expanded clay aggregate concrete at high temperature based on deep neural network

Abstract

AbstractThis study explores the effects of mixture design parameters on the residual mechanical properties of lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) concrete exposed to elevated temperatures. A total of 30 lightweight concrete mixtures were cast and exposed to three elevated temperatures, namely 250°C, 500°C, and 700°C. The test variables comprised the LECA percentage used as partial volume substitution for natural sand (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%), silica fume partial replacement for cement by weight (5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, and 15%), cement content (300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 kg/m3), and different water‐to‐cement (W/C) ratios (0.25, 0.313, 0.375, 0.438, and 0.5). The compressive and indirect tensile strengths were measured before and after exposure to elevated temperatures. The results indicate that the lightweight concretes incorporating higher contents of cement and silica fume and made with lower W/C ratio exhibited higher initial mechanical properties yet incurred more significant drop in mechanical properties after exposure to 500°C and 750°C.