Author
H. SOUSA, A.M.S. BASTOS, and A. MELO
Faculty of Engineering of Porto University
Abstract
The use of infilling masonry units made with expanded clay lightweight concrete is increasing in Portugal. There are not many studies concerning these specific types of concrete block manufactured by vibrocompressor production. In this paper the results of an experimental study are presented for different lightweight concrete masonry products, with samples obtained in real production conditions. For concrete densities between 850kg/m3 and 1450kg/m3, different properties of these types of concrete, like compressive and tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, shrinkage, water absorption by capillarity and immersion and thermal conductivity, are presented and compared. A mix design method for these concretes, developed for factories of precast products of lightweight concrete, that allows mix proportion and related properties to be defined is also presented.