The possibility of manufacturing lightweight concrete with a variable cellular structure based on waste aluminum dust and EABASSOC foaming agent

Abstract

This article presents some experimental results on manufacturing technology and properties of lightweight concrete with a variable structure in laboratory conditions. Using a mixture of structural control agents including EABASSOC foaming agent, waste aluminum dust, and 5.0 M NaOH solution, a lightweight concrete product contains a variable cellular structure from the central area to the peripheral area. In addition, the study used a 150 mm cube-shaped wooden mold with four perforated mold walls, which were used to remove liquid and gas phase components from the concrete sample during the solidification process. Research results show that it is possible to produce lightweight concrete with a variable cellular structure with an average dry volume of 955 kg/m³; the average compressive strength is about 14.73 MPa at the age of 28 days. The influence of the variable cellular structure on the value of density and compressive strength at the age of 28 days is quite obvious. In the peripheral area, the average density is about 1021 kg/m³, but in the center of the sample, the density value is only 798 kg/m³. Furthermore, the average compressive strength at the age of 28 days of the sample also decreased sharply, at the peripheral positions the intensity reached 17.99 MPa, but in the center of the sample, the compressive strength was only 5.75 MPa. Besides, this study also compared the properties of lightweight concrete with modified hollow structure with foam concrete using aluminum metal powder with the same wet volume.