Some Aspects of the Development and Application of Silicate Expanded Aggregates in Lightweight Concrete Structures

The objective of this paper is a short analysis of the most widely used expanded aggregates and of lightweight concretes containing them. It shows the main characteristics of highly-porous silicate-sodium aggregates and displays their advantages. The paper contains a procedure to produce silicate sodium aggregates as well as the main methods to select a composition of a lightweight concrete with a highly-porous silicate-sodium aggregate combining a minimum density with a maximum strength. The paper addresses the main properties of the lightweight concrete components and of the lightweight concrete containing them. The authors demonstrate a possibility to use these components for a lightweight concrete providing the density of 760-845 kg/m3 and compression strength of 3,8-5 MPa.