Effects of expanded perlite aggregate and different curing conditions on the physical and mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete

Fresh self-compacting concrete (SCC) flows to place and around obstructions under its own weight to fill the formwork completely and is self-compact, without any segregation. This article outlines compressive strength, apparent porosity and capillarity coefficient of SCC including mixture of expanded perlite aggregate (EPA) and natural aggregates (NA) at different curing conditions. The binder (cement ++ silica fume) dosage was held constant at 450kg/m3 throughout this study. Superplasticizer 2% by weight of Portland cement (PC) was used to reduce water/binder (w/cm) ratios. It was found that the capillarity coefficient and apparent porosity of concrete is increased by using EPA and that the compressive strength of EPA concrete generally decreases with increasing EPA ratios. Another experimental finding was that, at the cured in air (CC2) curing conditions, SCC shows both the highest capillarity coefficient and the apparent porosity and lowest compressive strength after 28 days.