Potential use of recycled cork as aggregates for lightweight self-compacting concrete production

Abstract

This work questions the possibility of using expanded black cork aggregates (EBCA), for the production of lightweight self-compacting concrete. Five concrete mixtures were tested: concrete made entirely with natural aggregate as a control concrete and four concrete mixtures made with cork recycled aggregate (5, 25, 50 and 75% replacement in volume of natural aggregate). The estimation of the success of the formulations was judged by studying the properties of concrete in the fresh state by the slump flow, T500, L-box and the sieve stability tests. In the hardened state, the properties of the concrete produced have been determined by compressive and flexural strengths and bulk density tests. The experimental results showed that as the replacement level of natural aggregates by EBCA increased, the flowability of the concrete decreased. However, a good flowability was obtained for concrete mixtures containing EBCA until 50%, satisfying the recommendations of self-compacting concrete given by EFNARC 2002. The obtained results indicate the possible use of EBCA for the production of lightweight self-compacting concrete, the replacement of 50% of natural aggregates by EBCA allows obtaining a formulation which corresponds to a lightweight self-compacting concrete with a density of 1750kg/m3 and a compressive strength of 8MPa.