BY WILLIAM C.

PANARESE
SENIOR CONCRETE TECHNOLOGIST
PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION
Lightweight concrete
for pumping
T he use of pumps for transport-
ing and handling stru c t u ra l
lightweight aggregate concrete is
High water absorption and different grading
requirements of lightweight aggregates influence
increasing. Lightweight aggregates
are inherently porous, due to their aggregate preparation and mix proportioning
method of manufacture, and will
absorb greater amounts of water lightweight aggregates. The aggre- but the actual time should be based
than conventional concrete aggre- gates are sprinkled at the producers on tests or experience with a partic-
gates. At atmospheric pressure this stockpiles during loading for ship- ular aggregate. Before use in a
absorption may vary from five to 25 ment and again after unloading at pump mix the aggregate should
percent by weight for different the concrete batch plant. From two equal or exceed the 24-hour absorp-
lightweight aggregates; under the to three days of repeated sprinklings tion as measured by Method of Test
pressure exerted by pumping it can may be required to adequately pre- for Specific Gravity and Absorption
be considerably more. If the ab- soak coarse lightweight aggregates of Coarse Aggregate (ASTM C 127).
sorption is significantly increased
during pumping, water loss from
the mortar can impair the pumpa- Aggregate shown
bility of the concrete. Therefore, to greatly enlarged.
pump lightweight concrete suc-
cessfully it is usually necessary to
presoak absorptive aggregates or
otherwise offset the loss of mix wa-
ter. Such processing is not neces-
sarily required for handling light-
weight concrete by methods other
than pumping.

Presoaking
lightweight aggregates
By using a series of sprinklings
some producers have been able to
satisfy absorption requirements of

A dry, highly absorptive aggregate absorbs

much of the surrounding mix water during
pumping and makes the concrete difficult to
pump. If the dame aggregate has been
hydrothermally or vacuum saturated it does
not absorb the mix water and the concrete
remains satisfactory for pumping.
To permit more uniform slump con- TABLE I Volume of normal weight coarse aggregate
trol, free water should be allowed to per cubic yard of concrete*
drain from aggregates for seve ra l
hours before they are used in con- Maximum Fineness modulus of fine aggregate
crete. size of
2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00
Lightweight fine aggregates,* if aggregate,
used, should be presoaked but pre- inches Coarse aggregate, cubic feet per cubic yard**
soaking of lightweight fines in stock-
3/8 13.5 13.0 12.4 11.9
piles or bunkers is difficult because 1/2 15.9 15.4 14.8 14.3
water will not penetrate the fine ma- 3/4 17.8 17.3 16.7 16.2
terial easily. Howe ve r, fine particles 1 19.2 18.6 18.1 17.6
absorb water faster than coarse par- 1 1/2 20.2 19.7 19.2 18.6
ticles. Accordingly, presoaking is oc- 2 21.1 20.5 20.0 19.4
3 22.1 21.6 21.1 20.5
casionally done right in the mixer by
adding two-thirds of the mixing wa- * Adapted from Recommended Practice for Selecting Proportions for Normal Weight
ter before adding other ingredients. Concrete, ACI 211.1-70.
With this method presoaking light- ** Volumes are based on aggregates in dry-rodded condition as described in Method of
Test for Unit Weight of Aggregate (ASTM C 29). These volumes are selected from empirical
weight fines takes only about five relationships to produce concrete with a degree of workability suitable for usual reinforced
minutes. construction. For more workable concrete, such as may sometimes be required for pump-
A patented process for presoaking ing, they may be reduced up to 10 percent.
lightweight aggregates has been de-
veloped wherein the aggregates are
placed in a tank and saturated un-
der a vacuum. The moisture absorp-
TABLE II Volume of coarse lightweight coarse aggregate
tion with the vacuum process may
per cubic yard of concrete*
be two to three times the 24-hour
absorption at atmospheric pressure. Maximum Fineness modulus of fine aggregate
size of
Another presoaking process
Lightweight 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80
known as hydrothermal saturation aggregate,
consists of immersing heated light- inches Coarse aggregate, cubic feet per cubic yard**
weight aggregate in water. To obtain
maximum absorption and to avoid 3/8 9.7 9.3 8.9 8.5
1/2 11.5 11.1 10.7 10.3
thermal shock and possible damage
3/4 13.6 13.2 12.8 12.4
to the aggregate, the optimum tem-
perature for each specific aggregate *Adapted from Placing Concrete by Pumping Methods, by ACI Committee 304.
and the quenching time period **Volumes are based on atmospherically soaked lightweight aggregates in loose condition
as described in Method of Test for Unit Weight of Aggregate (ASTM C 29). Values are based
should be determined in advance by upon an unpublished survey of average practices by U. S. lightweight aggregate producers.
a laboratory test program. Hy- Pumpability of lightweight concrete tends to vary with the aggregate source and some aggre-
drothermal saturation is particular- gates require saturation beyond that possible at atmospheric pressures and/or other mix ad-
justments in order to achieve a pumpable concrete. For recommendations consult the aggre-
ly adaptable to lightweight aggre- gate producer.
gate plants that employ mechanical
cooling equipment. Moisture ab-
sorbed by the aggregate in the hy- as concrete made with normal to dry loose volume, increase dry
drothermal saturation process may weight aggregates. Because of their rodded volume by about 10 per-
be as much as that absorbed in the high degree of saturation, the aggre- cent.) A limited number of tests of
vacuum process. gate particles resist further absorp- concrete made with these specially
Concrete made with hyd ro t h e r- tion under the pressure of pumping. processed lightweight aggregates
mally or vacuum-saturated light- Therefore, the same proportioning indicates that this type of concrete
weight aggregates responds to procedures recommended for nor- has a low resistance to freezing and
pumping in much the same manner mal weight concrete pump mixes thawing. Howe ve r, after moist cur-
should be used. (Volume of coarse ing, if this type concrete is allowed
aggregate per cubic yard of concrete to air dry for an extended period
shown in Table 1 may be used for (two weeks to six months) its resis-
* Very little all-lightweight aggregate lightweight aggregate if an appro- tance is greatly improved.
concrete is produced Most of it is priate allowance is made for the dif-
sanded lightweight aggregate in ference between dry loose volume Lightweight aggregate grading
which the lightweight fines have and dry rodded volume. To convert The grading of coarse lightweight
been replaced with natural sand.
aggregates should fall within the
limits stated in Specification for
Lightweight Aggregates for Structur-
al Concrete (ASTM C 330). The max-
imum size of aggregate will be gov-
erned primarily by the sizes
available from the aggregate pro-
ducer. Most producers have one-
half- or three quarter-inch aggre-
gate or both and either size is
suitable for any pipeline three or
more inches in diameter. Some-
times coarse lightweight aggregates
larger than the Number 4 sieve are
produced in two separate fractions.
These two sizes should be com-
bined (preferably at the concrete
batch plant) to meet ASTM C 330
grading requirements. Care should
be taken to maintain uniformity of
grading from one batch to the next
since fluctuations can affect the de-
gree of pumpability.
Structural lightweight aggregates
may be rounded, cubical or angular
in shape and their exterior surface
may be coated or uncoated, de-
pending on the production method.
Proper allowances for shape and
texture are possible by making slight
changes in the ratio of mortar to
coarse aggregate. Hence any type of
lightweight aggregate can be han-
dled in a pump mix.
If fine lightweight aggregates are
used their grading also should fall
within the limits stated in ASTM C
330. In addition, it is important that
from 20 to 35 percent of the light-
weight fines should pass the Num-
ber 50 sieve and 10 to 20 percent
should pass the Number 100 sieve. If
a lightweight fine aggregate is defi-
cient in these sizes. addition of a
finely divided mineral admixture
such as pozzolan or rock dust will
improve pumpability. Also, it is pos-
sible to blend lightweight fine aggre-
gate with natural sand to improve
the overall grading. Howe ve r, this
may increase the final weight of the
c o n c re t e. Adverse weight effects
may be minimized by the use of a
relatively small amount of very fine
natural sand if this combination re-
sults in improved grading. Although
the pumpability of a mix may be en-
hanced by the addition of material
passing the Number 50 and 100
sieves it should also be remembered
that an excess of these very fine
sizes will require more mixing water,
which reduces strength and increas-
es drying shrinkage.
Proportioning lightweight con-
cretes
When proportioning stru c t u ra l
lightweight aggregates to produce a
pumpable concrete, the aggregate
producer should be consulted for
his suggestions and recommenda-
tions. In some areas only a limited
selection of materials may be avail-
able and it may be necessary to im-
port supplemental materials to
achieve the best results. For exam-
ple, a pozzolan might be successful-
ly used as a fine aggregate supple-
ment. Pozzolanic materials in the
amounts generally used to improve
grading have no significant effect on
the unit weight of concrete. In most
cases structural lightweight mixes
are designed with 100 percent re-
placement of lightweight fines by
natural sand.
Table 2 is suggested as a guide for
selecting the volume of coarse light
weight aggregate for trial mixes
when using aggregates presoaked at
atmospheric pressure. (Use Table 1
for hydrothermally or vacuum-satu-
rated lightweight aggregates.) The
values in Table 2 (in contrast to
Table 1 ) are for aggregates in a loose
condition (rather than rodded) to
conform with ASTM C 330. The val-
ues for fineness modulus shown in
Table 2 are intended to re p re s e n t
the FM of the composite fine aggre-
gate to be used including any nat-
ural sand or mineral supplement
that may have been added. Differ-
ences in particle shape, grading,
surface chara c t e ri s t i c s, void con-
tents and degree of presoaking may
each have an influence on the opti-
mum volume of coarse aggregates
for a particular mix. It should be
noted that these values are only a
guide based upon broad experience
and might vary by plus or minus ten
percent.
When designing lightweight con-
crete mixes, the total/ water require-
ment is different from that used for
normal weight mixes. This is due to
differences in the absorptive prop-
erties of lightweight and normal
weight aggregates. For simplicity,
the total water in a lightweight mix
may be considered divided into two
segments: active water and ab-
sorbed water. It is the active water
that establishes the slump and wa-
ter-cement ratio. The absorbed wa-
ter is contained within the light-
weight particles and, as such, does
not directly affect the quality of the
paste. The requirements for active
water in lightweight mixes are about
the same as for similar mixes of nor-
mal weight concrete. The absorbed
water will vary and, to minimize
these variations, presoaking is rec-
ommended as discussed previous-
ly. If additional absorption occurs
during transport in truck mixers
with resulting slump loss, the mix
should be brought to the re q u i re d
design slump by the addition of ex-
tra water. This practice will not up-
set the water-cement ratio if the
original mix proportions were based
on sufficient active water to pro-
duce the desired strength at the de-
sign slump. A slump loss that takes
place in a lightweight mix between
the pump hopper and the discharge
end of the line is usually caused by
further aggregate absorption under
pumping pressure. This may be due
to insufficient presoaking of the ag-
g re g a t e s, an amount of coarse ag-
gregate that is excessive for a
pumpable mix, abnormally high
pump pressures, or other less obvi-
ous causes. It is satisfactory for con-
crete to enter the pump at higher
than design slump if the concrete
discharged at the end of the pipeline
is within design slump limitations
and if the slump loss is due simply
to aggregate absorption.
PUBLICATION #C730155
Copyright 1973, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved