Compressive Strength, Density and Thermal Conductivity Coefficient Values of Concrete Produced with Basic Pumice Lightweight Aggregate 

Concrete, one of the most used materials in buildings, is a material that can be produced with "lightweight aggregate" in addition to "normal aggregate". The first known use of concrete produced with lightweight aggregate dates back to 2000 years ago. Concrete produced with lightweight aggregate has two important advantages over concrete produced with normal aggregate: lightness and a better thermal insulation performance. However, high-strength concrete (concrete with a minimum compressive strength of 40 MPa) cannot be produced with most lightweight aggregates. It was thought that the determined properties of basic pumice, a natural lightweight aggregate, would be suitable for the production of high strength concrete. In this study, it was aimed to determine the compressive strength, density (oven dry density) and thermal conductivity coefficient values of concrete produced with basic pumice, that had aimed to has high strength. For this purpose, nine different concrete mixtures were prepared and test samples were produced from these mixtures. The compressive strength, density and thermal conductivity coefficient values of the produced test samples were determined in accordance with the procedures in the relevant Turkish standards. According to the findings obtained from the experiments, it was concluded that concrete could be produced with basic pumice aggregate that has high strength (compressive strength is in the range of 44.09-66.26 MPa), can be described as semi-lightweight (density is in the range of 1.93-2.11 Mg/m3) and has thermal conductivity coefficient values that can be considered low when its compressive strength and density are taken into consideration (thermal conductivity coefficient is in the range of 0.81-1.18 W/mK).