943
4370.001
Ledbetter, W.B. and Eugene Buth
Highway Research News
Article
Highway Research Board, National Research Council, NAS and NAE
1970
Autumn, No. 41
31-37
Y
Structural lightweight concrete is an accepted construction material, with over a 50-year history, and yet many consider structural lightweight concrete as still a new material, with engineers still asking the question, “Will it perform satisfactorily in service?” The reason for this paradox lies in the fact that most of the aggregates used are man-made from materials such as clays and shales, which, in their natural condition, are unsuitable. Also, these aggregates exhibit widely differing appearances that could be misleading and could hinder engineering acceptance. Coupled with this is the fact that many such aggregates have only recently come into production. To expect such producers to wait 20 or 30 years to establish performance records would severely hamper the growth of this facet of the lightweight aggregate industry. Thus the question remains–will a particular lightweight aggregate perform satisfactorily in service throughout the service life of the concrete?The Texas Highway Department, in an attempt to answer this question, sponsored a research program with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) titled, “Synthetic Aggregate Research.” This report summarizes some of the results of that study.