DEFINIÇÃO

Microstructural investigations of naturally and artificially weathered autoclaved aerated

concrete

Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is manufactured by steam curing of raw materials

consisting of cement, lime and gypsum as binders, fine siliceous material, pore-generating
aluminium powder and water. The chemical reaction caused by addition of aluminium
makes the mixture expand to about twice its volume, resulting in a highly porous
structure. Approximately 80% of the volume of the hardened material is made up of pores,
50% being air pores and 30% being micropores characterised by their ability in capillary
moisture transport. The microstructure of the solid matrix is mainly made up of
microcrystalline platelets of tobermorite, forming the pore walls [1].

[1] S. Aroni, G.J. de Groot, M.J. Robinson, G. Svanholm, F.H. Wittman

(Eds.), Autoclaved Aerated Concrete: Properties, Testing and Design,
RILEM Recommended Practice, E&FN Spon, London, 1993.
(STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF AERATED CONCRETE: A REVIEW)
Aerated concrete is either a cement or lime mortar, classified as lightweight concrete, in
which air-voids are entrapped in the mortar matrix by means of a suitable aerating agent.

The prominent advantage of aerated concrete is its lightweight, which economises the
design of supporting structures including the foundation and walls of lower ¯oors. It
provides a high degree of thermal insulation and considerable savings in material due to
the porous structure

(RELATIONS BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF

AUTOCLAVED AERATED CONCRETE)
Autoclaved aerated concrete is a cellular product in which the binding material consists
of calcium silicate hydrates. It can be made from various raw materials such as cement,
lime, granulated blast furnace slag, sand and pulverised fuel ash. The cellular structure is
normally formed by including fine aluminium powder in the mix. This reacts with lime
or other alkaline substances to produce hydrogen, which causes the so called rising of the
mix. After the rising, the aerated concrete has to harden for a few hours before it can be
cut and autoclaved.
The material structure can be characterised by the type of reaction products, the
amount of reaction products, the porosity and the pore size distribution.

ALEXANDERSON, Johan. Relations between structure and mechanical properties of

autoclaved aerated concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, v. 9, n. 4, p. 507-514,
1979.

It is not only used to insulate for sound and heat [1, 2] but is also fire resistance [3, 4].
AC can be used to decrease the dead load, earthquake effect and the size of building
members. Thus, foundations become more economical and the building cost is decreased
[5, 6]. However, this type of concrete has lower mechanical properties and additional
cement is required for the same strength as a normal concrete [7]. Typical lightweight
concrete has densities from 1000 to 2000 kg/m3 and compressive strengths from
1 to 100 N/mm2 [7].

SHABBAR, Rana; NEDWELL, Paul; WU, Zhangjian. Mechanical properties of

lightweight aerated concrete with different aluminium powder content. In: MATEC Web
of Conferences. EDP Sciences, 2017. p. 02010.

1. A. Aidan, et al., Preparation and properties of porous aerated concrete. Scientific Works
of the University of Ruse, 48, 9 (2009)
2. A. J. Hamad, Materials, Production, Properties and Application of Aerated Lightweight
Concrete: Review. International Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, 2, 2
(2004)
3. N. Narayanan and K. Ramamurthy, Structure and properties of aerated concrete: a
review, Cement and Concrete Composites, 22, 5 (2000)
4. A. Keyvani1, Thermal performance & fire resistance of autoclaved aerated concrete
exposed humidity conditions. International Journal of Research in Engineering and
Technology, 3, 3 (2014)
5. D. H. Lim and B.H. Oh, Experimental and theoretical investigation on the shear of steel
fibre reinforced concrete beams. Engineering Structures, 21, 10 (1999)
6. O. A. Düzgün, R. Gül, and A. C. Aydin, Effect of steel fibers on the mechanical
properties of natural lightweight aggregate concrete. Materials Letters, 59, 27 (2005)
7. A. M. Neville and J. J. Brooks, Concrete technology. 2nd ed. Harlow: Longman
Scientific & Technical (2010)

VANTAGENS E DESVANTAGENS

AAC production technologies are energy-efficient and consume low quantities of raw
materials as compared to the production of other construction materials, which can be
attributed to low density and a special waste-free and environmental friendly production
formula of AAC, [1].

These benefits of aerated concrete include:

_ Very low density in the range of 450 to 600 kg/m3

compared with normal concrete at 2500 kg/m3, provides
ease of handling.

_ Increase in air content of 3% to over 50% compared with

normal concrete gives the low density.

_ Ease of working, such as the ability to cut with a hand saw,

chisel, hold nails and screws, or enable utilities to be
placed through channels routed directly into the AAC
blocks.
_ Ease of creating simple structures, especially for small
buildings.

_ Environmentally friendly, such as having less construction

site waste and using 1/5 the amount of resources as
compared to conventional concrete wall [4].

Some of the drawbacks of aerated concrete are that it has

a lower strength, a higher moisture content and higher
shrinkage compared with standard concrete. But these
properties and others can be drastically improved if the
aerated concrete is high pressure steam-cured in an autoclave.
The autoclave procedure includes curing 14–18 h at
180–200 jC.

Autoclave curing the aerated concrete further

enhances its properties, such as:

_ At least doubling the compressive strength.

_ Improving long-term drying shrinkage to well under
0.1% [3].
_ Providing low thermal conductivity of about 0.1 J/m2s
jC/m which is about 10 times lower than normal
concrete [1].
_ Having insulation property similar to timber but much
greater fire resistance.
_ Providing delayed heat transfer which benefits climate
control in areas with large outdoor temperature
fluctuations [5].
_ Providing sound insulation 7 dB greater than other solid
building materials at the same weight per surface area [4].
_ Giving an attractive light gray or near white color,
although it may be surface covered in buildings or
structures.

[1] A.M. Neville, Properties of Concrete, Pitman Books, London, 1981.

[5] F. Wittmann, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. Moisture and Properties,
Elsevier, New York, 1983.
DESEMPENHO MECÂNICO

The compressive strength is reported to be influenced by the shape, size and method of
pore formation, age of the sample, direction of loading, characteristics of ingredients used
and method of curing [15].
[15] N. Isu, S. Teramura, H. Ishida, T. Mitsuda, Influence of quartz particle size on the
chemical and mechanical properties of autoclaved aerated concrete (II) fracture
toughness, strength and microstructure, Cem. Concr. Res. 25 (1995) 249–254.

ADITIVOS

Using by-products, such as silica fume, fly ash and blast

furnace slag, in concrete products has been done for many
years as a means of disposal and replacing cement or filler.
Their use also improves the concrete properties. This
practice has also been done with AAC, such as factories
in the UK where fly ash is often incorporated to products
with the secondary benefit of economic and environmentally
friendly residue disposal [6]. With AAC, the fly ash is
used as a sand replacement in the concrete mixture rather
than cement [5]. The newly formed American AAC Products
Association suggests that fly ash can be added to AAC
as high as 75% [7]. Using residues such as fly ash for the aggregate filler in
aerated concrete has many ecological and economic benefits.
The residues are very fine and do not require additional
grinding as aggregate usually does. It is also claimed that
AAC made with residues give better thermal insulation and
strength properties compared to AAC made from quartz
sand [3]. This is likely a result of the residues’ pozzolanic
characteristics, as it is able to react with lime and form
bonds to improve the overall structure.
Adding residues to AAC may result in some adjustments
to the color of the final product.

In order to enhance the performance of aerated concrete, several additives were tried, viz.:
(i) air-cooled slag as a replacement for sand and lime [2];

[2] N.Y. Mostafa, Influence of air-cooled slag on physicochemical properties of

autoclaved aerated concrete, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 1349–1357.

(ii) zeolite as replacement for quartzite to improve the thermal conductivity [3];

[3] M. Albayrak, A. YorukoAŸlu, S. Karahan, Influence of zeolite additive on

properties of autoclaved aerated concrete, Build. Environ. 42 (2007) 3161–
3165.

(iii) the effect of clayish crushed stone along with lime to study the strength
and homogenous and dense structure system [4],

[4] W. Qiankun, L.I. Fangxian, S.U.N. Tao, Microstructure and properties of silty
siliceous crushed stone-lime aerated concrete, J. Wuhan Univ. Technol. 21
(2006) 2–5.

(iv) bottom ash as replacement of cement to enhance the physical, mechanical

and microstructure properties of autoclaved aerated concrete [5],

[5] H. Kurama, _I.B. Topcu, C. Karakurt, Properties of the autoclaved aerated

concrete produced from coal bottom ash, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209 (2009)
767–773.

(v) studies on temperature variation in aerated concrete to observe the mechanical

properties and volumetric stability [6],

[6] L. Tanacan, H.Y. Ersoy, U. Arpacıog˘lu, Effect of high temperature and cooling
conditions on aerated concrete properties, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2009)
1240–1248.

(vi) replacement of cement with palm oil fuel ash and the effect of aluminium powder
and superplasticizer on the strength and density of aerated concrete [7],

[7] MW Hussin, K Muthusamy, F. Zakaria, Effect of mixing constituent toward

engineering properties of POFA cement-based aerated concrete, J. Mater. Civil
Eng. (2010) 287–295.

(vii) natural zeolite as a replacement of quartz particle and bubble generating agent [8],

[8] C. Karakurt, H. Kurama, _I.B. Topcu, Utilization of natural zeolite in aerated

concrete production, Cem. Concr. Compos. 32 (2010) 1–8.

(viii) incinerated bottom ash as replacement of aluminium powder and as a source of

silica [9],

[9] Y. Song, B. Li, E.-H. Yang, Y. Liu, T. Ding, Feasibility study on utilization of
municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash as aerating agent for the
production of autoclaved aerated concrete, Cem. Concr. Compos. 56 (2015) 51–
58.

(ix) durability and thermal properties of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) [10],

[10] M. Jerman, M. Keppert, J. Vy´ borny´, R. Cˇ erny´ , Hygric, thermal and

durability
properties of autoclaved aerated concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 41 (2013)
352–359.

(x) improving energy efficiency by using poder industry waste [11],

[11] R. Drochytka, J. Zach, A. Korjenic, J. Hroudova, Improving the energy

efficiency
in buildings while reducing the waste using autoclaved aerated concrete made
from power industry waste, Energy Build. 58 (2013) 319–323.

(xi) use of copper tailings and blast furnace slag to reduce the CO2 emission in production
of AAC [12],

[12] X-y. Huang, W. Ni, W-h. Cui, Z-j. Wang, L-p. Zhu, Preparation of autoclaved
aerated concrete using copper tailings and blast furnace slag, Constr. Build.
Mater. 27 (2012) 1–5.

(xii) short polymeric fibres used as internal reinforcement for non-autoclaved aerated
concrete (NAAC) [13]

[13] A. Bonakdar, F. Babbitt, B. Mobasher, Physical and mechanical

characterization
of Fiber-Reinforced Aerated Concrete (FRAC), Cem. Concr. Compos. 38 (2013)
82–91.

(xiii) phosphogypsum used as activator and filler in NAAC [14].

[14] L. Yang, Y. Yan, Z. Hu, Utilization of phosphogypsum for the preparation of

non-autoclaved aerated concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 44 (2013) 600–606.

In the work [34] it is established that by fibre reinforcement it is possible to increase the
flexibility of lightweight concrete: alkaliresistant fibre improves the flexural strength and
ductility of lightweight concrete and this fibre is highly effective in controlling restrained
shrinkage cracking of lightweight concrete. The results of the study [35] showed that at
reinforcement of non-autoclaved foamed concrete of density of 900 kg/m3 by 0.2%
carbon fibre, the filaments of which are 5 mm long and diameterof 4.6–7.7 lm, the flexural
strength after 28-day natural hardening increased by 24.5%.

Even fewer research works there have been performed on application

of fibrous additives in production of aerated autoclaved concretes.
The results of investigations performed in the work [5]
showed that the gas concrete (i.e., AAC having cement and lime
as binding materials) of density of 550–575 kg/m3 containing
0.4% basalt fibre additive is more resistant to frost than the same
concrete produced without fibrous additive because the tobermorite
of higher crystallinity is formed in the concrete having basalt fibre
additive. After 25 freezing cycles, the fibrous additive-having
specimens (cubes 100 _ 100 _ 100 mm) lost only 2% of their mass;
the compression strength of these specimens increased by 3%.

[34] Mirza FA, Soroushian P. Effects of alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforcement on

crack and temperature resistance of lightweight concrete. Cem Concr Compos
2002;24(2):223–7.
[35] Sinica M, Dudik A, Laukaitis A, Sezeman G. Reinforcement influence on
nonautoclaved
cement concrete strength characteristics. J Civil Eng Manage
2000;10(2):169–74.
[5] Sinica M, Laukaitis A, Sezemanas G, Mikulskis D, Keriene˙ J. The influence of
binding materials composition and fibrous additives on the properties of
porous concrete. J Civil Eng Manage 2004;10(2):131–6.