Specific weight of expanded clay concrete. Weight of expanded clay concrete blocks.

Expanded clay concrete is a lightweight concrete made with porous expanded clay aggregate. Its composition usually includes expanded clay, cement, sand or another fine aggregate and water; strength is controlled by the cement grade, mix design and compaction. High temperatures are used to produce the expanded clay aggregate itself, not to join finished blocks together. With the right mix design, this material resists many destructive factors well.

Expanded clay concrete is widely used in construction, largely because of its thermal insulation properties. In addition, it is lightweight, strong and environmentally safe. It is often used in the construction of floor slabs and to improve the energy-saving qualities of walls.

Quality advantages of using expanded clay concrete:

• Lower density and light weight
• Reduced load on the foundation
• Lower wall-laying costs
• Mechanical strength
• Large volume, which speeds up construction work
• Warmer walls compared with dense concrete when block thickness and density are selected correctly

A beneficial advantage of this material is its ease of transportation and, therefore, lower costs and economic benefits in the construction of residential and industrial premises.

Weight of expanded clay concrete blocks.

In the manufacture of expanded clay concrete blocks, lightweight materials are used to create the porous structure of the final product. The weight of an expanded clay concrete block varies depending on its size and the raw material used in production. For example, with block dimensions of 200×200×400 mm, its weight may vary from 6 - 29 kg.

There are several grades of expanded clay concrete. Let us consider their area of application:

Calculation of the specific weight of expanded clay concrete blocks.

The special feature of expanded clay concrete is its porosity, so it is more important to calculate the specific density, which changes depending on the material used to make the blocks. The ranges for the weight of 1 m³ of expanded clay concrete are shown in the table.

It is important to consider how many layers (1, 2, 3) of expanded clay concrete the slab is made of. A single-layer covering is most common, and its density is within 900 - 1100 kg/m³. In other cases, the weight of a cubic meter of expanded clay concrete will be greater. A material with a coarse structure, used for wall insulation, most often has a weight of about 500 - 600 kg/m³.

The density of expanded clay concrete blocks is lower than that of other construction materials, but this does not affect the mechanical strength of the material. The internal structure of the granules increases resistance to high loads, and the blocks, as well as panels, are protected from destruction. By granule size, expanded clay is divided into the main fractions:

• Sand — fractions from 0 to 5 mm
• Gravel — three types of fractions: from 5 to 10, from 10 to 20, from 20 to 40 mm
• Expanded clay crushed stone or crushed aggregate — fraction from 0 to 10 or from 5 to 40 mm

As one of the lightweight porous fillers, expanded clay has an important characteristic — bulk density. Together, bulk volumetric weight and granule volume, along with porosity, provide the necessary thermal insulation qualities of the material. The values here can range from 250 to 800 kg per cubic meter. In addition, each grade of expanded clay gravel has its own limits. For example, for M 300 the density value is in the range from 250 to 300 kg per cubic meter.

Additionally, by volumetric mass, expanded clay concrete is divided into three subgroups:

1. Thermal-insulation concrete — volumetric mass about 350 - 600 kg/m³. It is used as an insulating layer and is not intended for high load-bearing demands.
2. Structural and thermal-insulation concrete — volumetric mass about 600 - 1200 kg/m³. It is used for wall blocks and enclosing structures.
3. Structural concrete — volumetric mass about 1200 - 1800 kg/m³. It is used where higher strength is important.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that expanded clay concrete has a strength class showing the material’s ability to resist destruction. This parameter depends on the quality and grade of cement used in production. At the production stage, quartz can be added to expanded clay concrete in a mixture with gravel — this will increase its strength.