Internal curing of mortars by lightweight aggregates and its effects on hydration

This study investigates the effects of lightweight aggregates (LWAs) on heat and degree of hydration in high-strength cementitious materials, in which natural pumice LWAs were used as water reservoirs to provide internal curing for mitigating autogenous deformation. Normal aggregates were substituted by LWAs at three different volume fractions, such as 8%, 16%, and 24% of total volume of mortars. The results show that as the amount of LWAs increased, the autogenous deformation significantly decreased, while the heat of hydration increased slightly. The cement particles can easily find water released from LWAs and consequently, the degree of hydration increased due to internal curing. The addition of LWAs caused a delay in the time to approximately reach the asymptotic value of the nonevaporable water content.