Effect of pozzolanic materials on mechanical properties and water absorption of autoclaved aerated concrete

The Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is notorious for its insufficient strength and high water absorption leading to problems during the construction phase. To tackle such problems, the current paper examines the effect of silica fume, zeolite and granulated blast furnace on the behavioral characteristics of this concrete type. In doing so, the compressive, tensile strength and water absorption tests were conducted on 100 x 200 mm cylindrical and 100 x 100 x 100 mm cubic specimens. Based on the results, the addition of the pozzolanic materials can effectively enhance the mechanical properties and diminish the water absorption of the autoclaved aerated concrete. Comparatively, the specimens containing silica fume, zeolite, and granulated blast-furnace slag led to increasing the compressive strength of the AAC up to 184, 200 and 172%. Moreover, the inclusion of the pozzolanic materials by 21% of the cement weight, could manage to improve the tensile strength by 25%. Most importantly, the water absorption of the specimens containing silica fume, zeolite, and granulated blast-furnace slag was reduced by 50, 45 and 35%, respectively.