Compressive strength evaluation of lightweight concrete with expanded glass aggregate by ultrasonic pulse velocity method

In the present study, a non-destructive testing method was utilized to assess the mechanical properties of lightweight and normal-weight concrete specimens. The experiment program consisted of more than a hundred concrete specimens with the unit weight ranging from around 850 to 2250 kg/m³. Compressive strength tests were performed at the age of seven and twenty eight days. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) was the NDT that was implemented in this study to investigate the significance of the correlation between UPV and compressive strength of lightweight concrete specimens. Water to cement ratio (w/c), mix designs, aggregate volume, and the amount of normal weight coarse and fine aggregates replaced with lightweight aggregate, are the variables in this work. The lightweight aggregate used in this study, Poraver®, is a product of recycled glass materials. Furthermore, the validity of the current prediction methods in the literature was investigated including comparison between this study and an available expression in the literature on similar materials, for calculation of mechanical properties of lightweight concrete based on pulse velocity. It was observed that the recently developed empirical equation would better predict the compressive strength of lightweight concrete specimens in terms of the pulse velocity.