A study on the use of Mount Pinatubo pumice as complete substitute for coarse and fine aggregate of lightweight concrete for structural applications.

• Main Authors: Bondoc, Basil Martin B., Pernia, Marichelle S.J., Zabala, Jenniffer C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Lightweight concrete; Volcanic ash, tuff, etc.; Civil Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10247
• Institution: De La Salle University

In the Philippines, there is an abundance of natural lightweight aggregates like pumice. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo spewed about 0.2 billion cubic meters of volcanic ash and pumice. An undergraduate thesis made in 1992 by fellow La Sallian students confirmed the lightweight aggregate properties of Mount Pinatubo pumice. In the search for new, suitable and economic building materials, this thesis centered on the structural evaluation of lightweight concrete with varying water-cement-pumice proportions. The concrete specimens were evaluated in terms of their densities and their compressive and flexural strengths attained by means of mechanical testing. The researchers have noted that lightweight concrete with the complete substitution of Mount Pinatubo pumice as coarse and fine aggregates is not recommended for structural applications. The concrete samples produced in the study revealed that they do qualify as lightweight concrete for structural applications in terms of their densities since they did not exceed the given range of density for structural lightweight concrete which is 1850 kg/m3. However, the highest compressive strength attained in the study is 37.88% lower than the target compressive strength of 17 MPa (2500 psi), which is the required minimum average 28-day compressive strength for lightweight aggregates for structural concrete as stipulated in ASTM Standard C 330-89.