Effect of “AERBETON” on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Concrete

This study aims to use "AERBETON" which is an air entraining material added to the concrete mix to take advantage of its properties in construction in Gaza Strip. Through this work, AERBETON, which is an air entraining material, was used as an additive to concrete mixture. The purpose is to study its properties when added to concrete before and after hardening, as well as comparing the results with concrete having the same ingredients but without adding this material. In general, the test results has shown it is possible to add AERBETON by 5%, 10%, 15% of the weight of cement to the concrete mixture and so there is a change in the strength of concrete which becomes higher than that of normal concrete mixes. for the durability of concrete, samples of normal concrete and concrete containing the AERBETON air entraining material with different rates of 5%, 10% and 15% of cement weight have been prepared. The test of compressive strength at 7 and 28 days and through the results it showed that the durability of concrete gradually decreases when increasing the proportion of the added material to normal concrete. In addition to this, the ratio of absorption of water of test samples was at its best percentage when adding 5% of the air entraining material by weight of cement. Moreover, among regular concrete mix results, it is shown that the percentage of absorbed water is less than normal concrete absorption and this shows the extent of resistance to moisture, salt water and sea water.