A Study on the Properties of Air-Entrained Concrete for Masonry Blocks

The aim of this study is to produce a light weight concrete for developing masonry block. Six dosages of aluminium powder (0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5%) by weight of cement are used to produce aerated (gas) concrete. Based on earlier investigations, cement to fine aggregate ratio of 1:1 have been adopted and water cement ratio is fixed as 0.5 by trial and error method. The wet and dry densities were observed. Addition of more than 5% aluminium powder reduces compressive strength and densities drastically. From this research, cement blocks were produced and compared with commercially available concrete blocks for its densities and compressive strength and found that the blocks made with aerated concrete is as good as or better than the conventional solid blocks.