Effects of the Variety and Content of Natural Pozzolan Coarse Aggregate on the Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Concrete

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of the variety and content of three natural pozzolan coarse aggregates on concrete. Natural pozzolan aggregates have been obtained from three volcanoes (Boutagrouine, Timahdite, and Jbel Hebri) located in the Middle Atlas region in Morocco. The three pozzolans studied were characterized, and then a comparison was made by replacing the natural aggregate with the pozzolan aggregate in the concrete in different percentages, namely 25, 50, and 100 % in volume. The results showed that the variety and content of pozzolan aggregate have a significant impact on the properties of concrete, primarily caused by the characterization of pozzolan aggregate. The density of concrete decreases with the addition of pozzolan aggregate, which decreases depending on the type of pozzolan aggregate used. The highest compressive strength was measured in the concrete specimens prepared with aggregate BP while the lowest compressive strength was noted in the concrete specimens prepared with aggregate RP. On the other hand, the substitution of NA at 100% by BP, GP, and RP aggregates leads to a decrease in the thermal conductivity of about 67%, 62%, and 55% respectively.