Moisture-Balanced Design of Expanded-Perlite and Ceramic-Waste Lightweight Concrete for Hot-Dry Climatic Conditions
Abstract
This paper presents a separate material-design study focused on moisture balance, internal curing potential and resource-efficient raw-material selection for structural lightweight concrete intended for hot-dry climatic conditions. Unlike a conventional strength-centred comparison of fiber systems, the present work evaluates the technological role of expanded perlite, crushed ceramic brick waste, ceramic brick powder, limestone powder and silica fume in a low water-to-binder cementitious system. The study uses locally available mineral resources: CEM I 42.5N Portland cement, MK-85 silica fume, limestone powder, ceramic brick powder, quartz sand, crushed ceramic brick aggregate and pre-wetted expanded perlite. A moisture-balance approach was applied to estimate the potential internal water reservoir of porous components, and performance indices were calculated from the achieved properties of the optimized mixture. The designed concrete reached a slump of 16.5 cm, slump-flow diameter of 595 mm, average density of 1605 kg/m³, 28-day compressive strength of 57.0 MPa, flexural strength of 7.50 MPa, 28-day drying shrinkage of 0.475 mm/m and thermal conductivity of 0.475 W/(m·K). The calculated specific compressive strength was 35.5 MPa, while the strength-to-conductivity index reached 120 MPa·m·K/W. The results show that pre-wetted expanded perlite and ceramic waste components can be combined not only to reduce density and improve thermal efficiency, but also to stabilize the water balance of the cement matrix during early hydration in dry environments.
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