Effect of shale ceramsite type on the tensile creep of lightweight aggregate concrete

High water absorption ceramsite (YAS), low water absorption ceramsite (YCS), and normal-weight coarse aggregate (NCA) were used as coarse aggregates in concrete. YCS, YAS and NCA were respectively pre-soaked for 24 h before their mixing into concrete. The net water/cement ratio of concrete with YCS, YAS and NCA was taken as 0.35. Mechanical properties and autogenous shrinkage of concrete made with the abovementioned coarse aggregates were determined. The tensile creep of these concrete was investigated by using a newly developed shrinkage-restrained testing ring. This study shows that the lightweight coarse aggregate concrete (LWAC) with YAS has the lower tensile creep than the LWAC with YCS, which has the similar tensile creep to the normal-weight coarse aggregate concrete (NC) with NCA.