STRENGTH AND DURABILITY PROPERTIES OF VERMICULITE CONCRETE

Concrete is the most often used building material. Global concrete use has climbed to 30 billion metric tons per year. Curing is essential to concrete strength. Traditional curing requires a lot of water, and insufficient curing can cause cracks and shrinkage. Curing technologies like internal curing have been developed to address these constraints. Pre-wetted lightweight aggregate is used as internal curing agents in concrete to add moisture during hydration. This study investigates vermiculite as an internal curative agent. The concrete undergoes pond, wrapped, and ambient curing with vermiculite substituting 10, 30, and 50% of the fine aggregate by volume. Compression, flexural, and modulus of elasticity were assessed. Durability tests included sorptivity and acid resistance. Material microstructure was examined using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Pond and wrapped curing were more effective.Vermiculite can be used as an interior curing agent to strengthen and durability concrete.