Properties of Lightweight Concrete made of Recycled Wood Wastes

Sustainable structural lightweight concrete has been produced using the waste of wood particles found in disposal areas of wood factories and carpenters. These wastes form a bunder on the environment and recycling them will provide a gain to the environment and the economy. Wood particles of aggregate size have been used in variation with percentages (0%,5%,7%,10%, 12% and 15%) of the cement weight. The concrete produced becomes light weight reaching 1600 kg/m3 (33% reduction). The workability kept constant by controlling mix properties of SP doses. The compressive strength ranged between 60 MPa for control samples to 30 MPa for 15% wood particle concrete, a max reduction of 54% is resulted, however the overall reduction was 42%. Applying superplasticizer SP has improved the results and reduction becomes 22% overall. The corresponding flexural strength ranged between (12 MPa to 22 MPa), with overall increase of 7% over the control specimens increased to 34% when using SP.These findings provide encouragement to use the wood particles lightweight concrete in structures. However, durability remains the main concern. The concrete should be protected from severe exposure and humidity. Therefore, it is recommended to be used in indoor exposure.