An Investigation of the Properties of Expanded Polystyrene Concrete with Fibers Based on an Orthogonal Experimental Design

Abstract

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) concrete is commonly used as the core material of commercial sandwich panels (CSPs). It is environmentally friendly and lightweight but has poor strength. Adding fibers can improve the microstructure of EPS concrete and reduce the weakening effect of EPS beads on the mechanical properties of concrete. An orthogonal experimental design (OED) was used in this paper to analyze the influence of length and content of polypropylene fiber (PF), glass fiber (GF), and carbon fiber (CF) on the physical and mechanical properties and micromorphology of EPS concrete. Among them, CFs have the most apparent impact on concrete and produce the most significant improvements in all properties. According to the requirements of the flexural performance of CSPs, the splitting tensile strength was taken as the optimization index, and the predicted optimal combination (OC) of EPS concrete with fibers was selected. The variations in the material properties, mechanical properties, and microstructure with age were analyzed. The results show that with increasing age, the dry density, compressive strength, and splitting tensile strength of concrete are markedly improved relative to those of the CSP core material and the control case (CC), and even the degree of hydration is improved.

The Controlled Release and Prevention of Abdominal Adhesion of Tannic Acid and Mitomycin C-Loaded Thermosensitive Gel

“…Therefore, suitable methods are needed to regulate the gelling temperature and gelling time of P407. The orthogonal experimental design is a simple, fast, and effective multi-factor, multi-level practical design method, in which it is possible to obtain comparable results with many comprehensive tests with a minimum number of tests [ 43 , 44 ]. In this study, using the L 9 (3 4 ) orthogonal table, the results for the optimization of the PPH hydrogel were listed in Table S1 .…”

Utilization of Waste-Expanded Thermoplastic as a Sustainable Filler for Cement-Based Composites for Greener Construction

“…The construction industry constitutes a field in which applications and sales of EPS are widespread. EPS, in its different densities, is used as an important part of all types of buildings, e.g., family houses, office buildings, shopping malls, etc., and as boards or particulate material (beads) it is a part of buildings' envelopes, floors, roofs, foundations, soffits, etc., due to its low density, impact sound insulation and, in particular, excellent thermal-insulation function [5][6][7]. In its basic form, PS is a solid material that can be modified into an aerated product [2].…”

Research on energy-saving factors adaptability of exterior envelopes of university teaching-office buildings under different climates (China) based on orthogonal design and EnergyPlus

“…A more accurate and reliable optimization conclusion can be obtained with a fewer number of experiments after using an orthogonal design, and it allows for performing both range analysis (R) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate test results. There is growing interest in the use of orthogonal design methods for optimization in various fields [ 28 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Therefore, a university teaching-office building was researched in this paper through orthogonal design and numerical simulation (EnergyPlus) to explore the adaptability (including the optimal parameters and influence degree of each factor of the envelope and the significance levels) of the energy-saving factor of the building envelopes under different climates, which aims to provide the optimal solution for the renovation of university teaching-office building envelopes under different climatic conditions in China to achieve maximum energy-saving building operations.…”