Effect of Expanded Polystyrene Foam Aggregate on Strength and Shrinkage Characteristics of Foamed Concrete

Abstract

A study has been undertaken to assess some characteristics of foamed concrete, with a given density of 1200 kg/m 3 , made with expanded polystyrene foam aggregate (EPS). In addition, EPS particles were thermally treated to produce modified expanded polystyrene foam aggregate (MEPS). Thermally treating approach was applied as an effective method to enhance strength of expanded polystyrene foam particles leading to enhance the properties of produced concrete. To investigate the effect of foam presence, normal concrete mix was designed and compared with foamed concrete mix produced with the same mortar content. Properties such as compressive strength, tensile strength and drying shrinkage were assessed. It was found that adding recycled expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) as aggregates helped in slightly enhancing both the strength and shrinkage of foamed concrete. However, thermally treated of EPS to produce MEPS particles resulted in increasing the compressive and tensile strengths by about 68% and 79%, respectively; and reducing the shrinkage by about 52% of that of conventional foamed concrete mix, without EPS. In addition, adding polystyrene aggregates in both states (EPS and MEPS) slightly reduced the spread diameter.

Performance Characterization and Evaluation of Innovative Cement Mortars and Concretes Made with Recycled EPS

“…These materials, with high thermal insulation, can also be applied to plaster mortars to reduce heat transfer in walls with plaster finishes in buildings. Recently, many similar studies have been conducted using recycled EPS waste in concretes, with the aim of reducing environmental impacts [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. Mixtures containing R-EPS can be effectively used in prefabricated components in the building sector.…”

Unit Weight, Strengths and Thermal Conductivity of Cellular Lightweight Fly Ash Geopolymer Mortar Reinforced with Polyvinyl Alcohol

“…The use of lightweight materials with low thermal conductivities in the building is continuously increasing because they can reduce the dead load of building structure [1,2] and energy consumption [3]. Many researchers have carried out properties of building walls, including cellular lightweight concrete [4], expanded polystyrene foam aggregate (EPS) concrete [5], phase change materials [6][7][8][9], and masonry units [10][11][12][13][14]. The cellular lightweight concrete, one of the lightweight materials, has lower unit weight and thermal conductivity than conventional materials (red brick, cement brick, and masonry unit) [15].…”