Design Efficiency, Characteristics, and Utilization of Reinforced Foamed Concrete: A Review

Mugahed Amran,Shek Poi-Ngian,Yeong Huei Lee,Roman Fediuk,Yee Yong Lee,Nikolai Vatin,Gunasekaran Murali

doi:10.3390/cryst10100948

Abstract

Foam concrete (FC) serves as an efficient construction material that combines well thermal insulation and structural properties. The studies of material characteristics, including the mechanical, physical, rheological, and functional properties of lightweight concrete, have been conducted rigorously. However, a lack of knowledge on the design efficiency of reinforced FC (RFC) was found in current research trends, compared to reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete. Therefore, this paper presents a review of the performance and adaption in structures for RFC. According to the code specifications, the feasibility investigation was preliminarily determined in structural use through the summary for the mechanical properties of FC of FC’s mechanical properties. For reinforced concrete design, a direct method of reduction factors is introduced to design lightweight aggregate concrete, which is also suggested to be adapted into a lightweight FC design. It was found that flexural shear behavior is a more complex theoretical analysis than flexure. However, a reduction factor of 0.75 was recommended for shear, torsion, and compression; meanwhile, 0.6 for flexural members. Serviceability limit states design should be applied, as the crack was found predominant in RFC design. The deflection controls were recommended as 0.7 by previous research. Research on RFC’s compression members, such as a column or load load-bearing wall, were rarely found. Thus, further study for validating a safe design of RFC applications in construction industries today is highly imperative.

Highlights

Foam concrete (FC) is a concrete composite with enclosed-air voids to reduce its self-weight.The light-weight characteristics are caused by introducing bubbles of air using suitable preformed foamCrystals 2020, 10, 948; doi:10.3390/cryst10100948 www.mdpi.com/journal/crystalsCrystals 2020, 10, 948 into cement paste
The code modifications for reinforced lightweight concrete are limited to those lightweight aggregate concretes, where lightweight FC design is rarely to be found in the code of practice
FC properties have been summarized to determine its feasibility on the application in various types of structural use

Summary

Introduction

Foam concrete (FC) is a concrete composite with enclosed-air voids to reduce its self-weight.The light-weight characteristics are caused by introducing bubbles of air using suitable preformed foamCrystals 2020, 10, 948; doi:10.3390/cryst10100948 www.mdpi.com/journal/crystalsCrystals 2020, 10, 948 into cement paste. Foam concrete (FC) is a concrete composite with enclosed-air voids to reduce its self-weight. The light-weight characteristics are caused by introducing bubbles of air using suitable preformed foam. Crystals 2020, 10, 948 into cement paste. The foam is formed using water solution, expanded foaming agent with pressurized air. The density of FC is varied from 300 to 1800 kg/m3 [1]. The presence of air bubbles in FC produces unique features compared with ordinary concrete, e.g., acoustic absorption, low self-weight, resistance to fire, thermal insulation, high porosity, high flowability, and required compressive strength [2,3].

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Conclusion