Microstructure and Tensile Strength of Foamed Concrete with Added Polypropylene Fibers

A R Hazlin,Noorwirdawati Ali,L M Sia,W I Goh,A A A Samad,Afif Iman,N Mohamad,M.J Zainorizuan,L Yee Yong,L Alvin John Meng Siang,R Siti Nazahiyah,O Mohamad Hanifi,A Mohd Shalahuddin

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201710301013

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to improve the strength of foamed concrete by adding fibres reinforced material, polypropylene (PP) fibres. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of PP fibres on the microstructure and tensile strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete with density 1600 kg/m 3 and 1800 kg/m 3 were cast and tested with 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.15% percentage of PP fibres. The findings shows that foamed concrete added by PP fibres gave better performance in tensile strength compared to foamed concrete without PP fibres. With the addition of 0.05% of PP fibres, the tensile strength increased by 35.06% and 40.30% for foamed concrete with densities 1600 kg/m 3 and 1800 kg/m 3 , respectively. Through the study of microstructure of foamed concrete, the air voids of foamed concrete with various densities and the interfacial adhesion between concrete and fibres were observed. The foamed concrete added by PP fibres gave better performance in tensile strength compared to foamed concrete without PP fibres.

Highlights

Foamed concrete is lightweight and has lower density compared to normal concrete
The materials used in the foamed concrete admixture are Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), dried sand pass through 3mm, foam and water
The air voids of 1600 kg/m3 foamed concrete was found to have bigger size compared to 1800 kg/m3 foamed concrete

Summary

Introduction

Foamed concrete is lightweight and has lower density compared to normal concrete. With its advantage of low density, foamed concrete imposes little stress on the substructure. Among its many advantages is it can be used as a viable solution for reducing load on burdened soil, a important issue in settlement. Despite the attractive advantages of foamed concrete, only limited data exists on its performance and guidance on its applications. Foamed concrete has a compressive strength between 1 MPa to 10 MPa [1]. The lack of coarse aggregate in formed concrete makes it prone to any types of shrinkage cracks. It has lower strength compare to normal concrete

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