AAC Block Research Articles

An Experimental Study on Light Weight Concrete using AAC Block Waste as Coarse Aggregate

The study on light weight structural concrete using AAC block wastage is replaced in normal M-25 grade concrete as per IS-10262-2019. The AAC block wastage has been replaced with coarse aggregate of size 20mm pass and 12.5mm retain with volumetric change

Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Alternate Walling Materials in Affordable Housing in the Composite Climate of Delhi

Meeting the affordable housing shortage in India in a short time has its environmental and social challenges. It not only requires huge resources but is also a big social responsibility to provide economical and comfortable housing for the marginalized section of society. Improper selection of construction materials may lead to the locking up of massive energy as embodied energy of materials and uncomfortable indoor living conditions. The present study focuses on the need for consideration of both embodied energy and thermal performance in the selection of materials for the building envelope in naturally ventilated affordable housing in India. Walling materials form a major part of the building envelope and thus it's crucial to assess their performance. This paper presents an analysis of embodied energy and thermal performance of fly ash Bricks, AAC blocks, and RCC precast panels as walling options in comparison to conventional walling material of burnt clay brick in the composite climate zone of Delhi. This analysis is being carried out for the alternate walling solutions in practice or emerging for mid to high-rise EWS housing construction in this region. The embodied energy values per cubic meter are compared for each wall assembly for the lifecycle stage cradle to gate. Thermal simulation results are presented in terms of indoor operative temperatures achieved by each wall type material and compared with the comfort temperature range prescribed by the comfort model IMAC-R, 2022 to find out the ‘discomfort degree hours’. The results of the study underscore the suitability of fly ash bricks and AAC blocks as sustainable alternatives due to their lower embodied energy compared to traditional burnt clay bricks base case. Fly ash bricks even outperform the base case in terms of thermal comfort. The study discourages the use of burnt clay bricks due to very high embodied energy. The study also strongly discourages the use of RCC panels in the composite climate as they exhibit both poor thermal comfort and high embodied energy. The study findings would help government agencies to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions about the use of walling materials on a large scale in meeting the affordable housing demand.

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT BUILDING MATERIALS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF BUILDING COMFORT

As people spend more time indoors, the need for buildings that are not only energy-efficient but also comfortable and healthy has become more critical. The objective of this project is to compare the performance of different building materials in enhancing the building comfort by monitoring the temperature levels of three different rooms on an hourly basis. In order to achieve this objective, a sensor was designed and installed in each room to record the temperature readings. The data collected by the sensors was then analyzed and compared to determine the effect of different building materials on the indoor environment. The experiment was conducted over a period of 21 days and the data was collected for each hour of the day. The results of the study indicated that the choice of building material has a significant impact on the indoor environment, with some materials performing better than others in terms of maintaining comfortable temperature levels do. The data collected was then presented in graphical form to facilitate easy comparison of the performance of different building materials. Overall, the findings of this study can be used to inform decisions about the choice of building materials for different construction projects in order to optimize the building comfort and ensure a healthy indoor environment. Keyword- Temperature measurement device, Enhancement of building comfort, Three Different Building Materials clay burnt Brick masonry, Stone Masonry and AAC Block

STUDY AND COMPARISON OF STRUCTURE HAVING DIFFERENT INFILL MATERIALS USING ETABS

Reinforcement concrete structure frame system widely used around the world. In building structure, structure element is generally taken as Beam, column, foundation. The dead & live load is transferred from beam to column, column to footing then ultimately load distributed into the soil. The wall load is taken by beam. In building design, we mentioned the whole wall on the beam is possible, if it is not possible, we taken concealed beam into the slab below the wall. During the analysis of frame structure, we consider wall as non-structural element. But including walls in the structure analysis is play important role. This study deals with the examination of the impact of infill in structure and their behaviour in structure. In present situation high rise building constructed with the various type of infill wall materials. Some of them generally use for example red brick, AAC wall, Hollow concrete block, lightweight Aluminium & Steel panels. So three types of models are created on ETABS software. In this study 9 storey high rise building is designed in ETABS with taking 3 infill materials like Fly Ash brick, AAC block and Hollow concrete block taken for study which on the most critical earthquake zone IV analysis (Dynamic) is done using ETABS, soil properties assumed medium and importance factor is taken 1.2 . The all three infill wall models compare with the basic design parameter like moment, shear force, displacement. The all three models that I passed under seismic loading helped me to reach the conclusion on how all three models perform in the case of seismic loading. And by comparing the percentage growth in the displacement and storey drift we can decide the most efficient building. Because the AAC block has the lowest density hence it should have the least moment generated compared to other bricks almost 20-30 percent difference is expected. And the model with Strut member should have least deflection compared to other models. The difference of 15-20 percent is expected atleast. Keywords: ETABS, Structural Analysis, masonry infill, RC frame, earthquake, displacement, drift, base shear, AAC blocks, Hollow concrete block, Bending moment, Diagonal Strut

Investigations on the performance of xanthan gum as a foam stabilizer and assessment of economic and environmental impacts of foam concrete production

The properties of foam concrete are greatly influenced by the quality of the foam used. The stability of the foam is a vital property that needs dire attention when selecting surfactant. This paper evaluates the role of Xanthan gum (XG) as an additive in the performance improvement of foam produced with two different surfactants, viz., Hingot (Natural surfactant) and Nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) (Synthetic surfactant). Different characteristics of foam and surfactant, such as initial foam density, foam drainage, foam bubble microstructure, surface tension, and viscosity of surfactants, are experimentally evaluated. Addition of XG results in a 10-fold increment in viscosity for both Hingot and NPE surfactant solutions. The above enhancement in viscosity results in a substantial reduction in bubble size and an increment in lamella thickness. Further, the reduced surface tension of Hingot surfactant also contributes to a significant reduction in the rate of bubble coalescence. Having studied the surfactant and foam behaviour, the next phase comprises studies on the influence of XG on consistency, setting behaviour, compressive strength, and thermal conductivity of foam concrete with two different densities, viz., 1000 kg/m3 and 1500 kg/m3. Results show that the addition of XG results in a reduction in consistency and an increase in demoulding time of foam concrete. Besides improvement in foam performance, a substantial increase in compressive strength and reduction in thermal conductivity of FC is also observed due to XG addition, indicating that foam bubble microstructure has a significant impact. The last phase involves the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the FC produced with the aforementioned surfactants, which is the first of its kind study that considers the impact of surfactants across various environmental categories. Results of the LCA analysis show that the total cumulative energy demand of preparation of 1 kg of Hingot solution is less than that of 1 kg of NPE surfactant solution. The environmental impact analysis also favours Hingot as a sustainable and economical alternative to NPE surfactant. Results of LCA analysis of FC indicate that foam concrete with 1000 kg/m3 performs better than AAC block and conventional clay brick. Furthermore, the studies highlighted that there is more scope for improving the performance of LCA of FC through using various mineral admixtures as replacement for cement.

Experimental behavior of lintels for AAC masonry buildings: Comparison among different solutions

AbstractThe paper investigates the experimental behavior up to failure of different types of lintels for AAC masonry buildings. At first, precast highly‐reinforced AAC lintels, that are quite widespread on the European and Turkish market, were tested in flexure, by considering different reinforcement type and arrangement. The second analyzed solution is represented by RC lintels cast within three juxtaposed special AAC elements with U section, acting as formwork and final external finishing. Also in this case, the effect of reinforcement type (lattice girders, ordinary rebars, or a combination of them) and reinforcement amount on the bearing capacity and mode of failure was analyzed. The experimental results highlight that precast AAC lintels available on the market are very light and are characterized by high stiffness in bending; however, being usually over‐reinforced, their failure is quite brittle. On the contrary, RC lintels cast within U‐shaped AAC blocks (“combined AAC‐RC” specimens) are heavier but can be easily designed to have a ductile behavior, by simply following design Standard recommendations for ordinary RC elements.

Technical innovation and research of autoclaved aerated concrete block/panel equipment

AbstractRecent years with the development of green buildings, the market demand for new building materials is rising, which also comes the high requirements for production technology, equipment durability and product quality. Taking the successful experience from hundred projects, KEDA SUREMAKER upgrades practical functions of AAC core equipment such as the cutting section and packing section to improve working efficiency, productivity, and durability, and make equipment easier to operate and maintain. For the production of high‐quality AAC panel, a new solution of vertical cake cutting—green cake separation—flat cake autoclaving is launched. As for the demands of mass AAC block production, a new three‐layer efficiency white cake separation technology is given. In addition, the production management system of the whole factory has been upgraded to make AAC plant management more efficient.

Green and Eco Friendly Building Materials (A case study on AAC Block on High rise building)

Green and Eco Friendly Building Materials (A case study on AAC Block on High rise building)

Comparative Study of Analysis, Design and Total Cost Differences between Monolithic Structure and Conventional Structure

The primary objective of this research is to investigate the behavior of conventional buildings featuring non-structural walls as AAC blocks and all the remaining things same, with monolithic structure buildings constructed using tunnel formwork. To compare the design steel and total cost between these two types of structures subjected to seismic loads, as defined by the IS codes. To achieve this, a comprehensive seismic analysis was conducted using the Linear Dynamic Response Spectrum Method in ETABS 2020 software.

Seismic Performance of Desert-sand Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block Wall Constrained by Precast Integral Construction Column

Considering the structural types and construction techniques used in common residential buildings in Xinjiang, the paper proposes a novel masonry structure, i.e., desert-sand AAC blocks constrained by a precast integral construction column. In order to study the seismic performance of the structure, five wall specimens with different constraints are designed and fabricated and further compared and analyzed in terms of failure mode, hysteretic performance, energy dissipation capacity, ductility, stiffness degradation, and other performance indexes. It has been determined from the results that under horizontal low-cycle repeated loading, the main failure cracks of the desert-sand AAC block wall constrained by the precast integral construction column are intersecting oblique cracks, and the cracks in wall failure penetrate along concrete blocks. The stiffness degradation rate of the wall constrained by the water-resistant gypsum construction column gradually decreases with increasing vertical compressive stress. The wall constrained by the water-resistant gypsum construction column with arranged steel bars has a desirable ductility. Under the same vertical compressive stress, the wall constrained by the water-resistant gypsum precast construction column with arranged steel bars has a significant energy dissipation capacity from cracking to the ultimate state. (4) A restoring force model is built for desert-sand AAC block walls constrained by the precast integral construction column using a three-fold line model, offering technical support for the elastoplastic seismic analysis of structures.

Conventional Burnt Clay Bricks Vs AAC Blocks in Construction Projects: A Comparative Study

Abstract: AAC blocks and red clay bricks are two of the more majorly used blocks used in buildings all over the world. Both the block categories have a definite set of pros and cons. A comparative analysis of them is essential to understand and determine which of the two is a superior product, both technically and economically. Experimentation was done on samples of both blocks. Although, some defective set of samples didn’t provide the expected results, it did provide an insight in the technicalities associated with the blocks. It further allowed a comparison between the observed data and the expected data, highlighting how defects within the blocks could affect the properties. Further, some tests were analysed by studying available reports, thesis, articles prepared by various research workers working on the behaviour and properties of AAC blocks and red clay bricks. The overall study proved that AAC blocks, though weaker in compressive strength are much superior in most other properties than the red clay bricks

Energy assessment, economic analysis, and environmental study of an Iranian building: The effect of wall materials and climatic conditions

The selection of external wall materials based on climatic conditions is an effective way to improve building energy performance. Because of the wide variety of commercial materials available for exterior walls, engineers and building designers rarely select these materials based on climatic conditions. In this study, the thermal performance of a building was investigated using Design-Builder software (V4.2.0.054) in three different Iranian climatic zones (hot desert, cold semi-arid, and continental Mediterranean climates) and six common wall materials (AAC block, LECA block, extruded polystyrene). A novel thermoelectric device was used to measure the thermal conductivity of these materials. According to the findings, choosing the right wall materials based on climate conditions can reduce annual heating and cooling loads as well as carbon dioxide emissions by up to 23.2 %, 26.4 %, and 18.5 %, respectively. According to the economic analysis, the payback period time ranges between 1.7 and 17 years, depending on the climatic conditions and the type of exterior walls.

Feasibility study of adopting green materials in construction by stake holder‘s perception using ANOVA based quantitative analysis technique

Due to industrial practices and infrastructure-related activities, environmental issues are becoming more prevalent on a global scale. As a result, efforts to identify and develop environmentally friendly materials and technologies are picking up steam. The future of construction calls for environmentally friendly, readily available, robust, maintainable, and adaptable building materials. When it comes to building construction, it's common to use green materials because they have many or all of these characteristics: Fire Resistant; Lightweight; Economical; High Quality; Earthquake Resistant; Low Carbon Footprints; Fast Installation; and so on. As a solution to this problem, a research effort was launched with some materials, including Plastics Waste, Marble Dust, Fly Ash and LTC-Light Transmitting Concrete and their own associated parameters. In the first stage of the investigation, a questionnaire was distributed to diverse participants in order to learn about their perspectives on environmentally friendly materials. There was a large-scale questionnaire survey, as well as ANOVA-based quantitative analysis, that were performed on the data. Respondents are more likely to use materials such as GFRG panels, plastic waste, AAC blocks, and fly ash, among others, because of their familiarity with these options. To achieve sustainable development in building construction, it is possible to use green materials that are readily available in the market at a lower cost and with a high degree of workability, according to the findings of the study.

Assessment of embodied energy of masonry building materials in Hassan, India

The construction sector is putting a lot of effort in reducing its energy, carbon, material, and water footprints, as well as taking steps toward a more sustainable built future. The building materials such as cement, aggregates, masonry units like bricks and blocks constitute to dominant percentile utilization in the construction of building. The activities involved in the production of construction materials will consume large amounts of energy. Hence time has arrived for an effective, environmental friendly, sustainable building material with judicious use of energy. It is therefore important to identify and modify the existing process of manufacture of building construction materials and compute the energy associated with manufacturing process. Production of these materials is a major cause for global warming due to release of carbon-di-oxide (CO2) and other gases. Hence there is a need to think, act and adopt low energy consuming, locally available building materials, reducing the transportation energy (TE) to provide alternatives which is both cost effective and environment friendly. The whole energy expenditure involved in the material manufacturing, including all upstream activities such as raw material extraction and transportation, is referred to as embodied energy (EE). This paper examines the energy efficiency of a few masonry building materials used in large quantities in the Indian construction sector. The key stages of production, consumption of excessive energy and the importance locally available raw materials are studied. The study focuses on the various stages of production and measuring the associated embodied energy of masonry building materials of Hassan. These EE figures were calculated by personal visits and survey data to industrial production plants. EE of burnt brick masonry is found to be 2.8 times the EE in comparison with AAC block masonry wall.

A Review on Use of FRP Mesh and Bamboo Fiber Composite Material for AAC Block Masonry Wall Strengthening and Water Resistance

Abstract: For the purpose of strengthening masonry walls, externally bonded composite materials offer a desirable solution. Current studies in this area demonstrate that the use of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs), which are externally bonded composite materials, improves the strength, stiffness, and ductility of the wall under loads while maintaining the wall's integrity at failure

BUILDING BLOCK FOR HOT AND DRY CLIMATE OF RAJASTHAN

The wall materials such as bricks and blocks play an important role in the building design. In the olden days, it has been practiced by the vernacular method of construction for making bricks by using natural building materials which provide a comfortable living environment to mankind. Many such buildings are standing for a long duration and still mounted as examples in front of us. But in the present scenario, the need for rapid infrastructure growth and lack of skilled labor to utilize those vernacular materials in modern construction has diminished. In this age of technology development, the peopledecided to reduce the energy consumption in their buildings by promoting the concept of construction of low energy buildings using energy-efficient materials especially in wall materials. In this paper, comprehensive review is made on the various walling materials used in the state of Rajasthan such as Jodhpur sandstone, Clay bricks, Adobe Bricks, Fly ash bricks and AAC blocks.

Socio-Economic Suitability of AAC Block in Nepal

Socio-Economic Suitability of AAC Block in Nepal

Research Paper on High-Performance Energy Efficient Building

Abstract: Energy is an important tool for the overall development and improvement of the quality of life. To make energy an efficient building means using less energy for doing the same amount of work. The meaning of energy efficiency is to reduce energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gases (carbon emission) and global warming and decrease the dependence on fossil fuel by taking the benefit of natural resources and minimizing the waste of energy. Due to the increase of world population, it is nearly about 40% of the annual energy consumed in the world in building today. In India, buildings are responsible for onethird of total energy consumption today. The use of building energy will be continuously growing by rapid population growth. The case study focuses primarily on three types of bricks: red brick, concrete brick, and autoclaved aerated blocks. We find that Concrete bricks have the highest cooling load and AAC Blocks have the lowest. As a result of this, we can con The peak cooling load has been reduced by 60% in comparison, so it is a more preferred choice than the traditional ones determine that AAC Blocks require less cooling to maintain comfortable room conditions, resulting in a reduction in the use of electricity. If we are to meet a sustainable goal then we have to decrease the use of energy for space heating and cooling and in environmental terms, buildings are used to maintain thermal comfort. By making an energy-efficient structure sure Selecting a proper material and by analyzing in AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit software. Changing the material of the structure and analyzing the thermal insulation of the structure. Keywords: Energy Efficient building, Thermal Insulation, Energy consumption.

Utilization of Dredged River Sediment in Preparing Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks

In this study, the dredged river sediment, soft texture and fine particles, is mixed with other materials and transformed into eco-friendly autoclaved aerated concrete (hereinafter referred to as AAC) blocks. The results indicated the bricks produced under the conditions of 30%–34% dredged river sediment, 24% cement, 10% quick lime, 30% fly ash, 2% gypsum and 0.09% aluminum powder with 0.5 water to material ratio, 2.2 MPa autoclave pressure and 6 h autoclave time, the average compressive strength of 4.5 MPa and average dry density of 716.56 kg/m³ were obtained, the two parameters (strength & density) both met the requirement of national industry standard. At the same time, the contents of dredged river sediment, cement, lime, fly ash, gypsum and aluminum powder were 15%, 48%, 20%, 15%, 2% and 0.09%, respectively, and the non-AAC block made of 0.5 water to material ratio, the average compressive strength of 3.1 MPa and average dry density of 924.19 kg/m³ were obtained, the two parameters (strength & density) also met the requirement of national industry standard. In addition, the AAC block’s phase composition and morphology were micro-analyzed by SEM and XRD, the main substances in AAC block were found to be tobermorite and CSH, Among them, the chemical bond between Si-O-Si and Al-O-Al is broken, Al-O-Si is regenerated, Al substituted tobermorite with better strength is formed, and the compressive strength of AAC is further improved.

A comparative LCA study of passive cooling roof materials for a residential building: An Indian Case study

Construction industry is a significant contributor to global environmental impact, with large amount of energy being utilized in the production and transportation processes of various building materials. Energy conservation in buildings becomes a critical factor in reducing the greenhouse emissions and at the same time focusing on reducing the cost of materials. By using digital tools of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) techniques, the ecological collisions can be measured and lowered through analysis of alternative eco-friendly materials. In this study, a BIM-based LCA was carried out for a case study residential building to be constructed with conventional materials, located in the warm-humid climate region of India. The findings revealed that roof slab constructed with reinforced concrete is contributing more carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) next to vertical facade in terms of environmental impacts, energy consumptions and global warming potential. An analytical study was performed on alternative building materials with walls being replaced with AAC blocks and roof slab with clay tiles, cool tiles, terrazzo tiles as insulation layers. The roofs and walls replaced with alternate materials showed 2–6% reduction in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, acidification, eutrophication, and ozone depletion potentials.