Hanizam Awang

Effects of Various Additives on Drying Shrinkage, Compressive and Flexural Strength of Lightweight Foamed Concrete (LFC)

This paper presents an investigation on lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) with different type of additives. LFC with 600, 1000 and 1400 kg/m3 density were cast and tested. Fly ash, lime and polypropylene fibre were used on each density with different percentages. All the additives effects were compared with normal LFC as control mix. Mechanical properties of LFC were evaluated with several tests up to 180 days. The results show that the drying shrinkage, compressive strength and flexural strength are affected by the hydration process of each additive in the harden LFC. Fly ash as pozzolanic material helps to strengthen the LFC, though it needs longer curing period to achieve ultimate strength. Lime gives slight contribution to strength as detail investigation on microstructure formation will give clear answer on how the mechanical properties were affected. The addition of polypropylene contributes to flexural strength and shrinkage of LFC. Polypropylene fibre only contributes to compressive strength at low LFC density.

Influence of granulated blast furnace slag on mechanical properties of foam concrete

Abstract This paper experimentally comparing the mechanical properties between ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and unground blast furnace slag (GBS) as a partial replacement for cement for the production of foam concrete. A total of 14 foam concrete mixes were prepared under a design density of 1,300 kg/m3, two different filler-to-binder ratios, and cement replacement levels of 30–70% of the weight of the binder. A soluble salt of polymeric sulfonates of organic compounds (PS-1) was added to the mixes, with GGBS and GBS replacements at a dosage varying from 0.2–2% of the total cementitious material. Compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths were investigated for up to 90 days. Results show that foam concrete with superior quality as compared with that of the control mix can be produced by using GBS. Results show that 30% GBS foam concrete mix exhibited higher compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths than the control mix of GBS at all ages for both filler-to-binder ratios.

The Effect of Blast Furnace Slag on Foam Concrete in Terms of Compressive Strength

This study is a part of an on-going research studying the effect of blast furnace slag as a binder and filler replacement on the properties of fresh and hardened foam concrete. A mix having the density of 1300kg/m3 with a proportion of (1 cement:2 sand), W/C ratio of 0.45, a commercially available additive (SP-1), class F fly ash and a unprocessed blast furnace slag was used. The results show that the mix containing the slag achieved a higher compressive strength (6.31MPa at 28 days) than that of the control mix at the same age (5.81MPa). In addition, combining both slag and fly ash as a cement replacement further enhanced the compressive strength achieving higher compressive strengths. Also, a more stable mix was achieved by the slag replacement when compared to the control mix. This result concludes that the unprocessed slag is a good pozzolanic material that can be used with foam concrete.

Effects of Fibre on Drying Shrinkage, Compressive and Flexural Strength of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

The present study covers the use of fibre in lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) to produce the lightweight concrete for use in construction of non-load bearing elements. LFC with 600, 1000 and 1400 kg/m3 density were cast and tested. Polypropylene fibres with different percentage were used into LFC and the resulting products were compared to normal LFC. Compressive strength, flexural strength and drying shrinkage tests were carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties up to 180 days. The addition of fibres in LFC showed no contribution on compressive strength but improvement in the flexural and shrinkage test results.

Effect of Steel and Alkaline-Resistance Glass Fibre on Mechanical and Durability Properties of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

This paper investigates the effect of steel fibre and alkaline-resistance glass fibre lightweight foamed concrete with fly ash inclusion towards mechanical and durability properties. The lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) with a density of 1000 kg/m3 with constant water sand ratio of 1: 1:5 and water cement ratio of 0.45 was cast and tested. Steel and alkaline-resistance glass fibres were used as additives and 30% of cement was replaced by fly ash. Detail experiments were setup to study the behaviour and reaction of additives which is expected to give different results on mechanical and durability properties of LFC. Compared to AR-glass fibre, steel fibre has greater contribution in terms of mechanical properties. SFLFC resulted as the most effective approach for compressive, flexural, tensile split and water absorption with strength 6.13 N/mm2, 1.96 N/mm2, 1.52 N/mm2 and lowest water absorption at 6.5% respectively. On the other hand, AR-glass fibre is better in controlling drying shrinkage which leads to controlling the cracking at early age. Fly ash does not change the mechanical properties and durability due to unprocessed stage to its finer forms.