CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHTWEIGHT COMPOSITE WALL PANELS WITH POLYPROPYLENE FIBRES

S.Geetha, M.Selvakumar

Abstract: Aerated concrete is a type of lightweight concrete. The use of lightweight concrete offers many advantages like reduction in dead load resulting in economical sections and good thermal insulaing properties. Aerated concrete is produced by using aerating agents like aluminium powder and hydrogen peroxide. The density of aerated concrete ranges from 400 – 1800 kg/m3 . Commercially available lightweight foam concrete blocks have been used extensively in the construction industry for infill walls.The compressive strength of these blocks ranges from 4-6 MPa. This paper deals with the characteristics of aerated concrete reinforced with polypropylene fibres for use as structural walls. Fly ash and bottom ash which are the byproducts from thermal power plants have been used as replacement for cement and sand. A compressive strength of 12 MPa and flexural strength of 3.87 MPa was achieved. The density of the blocks varied from 514 – 857 kg/m3 . The sorptivity ranged between 0.1 – 0.25 mm/min0.5. The experimental trials were designed using Central composite design and multiple optimisation was also carried out for higher strength and lower sorptivity.

Keywords: aeration, strength, porosity, density, sorptivit

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0425009