Mechanical and insulation properties of ultra-high performance concrete with expanded polystyrene

Author(s): Anjaneya Dixit (1), Sze Dai Pang (1) and Juhyuk Moon (2)
Paper category: Proceedings
Book title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures (SMSS2019) New Generation of Construction Materials
Editor(s): Marijana Serdar, Nina Štirmer, John Provis
ISBN: 978-2-35158-217-6,
Vol 1. ISBN: 978-2-35158-223-7
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-218-3
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2019
Pages: 241-246
Total Pages: 6
Language : English

Abstract: Recent advances in the field of sustainable development have witnessed an increasing effort in improving the energy-efficiency of buildings. The fundamental idea in this field of research is the inclusion of materials with high insulating characteristics in concrete. The resulting concrete-composite with low thermal conductivity (TC) helps curtail the energy required to maintain thermal comfort in buildings. However, such techniques are usually accompanied by drastic reduction in concrete strength since, the inclusion materials have low strength themselves, resulting in the composite being unsuitable for structural applications. A balance between the enhancement in thermal insulation and loss of strength in concrete is, therefore, needed. The study presented herein is an attempt of producing concrete with improved insulating behaviour with acceptable loss in mechanical properties. The insulation is achieved by mixing expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). 5 mixtures with varying proportion of EPS by volume (0-45%) were studied. The resulting mixes show reduction in TC values (2.14 W/m-K to 0.49 W/m-K), and densities (2300 kg/m3 to 1463 kg/m3) with addition of EPS. As envisaged, the increase in EPS volume is accompanied by a decrease in compressive strength (149 MPa to 27 MPa) and elastic modulus of concrete (45 GPa to 14 GPa).

Online publication : 2019
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros) : 0.00