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Fabrication and compressive properties of expanded polystyrene foamed concrete: Experimental research and modeling

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Abstract

As the construction of high-rise building becomes popular, improvement and innovation are required to expand the product line of lightweight concrete. In this paper, two ways of fabricating lightweight concrete were combined to make a new kind of super lightweight concrete. Normal aggregate is replaced with expanded polystyrene (EPS) granule, while foam is introduced to facilitate fabrication process. As a result, super lightweight concrete denoted as EPS foamed concrete is fabricated, whose bulk density is less than 500 kg/m3. Compressive properties of EPS foamed concrete with bulk density 300–500 kg/m3 were investigated by stress-strain curve. It’s demonstrated that the compressive strength ranges from 0.7 to 2.5MPa, which is higher than that of similar products. Furthermore, low elastic module and high residual to ultimate strength ratio ensure its excellent deformation and energy absorption capacity. At last, numerical analysis was performed to interpret the inherent variation of elastic modulus and failure mechanism of this material. The results show that EPS foamed concrete is a kind of super lightweight, easy to fabricate material with excellent compressive property and profound utilization potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhen Wu  (吴 震), Bing Chen  (陈 兵) & Ning Liu  (刘 宁)

Authors
  1. Zhen Wu  (吴 震)
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  2. Bing Chen  (陈 兵)
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  3. Ning Liu  (刘 宁)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bing Chen  (陈 兵).

Additional information

Foundation item: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50708059) and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials (Tongji University), Ministry of Education (No. K201002)

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Wu, Z., Chen, B. & Liu, N. Fabrication and compressive properties of expanded polystyrene foamed concrete: Experimental research and modeling. J. Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (Sci.) 18, 61–69 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-013-1369-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-013-1369-2

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