Influence of EPS Aggregate Sizes on Properties of Lightweight Concrete

Abstract

This research aims to study the influences of volume fraction and particle size of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam beads on properties of lightweight concrete. Three concrete mixtures with different volume fractions of cement-sand-EPS foam bead (C-S-F) of 1-1-1, 1-1-1.5, and 1-1-2 were produced. For each concrete mixture, three EPS foam beads with diameters of 2.0 mm, 4.75 mm, and 9.5 mm, were used in order to study the effect of its particle size. Water to cement ratio (w/c) was kept constant at 0.40 (by weight of cement). Test results revealed that addition of small size EPS foam bead (2.0 mm) diminished compressive strength of the concrete, as compared to larger EPS particle sizes. While compressive strength and density of the concrete reduced proportionally as the volume fraction of EPS foam increases, the use of different EPS foam sizes caused only marginal difference in concrete density. It was also found that the concrete mixed with EPS foam exhibited remarkably higher water absorption than that of the control mixture.