(An) experimental study on the mechanical properties of a fiber-reinforced, lightweight aggregate, cellular concrete

Abstract

This thesis presents results of an experimental study conducted to characterize the mechanical properties of a fiber-reinforced, lightweight aggregate, cellular concrete (FRLACC) that was produced without an autoclave process. The FRLACC enhanced the compressive strength of lightweight cellular concrete by adding fibers and lightweight aggregates. In addition, a special foaming agent was used to produce air bubbles in the cement matrix. A preliminary compression test was conducted to determine the optimal mix proportion for FRLACC, and a series of characterization tests (e.g., compression test, flexure test, splitting tension test) on FRLACC specimens were carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of the FRLACC. To investigate the effect of type and volume fraction of fibers on the mechanical properties of FRLACC, specimens produced with two types of fibers (e.g., polypropylene fibers, steel fibers) and four types of volume fractions (e.g., 0 %, 0.10 %, 0.25 %, 0.50 % of polypropylene fibers, 0 %, 0.50 %, 1.00 %, 1.50 % of steel fibers) were tested. Furthermore, specimens containing fly ash were also tested to investigate the effect of it. A series of ordinary concrete specimens those were produced with special foaming agent were tested to investigate the effect of the foaming agent and lightweight aggregates on the compressive strength of concrete. Finally, the test results of FRLACC were compared with other lightweight concretes to investigate the superiority of the FRLACC.