The effect of travertine waste on the strength and insulation properties of foam concrete

Abstract

Incorporating waste additives into foam concrete mixtures is a promising route to develop environmentally-friendly concrete production with tailored thermos-mechanical properties. In this paper, the effects of various fabrication parameters of foam concrete, including the type of waste additive, water/binder ratio, density of mixture, and incorporation of glass fibers were investigated. Foam concrete samples were fabricated using fly ash and travertine wastes, and the variations in their compressive strength, and thermal conductivity using various concrete mixture designs were measured. The obtained results show that foam concrete with fly ash additive tends to have higher compressive strength and thermal conductivity than foam concrete with travertine waste. However, the latter exhibits better thermal insulation properties, which tend to improve by adding glass fibers. This work defines the outlines for exploring the use of harmful wastes in fabricating foam concrete. It offers guidelines for developing improved foam concrete mixtures with tailored thermos-mechanical properties.