Engineering Properties of 1200 kg/m³ Lightweight Foamed Concrete with Egg Shell Powder as Partial Replacement Material of Cement

Abstract

This study presents the effects of egg shell powder on lightweight foamed concrete when partially replace the cement. At 2017, 12235 million eggs were consumed and around 85 thousand tonnes of egg shell waste was the yield in Malaysia. The waste might result in an environmental problem if it is not reused properly. Besides, large cement production also results in carbon dioxide emission and depletion of natural limestone. Therefore, studies on effects of egg shell powder on properties of lightweight foamed concrete as partial replacement of cement is attractive to be carried out by aiming to promote the application of lightweight foamed concrete as well as to mitigate the environmental issue by reducing the number of eggshell wastes and pure cement production. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects on engineering properties of lightweight foamed concrete with a fresh density of 1200 ± 50 kg/m3 when the cement is partially replaced by egg shell powder at replacement levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% by mass. The properties of the lightweight foamed concrete studied included workability, stability, compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, and sorptivity. The results show that the replacement of egg shell powder reduces the spread diameter, stability, and sorptivity, and improve the compressive and flexural strengths at replacement level of up to 5%. The eggshell powder is feasible to be used as partial cement replacement material for the production of the masonry unit.