Engineering Properties of Foamed Concrete Containing Water Repellent

Abstract

Concrete plays a vital role in the construction industry. Over the years, increasing demands from the construction industry had led to the birth of various types of concrete. Foamed concrete is one of the variations of lightweight concrete and yields a high percentage of porosity due to the internal presence of multiple air bubbles. Consequently, foamed concrete is prone to harmful substances’ penetration, which will disrupt its overall durability and the purpose of usage. Hence, water repellent is introduced into foamed concrete in this study and its effect on various engineering properties of foamed concrete will be investigated. The objectives of this study are to obtain optimum water-to-cement ratio for the 1200 kg/m3 foamed concrete and to study the impacts of water repellents on the fresh and engineering properties of foamed concrete. This study was separated into two main research phases. The first phase aimed at determining the optimum water-to-cement ratio for foamed concrete without the presence of water repellents, which was then determined as 0.48. The continuation of this research exhibited the utilization of the obtained optimum water-to-cement ratio from the first phase of the study to delve into the impact analysis of 0.2% and 0.4% calcium stearate (CS) on the fresh and engineering properties of foamed concrete. The incorporation of CS into foamed concrete had affected its mechanical properties in terms of compressive strength. However, it had played a vital role in improving the foamed concrete’s physical properties in terms of absorption, initial surface absorption and sorptivity. It was also found that the recommended dosage for CS incorporation was determined as 0.2% of cement weight as to prevent the adverse effects from overdosing of water repellents.