Effect of Silica Fume (SF) and Air Entraining Agent (Aea) on Homogeneity, Compressive Strength and Cost of EPS Concrete

EPS concrete is a type of lightweight concrete that can be produced by replacing the normal aggregate with expanded polystyrene (EPS), either partially or fully, depending upon the requirements of density. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) concrete is good energy-absorbing material and is used in building as partition blocks and floor leveling. However, due to the light weight of EPS beads and their hydrophobic surface, EPS concrete is prone to segregation during casting, which results in poor workability, homogeneity and lower strength. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of mix design parameters such as percentage of EPS instead of aggregate, silica fume (SF), air entraining agent (AEA) on compressive strength and homogeneity. In this research, 16 concrete mix designs with W/CM equal to 0.4 and density about 770 kg/m3 were made. The results of this research show that using silica fume and air entraining agent can decrease segregation of EPS grains and improve bonding between EPS and cement paste, so the concrete mixture will have more homogeneity and compressive strength. In this research, production cost of mix designs was calculated. Economical investigation show that although using SF and AEA in EPS concrete increases cost of concrete up to maximum %20, it increases compressive strength even up to %262.