Effect of Polypropylene Fibres on the Thermal Conductivity of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

¹ Jamilus Research Center, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia.
² Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

^* Corresponding author: wigoh@uthm.edu.my

Abstract

With the reduction in the permanent load on the structure and excellent insulation properties, the lightweight foamed concrete is a potential thermal insulating building material to counter the urban heat island effect, which increases the temperature of urban areas due to the concentration of infrastructures constructed using conventional concrete that absorbs the solar radiation. The lightweight foamed concrete whose dry density ranges from 400 kg/m³ to 1600 kg/m³, has lower thermal conductivity compared to conventional concrete. But reduced density attributes to reduced compressive strength. In this study, to enhance the mechanical properties, the foamed concrete of 1600 kg/m³ density is reinforced with polypropylene fibres (PP). Four percentages of PP fibres, 0% (controlled), 0.2%, 0.25% and 0.30% were added into the foamed concrete. The compressive strength as well as the thermal conductivity of foamed concrete reinforced with PP fibres were determined. Based upon the findings, the optimum percentage of PP was determined to be 0.20% which gave higher compressive strength while thermal conductivity of foamed concrete was observed to decrease upon addition of PP fibres. Thus, addition of PP fibres improves the thermal resistance in the foamed concrete along with enhancing the mechanical properties.