Lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) thermal and mechanical properties at elevated temperatures and its application to composite walling system

LFC is cementatious material integrated with mechanically entrained foam in the mortar slurry which can produce a variety of densities ranging from 400 to 1600 kg/m3. The application of LFC has been primarily as a filler material in civil engineering works. This research explores the potential of using LFC in building construction, as non-load-bearing partitions of lightweight load-bearing structural members. Experimental and analytical studies will be undertaken to develop quantification models to obtain thermal and mechanical properties of LFC at ambient and elevated temperatures. In order to develop thermal property model, LFC is treated as a porous material and the effects of radiant heat transfer within the pores are included. The thermal conductivity model results are in very good agreement with the experimental results obtained from the guarded hot plate tests and with inverse analysis of LFC slabs heated from one side. Extensive compression and bending tests at elevated temperatures were performed for LFC densities of 650 and 1000 kg/m3 to obtain the mechanical properties of unstressed LFC. The test results indicate that the porosity of LFC is mainly a function of density and changes little at different temperatures. The reduction in strength and stiffness of LFC at high temperatures can be predicted using the mechanical property models for normal weight concrete provided that the LFC is based on ordinary Portland cement. Although LFC mechanical properties are low in comparison to normal weight concrete, LFC may be used as partition or light load-bearing walls in a low rise residential construction. To confirm this, structural tests were performed on a composite walling system consisting of two outer skins of profiled thin-walled steel sheeting with LFC core under axial compression, for steel sheeting thicknesses of 0.4mm and 0.8mm correspondingly. Using these test results, analytical models are developed to calculate the maximum load-bearing capacity of the composite walling, taking into consideration the local buckling effect of the steel sheeting and profiled shape of the LFC core. The results of a preliminary feasibility study indicate that LFC can achieve very good thermal insulation performance for fire resistance. A single layer of 650 kg/m3 density LFC panel of about 21 mm would be able to attain 30 minutes of standard fire resistance rating, which is comparable to gypsum plasterboard. The results of a feasibility study on structural performance of a composite walling system indicates that the proposed panel system, using 100mm LFC core and 0.4mm steel sheeting, has sufficient load carrying capacity to be used in low-rise residential construction up to four-storeys.