ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Behind every achievement lies a sea of gratitude to those who actuated it, without
them it would never have into existence. To them I lay the word of gratitude imprinted
within me.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Lord Almighty for giving me all the
strength, courage and blessings while proceeding with this seminar.
I take immense pleasure in thanking Dr. Somi Sebastian, Principal, Sree Buddha
College of Engineering and Dr. E K Bhass, DEAN (P.G) and HoD, Civil Engineering
Department, for having permitted me to carry out this seminar.
I am deeply indebted to my guide Mr. Renjith R, Assistant Professor, Department of
Civil Engineering, Sree Buddha College of Engineering for his sincere guidance, timely
help and much appreciated correction during every step of this work.
I express my sincere gratitude to the co-ordinator of our seminar Ms. Shobha
Elizabeth Thomas, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sree Buddha
College of Engineering, for her valuable advice, assistance and help offered throughout
this seminar
I would like to thank all other members of faculty of Civil Engineering Department
for their support in this endeavor.
Finally, yet importantly, I would like express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved
parents for their blessings, and my friends for their help and wishes for successful
completion of this seminar.

ANJANA ELSA ALEXANDER

ABSTRACT
The design of building insulation has become increasingly important due to the
global energy crisis. In addition to ensuring that structures satisfy both strength and
stability requirements problems of energy conservation must be solved, especially in
developing countries. Thus, many researchers have focused on the development of foam
concrete, a new insulating material that could meet these requirements. Most previous
investigations on foam concrete have been confined to portland cement, density range of
4001,600 kg/m3.The present study aims to develop a new foam concrete with a density
ranging from 250 to 400 kg/m3 by replacing portland cement with magnesium phosphate
cement (MPC). Extensive laboratory tests were performed to characterize the fresh
properties, strength, water resistance, and thermal conductivity of the MPC foam concrete.
In the experimental studies, mixtures were prepared by replacing fine sand with various
contents of fly ash. The results show that an appropriate workability value is achieved at a
water-solid ratio of 0.30, at which a foam concrete mixture with a good stability and
consistency can be produced. Using fly ash to replace fine sand can improve the properties
of MPC foam concrete, including its compressive strength, water resistance, and thermal
conductivity. Super-lightweight foam concretes with dry densities ranging from 210 to 380
kg/m3 were produced, with strengths ranging from 1.0 to 2.8 MPa and thermal
conductivities ranging from 0.049 to 0.070 W/m.

Keywords: Magnesium phosphate cement, Foam concrete, Fly ash, Thermal conductivity,
Compressive strength

CONTENT
PAGE NO.
i

Acknowledgement
Abstract

ii

Contents

iii

List Of Figures

iv

List Of Tables

1. INTRODUCTION

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

2.1 CONSTITUENT MATERIALS AND MIX PROPORTIONING

3. TEST PROCEDURE

2
4

3.1 EVALUATION OF CONSISTENCY AND STABILITY OF FRESH

FOAM CONCRETE MIXTURES

3.2 DETERMINATION OF THERMAL AND MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES
4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 FRESH PROPERTIES OF FOAM CONCRETE MIXES

4.2 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

4.3 WATER RESISTANCE

14

4.4 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

16

5. APPLICATIONS

19

6. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

20

6.1 ADVANTAGES

20

6.2 DISADVANTAGES

20

7. CONCLUSIONS

21

REFERENCES

22

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE NO.
TITLE
Fig. 3.1
MTS Servohydraulic testing machine
Fig.4.1
Marsh Cone apparatus
Fig.4.2
Effects of fly ash content and foam volume fraction on

PAGE NO.
5
6
7

Fig.4.3

spread
Variation of density ratio with fly ash content for

Fig.4.4

mixtures with different foam volume fractions

Compressive strength with age of MPC foam concrete

Fig.4.5

with a foam volume fraction of 75%

Compressive strength with age of MPC foam concrete

Fig.4.6

with a foam volume fraction of 80%

Compressive strength with age of MPC foam concrete

10

Fig.4.7

with a foam volume fraction of 85%

Compressive strength with age of MPC foam concrete

10

Fig.4.8

with a foam volume fraction of 90%

Optical micrographs of the pore distributions in MPC

12

foam volume fraction of 0.80 containing fly ash contents

Fig.4.9

of (a)0% (b)20% (c) 40% (d) 60% (e) 80% (f) 100%
Relationship between dry density and compressive

13

strength for MPC foam concrete with various fly ash

Fig.4.10

contents
Effect of foam concrete on the thermal conductivity of

17

Fig.4.11

MPC foam concrete

Effect of foam content on the thermal conductivity of

17

MPC foam concrete

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO.
TITLE
Table 2.1
Chemical compositions of fly ash
Table 2.2
Compositions of mixtures
4

PAGE NO.
2
3

Table 4.1

Rate of strength gain in different ages with fly ash content

11

Table 4.2

variation
Comparison of strength to density ratio in MPa per

14

Table 4.3

kg/m3x1000
Strength and Strength Retention Coefficients of the MPC

15

foam concrete specimens at design density of 400 kg/m3 with

Table 4.4

various fly ash contents

Strength and Strength Retention Coefficients of the MPC
foam concrete specimens at design density of 250 kg/m3 with
various fly ash contents

15