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In this study, the insulation fire ratings of lightweight foamed concrete, autoclaved aerated concrete and lightweight aggregate concrete were investigated using finite element modelling.

Lightweight aggregate concrete containing various aggregate types, i.e. expanded slag, pumice, expanded clay and expanded shale were studied under standard fire and hydro–carbon fire situations using validated finite element models. Results were used to derive empirical equations for determining the insulation fire ratings of lightweight concrete wall panels.

It was observed that autoclaved aerated concrete and foamed lightweight concrete have better insulation fire ratings compared with lightweight aggregate concrete. Depending on the insulation fire rating requirement of 15%–30% of material saving could be achieved when lightweight aggregate concrete wall panels are replaced with the autoclaved aerated or foamed concrete wall panels. Lightweight aggregate concrete fire performance depends on the type of lightweight aggregate. Lightweight concrete with pumice aggregate showed better fire performance among the normal lightweight aggregate concretes. Material saving of 9%–14% could be obtained when pumice aggregate is used as the lightweight aggregate material. Hydrocarbon fire has shown aggressive effect during the first two hours of fire exposure; hence, wall panels with lesser thickness were adversely affected.

Finding of this study could be used to determine the optimum lightweight concrete wall type and the optimum thickness requirement of the wall panels for a required application.

Discusses the results of a study of the moduli of elasticity of concretes made with artificially manufactured lightweight aggregates subjected to uniaxial compression and uniaxial tension. Two artificially manufactured lightweight aggregates and one normal weight aggregate (for comparison) were used in the investigation. Concrete mixes designed to have compressive strengths varying from 20 MPa to 60 MPa were used in this study. Presents the results of static and dynamic moduli of elasticity, Poisson′s ratio, ultrasonic pulse velocity, compressive strength and tensile strength tests. Observes that the static modulus of elasticity in tension is nearly equal to the static modulus of elasticity in compression at a stress level of one‐third the ultimate stress. Compressive modulus values are shown to be dependent on the stress level and type of modulus, i.e. either secant or tangent. On the other hand, the tensile modulus is not affected by the stress level. The modulus of elasticity of lightweight aggregate concrete is about 60‐70 per cent of that of normal weight concrete. Compares the test results obtained in this study with research work carried out on other lightweight aggregate concretes by other investigators. Also presents the relationships between static modulus of elasticity, dynamic modulus of elasticity, compressive strength, and Poisson′s ratio, and equations for estimating elastic modulus and Poisson′s ratio.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on optimization of recycling of concrete from lightweight aggregates containing expanded glass and hard polyurethane (PU) and on the issue of importance of environmental management in constructions, to produce the new combination using rest, construction waste of concrete from lightweight aggregates and hard PU new raw components of concrete from lightweight aggregates, as key reactive materials.

The research for this paper is based on the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, non‐linear programming (NLP) model and experimental research.

Results from the new recycled material have been compared with the normal existing concrete from lightweight aggregates. Characteristics of recycled lightweight concrete (LWC) such as density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity have been investigated and have been compared with normal existing concrete from lightweight aggregates. Results indicate that it is possible to recycle LWC aggregates and hard PU waste.

Research was limited to management of construction.

The use of waste LWC with aggregates containing expanded glass and hard PU seems to be necessary for the production of cheaper and environment‐friendly LWC.

The method shows great possibilities for increasing use of construction waste materials from LWC containing expanded glass and hard PU in order to benefit from the better use of existing construction waste. Characteristics such as density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity from the new recycled material have been compared with normal existing concrete from lightweight aggregates. They change depending on the type and part of waste as well as the type and part of fresh binding components. Thus, a new recycled material is created with new values of density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity, which conform to the compressive strength class and rules on heat protection and efficient use of energy in buildings (SI OJ RS No. 42/2002). Laboratory density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity tests results showed that LWC can be produced by the use of waste LWC with aggregates containing expanded glass and hard PU. The author proposes a model of recycling isolating materials, made of hard PU and LWC with aggregates containing expanded glass, based on recycling and NLP.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the incorporation of lightweight aggregate concrete modify with fiber (LWACF) in water retaining structure. In developed countries LWACF is being successfully used as structural concrete; however, third-world countries such as Pakistan are still struggling to come up with the practical applications of lightweight concrete in the building and construction industry. One reason is because of the lack of reliable data regarding its performance as a structural member in the building and construction industry.

The present study inspected the flexural and shear tolerance of fiber-reinforced LWACF by testing six beam specimens’ cast, cured and tested after 28 days for the purpose. An overhead tank of 1,000-gallon capacity was also constructed to verify the application of LWACF by observing its water retention behavior. The experimental design included a mix design of concrete at a target strength of 21 MPa for control sample natural aggregate and for synthetic aggregate modified with polypropylene fibers. Compressive strengths of both categories of concrete were also determined by crushing the cylindrical samples at the age of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The cast beams were later subjected to the application of two-point loading test until failure.

It was found that the beams fabricated with LWACF possessed better resistance to cracks compared with those fabricated with normal weight concrete, both in terms of number and crack width. The study also concluded that the constructed water tank with LWACF was thermally efficient and structurally sound, as it showed no sign of seepage for the observed period.

On the basis of the results, it can be concluded that the LWACF used has revolutionized the concept of using lightweight aggregates in regular structures and that consequently it will help in a constructing a sustainable environment. One of the useful applications of such material is for water-retaining structures.

Today, using lightweight structural concrete plays a major role in reducing the damage to concrete structures. On the other hand, lightweight concretes have lower compressive and flexural strengths with lower impact resistance compared to ordinary concretes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of simultaneous use of waste glass powder, microsilica and polypropylene fibers to make sustainable lightweight concrete that has high compressive and flexural strengths, ductility and impact resistance.

In this article, the lightweight structural concrete is studied to compensate for the lower strength of lightweight concrete. Also, considering the environmental aspects, microsilica as a partial replacement for cement, waste glass powder instead of some aggregates and polypropylene fibers are used. Microsilica was used at 8, 10 and 12 wt% of cement. Waste glass powder was added to 20, 25 and 30 wt% of aggregates, while fibers were used at 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt% of cement.

After making the experimental specimens, compressive strength, flexural strength and impact resistance tests were performed. Ultimately, it was concluded that the best percentage of used microsilica and glass powder was equal to 10 and 25%, respectively. Furthermore, using 1.5 wt% of fibers could significantly improve the compressive and flexural strengths of lightweight concrete and increase its impact resistance at the same time. For constructing a five-story building, by replacing cement with microsilica by 10 wt%, the amount of used cement is reduced by 5 tons, consequently producing 4,752 kg less CO₂ that is a significant value for the environment.

The study provides a basis for making sustainable lightweight concrete with high strength against compressive, flexural and impact loads.

The aim of this paper is to make lightweight high-performance concrete (LWHPC) with high economic performance from existing materials on the Algerian market. Concrete with high values with regard to following properties: mechanical, physical, rheological and durability. Because of the implementation of some basic scientific principles on the technology of LWHPC, this study is part of the valuation of local materials to manufacture LWHPC with several enhanced features such as mechanical, physical chemical, rheological and durability in the first place and with regard to the economic aspect in the second place.

The experimental study focused on the compatibility of cement/superplasticizer, the effect of water/cement ratio (W/C 0.22, 0.25, 0.30), the effect of replacing a part of cement by silica fume (8 per cent), the effect of combined replacement of a part of cement by silica fume (8 per cent) and natural pozzolan (10 per cent, 15 per cent, 25 per cent) and the effect of fraction of aggregate on properties of fresh and hardened concrete using the mix design method of the University of Sherbrooke, which is easy to realize and gives good results.

The results obtained allow to conclude that it is possible to manufacture LWHPC with good mechanical and physical properties in the authors’ town with available materials on the Algerian market. The mix design and manufacture of concrete with a compressive strength at 28 days reaching 56 MPa or more than 72 MPa is now possible in Biskra (Algeria), and it must no longer be used only in the experimental field. The addition of silica fume in concrete showed good strength development between the ages of 7 and 28 days depending on the mix design; concrete containing 8 per cent silica fume with a W/B (water/binder) of 0.25 has a compressive strength higher than other concretes, and concrete with silica fume is stronger than concrete without silica fume, so we can have concrete with a compressive strength of 62 MPa for W/C of 0.25 without silica fume. Then, one can avoid the use of silica fume to a resistance of concrete to the compressive strength of 62 MPa and a slump of 21 cm, as silica fume is the most expensive ingredient in the composition of the concrete and is very important economically. A main factor in producing high-strength concrete above 72 MPa is to use less reactive natural pozzolan (such as silica fume) in combination with silica fume and a W/B low of 0.25 and 0.30. The combination of silica fume and natural pozzolan in mixtures resulted in a very dense microstructure and low porosity and produced an enhanced permeability of concrete of high strength, as with resistance to the penetration of aggressive agents; thus, an economical concrete was obtained using this combination.

The study of the influence of cementitious materials on concrete strength gain was carried out. Other features of LWHPC such as creep, cracking, shrinkage, resistance to sulphate attack, corrosion resistance, fire resistance and durability should be also studied, because there are cases where another feature is most important for the designer or owner than the compressive strength at 28 days. Further studies should include a range of variables to change mixtures significantly and determine defined applications of LWHPC to produce more efficient and economical concretes. It is important to gather information on LWHPC to push forward the formulation of characteristics for pozzolan concrete for the building industry.

The LWHPC can be used to obtain high modules of elasticity and high durability in special structures such as marine structures, superstructures, parking, areas for aircraft/airplane runways, bridges, tunnels and industrial buildings (nuclear power stations).

The novel finding of the paper is the use of crystallized slag aggregates and natural pozzolan aggregates to obtain LWHPC.

The purpose of this study is to experimentally determine whether mechanical properties of concrete can be improved by using olive pomace aggregates (OPA) as a substitute for natural sand. Two types of OPA were tested by replacing an equivalent amount of natural sand. The first type was OPA mixed with olive mill wastewater (OMW), and the second type was OPA not mixed with OMW. For each type, two series of concrete were produced using OPA in both dry and saturated states. The percentage of partial substitution of natural sand by OPA varied from 0% to 15%.

The addition of OPA leads to a reduction in the dry density of hardened concrete, causing a 5.69% decrease in density when compared to the reference concrete. After 28 days, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests indicated that the resulting material is of good quality, with a velocity of 4.45 km/s. To understand the mechanism of resistance development, microstructural analysis was conducted to observe the arrangement of OPA and calcium silicate hydrates within the cementitious matrix. The analysis revealed that there is a low level of adhesion between the cement matrix and OPA at interfacial transition zone level, which was subsequently validated by further microstructural analysis.

The laboratory mechanical tests indicated that the OPCD_OPW (5) sample, containing 5% of OPA, in a dry state and mixed with OMW, demonstrated the best mechanical performance compared to the reference concrete. After 28 days of curing, this sample exhibited a compressive strength (R_c) of 25 MPa. Furthermore, it demonstrated a tensile strength of 4.61 MPa and a dynamic modulus of elasticity of 44.39 GPa, with rebound values of 27 MPa. The slump of the specimens ranged from 5 cm to 9 cm, falling within the acceptable range of consistency (Class S2). Based on these findings, the OPCD_OPW (5) formulation is considered optimal for use in concrete production.

This research paper provides a valuable contribution to the management of OPA and OMW (OPA_OMW) generated from the olive processing industry, which is known to have significant negative environmental impacts. The paper presents an intriguing approach to recycling these materials for use in civil engineering applications.

Elevated temperature material properties are essential in predicting structural member's behavior in high-temperature exposures such as fire. Even though experimental methodologies are available to determine these properties, advanced equipment with high costs is required to perform those tests. Therefore, performing those experiments frequently is not feasible, and the development of numerical techniques is beneficial. A numerical technique is proposed in this study to determine the temperature-dependent thermal properties of the material using the fire test results based on the Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based Finite Element (FE) model.

An ANN-based FE model was developed in the Matlab program to determine the elevated temperature thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and the product of specific heat and density of a material. The temperature distribution obtained from fire tests is fed to the ANN-based FE model and material properties are predicted to match the temperature distribution.

Elevated temperature thermal properties of normal-weight concrete (NWC), gypsum plasterboard and lightweight concrete were predicted using the developed model, and good agreement was observed with the actual material properties measured experimentally. The developed method could be utilized to determine any materials' elevated temperature material properties numerically with the adequate temperature distribution data obtained during a fire or heat transfer test.

Temperature-dependent material properties are important in predicting the behavior of structural elements exposed to fire. This research study developed a numerical technique utilizing ANN theories to determine elevated temperature thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and product of specific heat and density. Experimental methods are available to evaluate the material properties at high temperatures. However, these testing equipment are expensive and sophisticated; therefore, these equipment are not popular in laboratories causing a lack of high-temperature material properties for novel materials. However conducting a fire test to evaluate fire performance of any novel material is the common practice in the industry. ANN-based FE model developed in this study could utilize those fire testing results of the structural member (temperature distribution of the member throughout the fire tests) to predict the material's thermal properties.

Cement can be replaced to reduce the energy consumption and the environmental impact of cement. Also, foamed concrete can be used structurally in residential buildings to reduce weight and improve thermal insulation. To achieve these two goals, this paper aims to investigate the effect of basalt powder as a partial replacement of either cement or sand.

This paper investigates the effect of basalt powder as a partial replacement of either cement or sand on the mechanical properties of foamed concrete used to cast slabs. First, mechanical properties of foamed concrete are tested with and without replacement of basalt. Then, six slabs of different thicknesses and mixes are investigated. The thicknesses considered are 150- and 200-mm slabs. The three mixes used to construct these slabs are foamed concrete with no basalt powder, foamed concrete with replacement of 20% of cement by basalt powder and foamed concrete with replacement of 20% of sand by basalt powder. The flexural behavior of these slabs is investigated.

All the slabs failed in the commonly intended flexural mode. The results show that the basalt powder acted as a strong filler material in the foamed concrete mix based on mechanical properties and flexural behavior. The proposed foamed concrete slabs can be used structurally in residential buildings.

A natural waste material that can be used to promote energy efficiency and reduce emission is basalt. In this paper, basalt powder is suggested to be used due to its chemical composition that is similar to cement. Also, basalt powder is low in cost as it is waste, while basalt aggregate is prepared, and it is only used as filler in paved roads. Accordingly, basalt is partially used instead of cement to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide that results from the cement manufacturing. Also, it is used as a partial alternative to sand which can be considered as a new stronger source as filling material used in the production of concrete.

The purpose of this study is to improve the lateral capacity of Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) frame walls filled with lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) and supported with straw boards by introducing structural foamed concrete and/or bracing.

Finite element models are developed and calibrated based on previous experimental work. Then, these models are extended to conduct a parametric study to quantify the effect of filling CFS walls and structural LFC and the effect of supporting CFS walls with bracing.

Results of the study conclude that the finite element analysis can be used to simulate and analyze the lateral capacity of CFS walls effectively since the maximum deviation between calibrated and experimental results is 10%. The structural LFC usage in CFS walls improves the lateral capacity considerably by (25–75) % depending on the wall properties. Besides, the application of lateral bracing does not always have a positive effect on the lateral performance of these walls.

Although CFS walls are preferred due to it is light in weight, low in cost, easy to install and recyclable, low seismic performance, buckling vulnerability, poor thermal insulation and sound insulation properties, low lateral stiffness, and low shear strength limit their use. This study proposes the use of structural foamed concrete and a different bracing method than what is available in the literature. This can overcome the drawbacks of the CFS walls alone which can permit the usage of such walls in mid-rise buildings and other applications.