INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (IJRTM)

ISSN 2454-6240
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LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE USING EPS

Jaydeep Singh
M.Tech Student, Department of Structure Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun
Sangeeta Dhyani
Head, Department of Structure Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun.

ABSTRACT hydrated burned lime was used as the cementations material

We developed a new structural light weight concrete by in the mix. These early lightweight concretes, by reason of
completely replacing coarse aggregate in concrete by the obviously weak materials, fell far short in structural
expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads. Expanded performance of what we expect and achieve today. They
polystyrene (EPS) is a lightweight material that has been were, however, amazingly durable, and existing examples of
used in engineering applications since at least the 1950s. these early lightweight concretes are still to be found in
Expanded polystyrene waste in a granular form is used various early structures of the Mediterranean area. The
as light weight aggregate to produce light weight non- primary use of light weight concrete is to reduce the dead
structural concrete with the unit weight varying from load of the concrete structure, which then allows the
950 kg/m³ to 1350kg/m³. This paper reports the results of structural designer to reduce the size of the column, footing
an experimental investigation into the engineering and other load bearing elements.
properties, such as compressive strength, modulus of
elasticity, drying shrinkage and creep, of polystyrene TYPES OF LIGHT WEIGHT AGGREGATES:
aggregate concrete varying in density.
Light weight aggregate are broadly classified into two types:
Keywords: EPS beads, concrete, compression 1 Natural light weight aggregate
Strength, Replacement. Pumice, diatomite, volcanic cinders etc.
2 Artificial light weight aggregate
I. INTRODUCTION Perlit, clay, sintered fly ash, expended shale, etc. expended
polystyrene (EPS) is a type of artificial light weight
aggregate with the density of only 10-30 kg/m3.
Expanded polystyrene is a stable, low density Foam and
consists of discrete air voids in a polymer matrix. The LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE USING EPS
polystyrene beads can be easily incorporated into mortar or
concrete to produce lightweight concrete with a wide range Lightweight concretes (LWCs) can be used in various
of density. Applications of polystyrene concrete were they construction fields. It can be used for repairing wooden
include curtain walls, cladding panels, tilt-up panels and floors of old buildings, carrying walls of low thermal
composite flooring systems. Polystyrene concrete was used conduction, bridge decks, floating quay, etc. For the first
to produce load-bearing concrete blocks, sub-base material applications, the lightest possible material is used, i.e.,
for a pavement, as the material of construction for floating usually it has a specific gravity of 0.5, the strength being of
marine structures. It was suggested that an overlaying layer less importance.
of polystyrene concrete could provide protection to But for some structural applications, a compressive strength
structures against impact loading. In the past, the use of higher than 40MPa is sometimes necessary, which leads the
polystyrene beads in concrete produced segregation due to designer to optimize a material with a specific gravity close
extreme lightness and hydrophobic nature of the untreated to 1.8. In such a case, lightweight aggregates, such as
Beads .Expanded polystyrene (EPS) was a kind of stable expanded glass or clay, take part in the resistance of the
foam with low density, consisting of discrete air voids in a composite. The possibilities offered by new cement-based
polymer matrix. The polystyrene beads can easily be materials suggest that it is possible to improve the
incorporated into mortar or concrete to produce lightweight compressive strength versus the specific gravity, or to reach
Concrete, with a wide range of densities especially, it can be equivalent strength for lower specific gravity.
used within the protective layer of a structure for impact The aim of this report is to achieve a mix design for
resistance due to its good energy absorbing characteristics. Lightweight EPS Concrete with density lesser than
Polystyrene concrete is made from a mixture of cement, 1800kg/m³ and enough high compressive strength so that it
natural aggregates and polystyrene beads in the form of can be used in construction purpose.
expanded polystyrene (EPS) aggregates.
III. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
II. HISTORY OF LIGHT WEIGHT
CONCRETE An attempt is made to examine the it is lighter than the
conventional concrete with a dry density of 300 kg/m3 up to
Light weight concretes have been used in construction since 1840 kg/m3.The main specialties of lightweight concrete are
before the days of the Roman Empire. The earliest types of its low density and thermal conductivity. The experimental
lightweight concrete were made by using Grecian and investigation mechanical properties of concrete made with
Italians pumice as the lightweight aggregate. Ordinary expanded polystyrene beads (EPB) as a partial replacement
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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (IJRTM)
ISSN 2454-6240
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of coarse & fine aggregate in proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, different % replacements) for M20 grade of concrete is
30%, 40% and 50% in the water cement ratio of 0.50 was given Table-2.
studied with silica fume as a partial replacement of cement.
S. Mix designation Average compressive
No. strength (CUBES)
(N/mm2 )
IV. MATERIALS
7 14 28
Cement - SHREE Ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade
days days days
conforming to ISI standards has been used.
Fly ash - 10% Cement replaced by fly ash in mass (Kg/m3 1. M20 control 18.20 26.56 28.20
). mix(0%EPS)
Coarse aggregate – Natural coarse aggregate passing 2. M20 17.00 24.96 26.12
through 20mm sieve and retained on 10mm sieve. (10%EPS+10%FA)
Expanded Polystyrene Beads (EPB) - The sizes of EPB
beads are 8-10 mm 3. M20 16.65 21.40 23.20
Mechanical properties of EPS beads: (20%EPS+10%FA)
Specific gravity = 0.013
Bulk density =6.88 kg per cub.mtr
Particle size = 8-10 mm dia. 4. M20 14.95 18.30 20.85
Compressive strength = 0.089MPa (30%EPS+10%FA)
Water absorption = 3.5 % by volume
5. M20 14.50 17.12 18.14
V. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS (40%EPS+10%FA)

Concrete Mix Proportions: 6. M20 12.20 19.97 14.67

The results of the various tests conducted on grade of (50%EPS+10%FA)
concrete M20 considering partial replacement of Natural
aggregate by (EPS) are in the range of 10% to 50% and are
presented in the following tables.
Slump: Table-2: Compressive strength Results for different age
In general, it was observed that workability of a concrete periods
mix increased on addition of polystyrene. Workability of 80
mixes was observed to increase with increase in percentage
replacement of aggregates with polystyrene (as a partial 60
replacement of aggregate) i.e. higher the polystyrene 28 DAYS3
replacement, higher was the workability. Bleeding was 40
observed with the increase in water/cement ratio. 14 DAYS2
20
S. No Mix designation Slump value 7 DAYS
(mm) 0
1. M20 control 35 0% 10%20%30%40%50%
mix(0%EPS) EPS EPS EPS EPS EPS EPS
2. M20 40 Graph-1: Variation of compressive strength
(10%EPS+10%FA)
3. M20 45 From the above results, It can be seen that the compressive
(20%EPS+10%FA) strength (at 28days) of EPS concrete yields compressive
4. M20 60 strength of reference concrete, For Natural aggregate
(30%EPS+10%FA) replacement levels up to 30% for M20 grade concrete
5. M20 72 .However the cylinder and compressive strength for all the
(40%EPS+10%FA) grades of concrete considered in the study.
6. M20 85 Split tensile strength test on cylinders:
(50%EPS+10%FA) The cylindrical specimen was kept horizontally between the
compressive plates on the testing machine. The load was
Table-1: variation in slump with EPS (%) applied uniformly to the cylinder fails, the loads related to
Compressive strength: ultimate load are recorded. A test was conducted for
The compression test on the plain cubes was conducted on cylinders with different EPB aggregate additions. The split
3000 KN digital compression testing machines. The rate of tensile strength was calculated by the standard formula.
load being applied at 0.5KN/sec. Cube compressive strength Split tensile strength = 2P/ПDL
of reference Artificial light weight Aggregate (for 5

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (IJRTM)
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Where P = ultimate load D = Diameter of the cylinder in 3. M20 2.04 2.31 2.41
mm L = cylinder Length in mm. Making use of the lab data (20%EPS+10%FA)
flexural strength has been calculated using the formula.
f=M/Z in N/mm2
4. M20 1.93 2.14 2.26
Where, M= Bending moment
(30%EPS+10%FA)
Z=I/y= Section modulus
S. Mix designation Average Average
No tensile flexural 5. M20 1.90 2.10 2.13
strength strength (40%EPS+10%FA)
(N/mm2) (N/mm2
28 Days ) 28 6. M20 1.74 1.86 1.91
Days (50%EPS+10%FA)
1. M20 control 2.82 8.78
mix(0%EPS)
2. M20 2.62 8.34
(10%EPS+10%FA) Table-4: Young’s modulus Results based on E=5000√ fck
3. M20 2.52 8.27 8
(20%EPS+10%FA) 6
4. M20 2.44 7.78
4 28 DAYS
(30%EPS+10%FA)
5. M20 2.36 7.10 2 14 DAYS
(40%EPS+10%FA) 0
6. M20 2.12 6.46 0 % 10 20 30 40 50 7 DAYS
(50%EPS+10%FA) EPS % % % % %
EPS EPS EPS EPS EPS
Table-3: Split tensile and flexural strengths
Graph-3: Variation of Young’s modulus
14
12 Average EPS concrete density:
flexural It may be observed that with the addition of EPS Aggregate
10 strength the density of the specimens decrease continuously up to
8 (N/mm2 ) 50% replacement of Granite by EPS Aggregate. The density
6 28 Days decreases with the increase of the age are presented in
Table-4.
4 Average Structural light weight concrete of density of 1812 kg/m3
tensile and the corresponding strengths of about 20.85MPa are
2
strength successfully developed.
0 (N/mm2 ) S. Mix designation Density (Kg/m3) for
0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 28 Days No. day curing period
EPS EPS EPS EPS EPS EPS
Graph-2: Variation of tensile and flexural strength. 7 14 28
From the study, it may be concluded that the split strength days days days
and flexural strength have been observed to decrease 1. M20 control 2474 2453 2428
continuously with the increase in % age of EPS Aggregate mix(0%EPS)
i.e., from 0 to 50% replacement of course and fine aggregate
by EPS Aggregate. 2. M20 2310 2292 2284
An attempt was made to find out the modulus of elasticity (10%EPS+10%FA)
for the various EPB concrete mixes studied and the results 3. M20 2115 2096 2081
were tabulated in Table-4. (20%EPS+10%FA)
S. Mix designation Young’s modulus
No. E=5000√ fck In *104 N/mm
4. M20 1878 1840 1812
(30%EPS+10%FA)
7 14 28 days
days days
5. M20 1710 1693 1653
1. M20 control 2.13 2.57 2.65 (40%EPS+10%FA)
mix(0%EPS)
2. M20 2.06 2.50 2.55 6. M20 1550 1522 1502
(10%EPS+10%FA) (50%EPS+10%FA)

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (IJRTM)
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Table-5: Density of EPS based concrete at the age of 7, 14

and 28 days

VI. CONCLUSIONS

 Structured light weight concrete of density of 1812 kg

/m3 and the corresponding strengths of about 20.85MPa
is successfully developed. The concretes are fabricated
via substituting partially coarse and fine aggregates
with EPS beads
 Optimum level of replacement of aggregate by EPS
beads is found to be 30% to obtain better compressive
strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength.
 The compressive strength generally increases with age
at curing, but it decreases densities and strength when
EPS beads increased accordingly
 The spilt tensile strength decreases when EPS beads
replaced content decreased accordingly
 The flexure strength decreases when EPS beads
replaced content decreased accordingly.

REFERENCES
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[2] RamazanDemirboga&,AbdulkadirKan.”Thermal conductivity and
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[6] IS 383:1970 “Specifications for coarse and fine aggregates from
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