Experimental study of lightweight concrete prepared from super absorbent polymers (SAPs) and glass fibers (GF)

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of the OPC used in this study.

CaO	SiO2	Al2O3	Fe2O3	SO3	MgO	K2O	TiO2	SrO	P2O5	MnO	Cl	ZrO2
70.10	15.20	3.33	3.29	4.39	1.89	1.30	0.21	0.07	0.03	0.03	0.02	0.01

Figure 1. Compressive strength and density results at various SAPs contents.

Table 2. Mix proportions per m³ for the samples in this study.

Symbol	OPC (kg)	Sand (kg)	Water (kg)	SAPs (kg)	GF (kg)
LCF0	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	0
LCF0.1	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	2.25
LCF0.2	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	4.50
LCF0.3	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	6.75
LCF0.4	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	9.00
LCF0.5	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	11.25
LCF1.0	1125	1125	1327.5	78.75	22.50

Figure 2. Experimental set up of (a) the flexural strength measurement, (b) schematic diagram.

Figure 3. Schematic measurements of sorptivity.

Figure 4. Compressive strength of the lightweight concretes prepared using SAPs and GF.

Figure 5. Flexural strength of lightweight concrete prepared using SAPs and GF. (a) flexural strength, (b) deflection in 28-day samples.

Figure 6. Dry density and porosity of lightweight concrete containing SAPs and GF.

Figure 7. Thermal conductivity of lightweight concrete prepared using SAPs and GF.

Figure 8. Water absorption curves of lightweight concrete prepared using SAPs and GF.

Table 3. Initial rate of water absorption at t = 35 sec^0.5 of lightweight concrete prepared using SAPs and GF.

Initial rate of water absorption (×10^−1 mm/sec^0.5)
LCF0	LCF0.1	LCF0.2	LCF0.3	LCF0.4	LCF0.5	LCF1.0
2.48	2.91	3.56	3.65	4.85	5.01	5.45

Figure 9. SEM micrographs. (a) LCF0 at 1000X magnification, (b) and (c) mixture with GF at 30 and 1000X magnification, respectively.

Table 4. Comparison of results obtained in this study with literature.

Type of lightweight concrete	Results			Ref.
	Density (kg/m^3)	Compressive strength (MPa)	Flexural strength (MPa)
Lightweight concrete prepared from SAPs and GF	968–1181	4.59–7.04	3.89–6.72	This study
Self-consolidating lightweight concrete prepared from SAPs and LECA	-	~19–26	-	(AzariJafari et al. 2016)
Basalt fiber-reinforced foam concrete containing silica fume	1749–1993	20.6–46.1	4.3–6.9	(Gencel et al. 2022)
Hemp fibre reinforced foam concrete with fly ash (at foam content = 100 kg/m^3)	1067–1538	2.01–11.09	0.72–3.70	(Gencel et al. 2021)
Glass fiber-reinforced lightweight concrete	~1600	~23–27.5	~4.0–4.8	(Cunha, Sampaio, and Martinelli 2021)
Wood fiber waste reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete	609–639	~3.58–3.88	~0.78–1.10	(Xu et al. 2019)

Remark: LECA = lightweight-expanded clay aggregate.

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