An Experimental Investigation on Thermal Conductivity of Lightweight Foamcrete for Thermal Insulation

Authors

  • Md Azree Othuman Mydin School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v63.1368

Keywords:

Foamed concrete, thermal conductivity, lightweight concrete, porosity, void size

Abstract

Presently, the construction industry has shown considerable consciousness in utilizing lightweight foamcrete as a building material. The demand of lightweight foamcrete is becoming higher now where this material has increased many folds in recent years due to its intrinsic economies and advantages over conventional concrete in a range of structural and semi-structural applications. The major specialties of lightweight foamcrete are its excellent thermal conductivity, low self-weight, high impact resistance and good freeze thaw resistance. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the thermal conductivity property of lightweight foamcrete with various densities. The main parameters that will be considered are density of lightweight foamcrete, the void size and porosity. The lightweight foamcrete samples are made with constant water-cement ratio of 0.5 and cement-sand ratio of 2:1. According to experimental results, lower densities lightweight foamcrete transforms to lower thermal conductivity values. Meanwhile, the density of lightweight foamcrete is controlled by the porosity where lower densities indicate larger porosity values. For this reason, thermal conductivity of lightweight foamcrete changes significantly with the porosity because air is the poorest conductor in comparison to solid and liquid owing its molecular constitution. The measured values of thermal conductivity should provide a useful database for evaluating the thermal performance of lightweight foamcrete structures.


Author Biography

  • Md Azree Othuman Mydin, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia
    Sr Dr. Md Azree obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 2010. This followed both a Bachelor of Science (Building Technology) and a Master of Science (Building Technology) that were earned in 2004 and 2005 respectively from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. Before joining Universiti Sains Malaysia as a lecturer, he has worked with Penang Development Corporation Consultancy (PDCC) as a civil and structural engineer; completing numerous successful projects with PDC, PDC Properties, Techware and a few more civil engineering companies from 2005 until 2007.  His specialisation lies in the area of fire engineering, material properties, heat and mass transfer, sandwich construction, thin-walled structures and building surveying (condition survey, dilapidation survey, structural survey, dimensional survey, defect analysis on building and building maintenance). He has published his work in more than 30 indexed journals, and 15 conference proceedings in the field of engineering, building material and building surveying

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Published

2013-07-11

Issue

Section

Science and Engineering

How to Cite

An Experimental Investigation on Thermal Conductivity of Lightweight Foamcrete for Thermal Insulation. (2013). Jurnal Teknologi (Sciences & Engineering), 63(1). https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v63.1368