April 2, 1998

CELLULAR CONCRETE, AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

by:

Paul Tikalsky, Associate Professor

James Pospisil, Graduate Student

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University

ABSTRACT

Cellular concrete is a portland cement based material which uses air as the main aggregate. It is formed by preparing a portland cement grout and incorporating millions of tiny air bubbles into the paste mix. The final result is an ultra-lightweight material with multiple uses. Some of these uses include: Sound Absorptive Walls, Crash Barriers, Runway Arresters, Lightweight partitions, Lightweight roof decks, and Lightweight Retaining Walls.

Most of these cellular concrete applications require some method for evaluating freeze thaw durability. Since a testing and evaluation procedure does not exist, a freeze-thaw testing program was developed. Initial stages of the freeze-thaw testing project were aimed at characterizing the general properties of cellular concrete. These properties include strength characteristics, absorption characteristics, permeability, and density. After gathering data for each of the general properties, freeze-thaw testing began. Several different concrete formulations were evaluated for both general properties and freeze-thaw durability.