Foamed Concrete Reinforced with Polypropylene Fibers and Geotextile in Geotechnical Applications

Abstract

Foamed concrete is known as lightweight or cellular concrete. It is commonly defined as a cementitious material with a minimum of 20% (by volume) mechanically entrained foam in the mortar mix where air-pores are entrapped in the matrix by means of a suitable foaming agent. Although the foamed concrete has been patented in 1923, it is mainly used as a filling or leveling material. The use of foamed concrete has been limited e.g. for backfilling retaining walls. As a material used in contact with the ground, it is a relatively new material. In order to use foamed concrete in road construction as a replacement for hydraulically bound mixtures, the improvement of foamed concrete was considered. The article presents the two different type of polypropylene reinforced of foamed concrete. Polypropylene fibers with content of 0.3 kg/m3 and 6.37 kg/m3 were used. For foamed concrete samples with addition of 6.37 kg/m3 PP fibers, the splitting tensile strength increased. In second case, the polypropylene geotextiles with weight 150 g/m2, 200 g/m2 and 500 g/m2 were used. It can be observed that flexural strength for foamed concrete reinforced with geotextile samples was higher compared to the base (unreinforced) foamed concrete sample. On this basis, the suitability of using reinforced foamed concrete in the road pavement-subsoil system was determined.