Influence of foam content on mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of ceramsite foam concrete

Abstract

Ceramsite foam concrete (CFC) is an innovative lightweight building material formulated by integrating ceramsite into foam concrete. It retains the inherent advantages of foam concrete while mitigating high drying shrinkage and excessive water absorption, significantly enhancing durability and compressive strength. This study investigates the effects of foam content on CFC’s dry density, compressive strength, water absorption, softening coefficient, and thermal conductivity. The phenomena observed during the compression testing of the CFC specimens were also documented to analyze the degree of spalling. A novel predictive model for determining the thermal conductivity of CFC was originally developed and validated in this study. Results reveal strong linear relationships, foam content negatively correlates with density, strength, and softening coefficient, but positively correlates with thermal conductivity and water absorption. Increasing foam content also enlarges average pore size. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for optimizing CFC in energy-efficient building applications, offering significant potential for reducing energy consumption and improving thermal insulation in modern construction.