Study of no coarse aggregate EPS based concrete under different parameters.

Amit Saini1, Kapil Dhabu2, Tejas Joshi3

SYNOPSIS
EPC or Expanded Polystyrene Concrete is a low strength , light weight concrete with
very good energy absorbing characteristics. Being light in weight and possessing higher
absorbing characteristics, this concrete can also be used in non load bearing structural
elements and also help in controlling temperatures by forming an absorptive layer in an
Eco/green building concept.
With the completion of the research study it was observed that the EPC shows various
different characteristics in comparison to normal concrete. It was observed that density
plays an important role in strength parameters. With increase in density, the strength of
EPC increases. Also for same density, the strength for beads with lesser diameter is
more. The concrete failed to clear the NDT tests for low density but worked satisfactorily
for density greater than 850kg/m3. The concrete formed is not brittle and is highly energy
absorbing in nature. Addition of steel fibers doesn't make any significant difference in the
strength. It was also observed that the tensile strength of samples decreased with time.
The concrete is also easily workable. Thus it can be concluded that the wellness of EPC
is totally dependent on the bead size, degree of compaction and the mix proportions.
Here forth it can also be concluded that the concrete can be effectively used in for
marine structures cladding and also can be used in pavements/walkways by adopting
higher density.
Keywords: Expanded Polystyrene concrete; strength; density; NDT; steel fiber; workability

= UG Civil Engineering Student, Institute Of Technology, Nirma University (Ahmedabad),

13bcl003@nirmauni.ac.in
2

= UG Civil Engineering Student, Institute Of Technology, Nirma University (Ahmedabad),

13bcl038@nirmauni.ac.in
3

= Assistant Professor , Institute

(tejas.joshi@nirmauni.ac.in)

Of

Technology, Nirma University (Ahmedabad),

1. INTRODUCTION
With the growing trend and demand for structurally lightweight concretes for aiding the
structural works, various possibilities have been considered. One such innovation is the
use of Expanded Polystyrene, the packaging material as an aggregate to provide volume
to the concrete. It is generally impermeable in nature and is obtained from the packaging
industry as a waste material.
EPC or Expanded Polystyrene Concrete is a low strength, light weight concrete with
very good energy absorbing characteristics. Being light in weight and possessing higher
absorbing characteristics, this concrete can also be used in non load bearing structural
elements and also help in controlling temperatures by forming an absorptive layer in an
Eco/green building concept. With the lightweight characteristics, this concrete can also be
used to produce cladding panels, curtain walls, composite floorings, etc. by modifying the
densities to meet the required strength criteria.
The present study is done with an aim to produce a lightweight concrete design with
highest possible strength with least density such that concrete is able to bear the stresses
and alongside be capable enough to float on the surface of water. The present study
deals with concretes ranging from 500-950 kg/m3 without any use of chemical
admixtures. Alongside the design, the testing modules included NDT methods along with
the mechanical methods. The study incorporates designs of concrete mixes with different
bead sizes of the EPS balls and under varying densities to match up the required
strength values.

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
2.1 Materials and Mix proportions
The material used in the study were Ordinary Portland Cement 43 grade conforming to
IS:8112(1989), sand passing through 1.18mm sieve with fineness modulus of 2.16, steel
fiber with length of 40mm and potable water. EPS beads of 3mm and 6mm size are used.
Total two series with two mixes each are made for this investigation. Series I contains
beads of size 3mm and 6mm for mix 1 and mix 2 respectively. Whereas in series II, in
addition to 3mm and 6mm beads for mix no. 3 and mix no. 4, steel fiber (About 2%) is
also introduced. The complete detail of the concrete mix are presented in table 8.1.
2.2 Production of EPS Concrete
Concrete was mixed in a pan mixer of capacity 20-l. Dry mixing of cement and sand
was done firstly. EPS beads were wetted initially with a part of the mixing water before

adding the remaining material. Mixing was continued until a uniform mixture was
obtained.
2.3 Casting, Curing and testing of Specimens
A number of standard test specimen of different sizes were chosen for investigation the
various parameters. Cubes of 150 mm size were used for study the compressive strength
of 7 and 28 days. Split tensile strength were conducted on cylinder of 150 mm diameter
and 300 mm height at 7 and 28 days.
For each mix, 6 cubes and 6 cylinders were cast. The specimen were cured in normal
water tank for 7 and 28 days at room temperature.
Compressive strength and split tensile strength test were carried as per IS 516:1999.For
both, Universal testing machine of 1000 kN capacity is used. Two NDT tests that are
UPV test and rebound hammer test were conducted as per IS 13311-1 : 1992 and IS
13311-2 : 1992 respectively.

3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A comprehensive summary of EPS concrete with different strength and density of all the
concrete is presented in table 8.2.
3.1 Compressive strength
3.1.1Effect of age
Fig 8.1 shows the development of compressive strength with the age of EPS concrete
for mix 1, mix 2 and mix 4. The compressive strength of EPS concrete in almost all
mixes displayed a continuous increase with age.
3.1.2 Effect of beads size
Fig 8.2 shows the effect of size of beads on compressive strength of EPS concrete of
series I. As the size of beads increases from 3mm to 6mm there is reduction in
compressive strength at both 7 and 28 days.
3.1.3 Effect of density
The density of concrete is controlled by varying the value of EPS beads in the mix.
Fig 8.3 shows the variation in compressive strength with density of concrete for EPS
concrete of series 1 and series 2. The strength of concrete appears to increase with an
increase in concrete density in all the mixes . No specific failure plane was observed in
case of low density concrete and the failure was not brittle in nature. Whereas specific

failure plane ( Approximate 45o) was observed in case of high density concrete and the
failure was somewhat brittle in nature. This phenomenon is shown in Fig. 8.8.
3.2 Split tensile strength
3.2.1 Effect of age
Fig 8.4 shows the variation in tensile strength with size of beads for concrete for all
mixes. The tensile strength of EPS concrete in almost all mixes displayed a continuous
increase with age.
3.2.2 Effect of beads size
Fig 8.5 shows the variation in tensile strength with size of beads for concrete of series
I. It is clearly observed that as size of beads increases, there is reduction in split tensile
strength of concrete for all mixes.
3.2.3 Variation with compressive strength
The variation of tensile strength with the compressive strength is given in Fig 8.6 .
From this, it can be seen that the tensile strength increased with an increase in
compressive strength. The failure of specimen of EPS concrete is not brittle in nature
normally observed in conventional concrete. The failure observed was gradual and
specimens did not separate in two. This is shown in Fig. 8.7.
3.2.4 Effect of steel fiber
The use of steel fiber put no special characteristic difference in the strength parameters
but it could be estimated that small length of fibers may give good results.
3.3 NDT tests
The Concrete with lighter density failed under Rebound Hammer test and a clear
indentation could be easily observed, but for higher density concrete (for mix 3)
appreciable values was obtained.
In UPV test, again the lighter concrete failed by giving average value of around
2400m/sec whereas the higher density concrete presented some acceptable results
averaging around 3800m/sec which is greater than the qualifying criteria of 3500m/sec.

4.CONCLUSION
The following conclusions were drawn out from the study :
1. Increasing the density of concrete helps in gaining higher strength.

2. Smaller size beads contribute to greater strength in the concrete.

3. Higher EPS content gives higher workability.
4. Layer by layer compaction enables proper distribution of concrete and also contributes
in achieving good surface finish.
5. It was observed in the study that the split tensile strength of EPC reduced with age.
6. The EPC doesn't show brittle nature on application of breaking stress; on removal of
loading condition, the concrete tries to regain original state by swelling.
7. Higher density EPC did show characteristics of normal concrete such as brittle nature
and 45o failure plane ( Fig 8.8- Right).
8. The concrete with low density failed under NDT criteria whereas the high density EPS
concrete ( Mix no. 3 ) did show acceptable results under NDT.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The assistance from Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma
University, Ahmedabad is gratefully acknowledge.

6. NOTATION
EPC

Expanded Polystyrene Concrete

EPS

Expanded Polystyrene

FA

Fine Aggregate

Fig

Figure

IS

Indian Standard

Liter

NDT Non Destructive Test

No.

Number

UPV Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity

7. REFERENCES
1. Bing Chen, Juanyu Liu, Properties of light weight Expanded polystyrene concrete
reinforced with steel fiber , Cement and Concrete Research 34(2004), pp. 1259-1263.
2. K.Ganesh Babu, D.Saradhi Babu, Behaviour of lightweight Expanded polystyrene
concrete containing silica fume, Cement and Concrete Research 33(2003),pp. 755-762.
3. Thomas Tamut, Rajendra Prabhu, Katta Venkataramana, Subhash C Yaragal, Partial
Replacement of coarse aggregates by expanded polystyrene beads in concrete, International
Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology Volume:03 Issue:02, Feb-2014,pp.238241.
4. B.A. Herki, J.M. Khatib, E.M. Negim, Lightweight Concrete Made from waste
Polystyrene and Fly Ash World Applied Science Journal 21 (9):2013, pp. 1356-1360.
5. Zaher Kuhail , Polystyrene Lightweight Concrete (Polyconcrete), An-Najah Univ. J. Res.,
Vol. 15, 2001,pp. 41-61.
6. IS:8112(1989): Specification for 43 grade Ordinary Portland Cement Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi.
7. IS 516:1999: Method of Tests for Strength of Concrete Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi.
8. IS 13311-1 : 1992: Method of Non-destructive testing of concrete, Part 1: Ultrasonic pulse
velocity Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
9. 8. IS 13311-2 : 1992: Method of Non-destructive testing of concrete, Part 2: Rebound
Hammer Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

8. TABLES, FIGUERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Table 8.1: Details of EPS concrete mixes.

Series

Mix
Number

Cement
(kg/m3)

FA
(kg/m3)

Water
(kg/m3)

EPS*
(kg/m3)

Steel
Fiber
(kg/m3)

Theoretical
Density
(kg/m3)

Series I

423

201

153

15

792

385

201

135

13

734

608

225

225

22

11

1091

376

201

135

13

7.5

732

Series II

*The size of beads used in mix no. 1 and mix no. 3 are of size 3 mm and in mix no. 2
and mix no.4 are of 6 mm.

Table 8.2: Strength and density of EPS concrete mixes.

Series

Series I

Series II

Mix
No.

Actual
Density
(kg/m3)

Theoretical
Density
(kg/m3)

Compressive Strength
(MPa)

Tensile Strength
(MPa)

7days

28days

7days

28days

608

792

0.475

0.676

18.97

25.61

540

734

0.368

0.647

14.23

18.48

922

1091

4.17

7.15

40.15

46.95

605

732

0.383

0.458

11.8

16.94

Compressive strength (MPa)

Mix 1
Mix 2
Mix 4

Age days

Compressive strength (MPa)

Fig. 8.1: Variation of compressive strength with age for mix no.1, mix no. 2 and mix no.4.

7 days
28 days

Bead size (mm)

Fig. 8.2 Compressive strength versus beads size for series I mixes.

Series I
Compressive strength (MPa)

Series 1; 608;
0,676

608
540

Series 1; 540;
0,647

Actual Density (kg/m3)

Compressive strength (MPa)

Series II

922
605

Actual density (kg/m3)

Fig. 8.3 Variation in compressive strength (28 days) with actual density for series I and
series II.

Split Tensile Strength ( MPa)

Mix 1
Mix 2
Mix 3
Mix 4

Age Days

Split tensile strength (MPa)

Fig. 8.4: Variation of split tensile strength with age for all mixes.

7 days
28 days

Bead size (mm)

Fig. 8.5: Split tensile strength versus beads size for series I mixes.

Compressive strength (MPa)

y = 0.214e0.046x ,R = 0.737 y = 0,2146e0,0464x

R = 0,7373

Datenreihen1

Split tensile strength (MPa)

Fig. 8.6: Split tensile strength versus compressive strength ( Both 28 days) for series I.

Fig. 8.7. Failed specimen under split tensile strength test.

Low density concrete

High density concrete

Fig 8.8 Failed specimen under compression strength test