Thermal Conductivity of foamed concrete

Abstract

A systematic study of the thermal conductivity of foamed concrete for assorted values of (i) foam content (25%, 50% and 70 %), (ii) water-cement ratio (0.35- 0.55) and (iii) polymer content (5 to 20 % of cementitious material weight) is presented. Experiments were done using a heat flow meter according to ASTM C 518-02. The experimental results show that thermal conductivity decreases with increasing foam content, water-cement ratio and increasing polymer content. Numerical analysis using FLUENT software shows that thermal conductivity is governed by the total void fraction of foamed concrete and thermal conductivity of cement matrix instead of the size or shape of the air bubbles in the specimen. Foamed concrete was found to be a suitable and effective thermal insulation material to be for roofing systems on buildings.