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Foamed concrete - general properties

Foamed concrete is not comparable with conventional normal or even lightweight aggregate concrete and should be considered as a unique type of concrete. However, there are a number of key properties which should be recognised. Drying shrinkage strains are high due to the high paste volume. Young’s modulus values are low since coarse aggregate is not used.

There is limited information on creep deformation of foamed concrete but it is expected to be high given the lack of coarse aggregate. Liquid water absorption into foamed concrete is low, while retaining high water vapour permeability.

freez-thaw resistance is excellent, however limited information exists on other durability issues, such as sulfate attack, although this is not considered to be a particular problem.

Acknowledgement: Dundee University

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Foamed concrete - GCG7