Mechanical Properties of Aerated-Polystyrene Concrete Reinforced by Polymer Fibers

This study aims to produce high performance aerated-expanded polystyrene lightweight concrete by reinforcing it with chopped carbon fibers and polypropylene fibers that satisfy structural criteria with good thermal and sound insulation, to be used in modern concrete construction.The methodology was carried out to produce high performance lightweight concrete with low density by preparing reference lightweight concrete, as well as eight aerated-polystyrene lightweight concrete mixtures reinforced by chopped carbon fibers or polypropylene fibers with different ratios of 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2% by volumes of concrete.The mechanical properties such as dry density, ultrasonic pulse velocity, thermal conductivity, acoustic impedance, and scanning electron microscopy were studied and compared with the reference concrete without fibers.The results showed the maximum compressive strength of aerated-polystyrene lightweight concrete reinforced by chopped carbon fibers and polypropylene fibers were 56 MPa and 48.5 MPa respectively with a maximum density of 1835 kg/m 3 .The originality of this research was to develop aerated-polystyrene lightweight concrete with two types of polymer fibers.The first type was chopped carbon fibers as expensive fibers, while the second type was polypropylene fibers as cheap fibers.