Preparation of Foamed Concrete with High-strength and Low-shrinkage

Due to flaws of foamed concrete (e.g. low strength, high shrinkage and easily cracking), a new-type foamed concrete with high-strength and low-shrinkage was prepared using a combination of polypropylene fiber reinforcement and alunite expansive agent compensating shrinkage. Compared to conventional foamed concrete prepared under the same conditions, the modified foamed concrete with the optimal parameters has notable improvements: the 28 d shrinkage falls by 50 %, the compressive strength and flexural strength increase by 21.7 % and 37.5 %, respectively. A model is proposed to explain the mechanism of the co-action of PPF and AEA.