Compressive strength and thermal conductivity of fly ash geopolymer concrete incorporated with lightweight aggregate, expanded clay aggregate and foaming agent

This paper investigates the effect of incorporation of lightweight aggregate and foam in the preparation of lightweight aggregate geopolymer concrete (LWAGC) and lightweight aggregate foamed geopolymer concrete (LWAFGC). The geopolymer paste was formed by alkali activation of Class F fly ash in mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solution. LWAGC was incorporated with expanded clay lightweight aggregate and river sand while hydrogen peroxide was added as foaming agent for LWAFGC. Results showed that LWAGC and LWAFGC achieved an excellent 28-day compressive strength of 60 MPa and 20 MPa, respectively. The bulk densities were 1815 kg/m³ for LWAGC and 1593 kg/m³ for LWAFGC. Even so, low thermal conductivity of 0.12 W/mK and 0.09 W/mK were reported. It was concluded that the joint effect of lightweight aggregate and foam produced geopolymer concrete with good mechanical strength while having excellent thermal insulating properties. The geopolymer concretes possessed high strength-to-density ratio to be regarded as lightweight high-performance structures.