Experimental study on the prism strength of expanded polystryene lightweight brick

• Main Author: Nor Atiqah, Mat Refin
• Format: Undergraduates Project Papers
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: T Technology (General); TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); TH Building construction
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/13009/1/Experimental%20study%20on%20the%20prism%20strength%20of%20expanded%20polystryene%20lightweight%20brick.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/13009/

As urbanization is rapidly growing the construction of residential area is perpetrating intensely and at the same time the world is also facing the energy resource shortage. There be responsibility to modify the housing design and construction technologies which are used today to reduce the cost, CO2 emission, and sustainable development and energy conservation concept. There is a need to focus on such materials which along with traditional construction materials as brick to satisfy the properties like thermal conductivity, embodied energy, durability, sound insulation, earthquake resistance and strength. The use of expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) is best suitable for this purpose. In this paper an attempt has be made to review the strength aspects of EPS embedded as a non -load bearing internal wall and its prospective design and implementation in the building to make it energy efficient. The main purpose of this study is to design the optimum mix percentage of the EPS brick for non-load bearing internal wall application and to compare the strength performance of EPS brick wall compared to conventional brick wall. With regard to the laboratory tests, several compression tests were performed on wall samples. Wall sample has been built with expanded brick connected with mortar. The mix proportions of EPS use are 0 %, 16.7 %, 33.3 % and 50 % of sand replacement. Depending on the four types of in situ tests carried out (compression test, deflection test, strain stress test, and thermal insulation test), same dimensions of prism were use. The test conducted based on ASTM C 129-85 (1990) testing standards. The experimental study shows that EPS prism application achieved the standard average strength 3.45 MPa, the highest compressive stress value for EPS brick prism by 16.7 % EPS brick, about 3.90 MPa with 18.48 kg weight. The modulus elasticity about 13.34 MPa for 16.7 % EPS is the highest among three sample. The lowest deflection value is about 1.75 mm for sample 16.7 % EPS. The thermal conductivity lowest value is 0.21 W/mK for 50 % EPS replacement. Conclude that, the EPS beads is suitable to replaced sand in brick making process and able to applied as non-load bearing wall in construction.