Performance evaluation of natural fiber reinforced high volume fly ash foam concrete cladding

The major shortcoming of concrete in most of the applications is its high self-weight and thermal conductivity. The emerging trend to overcome these shortcomings is the use of foam-concrete, which is a lightweight concrete consisting of cement, filler, water and a foaming agent. This study aims at the development of a cost-effective high-volume fly-ash foamconcrete insulation wall cladding for existing buildings using natural fiber like rice straw in different proportions. The paper reports the results of systematic studies on various mechanical, acoustic, thermal and durability properties of foam-concrete with and without replacement of cement by fly-ash. Fly-ash replaces 60 percent by weight of cement in foam-concrete. The watersolid ratio of 0.3, the filler ratio of 1:1 by weight, and the density of 1100 kg/m3 (approx.) are fixed for all the mixes. Rice straw at 1%, 3% and 5% by weight of cement was added to improve the thermal and acoustic efficiency. From the investigations, it was inferred that the strength properties were increased with fly-ash replacement up to 1% rice straw addition. In furtherance, addition of rice straw and fly-ash resulted in improved acoustic and thermal properties.