International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)

ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-6S, March 2020

Crushed EPS in Light weight concrete

Nikita Sharma, Gaurav Suthar, Sayed Aamir Hussain

Abstract: This paper gives light to the ideas of development e use of this light weight concrete requires no sand and coarse
and implementation of sustainable material to reduce the aggregate which thereby reduces the depletion of such
reliance on non-renewable resources which can be achieved by natural resources. Therefore, using EPS as aggregate can be a
using light weight concrete in construction as the demand of proper substitution for fulfilling the needs of the construction
light weight concrete is growing day by day. The availability of industry as well as conserving such natural resources.
light weight aggregates and admixtures has made this approach
easy. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a material used for
packaging of various products. Due to its voluminous, bulky
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
nature and being non-biodegradable it has high resistivity Light weight concrete refers to type of concrete mix which
towards chemical reactions so its disposal is an issue also when comprises of light weight and low density aggregates i.e.
disposed in landfills it covers more space. This paper promotes increasing the volume of mix simultaneously providing
the use of EPS in light weight concrete structures. Expanded
considerable decrement in self-weight and dead loads. The
Polystyrene concrete is used in modern applications such as
thermally insulated partition walls, exterior walls, members of
floating structures and deck of bridges. This work comprises of key point of attraction in light weight concrete is its low
casting and testing of light weight concrete with EPS as an density and thermal conductivity as formation of voids with
aggregate, fly ash as finer including sulphonated naphthalene air entrapping takes place because of low density high
(SN) based admixtures. A canoe is also designed and tested for volume aggregates. Compressive strength shows directly
floating capacity. The percentage ratio of EPS to cement is proportional relationship with density of the mix as for less
trialed between (0.25-0.3) by weight percent. As per IS 456-2000 densified mix, compressive strength decreases and
clause 15-17 [1] testing light weight concrete cubes and after vice-versa. Though light weight concrete has less
evaluating six different compositions, the optimum ratio was compressive strength as compared to standard commercial
adopted. concrete, but increasing compressive strength achievement
trends the light weight concrete in structural construction
Keywords: Expanded Polystyrene EPS, fly ash, light weight industry. As strength can be increased by densification of
concrete, sulphonated naphthalene admixtures.
mix and by addition of superplastizers hence, light weight
concrete can be used in both structural and non-structural
I. INTRODUCTION
applications.[2]
Various engineering properties of concrete differ with the
In everyday life due to high consumption of resources addition of crushed EPS. The relation between the quantity of
such as coarse aggregates and fine aggregates, these eps added and workability of concrete mix is inversely
resources are depleting day by day therefore there is an proportional i.e. with the increment in amount of EPS the
urgent need to conserve these natural resources by provided surface area increases and hence workability
developing new eco-friendly technologies and thereby reduces ensuring the requirement of superplasticizers. Due to
managing the available resources at the places highly low density of eps aggregates, the unit weight of the light
necessary. One such technology is the use of light weight weight concrete mix decreases. As density, compressive
strength, strain(elastic) and modulus of elasticity are the
concrete for structural as well as non-structural purpose like
functions of unit weight therefore these values also decreases
partition walls, members of floating structures, thermally
with the increase in quantity of EPS. Also creep increases
insulated partition walls, sideways. The light weight concrete with significant increase in EPS.[3]
containing EPS as aggregate can easily be used for such Density of the light weight concrete containing expanded
purpose. polystyrene as aggregate depends on its ratio of aggregate
Rather than recycling the EPS from the packaging and cement hence using the crushed waste EPS in light
materials can be crushed into small pieces and then, can be weight concrete increases the density and flow ability of mix
used in the form of aggregates in light weight concrete as compared to EPS beads. With the increase in EPS
percentage added to mix the thermal conductivity decreases
gradually. So on optimization of added crushed EPS quantity
and density of mix leads to the unfolding of material for not
Revised Manuscript Received on March 5, 2020.
Nikita Sharma*, Techno India NJR Institute of Technology Udaipur
only heat insulation, but also for thermal insulation in
[email protected] structural aspect.
Gaurav Suthar, Techno India NJR Institute of Technology Udaipur
313001
Sayed Aamir Hussain, Techno India NJR Institute of Technology Udaipur
313001

Retrieval Number: F10330386S20/2020©BEIESP Published By:

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.F1033.0386S20 Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
171 & Sciences Publication
 Crushed EPS in Light weight concrete

Many challenges towards building energy conservation mechanical resistance and is recyclable. Due to all these
can be solved by using the light weight concrete containing characteristics EPS is gaining attraction in market and in
EPS by enhancing the thermal characteristics of structural construction industry also.
elements specially which are at outer face of structures.[4] Long EPS sheets and blocks were crushed into small
The materials included in designing and construction of pieces by use of brush with metal teethes and sieved by
canoe are polystyrene beads, perlite, sand and cement. After 4.75mm IS sieve.
partial replacement of sand with 50% polystyrene 50%
perlite makes the mix appropriate for making of canoe.
Canoe made from this finalized proportion floats well on the
surface of surface. With the increase in polystyrene
percentage added in the mix composition, the percentage of
water absorption increases.[5]

III. MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Fig. 1. Crushed EPS
A. Cement D. Admixtures
Ultratech OPC „ordinary Portland cement‟ grade 53 is Cement used has initial setting time of 30 minutes,
used as a binding material. It has initial setting time of 30 simultaneously EPS has light weight and large volume
minutes and final setting time of 600 minutes. combination so in order to prevent segregation, proper
TABLE-1: Composition of Ordinary Portland Cement mixing is necessary. Proper mixing takes time so initial
and Fly Ash setting time of cement is delayed by adding chloride free
OXIDE Cement Fly Ash sulphonated naphthalene-SN based retarder type admixture
content content by slowing down the chemical reaction of hydration of
(per cent) (per cent) concrete and increasing its workability.
CaO 65-67 1.20 SN based admixture[6] reduces the required water content
SiO2 21-25 18.5 playing role of water reducer hence densifying the mixture
Fe2O3 0.5-0.6 10.5 and helps in achieving good compressive strength. The
Al2O3 4.0-8.0 15.3 relative density and pH is equal to 1.10 kg/l at 25°C, ≥6
K2O 0.2-0.6 2.21 respectively. By electrostatic force of repulsion, it develops a
MgO 0.1-4.0 0.3 negative charge on cement particles and disperse them hence
Na2O 0.2-0.6 0.988 enables the water content of the mixture to perform more
SO3 1.3-3.0 0.35 effectively.
In addition, with SN based admixture a Naphthalene
B. Fly Ash based superplasticizer is also added to mixture in order to
Fly Ash is finely divided residue resulting from the gain higher density, higher strength and reduced
combustion of powdered coal. Initially Fly ash was permeability.
considered as a waste and due to dumping it chocking of
rivers has taken place in the southern India regions but now IV. PROPORTIONS ADOPTED
in
the modern concrete Fly ash is an essential ingredient and its A. Water Cement Ratio
use in concrete helps in prevention of environmental Water Cement ratio is given by weight of water divided by
pollution. the weight of cement in a mix. Strength of concrete depends
The spherical form of particles improves the flow ability upon the dilution of mixture as it increases with cement
and reduces the water demand. Fly ash in concrete increases content and decreases with air and water content. Hence,
the strength of concrete due to pozzolanic reactivity in the value for water to cement ratio is trailed between 0.26-0.3.
presence of moisture thereby developing greater strength at After sufficient trails value for this governing ratio is
the later stage. It also decreases water permeability and gas finalized as 0.26,
permeability.
C. EPS – Expanded Polystyrene Where, „w‟ is weight of water
This is a super lightweight, repetitive units of styrene „c‟ is weight of cement
polymer having tiny channels developed in structure during Percentage ratio of EPS to Cement by weight
the manufacturing process. Due to its good thermal A governing percentage ratio of EPS to Cement (ø) is
insulation properties and shock absorption nature it‟s plastic introduced to balance to the quantity of EPS as it has low
form is normally used in packaging of heavy goods and weight and large volume. Range is adopted between 2.0 to
4.0
insulation panels.
EPS is one of the cellular plastic which can be found in the
different shapes. It is used for packing televisions,
refrigerators and other heavy materials, so that they can be
transported safely without any damage. It has high

Retrieval Number: F10330386S20/2020©BEIESP Published By:

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.F1033.0386S20 Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
172 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-6S, March 2020

increases workability of the mix. Various compressive

strengths are noted as mentioned in table 2
After several trials for different quantities of EPS and
cement the finalized of „ø‟ is taken as 2.53. For the sample S1 and S2 the strength of concrete cube
increases with increase in fly ash content at constant water
V. SAMPLE PREPARATON AND TESTING cement ratio and ø, but after testing the failure surface was
found to be non-homogenous. For S3 and S4 with increase in
Different types of 6 compositions are prepared and 3 cubes fly ash and water cement ratio and slight increase in ø, the
are casted for each composition. Moulds for cubes of size
strength increases more.
100mm×100mm×100mm are casted in 3 layers with each
By this result it can be seen that the strength is increasing
layer being tampered 25 times followed by oiling of inner
with increase in workability and homogeneity. To increase
surface of moulds in order to obtain the homogenous and
smooth finished surface. After 24 hours the cubes are the strength furthermore, the SN based retarder is added to
demolded and cured. 2 cubes from each composition were increase the workability and homogeneity of the mix. The
tested after 3 days in Universal Testing Machine for 3-day concrete becomes homogenous but after demolding of the
compressive strength while one cube from each composition cubes it is seen that due to high workability of mix and less
was tested after 7 days in Universal Testing Machine to get density of EPS, the concrete mix develops segregation. The
7-day compressive strength. EPS being light weight acquires the upper positon in the
Cubes are tested under the IS 456-2000[1] guidelines with sample cube while the fly ash and cement having high
application of gradual loading and different values are noted density have settled at the bottom. Hereby the strength of the
as shown in table 2. sample decreases.
To examine the low density as well as high compressive After all these observations the amount of SN based
strength of the light weight concrete some floating Admixtures is kept constant while the water cement ratio is
parameters must be adopted. For this purpose, a canoe was reduced to 0.26. Also to reduce the overall density of concrete
designed and casted for the optimum composition. the fly ash content is also reduced from 20% to 13.5%. The
The canoe has dimensions of length, breath, height, value of „ø‟ is reduced by small percentage from 2.6% to
thickness as 425 mm, 215 mm, 155 mm, 25 mm respectively. 2.53%. At this composition the cubes attain the good strength
For this a wooden mold is designed and given the shape a of about 1.7MPa in 3 days and 5MPa in 7 days. The failure
canoe, the concrete mix is designed for the finalized surface is homogenous and the density of the concrete mix is
proportion and filled in the mould this is allowed to settle for found to be 1310 kg/m³, this optimum ratio is finalized.
7 days along with curing by damp cloth.
The canoe is then demolded and kept on water surface for
checking its floating capacity. After this, it is tested for the
amount of load it can bear without sinking. It is seen that a
5.73 kg canoe can bear load of about 12 kg load and the top
edge at stern was noted 7.5 cm above the water surface. By
the above observation it can be concluded that the canoe
floats due good volume of air entrapping, buoyant force and
low density of mix i.e. half the density of standard concrete.
Therefore, this composition can be used for construction the
members of floating structures also.
Due to good quantity of EPS its thermal resistance also
Fig. 3. Casted Canoe
increases.

Fig. 2. Dimensions of Canoe (in mm)

VI. RESULT Fig. 4. Floating Canoe

The load bearing strength of light weight concrete using
EPS are given in the table for all the 6 compositions. Fly Ash
is used to increase compressive strength simultaneously it

Retrieval Number: F10330386S20/2020©BEIESP Published By:

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.F1033.0386S20 Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
173 & Sciences Publication
 Crushed EPS in Light weight concrete

Table- II: Average 3 and 7 day Compressive strengths of different mix proportions
Sample ø Fly ash W/C Ad.- SN Naphthalene ACS ACS Weight of
based cube
(%) (%) (ml per Kg superplasticizer 3 day 7 day (grams)
of cement) (ml per Kg of
Cement)
(MPa) (MPa)

S1 2.55 8 0.26 - 9 0.68 1.9 1028

S2 2.55 10 0.26 - 9.5 0.77 2.3 1189

S3 2.6 17 0.3 - 10 0.82 2.52 1301

S4 2.8 20 0.3 - 10 0.9 2.61 1289

S5 2.6 20 0.3 8 10 1.15 3.4 1255

S6 2.53 13.5 0.26 8 10 1.7 5 1309.8

 EPS can be used as a replacement of coarse aggregate.

 Relation between quantity of EPS and compressive
strength is inversely proportional, and same as for
density.
 The brushed EPS provides more workability due to the
its shape and surface condition.
 When the SN based admixture is added, the
homogeneity and the workability increase while
segregation and required water content reduces.

REFERENCES
1. IS 456, “Concrete, Plain and Reinforced,” Bur. Indian Stand. Dehli,
pp. 1–114, 2000.
2. “study of light weight concrete behaviour.”
Fig 5. – Average compressive strength comparison 3. Hjh Kamsiah Mohd.Ismail(Head) Mohamad Shazli Fathi
Norpadzlihatun bte ManafB. Sabaa and R. S. Ravindrarajah,
“Engineering Properties of Lightweight Concrete,” Symp. MM Adv.
VII. DISCUSSION Mater. Cem. Compos., no. August 2015, pp. 1–11, 1997.“Polystyrene
concrete as the structural thermal insulating material.”Makhmud
Different mechanical and physical properties are affected Kharun, Alexander P. Svintsov
with different concrete mix design for the light weight 4. “experimental study of light weight concrete.”
concrete containing EPS. The amount of EPS taken 5. Dr. Eethar Thanon Dawood
6. S. O. Osuji and D. Ikogho, “Current Effects of Naphthalene Based
changes the density, strength and thermal properties of Superplasticizer ‟ s Addition Process on Water Reduction and Grade
concrete for samples with different percentage of fly ash, C20 / 25 Concrete ‟ s Compressive Strength,” vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 9–14,
different cases were observed with increase in fly ash 2018, doi: 10.5923/j.jce.20180801.02.
content, the density increases and simultaneously strength
increases. However, after the addition of SN based AUTHOR PROFILE
admixtures the strength increases even at lower percentage Nikita Sharma IV year civil engineering. student from Techno India NJR
of fly ash content, thereby giving good strength with low Institute of Technology, Udaipur. „1st runner Up Bentley Student design
challenge 2018‟.
density. This low density of concrete mix approximately
half the density of normal concrete is responsible for the Gaurav Suthar IV year civil engineering. student from
floating of the canoe. As canoe takes two times the load of Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur. „1st
its self-weight hence it shows the considerable runner Up Smart India Hackathon 2018‟.
contribution of low density along with volume entrapping.

VIII. CONCLUSION Sayed Aamir Hussain IV year civil engineering.

student from Techno India NJR Institute of Technology,
 The properties of light weight concrete alter with Udaipur. „1st runner Up Smart India Hackathon 2018‟
different water-cement ratio, ø and admixtures.
 The compressive strength of the samples of light weight
concrete with EPS varies from 1.9MPa to 5MPa (7 days).
 The light weight concrete has floating properties has the
canoe designed can take the load of about 12 kg.
 The insulation property increases with increases in the
quantity EPS and vice-versa.

Retrieval Number: F10330386S20/2020©BEIESP Published By:

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.F1033.0386S20 Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
174 & Sciences Publication