Enhancing Foam Concrete Through Alkalinity Management and Carbonation Curing

Abstract

Foam concrete has attracted wide attentions due to its features of lightweight and thermal insulation, but the low mechanical performance restrains its utilization in practical engineering. This work attempted to enhance the properties of foam concrete by alkalinity management and carbonation curing. The carbide slag (CS) was used to replace Portland cement to prepare CS-based foam concrete (CSFC), and the effects of curing methods including water curing, external carbonation curing (ECC) and internal carbonation cuing (ICC) on the mechanic properties, hydration products, microstructure, water absorption and softening coefficient analyses, and pore structure were investigated. The results indicated that the compressive strength of CSFC with 10% CS was significantly enhanced regardless of the curing methods and ages. Besides, ECC seemed more effective in increasing the strength of CSFC with low dosage of CS (0-10%), and ICC was more effective in the case of 20-30% CS.

Keywords: foam concrete, Carbonation, Carbide slag, Curing system