Physical and mechanical characterization of Fiber-Reinforced Aerated Concrete (FRAC)

Fiber-Reinforced Aerated Concrete (FRAC) is a novel lightweight aerated concrete that includes internal reinforcement with short polymeric fibers. The autoclaving process is eliminated from the production of FRAC and curing is performed at room temperature. Several instrumented experiments were performed to characterize FRAC blocks for their physical and mechanical properties. This work includes the study of pore-structure at micro-scale and macro-scale; the variations of density and compressive strength within a block; compressive, flexural and tensile properties; impact resistance; and thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the effect of fiber content on the mechanical characteristics of FRAC was studied at three volume fractions and compared to plain Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). The instrumented experimental results for the highest fiber content FRAC indicated compressive strength of approximately 3 MPa, flexural strength of 0.56 MPa, flexural toughness of more than 25 N m, and thermal conductivity of 0.15 W/K m.