Behavior of polypropylene fiber reinforced foam concrete beams laterally reinforced with/without glass fiber grid

Abstract

Purpose

This research is part of a project that aims to investigate using foamed concrete structurally in houses. Foamed concrete has a porous structure that makes it light in weight, good in thermal insulation, good in sound insulation and workable.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental program is conducted in this research to investigate the behavior of polypropylene fiber reinforced foam concrete beams laterally reinforced with/without glass fiber grid.

Findings

The results proved the effectiveness and efficiency of using glass fiber grid as lateral reinforcements on the shear strength of reinforced foam concrete ribs, in reducing the cracks width and increasing its shear capacity, contrary to using glass fiber grid of reinforced foam concrete beams since glass fiber grid did not play good role in beams.

Originality/value

Limited literature is available regarding the structural use of foam concrete. However, work has been done in many countries concerning its use as insulation material, while limited work was done on structural type of foam concrete.

Citation

AL-Kasasbeh, T. and Allouzi, R. (2021), "Behavior of polypropylene fiber reinforced foam concrete beams laterally reinforced with/without glass fiber grid", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 439-453. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSI-04-2020-0043