Experimental Investigation of Physical and Mechanical Characteristics of Structural Foamed Concrete Containing Waste Marble Dust

Utilizing waste material in concrete production is an effective way to eliminate waste and develop environmentally friendly building materials. An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the physical, mechanical and durability characteristics of Polypropylene (PP) fibers foamed concrete (FC) that contains waste marble powder (WMP) as a substitute for conventional cement. Seven different FC mixtures were made utilizing WMD as a cement substitution at the rates of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30%. Fresh properties of mixtures were investigated by performing slump and fresh density tests. Several tests that evaluated the mechanical strengths were conducted at 7 and 28 days. Moreover, the durability of FC specimens at high temperatures was also examined. Results indicate that by including WMD into FC mixtures, the desired physical, mechanical, and durability characteristics could be obtained. The highest compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strength were 27.4, 2.34, and 4.2 MPa, respectively, with significant improvements of 39.01, 14.7, and 25% at 28 days. Furthermore, all FC specimens containing WMD showed satisfactory performance at temperatures of 300 ᵒ C and 600 ᵒ C.