Mechanical and thermal properties of a cellular concrete formulated from dune sand, cement, lime and waste brick fillers

This paper present the results of an experimental study that investigate the properties of cellular concrete made with sand dune, fine of brick, lime and powder of aluminum as expansive agent. The aim of this work is both to enhance the sand dune in the production of lightweight concrete with local resources, but also enhance the performance of the sandcrete by incorporating fines mineral as fines from waste of brick. Different parameters were studied, in which the quantity of substitution of fines in the sand dune, the proportions substitutions of lime in the cement, the dosage of expansive agent. The researches examine the apparent density, the introduced porosity, the compressive strength and the thermal conductivity. The result shows that it is possible to producing lightweight concrete suited to the hot, arid environment of our region (South of Algeria). The matrix of the developed material who reach the optimum of compressive strength containing 15% of fine of brick as replacement of sand dune. The greatest introduced porosity and lowest density are reached from composition without lime and with 0.5 % Al. Materials obtained has an acceptable heat insulation and sufficient compressive strength