A STUDY ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE BY REPLACING AGGREGATE WITH EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE BEADS

Artificial light weight aggregate produced from environmental waste like Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), is a workable new source of structural aggregate material. The use of light weight concrete permits greater design flexibility and considerable cost savings, reduced dead load. This paper presents the results of an experimental work on the effects of waste Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) based lightweight aggregate and fly ash in concrete. The natural coarse aggregate were replaced with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% (by volume) of EPS. The ordinary Portland cement was replaced with 30% (by weight) of fly ash. Mechanical properties (compressive, tensile and flexural strength) and mix design of the lightweight concrete will be determined. Compressive strength values of concrete were significantly influenced by the mix ratios and curing period. Increase in the EPS beads content in concrete mixes reduces the compressive, flexural and tensile strength of concrete. The density of concrete was decreased with increasing EPS beads percentages. The density of concrete was decreased from 3.5 % to 23.5 % with addition in the range 10 % - 50 % of EPS beads