GEOLAB - Transnational Access project LIWEMAT – Deformation characterisation of LIghtWEight foundation MATerials

Proper use of lightweight materials as construction material for various types of infrastructure brings a lot of advantages to European critical infrastructure related to weight reduction and prevention of progressive heating or freezing of its structural elements.

Large-scale Triaxial Apparatus was used to perform the loading tests, which enables the characterization of materials at very small strain ranges with a very high accuracy level of load-displacement control. The apparatus has rigid confining aluminum frames with a height of 3 cm and cross-section of 40 x 40 cm, enabling prismatic specimens with a height of up to 80 cm to be tested.

This research aims to determine the characteristics of expanded clay and foamed glass aggregates through laboratory testing, performing cyclic loading for the stiffness and damping evaluation, which would be beneficial parameters for numerical simulations.

Testing material

The foam glass aggregate has a homogeneous microstructure with approximate uniform shape and sizes. Foam glass aggregate is considered one of the best solid isolation materials with several unique properties. It can be widely used in many applications such as basement walls, foundations, floors and roofs, terrace and garden covers, rooftops, and parking areas.

The expanded clay aggregate is round shape with different sizes with small, air-filled cavities, with dark brown, reddish, brown-red or gray colors, which depends on the chemical composition of the expanded clay. The lightweight expanded clay aggregate has bulk density from 250 kg/m³ to 710 kg/m³, mostly dependent on the size of the aggregate.