Projects

Development of High Volume Flyash Foam Concrete Wall Panel Using Rice Straw as Thermal Insulation Material

The project titled “Development of High Volume Flyash Foam Concrete Wall Panel Using Rice Straw as Thermal Insulation Material” is funded by Initiative to Promote Habitat Energy Efficiency (I-PHEE) – Department of Science & Technology (DST). The duration of the project is 3 years. The principal investigators of the project are Dr. K. M. Mini and Dhanya Sathyan.

Foam concrete is a light-weight concrete. It has high flow ability, porosity, fire resistance, airborne sound insulation, good heat insulation, and a desirable compressive strength. The goal of this study is to produce thermal insulation foamed concrete cladding using cement, fly ash, and rice straw. Rice straw and fly ash were used to improve the thermal properties of foamed concrete. The present study analyses the thermal and strength properties of foam concrete. Numerical study to investigate the thermal insulation capacity using COMSOL software is also done. The w/s ratio of 0.55, fly ash cement ratio of 1:1 is fixed for all the specimens. The result shows that the mix with 1% rice straw (by weight of cement), 20% foam volume, is found to be optimum in terms of strength and thermal conductivity.

Duration of the Project: 3 Years