Foaming agent is an essential component of lightweight concrete production. The foaming agent is a liquid used to create air voids in the concrete which make it lightweight and highly porous. It also provides high compressive strength to the finished lightweight concrete.
Foamed concrete is a new type of concrete made with a mixture of cement, water, foaming agents and fine materials such as flyash, ground granulated blast furnace slag or quarry fines. It has a range of densities between 400 kg/m3 and 1600 kg/m3 and compressive strengths from 1-25 MPa, and is proving to be of considerable use in the construction industry.
The type of foaming agent used for foamed concrete has a major effect on the performance of the foamed concrete. Protein and synthetic foaming agents are commonly used. The use of protein foaming agents has been shown to result in smaller isolated spherical air bubbles which have been found to result in higher compressive strength than the use of synthetic foaming agents.
Various types of foaming agents are available from different manufacturers, the optimum w/c ratio for creating the desired FC density will vary for each type / brand of foaming agent. It is recommended that you do some trials before purchasing a foaming agent to ensure the correct w/c ratio is required to create your desired FC.
The w/c ratio is a very important factor in determining the strength of your lightweight concrete. It is suggested that you do some tests before selecting the w/c ratio to use in your foamed concrete.
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