Experimental Study on Polymer Concrete Containing Expanded Polystyrene Beads and Polyamide 66 Yarns

Abstract

The present work is directed towards the performance evaluation of the concrete composites containing different sizes of expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads. Expanded polystyrene concrete is a lightweight material. The study covers the use of three different sizes of EPS beads as lightweight aggregate in concrete. Part of the results were obtained from our earlier study reported on a novel polymer concrete essentially having EPS and polyamide 66 yarns. When largest EPS beads are used, it disintegrates along the contact zone and hence decreases the adhesion strength. The use of polyamide 66 yarns had a significant influence in crack reduction.