Development of a low cost insulation system using bottom ash for CFRP - concrete composites

Abstract

The civil engineering industry is moving towards more greener and sustainable means of construction materials today. Improving the thermal comfort in buildings while conserving the natural resources is essential to maintain the ecological balance whilst improving health, wellbeing and productivity of humans. On the other hand, concrete structures have been the main construction element for the past five decades. Retrofitting these concrete structures using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has been a popular trend in the recent years. An insulation material has been developed using bottom ash which is a byproduct of the coal power generation process. The developed plaster could be used for either thermal comfort in buildings or as a cementitious insulation material for CFRP/Concrete composites. The research was conducted in four phases. Properties of bottom ash and properties of developed material were investigated in the first two phases. Modification of developed insulation material and application of CFRP/Concrete composites were investigated in the latter two phases. A N-type plaster was developed by replacing fine aggregates in conventional cement sand plaster by bottom ash. 60% of the sand was replaced by bottom ash. A thickness of 20 mm of the developed plaster can decrease the heat transfer 45% than conventional plaster. Furthermore, the developed plaster is 8% more cost effective than conventional plaster