Parameters Influencing the Stability of Foamed Concrete

A. Bagheri, Ph.D. 1; and S. A. Samea 2

Abstract: Foamed concrete is a versatile lightweight concrete that is finding increasing use in various application areas. A major concern
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with foamed concrete is its stability. Air voids can become unstable during production and placement or after placement of foamed concrete
during the time when it is plastic and setting has not occurred. Because of the scarcity of information on foamed concrete stability, an
experimental study was carried out to yield further information in this regard. Mixtures with foam contents from 20 to 90% were studied.
The effects of using varying amounts of a plasticizing admixture in increasing the workability of the base mixture and its influence on stability
were also studied. Although it was possible to produce and cast mixtures with up to 90% foam content, it was found that mixtures with foam
contents of approximately 65% and higher became unstable some time after casting. Increasing the workability of the base mixture by using a
plasticizer significantly improved the stability of foamed concrete mixtures and allowed achieving stability even at very high foam contents.
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0002290. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Introduction the loss of air voids during the rigors of pumping for a predefined
foamed concrete mixture made with the foam produced by a foam-
Foamed concrete is a type of lightweight concrete that is mainly ing agent be limited to 4.5%.
produced by the incorporation of preformed foam into cement paste Nambiar and Ramamurthy (2008) based on their work on fresh-
or mortar. The major advantage of this material is the ease of pro- state properties of foamed concretes and reported that the base mix-
duction that makes it possible to produce lightweight concrete at ture (the cement paste or mortar to which the foam is to be added)
any location with relatively simple and inexpensive materials should have adequate workability, and too stiff a mixture could lead
and equipment. The material has attracted considerable research to instability of air voids. They considered a stable foamed concrete
effort worldwide, particularly in the last two decades. The research mixture as one with a density ratio (ratio of measured fresh density
has led to a better understanding of the material and enhancement to designed fresh density) close to 1. Based on another work re-
of its properties. The use of a low water-to-cementitious materials ported by these researchers (Nambiar and Ramamurthy 2006),
ratio and water-reducing admixtures has enabled higher strengths to using a modified version of the cone flow test [ASTM C230-14
be achieved at a given foamed concrete density (Bing et al. 2012; (ASTM 2014)], the minimum required flow of the base mixture
Hilal et al. 2015b; Jones and McCarthy 2005). The application for production of a stable foamed concrete appeared to be approx-
areas for the material are also growing and include trench and ex- imately 75%.
cavation fill material, bridge abutments, ground engineering and The stability of foamed concrete during the production and
slope stability, precast or institute building elements such as wall transport phase can be evaluated by measuring its fresh density just
and floor panels, mine and tunnel linings (Panesar 2013; Mugahed before placement and comparing it with the design value. This sim-
et al. 2015) and innovative uses such as ground arresting systems ple control provides an effective means of avoiding the placement
for runways and air fields (Steyn et al. 2016). More environmen- of foamed concrete that has lost an unacceptable amount of foam
tally sustainable application areas of foamed lightweight mixtures content during production and transport. However, air bubbles can
are also being investigated, particularly in the form of geopolymer also become unstable after placement of foamed concrete during
foamed concretes (Hajimohammadi et al. 2017; Zhang et al. 2014). the time when it is still plastic and setting has not occurred. Such
A major concern with foamed concrete is its stability. Air voids instability will have far more serious consequences because it
can become unstable during incorporation into cement paste or would necessitate removal of the cast concrete and repreparation
mortar in the mixer or during transport and placement operations. of the placement area (Fig. 1).
Such instability can result in an unacceptable increase in the density Despite its importance, reported work on parameters leading to
of foamed concrete. The ASTM standard specification for foaming instability of foamed concrete after placement has been very lim-
agents used in making preformed foam for cellular concrete ited. The rare work reported in this regard by Jones et al. (2016)
[ASTM C869-11 (ASTM 2011)] specifies that the maximum dif- indicates that foamed concrete mixtures with high foam contents
ference between the designed and measured fresh density of are prone to instability after placement, and this hiders the use
foamed concrete be limited to 50 kg=m3 . It also requires that of foamed concretes at lower densities. The w/c ratio adopted
for mixtures by Jones and coworkers was 0.5, and although it
1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, K.N. Toosi Univ. of was possible to produce and place the low-density foamed con-
Technology, 1996715343 Tehran, Iran (corresponding author). E-mail: cretes, the continued coalescence of bubbles in the plastic foamed
[email protected] concrete caused instability of mixtures some time after placement.
2
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Civil Engineering, K.N. Toosi Univ. of These researchers focused on shortening the setting time of foamed
Technology, 1996715343 Tehran, Iran.
concretes as a means for limiting the coalescence, growth, and in-
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 22, 2017; approved on
November 22, 2017; published online on March 28, 2018. Discussion stability of air voids. The use of set accelerators and rapid harden-
period open until August 28, 2018; separate discussions must be submitted ing cements was not found to be consistently successful. However,
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil the combined use of calcium sulfoaluminate cement with portland
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 0899-1561. cement was reported to be effective. A positive effect of reducing

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 Foamed Concrete Mixtures Considered
Because of the scarcity of information on foamed concrete stability,
particularly after placement, the present work was carried out to
yield further information in this regard. Mixtures with a wide range
of foam contents from 20 to 90% were studied. The water-to-
cement ratio was taken as 0.35 because this provides a stiffer base
mixture that is more prone to instability. The effect of using varying
amounts of a water-reducing admixture in increasing the workabil-
ity of the base mixture and its influence on stability of foamed
concrete mixtures was also studied.
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Based on the fixed w/c ratio of 0.35 and the various paste-
to-foam ratios considered in this study, the mixture ingredients
were determined by the method of absolute volumes. Quantities
of constituents for various mixtures are given in Table 1. The codes
adapted for mixture identification are based on their paste-to-
foam volume ratios and the plasticizer dosage used in the
mixtures. For instance, the code PFR0.20-1 refers to the mixture
with a paste-to-foam volume ratio of 0.2 and plasticizer content
of 1%.
Fig. 1. Illustration of instability of foamed concrete
Production of Foamed Concretes
A laboratory scale foam generator, as shown in Fig. 2(a), was used
the setting time on preventing bubble growth was also reported by for foam production. A vertical shaft mixer was used for foamed
Hajimohammadi et al. (2017) based on their research on geopol- concrete production [Fig. 2(b)]. The base mixture was prepared
ymer foamed concretes. by mixing cement with water for 1 minute at low speed, followed
Because of the scarcity of information on foamed concrete sta- by 3 minutes at medium speed of the mixer. The required amount of
bility, particularly after placement, the present work was carried foam was then manually worked gently into the base mixture. This
out to yield further information in this regard. Mixtures with a wide was followed by 30 s of mixing at the low speed of the mixer until a
range of foam contents from 20 to 90% were studied. The water-to- homogeneous mixture was obtained.
cement ratio was taken as 0.35 because this provides a stiffer base The tests carried out were as follows:
mixture, which is more prone to instability. The effect of using • The density of as-produced foam was measured in accordance
varying amounts of a water-reducing admixture in increasing the with ASTM C796 (ASTM 2012);
workability of the base mixture and its influence on stability of • The fresh-state density of the base and foamed concrete
foamed concrete mixtures was also studied. mixtures was determined in accordance with ASTM C796
(ASTM 2012);
• The workability of the base and foamed mixtures was deter-
Experimental Program mined according to the modified version of ASTM C230
(ASTM 2014) as described by Nambiar and Rammamurthy
(2006). In the modified version, the rises and drops of the base
Materials plate are avoided and a larger base plate is used;
• The state of stability of foamed concrete mixtures cast into
Cement 100 × 100-mm cylindrical molds was continuously monitored,
A type II portland cement conforming to the requirements of and for unstable mixtures, the reduction in volume was deter-
ASTM C150 (ASTM 2015) was used in the production of various mined by measuring the subsidence of the foam concrete surface
mixtures. The 28-day compressive strength of the standard mortar from the initial position at the center of the cross-section and
cubes for this cement was determined as 32 MPa. The compound four other points on two perpendicular diameter lines. The re-
composition for this cement consisted of 51.0% C3S, 23.0% C2S, duction in volume of foamed concrete was then obtained by
7.3% C3A, and 10.3% C4AF. The initial and final setting times of multiplying the average subsidence by the cross-section area
the cement were determined as 140 and 240 min, respectively. of the specimen. The loss of foam volume was determined by
dividing the measured reduction in volume by the initial foam
Foam Concentrate volume of the specimen;
A protein-based foaming agent conforming to the requirements • Microscopic examinations of the pore structure of hardened
of ASTM C869 (ASTM 2011) was used for foam production. foamed concretes were carried out by a stereo microscope; and
The dilution rate was 1–20 in accordance to the manufacturer’s • In order to obtain quantitative information about air void size
recommendations. distribution of selected foamed concrete mixtures, a method
based on BS EN 480-11 (BSI 2005) entailing image processing
Water and analysis was used.
Tap water of drinkable quality was used for the production of For the void size investigation of a mixture, two 50 × 50 ×
mixtures. 15-mm slices were cut from the midheight of each of the two 100 ×
100-mm cylindrical specimens. These specimens were further
Plasticizer processed for optical microscopy and image analysis. The prepa-
A lignosulfonate-based plasticizer was used for workability ration included flat grinding of the top surface, followed by clean-
enhancement of some of the selected mixtures. ing with compressed air. In order to obtain a suitable image with

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 Table 1. Details of Mixture Constituents and Results of Stability Studies
Paste-to-foam Foam Cement Water Plasticizer Designed fresh Measured fresh Flow of base Loss of foam
Mixture code volume ratio volume (m3 ) (kg=m3 ) (kg=m3 ) (%) density (kg=m3 ) density (kg=m3 ) mixturea (mm) volume (%)
PFR0.10-0 0.10 0.91 136.2 47.7 0 213 235 176 83.7
PFR0.10-1.0 0.10 0.91 136.2 47.7 1.0 213 202 340 75.2
PFR0.15-0 0.15 0.87 195.5 68.4 0 294 305 176 68.3
PFR0.15-1.0 0.15 0.87 195.5 68.4 1.0 294 281 340 57.5
PFR0.20-0 0.20 0.83 249.7 87.4 0 364 384 176 64.2
PFR0.20-1.0 0.20 0.83 249.7 87.4 1.0 364 351 340 45.8
PFR0.25-0 0.25 0.80 299.6 104.9 0 433 423 176 60.4
PFR0.25-0.8 0.25 0.80 299.6 104.9 0.80 433 421 305 34.3
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PFR0.25-1.0 0.25 0.80 299.6 104.9 1.0 433 419 340 0

PFR0.30-0 0.30 0.77 345.9 121.1 0 495 487 176 57.3
PFR0.30-0.4 0.30 0.77 345.9 121.1 0.40 495 485 263 44.3
PFR0.30-0.6 0.30 0.77 345.9 121.1 0.60 495 484 283 0
PFR0.35-0 0.35 0.74 388.3 135.9 0 549 541 176 56.0
PFR0.35-0.4 0.35 0.74 388.3 135.9 0.40 549 540 30.6 30.6
PFR0.35-0.52 0.35 0.74 388.3 135.9 0.52 549 538 277 0
PFR0.40-0 0.40 0.71 428.1 149.8 0 601 593 176 55.1
PFR0.40-0.2 0.40 0.71 428.1 149.8 0.20 601 590 220 45.5
PFR0.40-0.4 0.40 0.71 428.1 149.8 0.40 601 588 263 0
PFR0.50-0 0.50 0.67 499.4 174.8 0 698 688 176 19.5
PFR0.50-0.3 0.50 0.67 499.4 174.8 0.30 698 685 250 0
PFR0.60-0 0.60 0.63 553.4 193.7 0 771 765 176 12.5
PFR0.60-0.3 0.60 0.63 553.4 193.7 0.30 771 760 250 0
PFR0.65-0 0.65 0.61 589.5 206.3 0 819 815 176 0
PFR0.70-0 0.70 0.59 616.7 215.9 0 854 859 176 0
PFR0.80-0 0.80 0.56 665.7 233.0 0 917 932 176 0
PFR1.60-0 1.60 0.39 921.8 322.6 0 1,256 1,297 176 0
PFR2.0-0 2.0 0.33 998.8 349.6 0 1,360 1,392 176 0
PFR4.0-0 4.0 0.20 1,197.9 419.3 0 1,623 1,661 176 0
Base mix — 0 1,498.2 524.4 0 2,023 2,035 176 0
a
This column shows the effect of the plasticizer in increasing the flow of the base mixture.

structure of the pores resulting from foam incorporation, which

are considered pores having diameter larger than 20 μm, a magni-
fication of 6.3× was selected with a pixel representing 19.9 microns
and each image covering approximately 230 mm2. After complet-
ing the image processing, the equivalent diameter of every defined
area (air void) in the image was stored in Microsoft Excel format
and analyzed to obtain air-void size distribution.

Results and Discussion

Density of Foam and Foamed Concrete Mixtures

The density of as-produced foam was in the range of 35–50 kg=m3 .
The fresh-state density of the base mixture (mixture before the in-
corporation of foam) was determined as 2,035 kg=m3 . The spread
of the base mixture was determined in the cone flow test as
176 mm. The measured fresh-state densities of various foamed con-
Fig. 2. Foam generator and the mixer used for production of foam and
crete mixtures are given in Table 1. They cover a range from 235 to
foamed concrete: (a) foam generator; (b) foamed concrete mixer
1,661 kg=m3 , corresponding to mixtures with foam contents of
91–20%.

sharp contrast between air voids and cement matrix, the procedure Stability of Foamed Concrete Mixtures
described by Nambiar and Ramamurthy (2007) was used. This in- All the mixtures studied, even the one with approximately 91%
cluded application of black ink to the polished surfaces, and after foam content, had measured fresh densities close to the designed
drying, white talc powder was applied to the surfaces to fill the density, which shows their stability during production and place-
voids. ment. This indicates that not only was the foam of adequate quality,
The image analysis system consisted of a camera-mounted but also that the base mixture had adequate workability to prevent
optical microscope and a computer with image analysis software foam loss during production and casting. With regards to stability
Clemex Vision PE. Because the objective was to investigate the after casting, however, severe instability was observed for some of

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 the mixtures, particularly the ones with high foam contents. Fig. 3 instability increased with increasing foam content. It thus appears
shows the extent of instability for the mixture PFR0.15-0, which is that increased paste content, which allows better separation of air
the mixture with a paste-to-foam ratio of 0.15, corresponding to a bubbles, results in increased stability.
foam content of 87%. The foam volume reductions in various mix- The use of a water-reducing admixture for improving the work-
tures are given in Table 1. As the results show, mixtures with foam ability of the base mixture was found to be quite effective in im-
content higher than 0.61 m3 were unstable and the amount of proving the stability of foamed concrete mixtures. The instability of
mixtures with foam contents of 63–80% could be prevented
by the use of appropriate amounts of a plasticizing admixture.
The stability performance of mixtures with and without plasticizing
admixtures are compared in Fig. 4.
It is postulated that the increase in the workability of the base
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mixture by the use of the plasticizing admixture results in less

shearing stress on air voids and provides for easier flow of cement
paste between them. This results in a more uniform distribution of
cement paste between air voids, reducing their tendency to coalesce
and growth in size. In order to check the validity of the previous
assumption, it was desirable to capture the air void structure of plas-
tic foamed concretes with and without plasticizer within a short
time of placement before the onset of instability and loss of foam
volume. Because plastic foamed concrete does not lend itself
to microscopic analysis, a rather innovative approach was used.
Freshly placed foamed concrete was subjected to a freezing temper-
ature of −18°C, and the frozen section was subsequently split and
observed under an optical microscope. Fig. 5(a) shows the air void
Fig. 3. Instability of foamed concrete with paste-to-foam volume ratio structure of mixture PFR0.4-0, which is the mixture with 71% foam
of 0.15 (foam content of 87%) content, within a short time after placement. Although this mixture
was stable at placement, its air void system was found to be quite
nonuniform, and considerable coalescence of bubbles, leading to
large voids with diameters of up to 3.0 mm, had already occurred.
This mixture finally became unstable in the time period between
placement and setting, leading to approximately 55% loss in the
foam volume. Fig. 5(b) shows the air void structure of a mixture
similar to that just described, but with a higher degree of workabil-
ity because of the use of approximately 0.40% of plasticizer. As
seen, the mixture had a significantly more uniform air void system
compared to that without plasticizer. The better air void system of
this mixture at placement allowed it to remain stable during the
period between placement and setting, and the growth of bubbles
during this time span was not to an extent that would cause
instability.
Fig. 4. Effect of plasticizer on stability of mixtures with various foam
contents; the loss of foam volume for mixtures with plasticizer at Pore Structure of Various Mixtures in Hardened State
foam contents of 80% and lower and mixtures without plasticizer
The pore structure of various foamed concrete mixtures after
at foam contents of 61% was zero
hardening was studied by splitting 100 × 100-mm cylindrical

Fig. 5. Fresh-state air void structure of mixtures with 71% foam content: (a) without plasticizer; (b) with plasticizer

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Fig. 6. Air void structure of hardened foamed concrete mixtures with various foam contents: (a) 39% foam, no plasticizer; (b) 71% foam, no
plasticizer; (c) 71% foam, 0.40% plasticizer; (d) 91% foam, 1.0% plasticizer

specimens into two halves and examining the split surfaces without paste-to-foam ratios are presented. The mixtures chosen were
any further preparation using a camera-mounted optical stereo mi- PFR1.60-0, with 39% foam content, and PFR0.40-0.40, with
croscope. Fig. 6(a) shows a cross-section of mixture PFR1.6-0, 71% foam content. The latter mixture had 0.40% of plasticizer
with a paste-to-foam ratio of 1.6 and foam content of approximately to increase the fluidity of the base mixture so that stability at
39%. This was a stable mixture and, as can be seen, has a relatively the high foam content could be achieved. Typical images of pre-
uniform structure. Fig. 6(b) shows the void structure of mixture pared surfaces for the two aforementioned mixtures are shown
PFR0.40-0, which had an initial foam content of approximately in Fig. 7.
71%. The coalescence and growth of air voids in this mixture led
to instability, and 55% loss of foam volume was observed. Fig. 6(c)
shows the void structure of mixture PFR0.40-0.40. This mixture is Air Void Size Distribution Parameters
similar to mixture PFR0.40-0, just described, but contained 0.4% of The air void size distribution can be based on either the numeric
a plasticizing admixture. Although it shows some nonuniformity ratio of voids at each diameter to the total number of voids or
and formation of large bubbles, the coalescence and growth of the area ratio of voids at each diameter to the total area of voids.
voids did not occur to a degree sufficient to cause instability. As stated by Hilal et al. (2015a), the void area ratio is a more
Fig. 6(d) shows mixture PFR0.10-1.0 with initial foam content of appropriate representation of air void size distribution and more
approximately 91%, which, despite the use of plasticizer, showed realistically represents volume ratios of voids of various sizes.
severe instability. As seen, the coalescence and growth of bubbles Figs. 8(a and b) show the void area frequency and cumulative void
has resulted in collapse of many of the air voids. The collapsed area frequency of air voids for the mixtures with 39 and 71% foam
paste surrounds the remaining large voids. content, respectively. Based on the image analysis, the total void
area for the mixtures with 39 and 71% initial foam content were
determined as 37.7 and 68.2%, respectively. The air void size
Pore Size Distribution by Image Analysis
distribution parameters, including the median (D 50) and 10%
In the previous section, a comparison between the void structure oversize (D 90), for the two mixtures can be derived from Fig. 8.
of stable and unstable mixtures was given. Unstable and collapsed The derived D 50 size for the mixtures with 39 and 71% foam
mixtures do not have a homogeneous structure; therefore, a content were 620 and 676 μm, respectively, which shows this
representative and meaningful void size distribution of such mix- parameter is not significantly influenced by the foam content. How-
tures cannot be obtained. The comparison was therefore of a ever, the different between the D 90 size for the two mixtures was
qualitative nature. In the present section, quantitative results involv- considerable, at 1,445 μm for the mixture with 39% foam and
ing void size distribution of two stable mixtures with different 1,772 μm for the mixture with 71% foam content. This quantitative

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Fig. 7. Typical images of prepared surfaces for the selected mixtures: (a) mixture PFR1.60-0 with 39% foam; (b) mixture PFR0.40-0.40 with 71%
foam

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. Void area frequency and cumulative void area frequency of pore diameters of foamed concrete mixtures: (a) PFR1.60-0, 39% foam;
(b) PFR0.40-0.4, 71% foam

comparison confirms the hypothesis that high foam content results of 63% and higher subsequently became unstable some time
in greater coalescence of air voids. after casting;
• The coalescence of adjacent bubbles in foamed concrete is a
dynamic process that progresses with time and leads to larger
Conclusions and less stable bubbles, which can result in a considerable
air void loss during the period in which the mixture is still
• Although it was possible to produce and cast foamed concrete plastic and setting has not occurred;
mixtures with up to 91% foam content (fresh density of • Foamed concrete mixtures with low paste-to-foam volume ra-
230 kg=m3 ), it was found that mixtures with foam contents tios are more prone to instability because adequate separation

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 of air voids cannot be achieved. Even in the mixtures that remain Determination of air void characteristics in hardened concrete.” BS
stable, the ones that have higher paste-to-foam volume ratios EN 480-11:2005, London.
have an air void system with a smaller size distribution; Clemex Vision PE version 3.5-029-20030717r [Computer software].
• The workability of the base mixture influences bubble stability Clemex Technologies, Inc., Longueuil, QC, Canada.
because stiffer mixtures exert more shearing stresses on the bub- Hajimohammadi, A., Ngo, T., Mendis, P., and Kashani, A. (2017). “Alkali
bles during mixing and placement, resulting in a larger bubble activated slag foams: The effect of the alkali reaction on foam character-
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Hilal, A. A., Thom, N. H., and Dawson, A. R. (2015a). “On entrained
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the base mixture was found to be an effective means of prevent- and strength of foam concrete made without/with additives.” Constr.
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