Lightweight concrete as covers on floating house platforms made from expanded polystyrene system (EPS) material

Abstract

Abstract Floating houses can be utilized in coastal areas as they are equipped with platforms made from expanded polystyrene system (styrofoam) and lightweight concrete covers. A lightweight concrete cover on a floating house platform made from styrofoam can improve the feasibility of housing in terms of strength, comfort and cleanliness. This research aims to obtain mixture that meet the weight and compressive strength requirements of lightweight concrete and produce them as covers on floating houses platform. The compositions of lightweight concrete materials in this research use volume ratios of 1 Pc: 2 Sand: 3 Styrofoam, 1 Pc: 1.5 Sand: 2.5 Styrofoam and 1 Pc: 1.25 Sand: 2.75 Styrofoam. The research results show that the concrete made with styrofoam qualifies as lightweight concrete with average volume weight of concrete produced between 1000-1300 kg/m3. The lightest concrete weight (1097.88 kg/m3) could be obtained from variations of mixture of 1 Pc: 1.25 Sand: 2.75 Styrofoam, The highest concrete compressive strength results were obtained from the mixture of 1 Pc: 2 Sand: 3 Styrofoam (119.26 kg/cm2). The variations of concrete mixture of 1 Pc: 2 Sand: 3 Styrofoam can be considered as lightweight concrete (≤ 1900 kg/m3).