Experimental study of high-performance autoclaved aerated concrete produced with recycled wood fibre and rubber powder

The brittleness and low fracture toughness of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) could be improved by fibres, but the deterioration of its thermal insulation performance are commonly observed. In this study, different combinations of recycled wood fibre and rubber powder were added in AAC to improve its performance and reduce the negative environmental impacts of solid waste. In addition to the fluidity of slurry, the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of AAC were systematically investigated, together with the phase components and microstructure images. AAC with relative high mechanical strengths and excellent thermal insulation performances could be obtained because of the reinforcement of wood fibre and the gas introduced by rubber powder. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that the positive effects of wood fibre and rubber powder were the results of physical interactions. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.