Thermo-Physical and Mechanical Properties of a New Insulating Material Based on Plaster Mortar and Expanded Polystyrene Beads

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the effect of the incorporation of different percentages and particle sizes of expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) on the thermo-physical and mechanical properties of plaster mortars. Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and heat capacity are measured using the TPS-technique (Transient Plane Source) in this research. The analysis of the results indicates that the increasing of percentage of PSE beads incorporated decreases the bulk density, the mechanical strengths, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity compared to the plaster mortar control. With polystyrene bead proportions ranging from 0 to 60%, density and thermal conductivity decreased by up to 60% and 42%, respectively. Even a decrease for the specific heat is recorded for certain percentage of expanded polystyrene beads (EPS). So the novel insulating material based gypsum, dune sand and polystyrene beads can be used with advantage in the construction purpose.