Influence of the technological foam concrete manufacturing process on its pore structure

A two-stage foaming method of foam concrete production is proposed. The technical result of this method is aimed at improving the pore structure of the material. To assess the impact of the proposed production technology on the quality of the material, the construction properties of materials obtained by the classical method and the method of dry mineralization of foam were compared. The main assessment criterion of the quality of materials is the degree of homogeneity of foam concrete throughout the volume. Assessment of material porosity was carried out by analyzing the structure of dried specimens after soaking in water with and without colorant, as well as by pressing cylindrical specimens, segmented by height, while the assessment of material homogeneity was carried out through the analysis of discrete, particular measurements of the strength properties of the material at its height. The results of the porosity assessment gave a clear regularity of pore structure distribution of the materials of the methods compared. In general, the results of the comparison of water absorption and strength gave us an idea of the impact of technological production on the quality of foam concrete as a building product. The result of the research is the technology of foam concrete production by two-stage injection of foam: it is aimed at improving the pore structure of the material due to the uniform distribution of pores, as well as increasing the strength characteristics of the material by reducing the water-cement ratio and uniformly distributed structure of the supporting skeleton.