CLC Block Strength and Density

CLC block is a cement-bonded material made by mixing slurry of cement with stable, pre-formed foam manufactured on site. These blocks are light in weight and competitive with red clay bricks in pricing. They offer significant savings for finished structures and provide excellent sound insulation, thermal insulation, and fire resistance.

The CLC block has many advantages over conventional construction materials such as burnt clay bricks, hollow concrete bricks and fly ash bricks. These advantages include the low density, lower cement and aggregate content in the mixture, thermal insulation, and sound suppression.

In this research, a series of different CLC bricks with variable composition were tested to evaluate their strength and density. The test included compressive strength at three ages, namely 3, 7, 14 and 28 days after curing.

Results showed that the compressive strength of CLC was higher when OPF and BC were mixed in CLC than normal CLC. OPF contributed to reduce the air void inside the specimen, while BC acts as a filter between the sand and cement. In addition, BC absorbs water in itself and slowly releases it to the CLC and improves the hydration reaction.

The combination of OPF and BC also increase the splitting tensile strength of CLC. Moreover, the OPF and BC combination increased the dry density of CLC by reducing the air void in the CLC. The OPF and BC combination was also able to retain the same density of CLC as normal CLC with the same amount of BC in the mixture.