Thermal Performance Simulation of Eco-Friendly Lightweight Foamed Concrete Incorporating Palm Oil Fuel ash and Eggshell Powder Using ABAQUS

The need for thermal insulating building material due to increase in Urban Heat Island effect and the carbon footprint associated with concrete due to its binder, cement, has caused increase in utilization of waste by-products as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Vast number of waste materials are available which could be potential substitutes of cement and help in developing eco-friendly concrete, however, conducting various tests on these would be costly and time-consuming. Therefore, computational simulation is a cost-effective and time-saving alternative for thorough time-consuming and expensive experimental studies. The aim of current work was to conduct the finite element simulation to assess the performance of eco-friendly lightweight foamed concrete incorporating two such waste products, Eggshell Powder (ESP) and Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) being subject to thermal stress, heat transfer and parametric analysis and comparing the simulated results with data obtained from experimental work. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the surface temperature of the eco-friendly lightweight concrete panels decreased as the thickness of the panels increased. The finite element model by using ABAQUS software was validated with experimental results, and it was determined that the simulated results were within an acceptable range of 10% which could reduce to 2% if all panels with a set thickness of 50 mm. Therefore, computational model could help predict thermal stresses and heat transfer and provide fast-track thermal performance analysis of eco-friendly lightweight concrete incorporating various waste materials.