MINERAL FOAMS WITH IMPROVEDPERFORMANCES

Abstract

Mineral foam materials represent an alternative to fibrouslightweight products that are to be reconsidered. Following areminder of the conditions of foam formation in fluidenvironments we review different foam production systems andprovide details concerning gypsum foams. Several types ofgypsum foams are achieved by modifying formulation parametersand production conditions. Thermal and mechanicalperformances of these gypsum foams are then assessed andcompared to the ones obtained for cellular and hemp concrete.Physical properties of these foams are analyzed (including poresize, membrane thickness and bubbles connectivity). Relevantresults allow the identification of several optimal conditionsnecessary to mineral foam formation applicable to other mineralbinder types.