Comparing the properties of EPS and glass foam mixed with cement and sand

One of the formations in which the waste materials can be used as a component is controlled low strength material (CLSM). CLSM is a self-compacting cementious material that is generally used as back-fill as an alternative to compacted-fill. In this study, the availability of glass foam and Expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam as a component for CLSM production was investigated, some geotechnical properties including strength and unit weight characteristics of composite soils were explored using several laboratory tests. When the results are compared, EPS mixtures have lower unit weight and undrained shear strength values compared to glass foam mixtures. Therefore use of glass foam will have the advantage of higher strength compared to EPS mixtures and can be used as a subbase material. As a result, it was found that a mixture containing cement, polystyrene foam or glass foam and sand, can be successfully used in some applications such as improvement of slopes and reduction of embankment weight.