Material properties and field experiments of foam glass lightweight gravels for application in cold regions

Abstract

We investigated the frost-susceptibility and freeze–thaw resistance of foam glass lightweight gravel, a recycled material made from waste glass, for use in cold regions. The lightweight non-frost-susceptible material used in the experiments was confirmed to have sufficient freeze–thaw resistance. An examination of its basic properties revealed that the particles contained many closed voids, and thermal conductivity values were about 1/25th of those for general crushed stone, indicating high thermal insulation performance. Based on these characteristics, we proposed using foam glass lightweight gravel as a fill material for road frost blankets and for slope protection gabions, and we demonstrated its effectiveness through heat transfer analysis and field tests.