Obsidian, Waste Ceramic Powder, and Recycled Concrete Powder as Alternative Aggregates in Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose-Stabilized Foamed Concrete: Mechanical, Thermal, and Durability Performance

The substitution of conventional materials with alternative resources is a significant approach for enhancing the engineering performance and sustainability of foamed concrete (FC). While supplementary cementitious materials, volcanic materials, and waste-derived materials have been extensively investigated, the use of obsidian as an alternative aggregate in FC systems remains largely unexplored, and the combined, systematic comparative use of obsidian, waste ceramic powder (WCP), and recycled concrete powder (RCP) within a unified experimental framework has not been previously investigated. This paper evaluates the use of obsidian, WCP, and RCP as alternative aggregates in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)-stabilized FC by replacing standard sand at 25%, 50%, and 100% levels. The thermal, durability and mechanical characteristics of the mixtures were assessed through density, compressive strength (CS), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), water absorption (WA), elevated temperature resistance (200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C and 800 °C), freeze–thaw performance, thermal conductivity (TC), and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The results showed that the 28-day CS increased from 0.545 MPa in the control mixture to a maximum value of 2.590 MPa in the obsidian-based FC. Moreover, WA decreased markedly from 117.7% to 46.9% in the obsidian-based FC. The UPV varied from 1355 to 1795 m/s due to the incorporation of RCP, WCP and obsidian at different replacement ratios in the mixture designs. The lowest TC of 0.08185 W/(m·K) was recorded in the obsidian-based FC at 50% substitution level. Under elevated-temperature exposure, the mixture with 100% obsidian replacement retained a compressive strength of 0.5936 MPa at 800 °C. To conclude, the use of obsidian, WCP and RCP as alternative aggregates in FC shows promising potential for the development of durable, thermally efficient, and sustainable lightweight construction materials.