Application of flexi-wall in noise barriers renewal

This paper presents an experimental study on structural performance of an innovative noise barrier consisting of poly-block, light polyurethane foam (LPF) and polyurea. This wall system (flexi-wall) is intended to be employed as a vertical extension to existing noise barriers (sound walls) in an accelerated construction method. To aid in the wall design, several mechanical tests were conducted on LPF specimens and two full-scale walls were then fabricated employing the same LPF material. The full-scale walls were subjected to lateral loading in order to establish their lateral resistance. A cyclic fatigue test was also performed on a full-scale flexi-wall in order to evaluate the performance of the wall under a repetitive loading condition. The results of the experiments indicated the suitability of flexi-wall in accelerated construction and confirmed that the structural performance of the wall system under lateral loading is satisfactory for the sound wall application. The experimental results were discussed and a preliminary design procedure for application of flexi-wall in sound wall applications was also developed.