A novel lightweight cementitious composite with enhanced thermal insulation and mechanical properties by extrusion technique

Extrusion technique was used for producing arched lightweight cementitious composites panels (LCCPs) to protect thermal leakage of pipe with high temperature. The results indicated that with 40. 0 wt% addition of expanded perlite (EP) with mean size of 40 µm, thermal conductivity of the LCCPs can be greatly reduced by 78.4% without scarifying too much of mechanical strength, which ensured that two arched LCCPs can be riveted together as a cover to protect circular pipelines from thermal leakage. More attractively, compared with casting method, the novel LCCPs by extrusion showed a higher automatic and massive production, lower cost and better sustainability, which can be served as a good candidate of thermal insulating materials for piping system.