Foamed concrete shows excellent physical characteristics such as low self weight, relatively high strength and superb thermal and acoustic insulation properties. It allows for minimal consumption of aggregate, and by replacement of a part of cement by fly ash, it contributes to the waste utilization principles. For many years, the application of foamed concrete has been limited to backfill of retaining walls, insulation of foundations and roof tiles sound insulation. However, during the last few years, foamed concrete has become a promising material for structural purposes. A series of tests was carried out to examine mechanical properties of foamed concrete mixes without fly ash and with fly ash content. In addition, the influence of 25 cycles of freezing and thawing on the compressive strength was investigated. The apparent density of hardened foamed concrete is strongly correlated with the foam content in the mix. An increase of the density of foamed concrete results in a decrease of flexural strength. For the same densities, the compressive strength obtained for mixes containing fly ash is approximately 20% lower in comparison to the specimens without fly ash. Specimens subjected to 25 freeze‐thaw cycles show approximately 15% lower compressive strengths compared to the untreated specimens.

A series of static loading tests was performed to determine the fracture properties of foamed concrete of varying density. Beams with dimensions of 100×100×840 mm with a central notch were tested in three-point bending. Then, remaining halves of the specimens were tested again as un-notched beams in the same set-up with reduced distance between supports. The tests were performed in a hydraulic displacement controlled testing machine with a load capacity of 5 kN. Apart from measuring the loading and mid-span displacement, a crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) was monitored. Based on the load – displacement curves of notched beams the values of fracture energy and tensile stress at failure were calculated. Subsequently, the flexural tensile strength was obtained on un-notched beams with dimensions of 100×100×420 mm. Moreover, cube specimens 150×150×150 mm were tested in compression to determine the compressive strength