I thought people here might be interested in this building material. This guy found others on YouTube who mixed aircrete with styrofoam and tried it out himself. I thought it was quite interesting because he is starting his YouTube channel further along in the process. He has built a workshop out of the material and has been refining the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27v7Oq-q9xs
While the material itself is interesting, it is also interesting how honest and transparent he is about where he got his information from thus far, and how others on YouTube have helped improve his process.
This is best seen in his two videos on how he processes styrofoam:
The original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DBo9l9YuB0
The new system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwv10Y9GBiQ
He has a two part series explain why he is building with it, and what he has learned from his experience with the workshop so far. His idea now is to build walls with wood built in so there is an actual screwing surface. Embedding wood will also keep the government happy if you need approval. Very interesting how light the material is, and how good the insulation value is from his informal tests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBhqONKB1w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWbbD-zgNpo
Aircrete Styrofoam
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Riggerjack
- Posts: 3191
- Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am
Re: Aircrete Styrofoam
Aircrete/foamcrete has been around for decades. It gets used, tested and discarded regularly. Then "rediscovered" as the new miracle material it intuitively should be.
The relevant question is why are you wanting to use it? For craft, it could be useful. As a structural material, it is consistently disappointing.
If for insulation, the cement is an excellent conductor, and reduces the insulation far below the foam. More foam/less concrete = better insulation, less foam/more cement = stronger. But never very strong, nor a very good insulator.
For strength, cement will bind air bubbles or foam, but cement has high tensile strength (resists crushing), but pairing it with air or foam means the stresses transfer to very low tensile strength materials, and aircrete gets crushed. Think about the strength difference between pumice (foamy volcanic rock, that can be squished by hand) and other vitreous rocks. The same principle is applied.
With those weaknesses, aircrete can be used as an infill material, where it's relative stability is an advantage, but again, low mass and low insulation value.
Depending on your goals, there are better materials available.
The relevant question is why are you wanting to use it? For craft, it could be useful. As a structural material, it is consistently disappointing.
If for insulation, the cement is an excellent conductor, and reduces the insulation far below the foam. More foam/less concrete = better insulation, less foam/more cement = stronger. But never very strong, nor a very good insulator.
For strength, cement will bind air bubbles or foam, but cement has high tensile strength (resists crushing), but pairing it with air or foam means the stresses transfer to very low tensile strength materials, and aircrete gets crushed. Think about the strength difference between pumice (foamy volcanic rock, that can be squished by hand) and other vitreous rocks. The same principle is applied.
With those weaknesses, aircrete can be used as an infill material, where it's relative stability is an advantage, but again, low mass and low insulation value.
Depending on your goals, there are better materials available.
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Riggerjack
- Posts: 3191
- Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am
Re: Aircrete Styrofoam
Yeah. Like the link says, patented a century ago. This stuff isn't new.
It's not that it doesn't work, it does. But not as any practical substitute for either concrete or insulation, as building materials. It can be cut by wearing through it with a saw, or dull screwdriver.
Aircrete is great for landscaping. It's inert, and formable. One could use it somewhat like cob, if one were so inclined. It's bulky and stable.
If the sand and gravel that is bound by cement in concrete gets replaced with air or foam, the result is nothing like concrete.
But it does resist a blow torch. Until the surface starts exfoliating. Which now has me wondering about aircrete as a sculptural medium...
If you want a formable insulation, perlite can be mixed with cement. It lowers the insulation properties of the perlite, but it still works as insulation. Perlite has a low tensile strength, so the result is still weak, but not as weak as aircrete. Google Perlite cement, and you can find the engineering tables.
If you want it to work as insulation, but don't need the strength, perlite can be mixed with water glass, this is how the formed insulation in kilns and furnaces is made.
Or, if you are interested in some of the other very cool things being done with concrete, Google flying arches, or ferrocement.
Cement can be used with cloth for tufta, and I have seen some very interesting fiber cement projects.
Personally, I've played with foam sculpture, covered with flannel sheet dipped in cement. It worked better than I had hoped for.
There are all kinds of very cool things we can use cement for. But I haven't found much that aircrete is suited to, except hype.
And in a hundred years, neither has anyone else.
It's not that it doesn't work, it does. But not as any practical substitute for either concrete or insulation, as building materials. It can be cut by wearing through it with a saw, or dull screwdriver.
Aircrete is great for landscaping. It's inert, and formable. One could use it somewhat like cob, if one were so inclined. It's bulky and stable.
If the sand and gravel that is bound by cement in concrete gets replaced with air or foam, the result is nothing like concrete.
But it does resist a blow torch. Until the surface starts exfoliating. Which now has me wondering about aircrete as a sculptural medium...
If you want a formable insulation, perlite can be mixed with cement. It lowers the insulation properties of the perlite, but it still works as insulation. Perlite has a low tensile strength, so the result is still weak, but not as weak as aircrete. Google Perlite cement, and you can find the engineering tables.
If you want it to work as insulation, but don't need the strength, perlite can be mixed with water glass, this is how the formed insulation in kilns and furnaces is made.
Or, if you are interested in some of the other very cool things being done with concrete, Google flying arches, or ferrocement.
Cement can be used with cloth for tufta, and I have seen some very interesting fiber cement projects.
Personally, I've played with foam sculpture, covered with flannel sheet dipped in cement. It worked better than I had hoped for.
There are all kinds of very cool things we can use cement for. But I haven't found much that aircrete is suited to, except hype.
And in a hundred years, neither has anyone else.