Perfect Aircrete, Kitchen Ingredients [video]

schiffern 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Note that aircrete itself has existed for decades, but production of aircrete has typically required buying (or DIY-ing) a high-capacity foam generator.

What's novel in this video is the production method, which uses only a standard cement mixer.

The 'traditional' method is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnNua21zx78

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leguminous 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Aerated concrete is an established building material in some parts of the world. In Europe, a big manufacturer is Ytong, and they even make precast panels in addition to blocks.

It's made differently from this, though. It is aerated through a chemical reaction rather than mechanically.

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cornholio 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The industrial version is produced in an autoclave, this allows precise control of curing, density and final mechanical resistance/insulation values. Hence, the name the material is best known by - AAC.

On the other hand, the video linked attributes too much credit and complexity to the foam manufacturing method, it can certainly be done with very primitive technology. Here are some dudes doing it in a developing country, it's very very basic, the foam generator is basically a steel wool sponge where pressurized air combine with water containing the foaming agent. They give out the complete recipe and details of their tools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h6zBbVkuQI

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stoneman24 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There was recently a crisis in older publicly constructed buildings in the UK that were built [0].The aerated concrete had a limited lifespan especially if it was damaged and had contact with water.

Lots of people looking for compensation and claiming mis-representation.

[0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66669239

	▲	cornholio 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The UK crisis involved steel reinforced AAC beams that were used (of all places) to support roofs of schools. UK turned out to be a rainy place, the rain infused into the cellular structure and corroded the steel, with disastrous consequences. It's a very particular use case of a very particular product, not relevant to the wide majority of AAC uses around the world, which is largely non-structural and not reinforced, or subjected to moderate compressive loads, such as lateral walls for 1-2 stories buildings in non-seismic areas.

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mikewarot 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think this might make a great material for large machine tool bases. Concrete lathes have been a thing since WW1, but not common.

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sitzkrieg 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

nighthawkinlight's entire youtube channel is full of practical gems. i used several of his waterproofing techniques to flawless effect

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WorkerBee28474 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I heard about aerogel as a kid and only recently learned how extremely hard it is to make [0], so this seems like a cool and more accessible material in the same vein.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0HfmYBlF8g

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MaxikCZ 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I always thought of concrete as cement + water + sand.

This video makes aircrete with cement + water + thickening/foaming agent, but it doesnt use any sand, no?

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schiffern 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, aircrete mixes usually don't contain sand. This isn't something unusual about this video, it's true for most aircrete recipes.

Another method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnNua21zx78

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aidenn0 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Concrete is cement plus aggregate (it doesn't have to be sand; it could be gravel, for example). Coarse aggregates wouldn't work well in this, but it would be cool for a followup video where sand is used.

The wikipedia pages suggests that this is more prolery referred to as "foam mortar" or "foam cement"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam_concrete

	▲	cornholio 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You could say the aggregate is air and the cement still performs its role as a binder, it binds all the air bubbles into a stable matrix. Hence "aerated concrete".

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mikewarot 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

He had a note up that said he's been having some luck with a major addition of sand, but it'll be a bit before the video for that goes up.

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tartoran 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Wow, this is a fantastic material. Hope to see it used soon

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ansgri 4 hours ago | parent [-]

It really is amazing, you can build a whole 2-story house out of it quickly using polymer-based glue instead of mortar, only using traditional reinforced concrete in some critical places. Was quite popular in russia, last I checked. Unfortunately hard to find in some better CIS countries.

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orthoxerox an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, about 60% of all new single-family homes are built out of AAC in Russia. It's also very common as an infill in reinforced concrete frames, like blocks of flats.

There are AAC factories in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan that I know of. The rest are probably too seismically risky to be major AAC markets.

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lm28469 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You can also build brick walls without mortar, some of them even contain insulation, you just need to plaster both sides and you're good to go. Porothern dry fix is a good example

I had the choice between aircrete and that for my house and went for good ol bricks instead

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AtlasBarfed 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

So they buy preforms, or they mix it themselves and pour into forms?

	▲	orthoxerox an hour ago \| parent [-]
		It's precut autoclaved blocks.

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IshKebab 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Fuck aircrete. My house has aircrete blocks in the extension and you need special expensive wall plugs to attach things to it that are rated to a grant total of 25kgf.

Because nobody would want to actually hang heavy things on their wall right??

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SilverElfin 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I like the idea of a lightweight concrete like material that can be used to make houses more durable. Is there a way to replace drywall interiors with this or something else? I really hate how susceptible drywall is to things like moisture and mold, but also how repairing it requires a dusty and messy process of cutting, sanding, mud, tape, and all that. It would be so much easier to have waterproof durable panels that can be opened to access the interior wall spaces (for electrical or plumbing stuff). Is there a solution?

	▲	twodave 19 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		This stuff is worse than drywall for a lot of reasons due to its brittleness. I’m not even sure paint would adhere to it as well as drywall.