Aerated Concrete -Manufacturing -Advantages-Disadvantages

What is meant by Aerated concrete?

It is a composite of cement, lime, fly ash, and gas former (aluminum powder). It is a high efficiency thermal insulating material made through the processes of molding and steam curing.

Aerated concrete manufacturing

• By the formation of gas by a chemical reaction within the mass during the liquid or plastic state.
• Mixing preformed stable foam with the suspension.
• By using finely powdered metal (usually aluminum powder) with the suspension and reacted with the calcium hydroxide released during the hydration process, to give a large amount of hydrogen gas. This hydrogen gas when contained in the suspension mixture, gives the cellular structure.
• Zinc powder can also be added instead of aluminum powder. Hydrogen peroxide and bleaching powder have also been used in place of metallic powder. But this practice is not widely followed today.

• In the preformed method, the stable foam is mixed with cement and grout of crushed sand, thus causing the Aerated concrete structure when this hardens and hardens. As a minor modification, some foaming agents are also mixed and thoroughly agitated to obtain a foaming effect on the concrete.
•  Similarly, a large number of airborne agents can also be used and mixed thoroughly to introduce an Aerated concrete structure into the concrete.
•  However, this method cannot be used to decrease the density of concrete beyond a certain point and, as such, the use of air entrainment is often not practiced to make aerated concrete.

• The gasification method is one of the most widely used methods that use aluminum powder or other similar material. 

• Aerated concrete the practices of using foam performed with mud is limited to small-scale production and on-site work where small changes in dimensional stability can be tolerated. But the advantage is that any desired density on the site can be done in this method.

Advantages of Aerated Concrete