Sandbags and SuperAdobe bags
-
Hi, can AirCrete be poured in SuperAdobe bags or in sandbags as the only material rather than using Adobe? Also, can I replace foam by crushed styrofoam in the AirCrete mix?
-
@Kia-Nasseh I think using the bags has promise. The bags themself might also serve as a form of reinforcement. However, I have my doubts for using crushed Styrofoam. How would it inject air into the cement water mixture?
-
@KnowItAllTeen Hi, thank you for your reply. I thought rather than mixing a foaming agent to make the mixture airy, we may be able to replace the air bubbles with Styrofoam?
-
@Kia-Nasseh The foaming agent inflates the water and cement. How would Styrofoam do the same thing.
-
@KnowItAllTeen As I understand it, foam makes the mixture airy and so increases its thermal insulation. If that is the case, styrofoam may have good thermal insulation property by itself and may be a good replacement for foam? I am not sure but if somebody explains it to me I would appreciate it.
-
@Kia-Nasseh Aloha Kia-Nasseh,
My name is Thomas. Iʻm new to the Dome Gaia aircrete forum. If you havenʻt found this already You may find some insight to your question about Styrofoam embedded aircrete. Here is a YouTube channel of someone doing this already. Worth exploring a bit to find what heʻs learned.
Malama Pono,
Thomasyoutube.com see channel: Stephen Williams
-
Stephen Williams IS the authority on this topic. He appears to be very successful in his endeavors. Hajjar did experiments with this method many years ago and concluded that it was superior in many ways. However, he was not able to readily acquire and process styrofoam efficiently enough, so he fell back to just plain aircrete.
-
Thank you very much for your guidance. My goal is to do a shortcut and rather than using forms to make Aircrete blocks or panels, I pour the Aircrete mixture directly inside the Superdome sandbags. My only concern is that the Aircrete may leak out of bags? Do you think this may happen?
-
I definitely do. Freshly poured aircrete has a strong tendency to seep and bleed through any and all cracks, crevices, or perforations. I have found that aircrete forms should be built as if to hold water.
-
@Zander Thank you for your response. Then, I should find a way to waterproof those bags.....
-
@Kia-Nasseh I would suggest using latex to line the sandbags. But that might be a more expensive process.
-
@Kiaweking
Just thought Iʻd try to post the link to Steven Williams again for those wishing to learn more about styro-crete.His channel: https://www.youtube.com/@stephenwilliams7134
His flagship video:
-
I know that I've seen videos of Aircrete Harry using finely crushed up stryrofoam much like you would find in
"bean bag chairs" and he mixes the stryrofoam beads into aircrete, so he is still using foaming agent.
Successfully. The strength comes from the clothe covering.The bag idea is interesting because they could conform to the dome shape with enough support holding them in position. Maybe a waterproofed NYLON would work fantastically?? I would think also you would want to use some kind of glue or mortar in between the bags.
-
@upwinger Thank you very much for your advice.
-
My concern with using styrofoam is the long term environmental impact. In the short term it's great, we've managed to upcycle styrofoam and contain it in a building structure. But when that building eventually degrades or is demolished we now have fine styrofoam dust that would be impossible to contain. I might be wrong but this concerns me.
