3. lowering the water cement ratio

lowering the water cement ratio

  • K

    Wouldn't lowering the water : cement ratio be very desirable for airCrete? I think this is your recommended mix design (recipe):

    94 lb portland cement
    7 gal (58lb) water
    mix these two together in a 55 gal drum, then add:
    ~37 gal of foam (at 3 oz/quart density) = 28 lb of water

    total water in this mix design is 58+28= 86 lb
    water cement ratio is 1:1.1 or 0.9

    Concrete made with a water cement ratio this low is on the order of 3 to 5 times weaker than a 0.4 ratio, which is considered close to optimal in concrete design. It would seem to me that lowering the w/c ratio to something at least near 0.5 would be very beneficial. Can this be done with superplasticizer (a common add mixture for concrete work)? What are the drawbacks of superplasticizer in AirCrete?

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  • Those are important question. We've tested many water/cement ratios. Our mixture produces good quality AC. However we haven't tested adding superplasticizer.

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