Re: [papercreters] Can forms withstand daily freeze-thaw cycles?

Just guessing here and happy to be corrected by someone who really knows, but....

 

It should be affected by the humidity and the size (suface area to mass ratio) of the papercrete in the forms.  If it's low humidity, the papercrete should continue to dry during the freeze part of the cycle - like freeze dried food. The paper/cellulose/fiber part of the mix should provide some exposure for the water molecules to pass into the atmosphere.  If it does act like freeze dried food, the consistency of the final product might be a little different, even less dense, than the "fresh, never frozen" version.  Freeze dried fish and vegetables tend to be more "fluffy" than sun dried and don't seem to have cracks, but that is under ideal conditions (low humidity, low pressure).

 

My guess is not much cracking, but I'm interested to hear from anyone with real-world experience.

 

 

 

Tom Hay, Ph.D.
A2B Research and Development, LLC
703/672-6033 (internet phone)

www.a2brd.com 

On 10/30/12, ken winston caine<kwc@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> wrote:

 

 

...Well... my project is running late this fall and we are now into the season of freezing nights. Not every night yet, but some nights. Soon, every night.

And, I still need to make a bunch of large forms.

If I pour early in the day and daytime temps are in the 40s to 60s, but nighttime temps dip below freezing -- into the 20s -- will my forms cure OK? Or will they crack as they expand and contract in the freeze-thaw cycles. Anyone have experience with this? (Actually, bet it's been discussed here many times before. Didn't search.)

I guess the added cure time would vary depending upon how long it takes to thaw each day and how much drying time it gets before it refreezes. Obviously it will take longer to cure -- if it will cure satisfactoriy at all.

Would really appreciate input on this before I potentially waste a lot of time and effort if experience has proven it's not going to work out.

Thanks,
ken winston caine

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