---I have used foaming agent and run many tests- generally you are
correct- it gets to light and loses strength - use too much paper
versus fillers and the result is week also - my present mix uses 50%
lightweight cement and 50% paper pulp - www.evesgarden.org
In
papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "slurryguy" <slurryguy@...> wrote:
>
> This idea has been tossed around before.
>
> I'm very skeptical, but I've never tried it either. By foaming
> concrete, you'd be trying to create gas pockets inside it.
> Papercrete already has gas pockets in and around the paper fibers.
> So by foaming, you're trying to take the process even further.
>
> If someone could make the process work, I have little doubt that they
> could make a lighter product. I suspect the product would be so
> light that it would weaken it to such a degree that it would not be
> useful anymore. I theorize that papercrete gets its strength
> primarily from the intertangling of fibers as well as the van der
> Waals forces. The further the paper fibers are spread apart the
> weaker these bonds will become. My experiments have indicated that
> the more densly packed the paper fibers are, the better insulator it
> becomes. Foaming likely will produce the opposite effect. I also
> think that foaming concrete or papercrete requires too much
> specialized equipment and special materials to be practical for an
> average person to successfully attempt, especially in construction
> quantities. I'm also very confident that the process would increase
> the costs significantly. One of the best parts about papercrete is
> its simplicity. Foaming is very interesting, but it's not very
> simple to get right.
>
> So, if you want a weak material, with poor insulation factor, that
> costs more, and is very difficult to get right, I think foaming is
> one way to achieve those goals. hehehe
>
> I restate:
> My opinions are purely speculative. I've never actually tried to
> foam papercrete.
>
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "Robert & Connie"
> <babalubird@> wrote:
> >
> > I ran across this in a site discussing lightweight concretes:
> >
> > "Concrete may be made by using lightweight aggregates, or by the
> use
> > of foaming agents, such as aluminum powder, which generates gas
> while
> > the concrete is still plastic."
> >
> > I also saw one suggesting adding liquid detergent to achieve the
> > papercrete foam, but I don't see how that would work as I would
> think
> > it would settle and compact during the drying process.
> >
> > Has anyone ever tried either of these techniques? The thing that
> > worried me about the aluminum powder is that when doing a search on
> > just this item, "aluminum powder," one said it was highly
> inflammable
> > and needed to be handled with extreme caution.
> >
> > Anyone have any knowledge of aluminum powder or the liquid soap
> > technique as it pertains to papercete?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Connie
> >
>
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