I have posted about my home tests of various properties of papercrete
in the past. I've tested hundreds of subtly different recipes.
None of my tests are laboratory quality, I'm sorry to say. What my
testing can show is relative differences between different recipes and
different methods of handling. I'm working on creating some new test
stands that will allow me to produce more quantifiable data that is
useful. I'm trying to do this in a way that will be easy and
inexpensive for others to reproduce my home tests. (That's how science
works.)
I can objectively state from my many experiences that insulating factor
of papercrete almost universially improves as the damp slurry is
compressed. In a PRACTICAL sense... the amount of compression that an
average person is going to be able to put on a damp slurry will never
exceed the point where it degrades the final product.
It's pretty clear to me that the amount of improvement per increase in
compression is a diminishing curve, I just don't have good enough
numbers to plot it on a chart to show everyone.
I theorize that as long as the compression is simply packing the paper
fibers closer together, it will improve the papercrete in almost every
way, including insulation factor. I theorize that packing the fibers
together limits air infiltation and micro-convection currents inside
the papercrete.
I theorize that if someone compressed the slurry several tons (maybe
hundreds of tons) per sq inch... you might reach the point where the
individual cellulose cell walls are crushed. When that point is
reached, I suspect that the final product will degrade dramatically,
especially in insulating abilities. It's going to take HUGE pressures
to do that. Far more than any average person is going to be able to
practically administer. I haven't been able to reach those kinds of
pressures to test that theory yet.
The degree that a given amount of compression improves papercrete
depends predominantly on the amount of mineral content in the mix. The
higher the paper ratio, the more compression tends to help the final
papercrete. The less paper in the mix... the less help compressing the
damp slurry offers.
Long story short...
Compressing your damp slurry = VERY GOOD.
I hope this helps.
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "sheelakasha"
<levecosolutions@...> wrote:
>
> hello all.
> has anyone measured the ratio between compression and insulation?
> in other words, the more i compress my PC block, the less air is left
> in it, hence less R-Value. IS THIS ASSUMPTION CORRECT?
> is there a formula of compression strength to R-Value.
> thoughts?
>
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