Foam block: foam block dimensions, history of appearance and application prospects

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Each movement of the bricklayer is performed at a certain speed. An ordinary clay brick weighing about 3 kg or a large foam block of the same mass will be installed in the wall in the same time. But the dimensions of the foam block are eight or even twelve times larger than the dimensions of the brick, which dramatically increases the speed of masonry. Another important advantage of the lightweight and warm building material is that it requires an adhesive rather than a complex mortar.

The history of foam blocks

In 1923, Swedish architect John Axel Erikson invented a fundamentally new technology for making bricks for building houses. Experimenting with concrete mixtures at the setting stage, Erickson began blowing air. Inside the mass, the air formed small cavities that never came to the surface. Subsequent tests showed thatthe resulting material became lighter, its thermal conductivity decreased several times. The reduction in mass prompted the young researcher to make large bricks, which he called cubes or blocks. The dimensions of foam blocks have increased by 8-10 times compared to clay bricks. The idea was worked out at a small brick factory. At first, it did not attract manufacturers, because the price of the new material was quite high, and the product was not attractive to buyers. It was only in 1929 that Erickson was able to develop a real plant for producing porous concrete and manufacture equipment for foam blocks. The Great Depression in those years almost buried a great idea of a talented person. But a year later, the brick factory received a huge order for those times for the production of several million pieces of light blocks for the construction of a shipyard. This order of five million guilders allowed the expansion of production and the launch of a new building material, which began to gain popularity among builders.

Developments of domestic scientists to create foam blocks

Similar ideas for creating a light brick were worked out with us. At the beginning of the thirties of the past century, analogues of the Swedish invention were made at the Central Asian State University (Tashkent). V. V. Sablikov proposed a concrete mixture with low density and high thermal resistance (the work was carried out independently of the Swedes, there was an order for a material that would be similar in properties to adobe bricks, but more durable anddurable). The dimensions of the Sablikov foam block exceeded ordinary bricks. At first, the staff liked this idea, they wrote a lot about it, and the young scientist was expected to soon receive a professorship. Several buildings were even built from promising material. One of them still exists; for many years it has housed the Museum of Nature of Central Asia. But the intrigues of envious people turned out to be stronger than logic, Sablikov was convicted under Article 58. During the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered to go to the front as a volunteer, then penal battalions were formed from convicts. In the first battle in 1942, he died. The motherland forgot about the priority for its invention, made about 80 years ago. The technology for the production of lightweight concrete was bought by our building materials manufacturers in the USA in the early eighties.

Construction from foam blocks

In our country, in the middle of the last century, the production of expanded clay concrete blocks began. Even then, they were superior to ordinary clay bricks in terms of their characteristics. But it was not yet a foam block, it only looked like it outwardly. The construction boom using lightweight foam concrete started later. The dimensions of the foam block and its almost ideal shape made it possible to reconsider the technology of building walls. Now, instead of a cement-sand mortar for bonding individual elements, glue was required, connecting the disparate parts into a single rigid structure. The emergence of foam blocks in construction technology, many builders met with apprehension. They were embarrassed by the massstructural material, relatively large dimensions of the foam block and price. To overcome the doubts of professionals, complex tests of foam blocks were carried out. The results amazed seasoned professionals. Many did not believe the data of strength and thermophysical studies. Representatives of the whole industry - brick production - also contributed their negative opinion to the formation of the image of the new material. After all, in fact, their traditional building material loses in all respects, the only characteristic is that the price per piece of a standard fired clay brick is lower.

Prospects for foam blocks in Russia

Most of the territory of our country is located in a zone with severe winter frosts. The walls of houses need to be insulated or built so wide that inside the space will be very limited. You don’t need to go far for examples, everyone has been to houses where the thickness of the walls approaches a meter. There is only one way out - to use effective insulation, which can reduce the thickness of the supporting structures. According to this indicator, a building material with satisfactory structural performance and high thermal resistance will be in demand in construction. The dimensions of the foam block are such that it is not only convenient for transportation over long distances (packing on euro pallets), it is easy to move around the construction site, it is quickly mounted in walls and partitions (especially in partitions, since it does not require additional floor reinforcement), it perfectly retains heat and is excellentsoundproofing.