Aerated concrete is an established building material in some parts of the world. In Europe, a big manufacturer is Ytong, and they even make precast panels in addition to blocks.
It's made differently from this, though. It is aerated through a chemical reaction rather than mechanically.
There was recently a crisis in older publicly constructed buildings in the UK that were built [0].The aerated concrete had a limited lifespan especially if it was damaged and had contact with water.
Lots of people looking for compensation and claiming mis-representation.
Note that aircrete itself has existed for decades, but production of aircrete has typically required buying (or DIY-ing) a high-capacity foam generator.
What's novel in this video is the production method, which uses only a standard cement mixer.
I heard about aerogel as a kid and only recently learned how extremely hard it is to make [0], so this seems like a cool and more accessible material in the same vein.
Concrete is cement plus aggregate (it doesn't have to be sand; it could be gravel, for example). Coarse aggregates wouldn't work well in this, but it would be cool for a followup video where sand is used.
The wikipedia pages suggests that this is more prolery referred to as "foam mortar" or "foam cement"
It really is amazing, you can build a whole 2-story house out of it quickly using polymer-based glue instead of mortar, only using traditional reinforced concrete in some critical places. Was quite popular in russia, last I checked. Unfortunately hard to find in some better CIS countries.
You can also build brick walls without mortar, some of them even contain insulation, you just need to plaster both sides and you're good to go. Porothern dry fix is a good example
I had the choice between aircrete and that for my house and went for good ol bricks instead
Aerated concrete is an established building material in some parts of the world. In Europe, a big manufacturer is Ytong, and they even make precast panels in addition to blocks.
It's made differently from this, though. It is aerated through a chemical reaction rather than mechanically.
There was recently a crisis in older publicly constructed buildings in the UK that were built [0].The aerated concrete had a limited lifespan especially if it was damaged and had contact with water.
Lots of people looking for compensation and claiming mis-representation.
[0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66669239
Note that aircrete itself has existed for decades, but production of aircrete has typically required buying (or DIY-ing) a high-capacity foam generator.
What's novel in this video is the production method, which uses only a standard cement mixer.
The 'traditional' method is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnNua21zx78
I think this might make a great material for large machine tool bases. Concrete lathes have been a thing since WW1, but not common.
I heard about aerogel as a kid and only recently learned how extremely hard it is to make [0], so this seems like a cool and more accessible material in the same vein.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0HfmYBlF8g
I always thought of concrete as cement + water + sand.
This video makes aircrete with cement + water + thickening/foaming agent, but it doesnt use any sand, no?
Yes, aircrete mixes usually don't contain sand. This isn't something unusual about this video, it's true for most aircrete recipes.
Another method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnNua21zx78
He had a note up that said he's been having some luck with a major addition of sand, but it'll be a bit before the video for that goes up.
Concrete is cement plus aggregate (it doesn't have to be sand; it could be gravel, for example). Coarse aggregates wouldn't work well in this, but it would be cool for a followup video where sand is used.
The wikipedia pages suggests that this is more prolery referred to as "foam mortar" or "foam cement"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam_concrete
nighthawkinlight's entire youtube channel is full of practical gems. i used several of his waterproofing techniques to flawless effect
Wow, this is a fantastic material. Hope to see it used soon
It really is amazing, you can build a whole 2-story house out of it quickly using polymer-based glue instead of mortar, only using traditional reinforced concrete in some critical places. Was quite popular in russia, last I checked. Unfortunately hard to find in some better CIS countries.
You can also build brick walls without mortar, some of them even contain insulation, you just need to plaster both sides and you're good to go. Porothern dry fix is a good example
I had the choice between aircrete and that for my house and went for good ol bricks instead