Penoblock: the size of the foam block, the history of appearance and prospects for use

Each motion of the bricklayer is carried out at a certain speed. A conventional clay brick weighing about 3 kg or a large foam block of the same mass will be installed in the wall at the same time. But the size of the foam block is eight or even twelve times greater than the size of the brick, which greatly increases the speed of the masonry. Another important advantage of light and warm building material is that it requires glue, rather than a complex solution.

The history of the appearance of foam blocks

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

Developments of domestic scientists on the creation of foam blocks

Similar ideas for creating lightweight bricks have been worked out in our country. In the early thirties of the last 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 the material, which in its properties would look like adobe bricks, but more durable and durable). The dimensions of the Sablikov foam block exceeded the usual bricks. At first this idea was pleasant to employees, it was written about a lot, the young scientist was expected to receive a professorship soon. There were even built several buildings from perspective material. One of them still exists, it has been for many years now the Museum of Nature of Central Asia. But the intrigues of envious people proved to be stronger than logic, Sablikov was condemned on Article 58. During the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered to volunteer for the front, then the penalty battalions were formed from the convicts. In the first battle in 1942, he died. Motherland forgot about the priority on her invention, made about 80 years ago. The technology of producing lightweight concrete was purchased by our manufacturers of building materials in the USA in the early eighties.

Construction of foam blocks

In our country in the middle of the last century began the production of expanded clay blocks. They were already superior to conventional clay bricks in their characteristics. But it was not yet a foam block, it only looked like him. A construction boom using lightweight foam concrete began later. The size of the foam block and its almost ideal shape allowed us to revise the technology of wall construction. Now, instead of a cement-sand mortar for bonding individual elements, an adhesive was required to connect the disparate parts into a single rigid structure. The appearance of foam blocks in the construction technology, many builders met with caution. They were embarrassed by the mass of the structural material, the relatively large size of the foam block and the price. To overcome the doubt of professionals, complex tests of foam blocks were carried out. The results astonished experienced specialists. Many did not believe the data of strength and thermophysical studies. Representatives of the whole industry - brick production - made their negative opinion in 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 the price per piece of standard burnt clay brick below.

Prospects of foam blocks in Russia

Most of the territory of our country is in a zone with strong winter frosts. The walls of houses need to be insulated or erected so wide that the space inside will be very limited. Far behind the examples, there is no need to walk around, everyone has visited houses where the thickness of the walls is close to a meter. The only way out is to use effective heaters, which allow reducing the thickness of load-bearing structures. According to this indicator, the building material with satisfactory structural characteristics 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 for long distances (packing on euro pallets), it is easy to move around the construction site, quickly mounted in walls and partitions (especially in partitions, as it does not require additional floor reinforcement), perfectly preserves heat and Is an excellent soundproofing.