Cellular concrete is a
matter that is made of quartz sand or ash, cement, lime and water. The porous structure is characteristic
for aerated concrete, which it owes, among others good thermal insulation properties. What should you pay attention to when
choosing a suitable cellular concrete for building walls?
Blocks are made of
aerated concrete. Their important
parameter is the bulk density - depending on it, the blocks are produced in
several different varieties (with a density of 400, 500, 600, 700). The higher the density of aerated
concrete, the higher is its strength, but at the same time has lower thermal
insulation.
Cellular concrete -
concrete grade and thermal insulation
The 500 or 600
cultivars, which are readily used for the construction of structural walls, are
characterized by high strength, however, they are not as warm as those
characterized by lower strength of the 400 modulus block. It is assumed that
class 400 blocks allow to obtain the U-value = 0.18 W / (m2 · K), class 500 - U
= 0.20 W / (m2 · K), and class 600
- U = 0.22 W / (m2 · K). It must
be remembered that the lower the permeation coefficient, the better the
material protects against heat losses.
For the construction of
sandwich walls insulated with mineral wool or polystyrene, class 500 and 600
cellular concrete are recommended, because thermal insulation of the wall is
largely due to the insulation material. Therefore,
there is no need to use 400 blocks, which are great for single-layer walls. Unfortunately, the warmer the cell
block is, the generally worse it insulates acoustically.
Cellular concrete is a
vapor-permeable material that is easy to process - it can be cut and grinded,
practically to any shape. For
this reason, cellular concrete blocks are readily used in the construction of
arched walls.
Cellular concrete and
wall thickness
Various blocks of
various dimensions are available on the market. This allows you to make the optimal
choice as to their thickness and length, so that masonry work can be carried
out efficiently, without additional investment. Single-layer walls are usually built
from 36.5 or 48 cm thick blocks , in a double-layer wall the wall
usually has a thickness of 24-30 cm . For
the construction of partition walls, a cellular concrete with a smaller
thickness, eg 6 or 12 cm, is used .
Forms and shapes
On the market, we find
blocks cut with less accuracy (marked with the GPLM symbol), intended for
bricklaying walls for a thick joint (ordinary mortar) and blocks cut on modern
slicers (marked with the TLMA symbol), which are coated with thin-layer
adhesive mortars. Cellular
concrete, like hollow bricks, may have shorter sides contoured for feathers and
grooves.Thanks to that, they are bricked without having to fill the joint with
vertical mortar.
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