Follow these videos to find out what aircrete is, what it is usually used for and how to make it yourself. Using a homemade foam generator, we make some aircrete samples and show how they turned out after curing.
Aircrete is lightweight concrete that is made with suds or dense foam (with a shaving cream-like consistency) added to a cement mortar mix. The dense foam is the aggregate in this mixture instead of sand or gravel for example. Aircrete, or foam concrete, is mainly used for its insulation properties. To make aircrete, you need to have cement and water, a foaming agent, and a foam generator of some kind. A homemade foam generator is used for this project, made from some PVC pipes, a few valves and unions and powered by an air compressor.
There are a number of foaming agents that can be used to make aircrete. The number one foaming agent is Drexel FM-160. This is a high quality professional product that is more expensive than some other options for foaming agents. If you are making a large amount or a high-quality project, you may want to make the investment into this Drexel product. Otherwise, you could make aircrete using concentrated liquid dish soap or even shaving cream. These products can make a dense foam that can support the weight of the curing concrete, at least for a time.
Vegetable glycerin is added to the concrete mixture when making aircrete to prolong the lifespan of the bubbles. This allows the concrete enough time to begin the actuation and hardening process before all of the bubbles collapse under the weight of the wet concrete mix. When the bubbles do pop or deteriorate inside the hardened concrete, there is a tiny void or air pocket left behind which helps improve the insulation values of this type of lightweight concrete mix design.
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