Expanded clay - what constitutes this popular building

Concrete is becoming increasingly popular in domestic construction, which, in addition to good strength, rigidity, durability, have additional advantages. Such, for example, is a solution with expanded clay fillers. Before you make claydite, you should learn about the features of this building material.

Features and classification of material

Expanded clay mixture refers to lightweight concrete and may have a density of 600 kg / m? up to 1800. This is one of the main characteristics of the material, it is designated by the letter D.

The main advantages of expanded clay mixture, compared with heavy analogues:

• high thermal insulation qualities;
• high moisture resistance;
• chemical resistance;
• ecological purity;
• low specific weight.

Note! Expanded clay is lighter than construction rubble used for heavy concrete. Therefore, the properties of claydite-concrete are such that, when supplied by a concrete pump, it is able to hammer in the bends and angles of an arrow. Based on this, you should use a crane and feed the material in the cradles.

Classes and brands of products

GOST on keramsit concrete number 25820/83 "Lightweight Concretes", defines it as a light mixture on expanded clay gravel. The same document contains standard values ​​for classes and brands. They have the same designation and correspond to each other, as well as in the case of general construction concrete.

Below is a table that shows the strength of claydite-concrete under compression in classes and brands and their density.

The composition of the material

The composition of haydite solution includes the same components as for other types of material: binder, water and fillers.

Binder

1. Portland cement of grades not lower than M-400 with a small amount of pozzolanic additives and without plasticizing modifiers is used as a binder in ceramsite mixture.
2. The possibility of using pozzolanic and slag-portland cement, in this case, must be determined by experiments for each particular batch of material. This is due to the fact that ground clay contains a lot of dust. This circumstance reduces the air and moisture resistance of the solution.

Note! Increasing the cost of cement leads to an increase in the strength of concrete products and an increase in the bulk mass of expanded clay mixture. So, reducing with your own hands up to normalized values ​​the consumption of the binder, you will lower the bulk weight of the material. This provision suggests the need to use cement brand, not less than 400 for an expanded clay mortar.

1. Mixing claydite with your own hands, it is best to use hydrophobic types of cement, which reduce the water absorption of the finished structure.
2. It is recommended to include alite types of cements in the material that will be thermally processed. They contain at least 45% tricalcium silicate and 10% tricalcium aluminate.

Mixing fluid

1. Water is used for mixing expanded clay mixes, which meets the technical requirements for mixing ordinary concrete.
2. The liquid should not contain impurities that interfere with the regulatory process of setting and hardening of the binder.
3. Drains, in addition to this, water having a pH of less than 4 and containing sulphates of more than 1% by weight of the liquid is not suitable for mixing the solution.
4. As a rule, potable water can also be used to prepare a claydite solution.

Filler

Expanded clay is a porous and lightweight material that is obtained by expanding fusible clay, burning it. It is one of the most effective fillers for light concrete.

Note! Thinking that it is better as a aggregate for the mixture, note that the expanded clay has a porous and uniform structure inside the grains. Coarse claydite may contain a filler having a porosity of up to 70%, with a void size of about 1 mm. This gives the solution excellent sound insulation and heat protection qualities.

According to the properties and shape of its surface, expanded clay is divided into two varieties.

1. Gravel has a rounded, less angular form. Its surface is melted.
2. The rubble has an irregular, angular shape. Its surface is rough, nozdrevataya and has open pores.

By bulk bulk grain of expanded clay is divided into 12 grades. For strength properties - 2 classes: A and B.

Grades of lightweight aggregate for frost resistance imply that the filler must withstand at least 15 freeze / thaw cycles, while losing no more than 8% in the mass.

Defining what to choose claydite solution or foam concrete, please note that the shape factor of the first (the ratio of the highest grain size to the smallest) should not be more than 1.5. With this value equal to 2, the strength of the material decreases by 25%, with the figure 2.5 - by 35%.

Calculating the consumption of expanded clay per 1 m3 of expanded clay concrete, please note that the filler, having a fractionality less than 5 mm, experts refer to the sand.

Such expanded clay is divided into the following types:

• ordinary, the diameter of its grains up to 5 mm;
• fine material has dimensions less than 1.2 mm;
• large filler has a fractional 1.2 / 5 mm, its price is the highest.

Conclusion

We have analyzed today what claydite is, what are its properties, classes and brands. This building material is very much in demand in domestic construction, since, in addition to strength, it gives buildings good sound-proofing and heat-insulating qualities.

The video in this article contains a lot of additional information.