Polystyrene concrete production: technology features

Concrete is strong and durable, but cold. And the ever-increasing price of energy is pushing to search for methods for its insulation. This can be divided into two main directions: the creation of a “cake” with the help of additional installation of insulation materials and the addition of insulation to the concrete solution itself. In the second case, the most effective is the use of foam, the process of which we consider in more detail in this article.

General provisions

Technology + formulations + polystyrene concrete recipes were discovered in the middle of the last century. But at that time, its industrial production turned out to be too expensive, and the strength indicators were low according to the GOST standards of the time. But present times show a great need for house insulation, and the cost price of foam plastic has significantly decreased, which, in combination, has led to an increase in the popularity of the material in question.

Benefits

Adding polystyrene in a concrete solution is not the only method for its insulation. But let's conduct a comparative description of the technical performance of various building materials, including concrete with various additives, as well as brick and wood:

Judging by the above indicators, polystyrene concrete allows to achieve the greatest thermal insulation, and at the same time it is less susceptible to hydrophobicity. Although it loses in density.

In addition to those indicated in the table, this material has the following advantages:

• A light weight. Allows the use of economical types of foundation: shallow and pile. In addition, the lighter the solution, the easier it is to deliver to the right place.

• High sound insulation. The foam balls located inside absorb perfectly the noise that spreads so well over the cement mass.

• Lack of problems associated with rotting corrosion and attack of parasites. This material is inert to all hazards of this kind.
• Affordable cost. Polyfoam today is much cheaper than all other ingredients of concrete that it replaces.

Tip: when concreting the floor, you can use the remnants of polystyrene, past crushing procedure. Although they have less durability, which is unacceptable in relation to the construction of walls, they are absolutely not inferior in all other indicators to packaged polystyrene foam balls and will save the family budget even more.

• The possibility of making their own hands. The finished solution can be ordered, but you can make it yourself. Below we consider both options in more detail.

Disadvantage

The main disadvantage of polystyrene is its strength. If the cement stone has it more than enough, then the foam is a very fragile material.

Tip: closely monitor compliance with the proportions of the added insulation in the cement mixture. If its quantity is exaggerated, then the finished product will not be sufficiently reliable not only for the construction of walls, but also for filling the floor.

Manufacturing

As you already could understand from the above, the technology of manufacturing polystyrene concrete is to add foam balls to the cement mortar. This process can be approached amateurly and professionally.

Amateur approach

If you need to make and insulate a cement screed in a house, bath or garage once for many years, then it is not rational to buy special equipment for the production of polystyrene concrete for this purpose. You can go more simple and cheap way.

The instruction is:

1. We buy ready-made foam balls or collect and grind packaging residues from a similar material. In any case, the grains should fall in the range from 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

1. We fill the concrete mixer with sand and cement in the ratio of two to one, after which we start the machine.

1. After a few minutes of work we fall asleep crushed foam. Its volume should correspond to the already loaded amount of dry mix.
2. Then add water, the amount of which should be half as much as the entire contents of the concrete mixer.

Tip: if the sand was used wet, then the amount of water added should be reduced. Otherwise, the solution will be too liquid.

1. After the solution reaches a homogeneous mass, resembling buckwheat porridge in appearance, you can begin concreting the desired structure.

Professional approach

Here you will need special equipment for the production of polystyrene concrete, which is not cheap, but if you are going to make money on the production of this material, it will quickly pay for itself. Moreover, the output can be obtained not only solutions, but also ready-made blocks, which are much more in demand and can be stored for a long time in the warehouse.

Tip: for starters, it is recommended to purchase used equipment for polystyrene concrete. It will cost you much cheaper and will help to "fill the hand" in the production process.

For example, let's consider the technical characteristics of the machine "ARTUS 001":

In addition to classic ingredients, the production technology of polystyrene concrete involves the use of special additives to increase the adhesion of the cement stone to the foam, since initially it is not high enough. It is not necessary when pouring the floor, as it does not bear the load bearing the entire building, but the blocks should be as reliable as possible.

Also still need frothers. They equalize the density of the binding mixture and polystyrene, which prevents it from floating to the surface and helps to evenly distribute.

Here is an example of the proportions used for products of different densities:

Thus, the main thing is to maintain the correct proportions and monitor the correct operation of the machine in order to fill the warehouse with the necessary building material.

Conclusion

The manufacture of polystyrene concrete is a relatively uncomplicated process, but requires appropriate equipment and careful observance of proportions. Even for one-time pouring of the floor, you will need a concrete mixer, since manually you will not be able to achieve uniform distribution of foam balls, which will negatively affect the strength of the structure.

Strength is generally the main problem of the material in question, due to which it is very important not to exceed the amount of insulating filler.

The video in this article will provide you with additional information that is directly relevant to the above materials.

Manufacturing blocks from polystyrene concrete can both help you save on building materials and become a good source of income.