New Casting Materials and Block Configurations Winter'07/'08

Material
A composite of 5 parts cellulose fibre, 5 parts perlite, and 1 part portland cement by volume ( this is yet vague) with water to saturate to a paste adequate to mold the material into a form ( place versus pour) produced a very porous solid of lightweight, but quite rigid. After room temperature curing, the sample was reimmursed in water until all the pores were saturated with no dissolution occurring. The sample dried out and maintained its former characteristics. Extrapolating to a solid 8"x8"x16" block, the weight would be 20 lbs. It appears to be strong in compression, and may be able to bond to some degree to rebars, or fasteners of varied materials. The rigidity and non-crumbliness of the edges is a valuable attribute for its resistance to damage in transportation and assembly. Unlike AAC no energy is needed for curing. The pumicecrete in common use in New Mexico, by contrast, is extremely crumbly, and as suggested 10 years ago to one of the manufacturers would benefit from the addition of some type of fibres ( as used in GRFC panels). We intend to have the material compression tested and tested for an accurate R value which we estimate to be slightly under R4/inch. Also precise proportions of the composite will bw determined. Configurations
Blocks with one vertical rebar hole and a series of bond beam blocks with diagonal troughs to connect the vertical holes would allow for various wall designs. Since the material is easily cut, other troughs for exceptional conditions can be made on site. Also a basic block and half-block without holes can be drilled, cut or troughed for complex geometries. The drawing below gives an idea of how the blocks can be combined and reinforced ( light gray for the verticals and reddish brown for the troughs.)