AAC products and their applications
Aircrete
ResearchAAC products
There exist two typical forms of products made with AAC. First there are blocks in different sizes which are used like bricks. These will be applied by masons with their hands at the building sites. Second AAC is manufactured in form of slabs which could be long several meters. To place them cranes are used.
Aircrete blocks are very exact in their measures so all the masonry with them can be made in thin bed mortar application. Therefore the properties of walls are improved in thermal performance and sound insulation compared to ordinary mortar bed brickwork. The time to finish masonry work at building site is reduced because of the ease of handling.
The aircrete blocks are a homogeneous solid material and have constant properties throughout their volume. Aircrete slabs are made with reinforcement similar to reinforced concrete. They contain steel mats. For use as ceiling and roof slabs there has to be a reinforcement otherwise the properties would not be suitable.
Besides these standard forms of AAC products, there are special sizes and types of AAC products too. One example are big sized blocks which have to be put to wall with the aid of cranes. Another example are small slabs which can be produced without reinforcement and which are used as elements of a construction system similar to a box of bricks. In both cases time for setting up buildings reduces.
| max. apparent density |
medium compressive strength |
thermal conductivity λ |
|---|---|---|
| kg / m3 | N / mm2 | W / (m·K) |
| 350 | 2.5 | 0.09, 0.10 |
| 400 | 2.5 | 0.10, 0.11 |
| 500 | 2.5 | 0.13, 0.14 |
| 500 | 5.0 | 0.12, 0.13, 0.14 |
| 550 | 5.0 | 0.14 |
| 600 | 5.0 | 0.14, 0.16 |
| 650 | 7.5 | 0.16 |
| 700 | 7.5 | 0.18, 0.21 |
Application of AAC products
Aircrete is an ideal material for walls due to its construction properties. There is no other construction material for solid walls which provides as good thermal insulation properties like AAC does. Walls, ceilings and roofs, all parts of a building, the complete shell, can be made out of AAC.
Walls are built in bricks with AAC blocks by hand or are made with slaps which can be oriented horizontal or vertical. Ceilings and roofs are constructed with slaps which can be up to eight meters long. Construction of floors can be made with floor blocks on beams or fill in blocks in concrete ceilings as well.
Also for the internal walls and construction elements aircrete is often used to design individual or difficult solutions. The ease of adaptation and that it is throughout solid makes aircrete a favourite for this purpose. There is no other construction material which provides these opportunities.
Thus AAC covers a very broad field of application. It is a constructive and functional material for all types of walls, solid, cavity or internal, may be in residential or industrial buildings or even in multistory buildings.