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| United States Patent | 4905439 |
| Link to this page | http://www.wikipatents.com/4905439.html |
| Inventor(s) | Filteau; Jacques (Cobourg, CA) |
| Abstract | This invention provides improved strength structural building elements
having improved insulation properties. The element comprises a monolithic
form with at least a pair of opposed faces and at least one aperture which
extends between the opposed faces. In one embodiment, the building element
is formed of a mixture of expanded cellular synthetic material, sand of a
particular finus modulus to impart improved strength, and cementitious
material with the cellular material being distributed throughout the
structural element. In another embodiment, the building element is formed
of expanded cellular material of three approximately equal particle size
distribution ranges to provide expanded strength characteristics, sand and
cementitious material. Both embodiments can be dry cast. |
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Title Information  |
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Drawing from US Patent 4905439 |
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Structural building elements |
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| Publication Date |
March 6, 1990 |
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| Filing Date |
October 13, 1988 |
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| Parent Case |
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 040,727, filed
Apr. 17, 1987, now abandoned itself a continuation of Ser. No. 773,326,
filed Sept. 6, 1985, now abandoned itself a continuation-in-part of U.S.
application Ser. No. 462,122 filed Jan. 28, 1983 now abandoned.
This invention relates to a structural building element, and to a method of
manufacturing improved structural building elements.
Modified cementitious building elements are known in the art as, for
example, disclosed in Canadian patent No. 1,093,729 of Jan. 13, 1981 and
Canadian patent No. 1,094,111 of Jan. 20, 1981. Such building elements
form construction blocks of varying sizes which are used in the
fabrication of walls, partitions and the like of residential, industrial
or commercial buildings. Typically, such building elements, also known as
cinder blocks, are made of cement together with aggregates such as crushed
stone and/or sand and molded into varying shapes and sizes according to
the different types of building elements required in the art. Such
modified building elements incorporate glass fiber reinforcement.
Another type of modified building element is shown in the art of light
weight concrete products of, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,338, Sefton;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,393, Sefton; Toone U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,166; Sabouin
U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,294 and the like which utilize various types of
cementitious mixtures incorporating expanded thermoplastic materials, and
sometimes with a "filler" which may be asbestos, wood-fibers, slag, sand,
jute or the like.
In general, the use of lightweight concrete building elements have several
advantages over all-concrete building elements, ranging from
transportation savings to greater ease of installation or building
erection, etc. In addition, depending on the particular type of building
element, improved insulation values are obtained.
The art is continually seeking improvements to the structural
characteristics of lightweight building elements made of cementitious
material and expanded synthetic material, not only as to insulation value,
but also as to structural strength and characteristics. Also, the greater
the insulation value, the more economical for heating and/or cooling
buildings. Additionally, the requirements for structural load bearing
capabilities are increasing so as to permit these lightweight concrete
products to be used in different types of buildings.
In accordance with this invention, applicant has found that improved
structural characteristics in terms of the strength of the products can be
obtained; according to one development disclosed herein, structural
building elements having improved strength characteristics may be obtained
by providing a building element comprising a structural element of a
monolithic form having at least a pair of opposed faces and at least one
aperture extending between the opposed faces, the element being formed of
a mixture of expanded cellular synthetic material, sand, cementitious
material and any filler material if and as desired, the sand having a
finus modulus of between about 2.2 to about 3.1, the cellular material
being distributed throughout the element, and being comprised of small
discrete particles, the cementitious material and the sand forming a
matrix binding the expanded cellular material into the monolithic form.
More particularly, in accordance with this development, applicant has
unexpectantly found that the finus modulus of sand, employed in a
lightweight structural element, has certain limits above and below which
the structural properties drop off significantly. In greater detail, and
in explanation of this invention, the prior art has proposed that various
types of fillers be included in light-weight building elements such as
those mentioned above. One of the fillers proposed in such prior art
disclosures includes generally sand but it has not been recognized in the
lightweight building art, that the finus modulus of the sand, in
conjunction with the expanded cellular synthetic material, should be
within certain limits in order to obtain improved strength characteristics
which are required for building elements.
It has been found, in accordance with this development, that when employing
lightweight building mixtures of the above type, the compressive strengths
will very significantly drop off or vary above a finus modulus above the
ranges indicated and conversely, at below the ranges indicated, a
significant loss of compressive strengths will occur, sometimes as much as
50 percent or more compared to similar blocks according to this
development which have finus modulus characteristics within the range
indicated above.
The significance of improved structural strengths of the products of the
present invention will be evident from the fact that they will find wider
application in the known areas of construction and at the same time,
provide very beneficial results in terms of insulation characteristics,
and the like.
In this development, it is therefore critical that the sand employed in the
building elements have a finus modulus of between about 2.2 to about 3.1,
and more preferably, between about 2.4 and 3.0. As used herein all
calculations for the finus modulus of the sand are based on the sand
component per se, excluding any silica fines or flours which may be added
or included in other ingredients in a composition of the above type.
In the above compositions having sand with a finus modulus of 2.2 to 3.1,
it is particularly preferred to use expanded cellular material that is
comprised of small discrete particles, in amounts of 30 to 50% by volume,
with a diameter of generally from about 0.5 to about 4 mm and most
desirably, within the range of 0.5 to about 3 mm diameter. More
particularly, it is preferred that the expanded cellular material have the
particle size distribution as described hereinafter with respect to a
further development. It has been found that this small diameter provides a
maximum compressive strength in the cementitious matrix for a given
density and percent by volume of the expanded material. In preferred
forms, the building element includes expanded cellular material of a
substantially generally uniform distribution of particle sizes.
In accordance with a further development disclosed herein, there is
provided an improvement in a lightweight building element having improved
strength properties formed of expanded cellular synthetic material and
cementitious material and sand and in which the building element is a
monolithic form having at least a pair of opposed faces and at least one
aperture extending between the opposed faces; the improvement wherein the
cellular synthetic material comprises from about 25% to about 33% by
volume having a mean particle size of 1.25 mm. with a particle size
distribution ranging from 1 to 1.55 mm; from about 30% to about 50% by
volume having a mean particle size of 2 mm. with a particle size
distribution ranging from 1.6 to 2.4 mm; and from about 25% to about 33%
by volume having a mean particle size of 2.7 with a particle size
distribution ranging from 2.5 to 3.0 mm.
In accordance with preferred form of said other development, the
lightweight construction block comprises from about 30 to about 80% by
volume of expanded cellular synthetic material embedded throughout a
matrix of a cementitious material and sand (and if desired a filler). The
cellular synthetic material is preferably polystyrene beads of a
substantially spherical shape; in all embodiments, the cellular block has
a flow path of heated or cooled air increased by a plurality of apertures
adapted to receive an insulative insert, staggered one relative to the the
other, and extending vertically through the block thereby providing a
greater thermal resistance due to a longer path from one side of the block
to the other side of the block.
In this development, it has been found that a construction block having
good structural strength and insulative value is obtained when tee
particle sizes of the polystyrene beads range as discussed above. It has
been found that if the beads had a uniform particle size throughout, that
the void content of the block--i.e., the space between the beads--would be
greater than, as in the case of the present development, where a specified
range of particle sizes is provided. Thus, for instance, if expanded
polystyrene beads were utilized in approximately equal quantities ranging
from 1 to 3 mm--that is, 1/3 of about 1 mm particle size, 1/3 of about 2
mm particle size, and 1/3 of about 3 mm particle size, the void content of
the resultant construction block would decrease by a minimum of 10%, and
the bead content would increase by a comparable amount. Thus, by
increasing the bead content and thereby decreasing the more highly
conductive cement matrix, greater insulative value is also achieved.
As discussed above, the particle sizes of the beads generally range from
about 1 mm to about 3 mm. Preferably, the construction blocks are provided
with about 1/3 of the beads each of the particle sizes. Generally, the
construction blocks of the present invention may have about 5% smaller
and/or larger particle sizes than those discussed above. That is, the
beads may comprise up to about 5% fines and up to about 5% having a
particle size larger than those defined above. Typically, if 10% of the
polystyrene beads had a particle size larger than 3 mm, this generally
affects the structural strength of the block as too many large particles
are present, and the structural strength is thereby weakened. Not only the
structural strength, but also, the insulative value of the construction
blocks would be affected by the presence of too many large particles due
to the void content of the blocks, as discussed above.
On the other hand, if the construction block were provided with too many
small particle size polystyrene beads, although this may not affect the
structural strength characteristics of the block to any significant
degree, the insulative strength of the block would be decreased. Thus,
while the polystyrene beads may expand to 40 to 50%, it will be
appreciated that the smaller size beads would have less air entrapped
therein and correspondingly, if too many small particle size beads were
present in the construction block, the insulative strength of the block
would be decreased.
In both embodiments of the structural building elements of the present
invention, the elements may be provided with insulating material in the
aperture(s) between the faces, with the building element being of such a
construction that the flow path of heated or cooled air passing through
the element is increased, thereby providing a greater thermal resistance
due to a longer path from one side to the other side of the building
element.
The expanded cellular synthetic material comprises a lightweight,
permanent, non-structural material around which the cementitious material
and sand forms a structural skin. For economic reasons, and according to a
preferred embodiment, the synthetic material preferably comprises
polystyrene beads of an expanded type. Preferably, the percentage of
expanded polystyrene beads can be varied from about 3 to about 80% by
volume of the total volume of the structural element, depending on the
desired insulation value required for any given structure. Typically, the
percentage of expanded synthetic beads can be varied from 3 to 70% by
volume, most desirably 40 to 70% by volume, in a preferred configuration.
The expanded polystyrene beads most desirably have a round shape as opposed
to an irregular shape and most preferably, their shape is of a
substantially spherical outline in order to develop the maximum
compressive strength in the cementitious matrix surrounding them for any
given density and percentage of expanded cellular beads.
As noted above, a further characteristic of the expanded cellular material
is that it has a substantially closed cellular structure, to obtain the
most advantageous features, it has been found that the closed cellular
structure provides the products of the present invention with freeze-thaw
resistance since moisture cannot get into the expanded cellular material,
but only around the beads. It has been found that when water or moisture
freezes, the expanded cellular material acts as small valves to relieve
the pressure of repetitive freezing and thawing.
A further characteristic of the expanded cellular material is that it is
lightweight in nature. More particularly, the expanded cellular material
preferably has a density in the range of from about 0.5 to about 2 pounds
per cubic foot, desirably 3/4 to about 1.5 pounds per cubic foot. Within
these ranges, a reduction of the weight of the building elements in the
order of 40-60% compared to regular concrete building elements can be
obtained.
The cementitious matrix is preferably comprised of a mixture of Portland
cement and sand. Various types of Portland cement can be used such as
those known in the trade as "Types 1, 2 or 3". The particular choice of
which type of cement to be employed will depend on various factors known
to those skilled in the art such as the quality of any sand, weather
conditions during mixing and curing, etc.
The sand of the particular finus modulus employed in one embodiment of this
invention with the Portland cement may be typically angular or washed
sand. In both embodiments, it will also be appreciated by those skilled in
the art that the sand should be free of impurities. The relative quantity
of sand to Portland cement can be varied to achieve different densities
and compressive strengths, as required.
The products of the present invention are formed by a dry casting
technique; that is to say, in contradistinction to conventional wet
casting techniques, the components of the building elements are mixed
together using only sufficient water to achieve a homogeneous blend of the
ingredients, and in which the water is sufficient only to provide full
hydration of the cement without excess water being present as required in
wet casting. After mixing, the mixture may subsequently be conveyed into a
hopper and fed into a mold of the desired shape and dimensions, and
instantaneously extruded from the mold, preferably with vibration, to form
a unit which from then on will hold its dimensions. The resulting building
element may then be steam cured to result in a substantially dimensionally
stable building element. The applicant has found that by using the dry
casting technique, stability within plus or minus a few mm can be obtained
and in a relatively short period of time compared to wet casting. As
compared to wet casting techniques using much higher water/cement ratios
and including expanded cellular material with sand and cement, such
conventional techniques typically employ sand in a finus modulus of about
4 or lighter.
Various chemical additives known to those skilled in this art can be used
to facilitate mixing and to ensure consistency of the mix together with
high quality properties for the Portland cement.
The Portland cement acts as a binder for the sand and also as a binder of
the cementitious matrix surrounding the expanded polystyrene beads. As
such, the cement should be well mixed with the expanded polystyrene beads
prior to forming the same into the desired shape, as for example, in a
mold.
As outlined previously, a feature of the present invention is that the
structural elements have at least one aperture extending between the
opposed faces. These apertures are preferably in the form of cores of a
continuous nature to enable insulation material, such as polyurethane
material, to be inserted into the building blocks and to extend preferably
from one face to the other. In turn, this maximizes the thermal insulation
of the building elements.
In a further preferred embodiment, the building elements preferably have
two or more apertures extending therethrough, which apertures form offset
cores to increase the path of the material forming the block from one side
to the other side. This in turn maximizes the thermal resistance
contribution of the material forming the block.
The insulation material to be inserted into the apertures of the block may
be any suitable material conforming to the size of the apertures. Suitable
insulation materials include, for example, rigid polyurethane material,
expanded polystyrene in a rigid form, etc. As will be appreciated, the
density of the polyurethane or polystyrene material may vary according to
properties desired in the end product.
As mentioned above, the apertures provided in the building elements extend
completely through the element, that is, from one face to the other
opposed face. The size of the apertures may vary and typically, may have a
width of from about 1/4 inch to 3 inches or more, preferably 1 to 2
inches, and a length of from about 1 inch to about 6 or 8 inches, although
these dimensions are not critical. Typically, the width of the apertures
may constitute about 80% or so of the width of the building element. The
apertures may be of any shape such as rectangular, oval, elongated, with
elongated being preferred. The insulating inserts to be inserted into the
apertures, extending from one face to the other face are usually of a
one-piece integral construction dimensioned so as to fit snugly within the
apertures of the building element.
The products of the present invention have many advantageous features over
the prior art products. More particularly, it has been found that the
products of the present invention have much improved strength
characteristics compared to similar products having a finus modulus
outside the range given above, particularly in products which are dry
cast, and as well, provide excellent insulation value due to the fact that
the trapped air in the expanded cellular material serves to increase many
times, e.g., 5 to 10 times, the thermal resistance of the products of the
present invention compared to regular concrete In fact, it has been found
that the expanded cellular material itself serves primarily as a mold to
trap air inside a cementitious skin and this trapped air, in the
cementitious skin imparts the increased thermal resistance. This increased
thermal resistance also increases the concrete's fire resistance by a
factor of 1 or more times, typically 2 times, compared to that of regular
concrete.
Further, the improved thermal lag properties of the products of the present
invention can be attributed to the combination of the mass and thermal
resistance due to the structure and materials forming the products. It has
also been found that the products of the present invention have excellent
heat storage properties for a lightweight material and moreover, the
products of the present invention are lightweight in and of themselves
which in turn reduces transportation costs, facilitates handling and the
like.
The thermal stability properties of the products are also excellent due to
the skin formed around the expanded cellular material which forms
structural air cells that resist compressing, settling, shrinking and
rotting. The products also possess excellent freeze-thaw resistance which
in turn is due to the impermeability of the expanded cellular material.
In installation, the products of the present invention are easily cut and
possess a high strength to weight ratio. |
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| Priority Data |
Apr 13, 1983[CA]425788 |
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Title Information |
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Description |
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Having thus generally described the invention, reference will now be made
to the accompanying drawings, illustrating preferred embodiments, and in
which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a structural building element of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an insert for the structural element of
FIG. 1.
Referring in greater detail to the drawings, a typical building element is
indicated generally by reference numeral 10 and as illustrated, in this
embodiment, the building element comprises a pair of major faces 12 and 14
located in opposed relationship--the building element being of a
substantially rectangular configuration. The faces 12 and 14 form the top
and bottom of the structural element 10 with a pair of opposed side faces
16 and 18 and end faces 20.
Typically, the building element may have a size of from about 2 inches to
about 10 inches or more in width, a height of from about 2 inches to about
10 inches or more, and a length of from about 4 inches to 20 inches or
more such dimensions being as required by those skilled in the art for
different building applications.
The building element in the embodiment illustrated is comprised of
substantially spherical expanded polystyrene beads ranging in diameter
from 1/2 to 3 mm with a particle size distribution described previously in
a matrix of cementitious material which in this case, is a mixture of
Portland cement and sand. Typically, the structural elements of FIGS. 1
and 2 may be formed by providing a mixture of polystyrene beads and
Portland cement together with the sand having a finus modulus as described
herein, i.e., between 2.2 and 3.1.
In a preferred form of production, the blocks as illustrated have been made
by a dry cast method in which only a sufficient amount of water for
hydration of the cement is provided; the homogeneous mixture is placed
into a mold and immediately extruded as a block which can then be cured.
At least one aperture is provided extending between the opposed faces 12
and 14--in this case, five apertures 22 are provided which are of an
elongated nature and as will be seen, are in a staggered relationship. In
addition, apertures of approximately 1/2 the size are provided in each end
wall 20, as indicated by reference numeral 24, which permit an insert
(described hereinafter) to be placed between the apertures 24 of adjacent
structural elements when mounted in an aligned manner.
In a preferred form, and as will be seen from the section of FIG. 2, the
apertures 22 taper from one end to the other. Typically, these may taper
from 0.5 mm to 3 mm or more and provide a converging/diverging vertically
extending aperture between the opposed faces.
In a preferred form of the present invention, there may also be employed
core inserts indicated generally by reference numeral 26 (FIG. 3). In this
embodiment, these inserts are preferably of a one-piece structure of
suitable material of an insulating nature, such material typically being
polyurethane, expanded polystyrene of a rigid nature, or the like. These
inserts 26 are preferably dimensioned so as to fit into the apertures 22
as shown in FIG. 2 and accordingly, are of a generally elongated nature.
The inserts 26 preferably extend flush with the faces 12 and 14 of the
structural elements.
The above building elements as described and as shown in the drawings may
be used to form walls for residential buildings or the like. Typically, a
foundation of suitable material such as concrete is formed and the
building elements aligned with each other in rows, preferably in a
staggered relationship. The walls formed from the building elements may be
dry-formed--that is, without mortar in between the building elements and
after erecting a wall, the outer and inner surfaces (side walls) of the
building elements may then be coated with an appropriate thickness of
surface bonding cement. This technique of building walls has been found to
be very expedient in building walls using the elements of the present
invention.
EXAMPLE 1
A mixture for building blocks was prepared of Portland cement, sand and
expanded polystyrene beads (the beads forming 60% of the mixture) in which
the beads had particle sizes between 1 to 3 mm; the sand employed had a
finus modulus of 3.0. The mixture was homogeneously blended with fines
(e.g., silica flour) in an amount sufficient to provide a coating,
together with the Portland cement, around the polyethylene beads.
The above mixture was dry cast molded and instantly extruded into blocks of
8".times.16".times.10" by providing the minimum required amount of water
to mix the beads, sand and cement together; the resulting blocks were
subsequently steam cured and found to have good dimensional stability
within 4 mm. of the final dimensions desired for the block. The blocks,
when cast, were formed with apertures, as illustrated in the drawings.
Replicate samples of such building elements had weight ranges of 14.1 kg;
13.6 kg and 14.1 kg for an average weight of 13.9. These elements,
composed of the above mixture utilizing a sand having a finus modulus of
3.0, were then tested using ASTM-C-140-75(1980) for compressive strength
on a gross area. The tests results yielded values of 2.85; 2.85; and 2.76
MPa, respectively, for the three samples providing an average of 2.82 MPa.
EXAMPLE 2
Building elements of the same dimensions, the same composition and
structure as that described in Example 1 were prepared but in this case,
sand with a finus modulus of approximately 2.6 was utilized. Replicate
samples of such building blocks were cast using a dry cast method;
compressive strength results (using the above ASTM method) of gross area
for each replicate measured 2.80; 2.86 and 2.16 MPa for an average of 2.61
MPa per block.
EXAMPLE 3
Comparison building block samples were prepared, again using the same
composition, structure and production techniques as those described in
Examples 1 and 2, but in this case, the sand employed had a finus modulus
of approximately 4.1. Replicate samples weighing 12.7, 13.2 and 12.8 kg
were prepared and tested for compressive strength on gross area (using the
above ASTM method) yielding results of 1.78; 1.94 and 1.46 MPa for an
average of 1.73 MPa
EXAMPLE 4
The procedures described above with respect to Example 1 were repeated, but
in this case, using sand with a finus modulus of approximately 1.8.
Replicate samples were prepared, weighing 12.0; 12.1 and 11.6 kg. The dry
cast cured products were then tested for compressive strength on gross
area (using the above ASTM method) and measured 0.6; 0.5 and 0.7 MPa for a
mean of 0.6 MPa.
As will be seen, when sand of a finus modulus over or below that employed
in the compositions of the present invention is employed, the compressive
strength characteristics of the resulting products very significantly
drops off. In fact, the products of Examples 1 and 2 compared to those of
Example 4 possessed more than 4 times the average strength characteristics
of that of Example 4 even though the compositions were substantially
identical except for the sand with the different finus modulus. Likewise,
sand with a higher finus modulus, namely 4.1 is used in Example 3,
resulted in products compared to the products of the present invention,
which had 40% or less of the compressive strength characteristics of the
present invention.
EXAMPLE 5
Five samples of construction blocks according to the teachings of the
present invention were prepared for compression testing. Such blocks
comprised a mixture of Portland cement, sand and filler material and
expanded polystyrene beads. The ratio of polystyrene beads to matrix
material constituted approximately 60% beads to 40% matrix material, by
volume. The sand preferably has a finus modulus of between 2.2 and 3.1.
The polystyrene beads ranged in size from 1 to 3 mm in accordance with the
particle size distribution of the present invention, and contained no more
than 5% of a particle size greater and/or smaller than the largest and
smallest particle sizes disclosed herein. The beads were provided in
amounts of approximately 1/3 of each mean particle size as disclosed
herein. The blocks were formed by a dry casting technique, which involved,
briefly, the mixture of ingredients being homogeneously blended and only
sufficient water added to provide full hydration of the cement and to
provide a coating around the polystyrene beads. This mixture was placed
into a mold and instantaneously extruded from the mold, with vibration.
Thereafter, the dimensionally stable building blocks were steam cured.
In this example, the blocks were 190 mm (8".times.8".times.16") in size and
ranged in weight from 10.8 kg to 11.00 kg with a mean of 10.995 kg.
Compression tests according to ASTM C-140-75 (1980) carried out on these
blocks yielded a failure load ranging from 144 to 165 kilonewtons, with a
mean of 155.3 kilonewtons.
In a comparison test, samples of 190 mm blocks which included greater than
10% beads having a particle size larger than the largest range of the
present invention, the mean weight of 10 samples being 10.8 kg, the mean
failure load was of 138.19 kilonewtons.
From this example, it can be seen that by maintaining all other ingredients
and procedures constant, only a minor variance of over 10% in one range of
particle size distribution outside the range of this invention results in
inferior compression strengths.
EXAMPLE 6
Five samples of construction blocks according to the teachings of the
present invention were prepared for compression testing in accordance with
the procedure in Example 5. The blocks comprised a mixture basically as
described above with respect to Example 5. In this case, the blocks were
240 mm (10".times.8".times.16") in size and ranged in weight from 13.1 kg
to 13.5 with a mean of 13.350 kg. Compression tests according to ASTM
C-140-75 (1980) carried out on these blocks yielded a failure load ranging
from 147 to 218.7 kilonewtons, with a mean of 193.7 kilonewtons.
In a comparison test, samples of 240 mm blocks which included greater than
10% beads having a particle size larger than the largest range of the
present invention, the mean weight of 10 samples being 12.7 kg, the mean
failure load of was 158.5 kilonewtons.
It will be understood that various modifications can be made to the above
described embodiments, without departing from the spirit and the scope of
the invention as defined herein.
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