Light brick is one of
the development of appropriate technology. Whereas the beginning of light brick
was made to replace brick with a weight that is certainly lighter and also
soundproof. Even though it is called light brick, this brick is actually not
too light, one light brick weighs around 8-10 kg depending on dimensions. Only
when compared to ordinary / normal concrete of the same size, this lightweight
brick is much lighter. So that the suitability of this light brick is given the
name of lightweight concrete instead of lightweight brick. Light brick, the
name given to this lightweight concrete is so sticky and "ingrained in the
community" that we no longer need to change its mention to light concrete.
This lightweight brick function is generally used the same as red brick or
ordinary brick, namely as a partition and does not accept structural loads.
Light brick has several advantages compared to ordinary brick, such as having
precise shapes and dimensions so that it will save adhesive and do not need to
broadcast much.
Basically, this
lightweight brick is lighter than ordinary concrete because due to the
lightweight brick, air pores are formed. The cavity is wrapped in concrete so
that it causes inside the light brick there is a lot of small empty space.
Maybe, at first it will sound weird if a light brick turns floating on the
water. How could it be? Light brick that is concrete can float in water? If we
discuss it in physics, light brick floats because it has a smaller density than
Water. Is it possible that light brick has a density smaller than water? yes,
because density is the weight of objects of the same volume. while if we weigh
light brick then to get the density must be divided by volume. While the light
brick volume consists of many air cavities.
To make it easier and
easier to understand, I made a simple analogy. Why do ships made of iron float?
yes because of that, the influence of air. you know ... the iron on the ship is
not a lot of cavities? Imagine we have a large ball with an iron wrapper with
an empty space of air that is not connected to the outside air. then the ball
will float, just like light brick, the pore is almost not connected to the
outside air.
The fewer cavities
that are connected with the air outside and with each other, and the smaller
the absorption power / light brick absorption, the longer the lightweight brick
floats in the water. so don't be surprised, if there is a light brick floating
in just one week, it's gone. This is because absorption which fills the pores /
cavities in light brick gradually fills with water and is also affected by the
connection between pores.
In the market, there
are several types of lightweight bricks, namely lightweight AAC and CLC bricks.
Generally light brick that is widely produced in the market is light brick CLC.
Then what is AAC light brick? AAC lightweight brick is a lightweight brick
Autoclave Aerated Concrete This lightweight brick is made with the help of high
pressure steam. Where in the making of the dough is inserted into the
Autoclaved tool. In the tool it will be given high pressure and temperature, so
that AAC brick material which is a material of lime and silica sand will react
to form pores. AAC light brick production requires large investment costs,
because it requires a boiler and an aerated chamber as well as maintenance and
also needs a team of experts to run the tools and methods. But the light brick
produced will generally be lighter than the light brick CLC.
AAC light brick has a dry density between 650 kg / m3 up to 700 kg / m3. while CLC ring bricks range from 800 kg / m3 to 1000 kg / m3.
If AAC brick requires
expensive equipment and special environmental manufacturing, it is different
from CLC light brick. CLC lightweight bricks can be said to be conventional.
Cellular Lightweight Concrete, or what we used to call CLC, is an ordinary
concrete mix with Cement and aggregate (fine). For concrete to have a light
weight, a lot of pores are needed. To form these pores, admixture is added during
stirring. The additive or admixture is a Foam Agent which is useful for making
foam / cavities during stirring. CLC light brick density will depend on the
specific gravity of the foam produced by the foam agent.
How to install light
brick is similar to the installation of ordinary brick or brick. The difference
is that the entire installation process must be very thorough, if not, the
level of precision will not be achieved so that the couple and the show become
wasteful. Jidar aluminum and water pass must absolutely be used. To keep the
couple's mixture (both with instant cement and ordinary cement) can have the
same thickness, then use a special spoon that has square teeth at the end which
is usually called roskam. With this roskam, a pair of 3-5 mm thick will be
obtained. Unlike red brick and brick, this pair only uses a mixture of cement
and water, without sand.