Description Of Wall
During the period of September 1998 to December
1998, the Hebel wall was built and tested in the guarded hot-box
under steady-state conditions. The Hebel units were made of autoclaved
aerated concrete (AAC).
AAC is made with cement, lime, water and
sand. The sand is ground to a fine powder. A small amount of aluminum
paste is added to the mixture. This reacts with the alkaline elements
in the cement and lime causing the mixture to aerate, filling with
millions of tiny finely dispersed bubbles. When the concrete is
partially cured, it is stripped from the mold, cut into blocks or
panels and steam cured in an autoclave under high pressure and temperature.
The result is a concrete that’s only about one fifth of the
weight of conventional concrete. Autoclaved aerated concrete was
invented in Sweden in the 1920’s and Josef Hebel began commercial
production in Germany in 1940.
The tested Hebel AAC (autoclaved aerated
concrete) wall system was based on solid blocks (7-13/16 x 23-5/8
x 7 13/16-in.). The density of aerated concrete was about 31.9 lb/ft3.
The Hebel blocks were joined using 1/16-in. thick mortar. Normally,
the Hebel wall is covered by light weight stucco on the outside
and plaster on the inside. An unfinished wall was used for the hot-box
tests at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Buildings Technology
Center.
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