Monday, March 07, 2016
Polystyrene Concrete: A Versatile Construction Alternative
Interesting Engineering: The field of composites used in construction and engineering has grown in recent years as the chemical manufacturing industry has diversified. Polymers and other plastics have begun to be more widely accepted as traditional aggregate substitutes in concrete construction. With this expansion comes the addition of certain thermal and mechanical properties in various composite concretes.
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I've heard of polystyrene concrete before, but only as an experimental product. Every year, the top engineering schools have a "concrete canoe" competition where teams of students build and, of course, race in a concrete canoe of their own construction. Some of the main problems they face are weight, inflexibility, and brittle qualities introduced when they mix different stuff into their concrete. I'm excited to see this product has become a real thing: I wish the article had given a little more information about who was making it and how much it costs compared to regular concrete. Still, it's a good way to recycle a product that so often is just thrown away and causes a lot of harm to the environment. If polystyrene can be recycled without much cost and put to a good use, I say go for it! Also, if it does turn out to be cheaper than regular concrete, it may help in reducing the cost of housing projects. Cool stuff!
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