The advantages of AAC blocks stamps it as a perfect and superior building material in comparison with conventional bricks. Advantages of AAC blocks and their properties are listed out in detail.
Advantages of AAC blocks
AAC Blocks or Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks are lightweight, load-bearing, durable, and economical walling material. They are eco-sensitive and green option to bricks, due to its enormous potentials in terms of insulation, fire-resistant, acoustic, and thermal resistant properties. AAC Blocks are superior material when compared with concrete, wood, brick, and stone. They can enhance the construction speed, reduce the costs, and minimise wastage at construction sites.
Also read : MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF AAC BLOCKS
Technical Advantages of AAC blocks
The unique qualities of AAC blocks are mainly due to its properties. AAC blocks are something more than a brick alternative. AAC block posses a lot of qualities that make them stand out from other alternatives. The advantages in terms of technical properties are listed below.
AAC blocks sizes are customised and manufactured in various sizes. The most common dimensions available in the market is :
600/625 mm (length) x 230/240 mm(height) x 100 mm-300 mm (thick)
Dimension and appearance
The biggest advantages of AAC blocks are its Dimension and appearance.
AAC Blocks are factory manufactured and hence got a perfect size and finish with a dimension tolerance of +/- 5mm. They have sharp edges and corners, uniform colour, and pleasing appearance.
AAC block density is around (550-650)kg/cm3 which can be customised as per requirement.
AAC blocks pose a drying shrinkage of around 0.4 % which is considered very less when compared to conventional bricks.
Dimension optimisation is the main feature of AAC blocks. They can be customised to cater to any dimension requirements. AAC blocks are available in thickness ranging from 100 mm to 300 mm with a standard length of 600 mm/625 mm. The dimensions of AAC blocks also differ with the manufacturer.
Fire resistant advantages of AAC blocks
AAC blocks are non-combustible and got excellent fire-resistant properties. The melting point of the AAC blocks is around 1600 degrees Celsius which is much higher than the temperature of building fires, where it is around 500 degrees Celsius. AAC block can withstand fire up to 4-6 hours depending on the block thickness.
Acoustic/Sound proof qualities
AAC Blocks possess low density and high porosity due to the presence of billions of voids. The voids make up 80% of the total volume. The AAC block got high sound absorption properties when compared with any other building materials like concrete and brick due to its high porosity.
The high acoustic properties make AAC blocks a preferred choice for cinema halls and auditoriums walls.
Insect and termite resistant
AAC Block uses inorganic materials like fly ash, cement, gypsum, etc as ingredients in its manufacturing process. AAC block possesses good insect and termite resistant qualities due to the presence of these inorganic materials.
Advantage of AAC blocks – Thermal insulation and energy savings
Fly ash is the main ingredient and constitutes more than 70% weight of AAC blocks ingredients. The micro pores constitutes around 80% of AAC blocks accounts for its excellent thermal insulation properties. The thermal insulation qualities help in maintaining inner temperature cool in summers and warm in winters. More cooler interior means less AC load which in turn can reduce energy consumption by 20% and can eliminate costly thermal insulation.
Advantage of AAC block-Impact of earthquake
AAC blocks are lightweight and reduces dead load/ mass on the structure. The impact of earthquake is directly proportional to the weight of structure. Because of its light weight properties, AAC blocks can reduce the impact of earthquake to an extend and hence preferred for earthquake zones.
Water and Moisture Resistant
AAC blocks constitutes millions of micro pores which prevent capillary transport of water and moisture over a long distance. The walls can resist moisture even with a lesser thickness compared to bricks. The water and moisture resistant qualities enable to use a less thick block as partitions.
Advantage of AAC block in terms of strength
AAC blocks are highly superior in terms of the strength. Higher level of strength of these blocks gives higher stability to the structure of the building.
Economical compared to any other alternative
AAC blocks are economical and stands out as the preferred option due to a lot of factors. This is the main advantage of AAC block over conventional red bricks.
Ease of cutting and chasing
Using recommended tools we can easily cut,drill and chase AAC blocks . The blocks will not break,crack or de-bond from its position while doing so.
Ensure fast construction
AAC blocks are lightweight, easy to fix and have a very accurate dimensional tolerance +/-5 mm and can be fixed, jointed and plumbed easily.
A single block of any thickness have an area of 24 inches x 8 inches
For completing a wall of 10 ft x 10ft
Surface area of block = 24 inch x 8 inch = 0.6 m x 0.2m = 0.12 sqm per block
Area of wall : 10 ft x 10 ft = 100 sq ft = 9.29 sqm
Quantity of block for an area of 9.29 sqm
9.29 sqm/0.12 sqm = 77.41 blocks for 100 sqft
Ordinary brick area is 9 inch x 3 inch = 0.23 m x .075 = .01725 sqm
Area of wall = 9.29 sqm area = 9.29/.1725 =
538 bricks (for 4 inch thick wall) and 1080 bricks for a 9 inch wall)
Higher the number of bricks greater the number of mortar joints.
AAC blocks are big in size and it can cover 13-14 bricks with a block. This can speed up the construction.
Advantage of AAC block in terms of Labour cost
AAC blocks are very fast and easy to place due to the less number of joints when compared with bricks.
AAC blocks doesn’t require any soaking before placing for masonry and no curing is required after carrying out the works. The block adhesive used is air cured . This can reduce substantial labour and infrastructure costs involved in curing and soaking of blocks.
AAC block uses ready mix block adhesive in place of mortar for bonding the blocks, wherein mortar making requires handling of aggregates, mixing and conveying to the location for use. The labour involved in this lengthy process can be saved in the case of AAC blocks. More over the area looks neat and clean as site mixed mortars tends to generate a lot of waste.
Bricks got 4 times more mortar joints than AAC blocks. The dimensional tolerance of bricks are very high around +/- 5 mm to 15 mm and more. It is difficult to plumb and place in position.
AAC block work can even be done with a semiskilled labour with a little bit of training mostly due to their dimensional accuracy.
AAC blocks are available in pallets and can be conveyed and lifted to any location with the help of cranes and tower cranes. This can save labour involvement in carrying of blocks.
Because of these factors the labour charges for placing AAC blocks are almost 50% less when compared with conventional bricks/ or any other walling material.
Advantages of AAC block – Savings in material cost
Saving in jointing mortar
The block adhesive joint thickness is around 3-4 mm and it is much cheaper than mortar which includes cement and sand and its mixing.
Saving in plastering material
There is a huge amount of savings in terms of plastering. AAC blockwork presents a fair face on both sides of wall whereas brick work generates a fair face and unfair face on the walls. For covering the unfair face of brickwork the thickness of mortar should be adjusted to a minimum of 18 mm or more. In case of AAC blocks due to its dimensional accuracy they can be covered even with 10 mm thick mortar on inside faces and 12 mm thick mortar for outside faces. AAC blocks comes in perfect shapes and can even be painted directly after applying POP or gypsum plaster in very thin coats.
Wastages
AAC block wastage is around 2% whereas brick wastage is around 10% to 15% which is relatively very high. This can generates substantial saving in terms of wastage and removal of debris.
Design optimisation
AAC blocks are light weight with very less density of around 600 kg/cm3. Structural designers can optimise their designs due to less dead loads similarly optimised design consume less steel and concrete.
Eco-friendly and green product
AAC is 100% Green building material & is a walling material of a choice in LEED certified buildings.
AAC is most energy & resource efficient in the sense that it uses least amount of energy in manufacturing and material per m3 of product.
Brick manufacturing process uses fertile topsoil wherein AAC uses Fly-ash (65% of its weight) which is an industrial waste harming the environments.
AAC Blocks is a unique and excellent building material due to its superior heat, fire and sound resistance qualities. AAC blocks are lightweight and offers ultimate workability, flexibility and durability.
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