The Origin of Foam Concrete

The Origin of Foam Concrete

The earliest form of foam concrete can be traced back to approximately 5,000 years ago, when the ancient Egyptians used natural substances to create gas when mixed, resulting in porous materials. Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans mixed lime, sand, and gravel to create the earliest form of concrete. Shortly thereafter, they discovered that adding animal blood to this primitive concrete and mixing it produced durable bubbles, rendering the concrete a stable yet porous material. Additionally, they found that adding horsehair to this porous concrete addressed its shrinkage cracking, much like how synthetic fibers are used in foam concrete today. It can be said that the porous material created by the ancient Romans is the closest precursor to modern foam concrete technology. To this day, animal blood hydrolysate foaming agents remain one type of animal protein foaming agent used in foam concrete.

The true modern industrial foam concrete began its earliest explorations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The characteristic of earlier primitive foam concrete was the lack of technical means to control the amount of air introduced into the concrete, i.e., the inability to control material density. The extremely cold winters in Sweden prompted them to seek efficient insulation materials urgently. Building on the primitive foam concrete technology of their predecessors, they conducted foundational research on the properties of foam concrete. In 1923, Europeans first proposed a method of producing porous concrete by mixing pre-formed bubbles with cement mortar, marking the world’s first true modern foam concrete. II. The Development History of Foam Concrete In the early 20th century, Nordic countries and Russia actively pursued the technological development of foam concrete. From then on, foam concrete began to develop rapidly. The two decades from the early 1930s to the early 1950s marked the period when the industrialized technical system for foam concrete was established. During this period, the outbreak of World War II led to a shortage of aluminum powder, which was used in the production of aerated concrete. As a result, European countries turned to using foam as a substitute for aluminum powder, replacing aerated concrete with foam concrete. This stimulated research, development, and production of foam concrete before, during, and after the war, creating its first peak of development. Its primary application was in building insulation.

During this period, the Soviet Union achieved the most significant technological advancements. It can be said that the Soviet Union played a pivotal role in the maturation and industrialization of foam concrete technology. From the start of research and development in 1926 to the commencement of industrial production in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1930, the Soviet Union achieved this in just four years. The foam concrete blocks, wall panels, decorative panels, roof panels, and floor panels produced by these enterprises began to be widely applied in industrial and residential buildings. From 1946 to 1958, the Soviet Union established a series of national standards, including ‘Foam Concrete Roof Panels’ 1781-49 and ‘Reinforced Foam Concrete Large Panels for Factory Roofs’ 7741-55, becoming the first country in the world to establish a comprehensive standard system for foam concrete products, predating China by over 50 years.