(Press-News.org) Although widespread rebuilding in the hard-hit New York metro region from Super Storm Sandy has not yet begun, NJIT Assistant Professor Mohamed Mahgoub, http://www.njit.edu/news/experts/mahgoub.php, PhD, PE, says when the hammers start swinging, it's time to look at autoclaved aerated concrete.
The material, best known as AAC, has been heralded as the building material of the new millennium. It's a lightweight, easily-crafted manufactured stone, strong enough to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes when reinforced with steel.
The material is used widely worldwide, says Mahgoub, who will be a featured speaker early next week at the 2012 China-US BOAO Manufactured Stone Conference in Zhengzhou Henan, China.
Mahgoub is also the coordinator of the NJIT Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program, which is only one of a select few programs of its kind across the U.S. This semester CIM students are testing and analyzing AAC. "It is an environmentally-friendly solution for future building problems and it is also an extremely efficient, specialty fabrication material," he says. "Cuts can easily be factory controlled. AAC is available throughout the U.S. and Canada. There is currently one U.S. manufacturer in Florida with plans to open another manufacturing operation in New Jersey."
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ATTENTION MEDIA: To examine AAC samples and learn more about the material, Dr. Mahgoub will be available for interviews at NJIT on Nov. 19-20, 2012. Please contact Sheryl Weinstein, Sheryl.m.weinstein@njit.edu, 973-596-3436, to set up interview times and photos.
AAC was discovered as a timber alternative in1920 by Dr. Axel Eriksson of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Currently there are more than 325 worldwide manufacturing plants that annually manufacture more than 25 million cubic yards. China is now in the midst of building more plants. Europeans have been using the material for the past 60 years; Russia is the greatest user. In the U.S., its presence has increased over the past 15 years.
AAC is workable and lightweight like wood. It can provide outstanding thermal insulation, is resistant to fire, termites and decay. A concrete product, AAC consists of finely ground sand, cement, quick lime, gypsum, aluminum and water. "Most sand is too coarse for the manufacturing of AAC," notes Mahgoub. Mills rotated by 500 horse power electric motors grind the grains up into a finer consistency, then pump the ground material into slurry tanks. The raw slurry is agitated constantly and mixed with water to hydrate the cement and to control the mix consistency. Aluminum paste or powder, mixed with water, is then introduced. The aluminum slurry is added to the mix and a chemical reaction produces a hydrogen gas that increases the mix volume. The result is a fine cellular structure of the finished product.
AAC can be used as roof, floor, vertical or horizontal wall panels, shaped into blocks and more.
The Concrete Industry Management Program at NJIT is designed to address the urgent need for professionals with the skills to meet the growing demands of a progressive, changing concrete industry. The program is part of a special curriculum in the NJIT Department of Engineering Technology in NJIT's Newark College of Engineering. The program prepares broadly educated, articulate graduates grounded in basic concrete construction management, who are knowledgeable of concrete technology and techniques. For more information, please visit http://engineeringtech.njit.edu/academics/cim/index.php.
NJIT, New Jersey's science and technology university, enrolls more than 9,558 students pursuing bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 120 programs. The university consists of six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, College of Computing Sciences and Albert Dorman Honors College. U.S. News & World Report's 2011 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities. NJIT is internationally recognized for being at the edge in knowledge in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. Many courses and certificate programs, as well as graduate degrees, are available online through the Division of Continuing Professional Education.
NJIT professor promotes building material of millennium: Autoclave aerated concrete
2012-11-08
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Genetics Society of America's GENETICS journal highlights for November 2012
2012-11-08
Bethesda, MD—November 7, 2012 – Listed below are the selected highlights for the November 2012 issue of the Genetics Society of America's journal, GENETICS. The November issue is available online at www.genetics.org/content/current. Please credit GENETICS, Vol. 192, November 2012, Copyright © 2012.
Please feel free to forward to colleagues who may be interested in these articles.
ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS
An ex vivo model for imprinting: Mutually exclusive binding of Cdx2 and Oct4 as a switch for imprinted and random X-inactivation, pp. 857
Jennifer A. Erwin, Brian del Rosario, ...
Penn research reveals new aspect of platelet behavior in heart attacks: Clots can sense blood flow
2012-11-08
PHILADELPHIA — The disease atherosclerosis involves the build up of fatty tissue within arterial walls, creating unstable structures known as plaques. These plaques grow until they burst, rupturing the wall and causing the formation of a blood clot within the artery. These clots also grow until they block blood flow; in the case of the coronary artery, this can cause a heart attack.
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Sugar boosts self-control, UGA study says
2012-11-08
Athens, Ga. – To boost self-control, gargle sugar water. According to a study co-authored by University of Georgia professor of psychology Leonard Martin published Oct. 22 in Psychological Science, a mouth rinse with glucose improves self-control.
His study looked at 51 students who performed two tasks to test self-control. The first task, which has shown to deplete self-control, was the meticulous crossing out of Es on a page from a statistics book. Then, participants performed what is known as the Stroop task where they were asked to identify the color of various words ...
Tactile croc jaws more sensitive than human fingertips
2012-11-08
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Sugar and spice and everything not so nice
2012-11-08
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Interventions needed to promote healthy behaviors among perinatally HIV-infected youth
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Despite their thick skins, alligators and crocodiles are surprisingly touchy
2012-11-08
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Chernobyl cleanup workers had significantly increased risk of leukemia
2012-11-08
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Rethinking body mass index (BMI) for assessing cancer risk
2012-11-08
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Ben-Gurion University develops side-illuminated ultra-efficient solar cell designs
2012-11-08
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, November 8, 2012 -- Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed a radically new design for a concentrator solar cell that, when irradiated from the side, generates solar conversion efficiencies which rival, and may eventually surpass, the most ultra-efficient photovoltaics.
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