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STARcrete™ Equipment
STARcrete™ can be manufactured with various equipment, depending on the size and type of project, including the following:
- STARmix™ batch plants
- Modified stationary asphalt plants
- Modified portable asphalt plants
- Modified mobile asphalt plants
- Suitably heated concrete mixer trucks
STARcrete™ Placement
The hot mix can be placed:
- directly into precast product molds
- directly into a heated storage bin for later placement
- directly
into a heated ready-mix truck for transportation through a heated
concrete pump with a high-temperature rubber belt conveyor
STARcrete™ Bonding
The hot mix will bond well to most dry, porous surfaces such as cured
Portland cement concrete, asphaltic concrete, cinder block and wood. To
prevent adhesion to such surfaces, they may be wetted, oiled or treated
with a number of permanent surface coatings.
The hot mix bonds well to itself if the existing surface is dry and the mix has a suitably high temperature.
Under these conditions, the existing surface will fuse into the new materials.
STARcrete™ Fire Resistance
Although STARcrete™
will remelt when its temperature reaches 120ºC (250ºF), its very low
thermal conductivity protects it from many short-lived, high
temperature situations. Flame spread tunnel tests conducted in accordance with
Underwriters Laboratories of Canada test S-102.2-1977 shows zero flame
spread, zero fuel contribution and zero smoke density. Special additives impart flame resistance by forming a
protective surface char when exposed to direct flame. This char,
together with the low thermal conductivity, results in slow penetration
of heat, but prolonged exposure to fire will cause some structural
damage where the surface has not been protected with insulated
cladding.
STARcrete™ Recycling
The finished product can be recycled by crushing and reheating without loss of strength.
Mixing equipment does not require cleaning after use as residual
material left clinging to the walls will be re-melted during the next
mixing operation.
STARcrete™ Cold and Hot Weather Concreting
The fact that STARcrete™
contains no Portland cement, no water, and sets on cooling, makes it
well suited to both cold weather and hot weather concreting. No hoarding or heating is required when pouring in
freezing temperatures and no protection from drying winds is needed at
high ambient temperatures.
In January 1979, 1,300 tons of STARcrete™
were cast as 1,800 kg pipeline weights in the field in northern Canada
at ambient temperatures of -40ºC (-40ºF) and lower.
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