What is Pumice?

What is Pumice? Pumice is a natural stone formed as a result of successive chemical reactions during volcanic activities. It has a spongy, porous, hollow structure. With these features, pumice stone is a natural heat and sound insulator. “What is pumice?” When the question comes to the fore, it is not necessary to mention the other way of naming it: The other name that is known by everyone is pumice.

It is nature friendly and long lasting. The lack of chemical reaction prevents the formation of microorganisms and this makes it completely harmless from a toxic point of view.

Due to its high strength value, it is resistant to both earthquakes and various atmospheric events. It also naturally balances moisture.

All these qualities have made it one of the most preferred raw materials in the production of lightweight construction elements.

Features of pumice

Bims is an ideal aggregate for use in lightweight concrete production.

• It is vesicular (porous).
• It is not crystalline in nature.
• It is non-toxic and non-hazardous. For example, it is used in the paint industry due to its fire and stain resistance. It is also effective in obtaining low density paint materials as a filler. The rubber and plastic industry also makes use of pumice as a functional filler.

Advantage in pumice Blocks

With the advantages of pumice, it is almost an essential raw material to be included in the building elements. In the construction industry (roads, bridges, precast concrete products, cement mortars, slightly inclined panels and decorative concretes), the concrete obtained with pumice stone is used because of its advantages such as durability and longevity.

• Lightness: One of the most important advantages of pumice concrete is its lightness. It is one third lighter than concrete made from sand and gravel. Considering the steel used in the construction of the structure, this is a very important detail for reducing the dead load.
• Insulation: The low thermal conductivity of pumice concrete provides less heat loss. In addition, moisture condensation on the walls and ceilings where it is used is either absent or negligible. One of the most economical ways to obtain insulated concrete blocks is to take advantage of these opportunities provided by pumice.
• Fire resistance: Pumice concrete has a higher fire resistance than standard concrete. It is very durable even when in direct contact with flame.
• Workability: Being suitable for drilling, nailing and cutting operations and maintaining its integrity in such operations accelerates the building construction processes.
• Weather resistance: Unaffected by both very high and very low temperatures. Therefore, it has superior resistance to harsh weather conditions. This is one of the main reasons for choosing bims. In addition, it gives the opportunity to produce concretes with high fracture resistance against natural oppositions such as earthquakes and storms.
• Moisture resistance: Pumice provides superior resistance to moisture and reduced permeability in terms of its water absorption (desorption) feature.