Plascrete
| Plascrete | |
|---|---|
| Type | Construction Material |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | Cr50 |
| Size | 250 liters |
| Weight | 500 kg |
Plascrete is a cheap, widely use building material. Mixed in about a 1:10 ratio with filler material such as sand or plastic pellets, it makes a slurry that hardens only when a high-frequency electrical discharge is passed through it, a process which takes about half an hour for a 500 kg block. Normally, an electrode gets painted at the bottom of the form, and another on the top, though other means of achieving the discharge are possible. The resulting plascrete is waterproof, airtight, and resistant to all known molds and micro-organisms. It has much better compressive than tensile strength and is only used as pressure walls if the pressure inside is less than that outside.
A variant of the plascrete is foamed plascrete and is the more widely used form. Nozzles and aerator blow an air-filled slurry of plascrete into a mold or onto a surface, and electrode connections harden the result almost instantaneously, but only a thin layer at a time. The benefits are that 75% less plascrete is used, it is self-insulating because of the air spaces, and it is much lighter than solid plascrete (it floats). In addition, vertical surfaces or inverted surfaces can be "plascrete-plated", making it useful to stabilize weakened structures. Additives are available to enhance or retain normal properties.
Plascrete is normally sold dry, in 250-liter drums.
- Greg Porter. Central Supply Catalog (Imperium Games, 1996), 40.