Pykrete
Pykrete is a composite material consisting of around 14 percent sawdust or another form of fine wood fiber (such as paper ) and 86 percent by weight ice .
Its use was among other things during the Second World War by the British Royal Navy to build the unsinkable aircraft carrier Habbakuk being considered (in Canada was built as a result, a buoyant model pykrete with wood paneling, which on the task of the project in the last years of the war three summer on a lake got over). Due to its low thermal conductivity, Pykrete has a remarkably low melting rate, while at the same time having better material properties compared to pure water ice, which come close to those of concrete .
origin of the name
The term pykrete is a compound from the name of Geoffrey Pyke (1893-1948), who did not invent the material, but its practical use was promoted, and the English word for concrete Concrete .
See also
- Wood concrete , a material made up of sawdust and cement
Web links
- Mirror online; Project Habakuk , accessed April 14, 2015.