Shear panel building material
View Patent ↗A shear panel building material that includes a first facing membrane, a core matrix disposed on a face of the first facing membrane, and a semi-rigid or rigid material attached to the core matrix. The core matrix can include microspheres having a size of about 200 microns to about 800 microns, sodium silicate, and ethylene vinyl acetate. In one aspect, the shear panel is substantially free from glue and cement.
1. A shear panel building material comprising:
a first facing membrane and a second facing membrane, wherein the first facing membrane and the second facing membrane are independently selected from the group consisting of paper, metal and metal alloys;
a rigid material situated between the first facing membrane and the second facing membrane, said rigid material being self-supporting; and
a core matrix sandwiched between the first facing membrane and the second facing membrane, wherein the core matrix includes:
from about 25 wt % to about 60 wt % of microspheres based on wet formulation, the microspheres having a size of from 100 to 1500 microns, wherein the microspheres are consisting of cenospheres, each cenosphere comprising an outer surface and a hollow interior filled with gas;
from about 20 wt % to about 36 wt % sodium silicate binder; and
from about 5 wt % to about 15 wt % organic binder, wherein the microspheres are bonded together by the sodium silicate to create a plurality of voids between the microspheres,
wherein the rigid material is held in place with respect to the first and second facing membranes by the core matrix.
2. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is substantially the same height and length of the first facing membrane.
3. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is a mesh.
4. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is a continuous sheet.
5. A shear panel building material as in claim 4 , wherein the continuous sheet has a thickness of about 2 to about 3 lbs/sq, yd.
6. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the core matrix further includes from about 2 wt % to about 6 wt % of a vinyl acetate.
7. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the microspheres are present in an amount from about 30 wt % to about 40 wt % of the wet mixture.
8. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the microspheres have a size of from about 200 to about 800 microns.
9. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is selected from the group consisting of plastics, metals, metal alloys, fiberglass, Kevlar, nylon, graphite/composites, woven fabric, fiber sheets, and combinations thereof.
10. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is quilted aluminum sheet.
11. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , comprising a plurality of rigid materials situated between the first facing membrane and the second facing membrane.
12. A shear panel building material as in claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is configured to improve the shear panel building material's ability to counter effects of lateral loads by greater than about 10%.
13. A method of forming a shear panel building material according to claim 1 , comprising:
combining the microspheres with from about 20 wt % to about 36 wt % sodium silicate binder and from about 5 wt % to about 15 wt % organic binder to form a mixture;
disposing a first part of the mixture between the first facing membrane and the rigid material;
disposing the second part of the mixture between the second facing membrane and the rigid material; and
heat curing the mixture to form a core matrix.
14. A method as in claim 13 , wherein the rigid material is a quilted sheet.
15. A method as in claim 13 , further comprising disposing fibers in the mixture prior to disposing the mixture between the first and second facing membranes and the rigid continuous material.