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Comment by alexpotato

3 days ago

Nice to see Pykrete being mentioned!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete

Fun fact: you don't need sawdust for pykrete. Adding any kind of material e.g. just newspapers can help similar to how rebar makes concrete stronger

Isn't adding newspapers just adding cellulose with some bonus ink?

  • It adds fiber, which is the key. The main weakness of ice as a crystal is that as soon as a crack forms it can spread along imperfections in the crystal structure. Putting fibre in it bridges those gaps and stops the cracks before they can get big enough to cause significant weakening.