Transite

Transite is a completely fireproof composite material made of asbestos and cement, which was once frequently used for such purposes as furnace flues, and shingles, siding, and wallboard for areas where fire retardancy is particularly important. Because cutting, breaking, and machining transite releases carcinogenic asbestos fibers into the air, its use has fallen out of favor.

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Transite was available as early as 1929, as it was used for the skin of the 1929 Hollywood Bowl shell, which stood until the fall of 2003. As an acoustic material, however, transite has the additional problem that its cement binder continues to harden over an indefinite period of time, which can introduce harsh echoes.

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Composite material: Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineering materials made from two or more components. One component is often a strong fibre such as fiberglass, quartz, kevlar, Dyneema or carbon fibre that gives the material its tensile strength, while another component (called a matrix) is ofte...

Asbestos: Asbestos (Greek ????????: a-, "not"; sbestos, "extinguishable") describes any of a group of fibrous metamorphic minerals of the hydrous magnesium silicate variety. The name is derived for its historical use in lamp wicks; the resistance of asbestos to fire has long been exploited for a variety of pu...

Cement: In the general sense, a cement (Latin caementum) is any material with adhesive properties. The term cement is also commonly used to refer more specifically to powdered materials which develop strong adhesive qualities when combined with water. These materials are more properly known as hydraulic ce...