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MyWorldBuild

Worldbuild365 News Building&Architecture

Newbuildingmaterialsforthefutureofconstruction
26.05.2016

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Whilesomemightarguethattheoldwaysarethebest,thefactisthatdevelopmentsinthe
constructionindustryhavemadeiteasierandsafertobuildacrosstheglobe.Thedevelopmentof
innovativenewbuildingmaterialshasallowedarchitectstobetterrealisetheirvisions,astheymake
moredaringstructurespossibleduetotheirimprovedstrength,flexibilityanddurability.Thisisa

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fieldthatisdevelopingallthetime.Ifyouwanttostayontopofit,readonforalistofnewbuilding
materialsthatmightwellbefeaturedinyournextmajorproject.

Graphene

Whilenotanewmaterial,graphenehasbeenimpracticaltouseinconstructionsinceitsdiscovery.In
theory,itisanexcellentbuildingmaterial,asitisincrediblylightweightwhilebeingstrongerand
stifferthanbothsteelandcarbonfibre.Potentially,itcouldbecombinedwithmoretraditional
materialstocreatestrongerbeamsandcables,allowingformoreimpressivestructures.

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However,grapheneissodifficulttoproducethatbuildershaverarelybeenabletousemorethana
fewflakesofitperproject.Untilnow,thatis,astheUS'OakRidgeNationalLaboratoryhasdeveloped
anewwayofproducingitusingatechniqueknownaschemicalvapourdeposition.

IvanVlassiouk,leaderoftheteamresponsiblefortheproject,saidthatthisdiscovery"considerably
extendsthepotentialapplicationsandmarketforgraphene".Thenextstepistoreducethecostand
improvescalability,thenthematerialcanbeusedmuchmorewidely.

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Ruukki

Romanconcrete

ThebuildingsandstructuresofancientRomehavestoodforaverylongtime,sothebuilding
materialstheyusedmustoffersomethingtolearnfrom.Now,researchersfromBerkeleyLabatthe
UniversityofCaliforniahavemadeabreakthroughincrackingthesecretoftheirlonglifethespecial
formulatheRomansusedtomaketheirconcrete.Unlikemodernconcrete,inwhichPortlandcement
tobindtheaggregate,Romanconcreteusesamortarmixofvolcaniclimestone,whichreactstoform
crystalsthatexpandintothespacewithintheconcretemoreeffectively.Thisperformsthefunctionof
microfibersinPortlandbasedconcrete,butbettermoreresistanttocorrosion,andpackingthe
spacemoretightly.Thisalsocutstheriskofmicrocrackingintheconcreteovertime,
extendinglifespanconsiderably2,000yearsandcounting,asatriparoundRomewillprove.

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ConcreteusedinavaultbuiltinAncientRome(image:WikimediaCommons)

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Romanconcreteisnotjuststrongerthanthemodernversion,itisalsogreener.Thelimestoneand
clayusedinPortlandcementneedstobeheatedtoover1,400degreesCelsiusinthemanufacturing
process,andthisaccountsfor7%ofglobalcarbonemissions.Romanconcrete,ontheotherhand,
needsnothinglikethiskindofheat,asthevolcanicashandlimetheyusedreactsatalower
temperature.Thismeansapotentialnewconcreteformulathatisstronger,greener,andlonger
lasting.

Naturalconcrete

Stayingontheconcretetheme,researchersfromMIThavepublishedapaperthatproposestaking
cementoutoftheequationaltogether.Theresearchers,fromtheuniversity'sDepartmentofCiviland
EnvironmentalEngineering,arelookingtothenaturalworldproposingtheuseoforganicmaterials
likebones,shellsandseaspongestobindtheaggregateinconcretetogether.

TheresearchisafreshattempttosolvethetwindrawbacksofPortlandcementtheenergyneeded
tomakeit,andthepotentialformicrocrackingovertime.Theideacameaboutwhentheteam
contrastedtheextensiveknowledgeonthestructureofnaturalmaterialswiththe'guesswork'on
concrete'sinternalstructuresoitmadesensetousemorefamiliarmaterialsina'bottomup'
approachtoconcreteproduction.'Bonecrete'isnotamaterialreadytobeusedjustyetitismore
ofastartingpointforengineerstochangethewaytheychoosethecompositionofbuildingproducts.

Carbonfibrebalsa

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Imagecredit:BrettG.Compton,HarvardUniversity

Balsawoodisusefulthankstoitsstiffnessdespitebeingincrediblylightweighthowever,itisdifficult
toproduceandthereforeexpensive.However,ateamofresearchersatHarvardUniversityhave
managedtocreatecellularcompositematerialsofunprecedentedlightweightandstiffnessthatcould
replaceit.

Fibrereinforcedepoxybasedthermosettingresinsand3Dextrusionprintingtechniqueshavebeen
usedtocreatethesyntheticreplacement.Theresearchersusedthesemethodstocreatea
'honeycomb'effectincarbonfibreepoxymaterials.

Theendresultissomethingthatcouldpotentiallycompletelyreplacebalsawood.Notonlywouldit
becheaper,italsoeliminatestheproblemsthewoodhaswithirregulargrainsthatmakeitdifficultto
useinprecisionstructures.

Greenmixconcrete

Developingnewbuildingmaterialsisnotjustaboutmakingthemstrongerorlighter,butalsoabout
makingthemmoreenvironmentallyfriendly.AteamfromUniversitiTeknologiMARAinMalaysiahas
beenabletocreatesomethingthatachievesthis,withtheirinventionofwhattheycall'greenmix
concrete'.

Thisusesconventionalingredientsforconcretemixedwithsuitablewasteandrecycledmaterialsto
createaneconomicalandecofriendlysubstitutethatstillperformsaswellastheoriginal.Someof
thematerialsusedincludeflyash,recycledconcreteaggregatesandaluminiumcanfibres.

Syntheticspidersilk


Imagecredit:MIT

Spidersilkisoneofthenaturalworld'smostimpressivematerials,withextremelyhighstrengthfor
itsrelativelylowdensitythatmakesitstrongerthansteel,gramforgram.Researchershavelong
wantedtocreateasyntheticversion,butthesecrettoitspropertieshasbeenamysteryuntilnow.

AteamfromtheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyhasused3Dprintingtechniquestogenerate
fakespiderwebsinordertolearnmoreabouttheirstructure.Theybelievethisisthenextstep
towardsasyntheticversion.

"Weareonthewaytoquantifyingthemechanismthatmakesthespider'swebsostrong,"said
researchscientistZhaoQin.

Readmore:4morenextgenerationbuildingmaterials

Improvedwood

ResearchfromtheUniversitiesofWarwickandCambridgehasledtonewunderstandingofthe
molecularstructureofwood.Thiscouldleadtonewusesforplantsinconstruction,aswellasan
improvedversionofoneofthemostcommonbuildingmaterialsintheworld.

Thescientistsfoundthatthexylanpolymerwhichmakesupaboutathirdofwood'sstructurehas
anunusualshape.Thisenabledthemtostudyhowmoleculesandcellswithinplantwallsare
arranged.

ProfessorPaulDupreeoftheUniversityofCambridgesaid:"Thismajorstepforwardinunderstanding
themoleculararchitectureofplantcellwallswillimpacttheuseofplantsforrenewablematerials,
energyandforbuildingconstruction."

Lookingfornewbuildingmaterialideasforyournextproject?BroswetheWorldBuild365product
directoryforbuildingchemicals,materialsandtherestofourrangeofproducts.
Tags:#buildingmaterials
26.05.2016

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