Transmaterial » concrete

CarbonCure

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:00:11 +0000

CarbonCure is a precast concrete technology developed to sequester carbon dioxide. The CarbonCure Block System has been installed across North America at concrete manufacturing facilities to store CO2 within concrete masonry units during the production process, permanently locking away the greenhouse gas in the form of synthetic limestone. CO2 is injected into concrete through a modified core bar during the molding stage. The result is a more environmentally-responsible concrete product with equivalent performance and cost to traditional concrete.

In addition to sequestered CO2, CarbonCure blocks have a lower carbon footprint than traditional masonry units due to reductions in their steam curing temperature and cement content. As a result, the total CO2 emissions reduction is approximately 250 grams per block.

Contact: CarbonCure Technologies, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Terrazzo Lumina

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:00:09 +0000

Terrazzo Lumina Slabs and Tiles are refined concrete surfaces designed to propate and emit light. Illumination travels within the concrete via embedded light-guides and is emitted in pixelated form. The manufacturing process is quite flexible and various geometries and configurations of light terminals are possible. The placement of the light source relative to the emitting surface is also flexible (and serviceable), making the product versatile for use in bar tops, flooring, wall features, and infrastructural projects.

Contact: SensiTile Systems, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

ExoSkeleton

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:00:10 +0000

ExoSkeleton is a quilted concrete panel made from organic duck cloth canvas and cast concrete. Two layers of the canvas are quilted using reinforced stitching in a structurally stable configuration. The reinforced stitching is engineered to withstand the fluid lateral forces specific to the amount of uncured concrete relative to the diameter of the pocket created by the sewn fabric. The formwork is then hung in a vertical configuration supported at the top, similar to the arrangement of a shower curtain. At the base of the fabric, friction pilings or a trough are set plumb to the supports at the top of the fabric and serve as the foundation of the cured form.

Developed by Thompson Young Design, ExoSkeleton’s canvas fabric is configured to allow pumped concrete to self-support in compression and framed laterally by the tensile strength of the fabric within the diamond shaped quilted pockets, which are connected to a foundation. The canvas can be removed once the concrete is cured, or it can be incorporated into the finish.

Concrete supports more than its own weight in compression, and the material nature of fabric offers a high strength in tension. As long as the balance of concrete in compression relative the tensile strength of the fabric is stable, concrete will stack. When coupled, the compressive stability of concrete and the tensile strength of fabric combine to frame the curing process of concrete to achieve infinite concrete configurations.

Contact: Thompson Young Design, Charleston, SC, USA.

Eco-Cement

Blaine Brownell — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:00:56 +0000

Developed by John Harrison of TecEco, Eco-Cement is made by blending reactive magnesium oxide with conventional hydraulic cements. Mimicking nature, Eco-Cement concretes absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in order to harden into materials used for the built environment. As Eco-Cements are also chemically benign, large amounts of various wastes can be incorporated into the concrete matrix. The Eco-Cement technology offers partial solutions for global warming, climate change, waste, and cost-effective mass housing.

Contact: TecEco Pty. Ltd., Glenorchy, TAS, Australia.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Rastra

Blaine Brownell — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:00:17 +0000

Rastra panels are large building blocks with a grid of internal channels that serve as a stay-in-place wall form for residential and commercial structures. Once a complete floor is set in place, the channels are reinforced and concrete is poured to achieve any desired strength. A Rastra wall is capable of withstanding earthquakes, hurricanes, and other forces of nature, because the system of channels is designed to provide maximum strength with minimum amount of concrete.

The Rastra panels are made of recycled post-consumer foam plastics placed in a cement matrix. This composition unifies the best properties for a wall; it is durable, lightweight, and quick to install, and also provides high thermal and acoustic insulation. Rastra is resistant to fire, mold, insects, and rodents. It also has a cementitious surface to which stucco adheres well.

Contact: Rastra Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Transbuoyant Concrete

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:00:13 +0000

Architect Peter Jay Zweig and Monotech International, Inc. have developed an innovative, extremely fast, flexible, inexpensive, and environmentally-friendly building system with a wide variety of applications. This system includes a proprietary concrete blend with performance-enhancing additives called Monocrete, which is an integral part of a double monocoque design which Zweig terms Transbuoyant Concrete.

Unlike conventional concrete, Transbuoyant Concrete has extremely high tensile and flexural strength as well as high compression strength. The building system is durable, easily maintained, as well as earthquake, water, wind, fire, and bullet resistant. It is also extremely lightweight and easy to construct.

Contact: Monotech International, Inc., Houston, TX, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Xposed

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:00:12 +0000

Xposed is a refined cement-based eco-composite made from natural minerals and up to 25% post-industrial recycled content. Standard slab materials are available and can be fabricated into countertops, table tops, surrounds, or display tops using ordinary natural stone fabrication tools and equipment. Xposed is also available for custom interior and exterior applications such as furniture elements, sinks, tiles, and three-dimensional objects. Twelve standard colors are available as well as custom colors.

Contact: Meld, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

FibreC

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:00:12 +0000

FibreC is a light-weight, high performance concrete that requires no steel reinforcement. A special extrusion process incorporates layers of fiber glass into a concrete matrix; in the top layer and underlayer the fibers are undirected and scattered, and in the medium layer they take the form of roofings (fiber bundles). The omission of steel reinforcement allows the construction of slim concrete elements that are highly stressable despite being extremely thin-walled. The result is an extremely thin slab with 8 to 13 mm thickness, which is very light-weight, yet has a high flexural strength.

FibreC slabs are fabricated in different colors before being hardened for 28 days. Owing to its formability, the so-called “concrete skin” offers flowing transitions from interior to exterior surfaces and a smooth covering for edges and corners. As FibreC can be used for all surfaces, traditional spatial boundaries disappear, and interior and exterior conditions may be treated similarly.

Contact: Rieder Faserbeton-Elemente GmbH, Kolbermoor, Germany.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

PIXA

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:00:19 +0000

PIXA, designed by Abhinand Lath, utilizes Sensitile Systems’ light-piping technologies to enable the placement of a precise grid of light guides within a concrete matrix. These light guides optically connect the two surfaces of the material and mate directly to an LED screen or projection system on one surface, allowing the digital control of each “pixel” on the corresponding surface. PIXA is also appropriate for use as a screen or divider panel, and may be manufactured with a random, “organic” pattern of light terminals rather than a strict grid layout.

Contact: SensiTile Systems, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Creacrete

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:00:03 +0000

Concrete is an omnipresent material in architecture and public space. Previous attempts to use it in product design have led to massive, heavy objects which were also limited in their formal design. Creacrete is a concrete-based material that is highly dense and compact and makes thin-walled objects with glossy surfaces possible for the first time. Creacrete explores new sides of concrete with the aim to realize surfaces that are permanently glossy, abrasion- and acid-resistant, food safe, and hydrophobic.

Developed by Alexa Lixfield, Creacrete shows the possible innovative use of concrete as an alternative material for ceramics. The use of concrete shortens the production process compared to that of ceramics because it eliminates the need for two kiln firings—thus reducing energy input and expenses. The simplified production process also allows new freedom in form-making. Just as ceramics need a glaze coating to be resistant to stains, concrete needs adequate treatment to make it stain-resistant and food-safe.

Contact: AlexaLixfeld Design GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.