Drs. Rajeev Roychand 1, Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch 2, Mohammad Saberian, Jie Li, Guomin Zhang, and Chun Qing Li described their research with concrete. These researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) described a very different than the one we discussed last week, where the concrete was modified to store energy.
Continue reading More concrete
Bet most of you never really thought about this. But since Portland cement (i.e., concrete) is responsible for about 8% of our CO2 emissions- and often needs repair, it’s been on my horizon, even if it’s not one of my primary interests. Especially since we produce about 12 billion tons of concrete (which yields 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide) a year. And, while we consider concrete to be a solid mass, it’s really pretty porous (consider a bunch of small balls packed together, with voids between the balls, akin to a dry sponge. And, when rain or snow slips among the voids0 and then freezes- kerplow, the concrete splits apart.
Continue reading Self-Healing Concrete
I bet you thought I forgot all about 3D printing applications. After all, it’s been about four years since I discussed a new application.
Continue reading Home, sweet home?
Climate change. Despite the protestations of the few, it’s pretty clear that climate change is real. And, the policies of TheDonald are simply going to bring about these changes more quickly.
Continue reading The Ostrich Effect
What do fracking, copper mining, and concrete manufacture have in common? An insatiable appetite for water.
One of the first projects with which I was involved when I moved to Michigan in the early 70s was a water recycling system for the home. (Don’t worry- this had relevance to 3D printing, I promise!) We added a very powerful ultraviolet light (UV) light to disinfect the water. From that UV technology, the ability to “cure” ink on silver aluminum cans was derived. Which greatly increased the demand for – and technology around- UV curing.
Continue reading 3D Update, Part 4
3D printing has intrigued me since it was first discussed. And, last year, this area really seemed to explode. (Materialise discussed a slew of innovations that were achieved.) My primary interests have been in rapid prototyping and medical innovations, but many of the other areas are really interesting, too.
Continue reading 3D Printing Goes Gargantuan (in scale)
