- Written by Rupert Soar, Freeform Construction Ltd. & Peter Edwards, Global Gypsum Magazine
Have you ever wondered what buildings would be like if they were designed by Apple or made by BMW? What if buildings had the sleek design and efficient performance that we expect from a modern phone or car?
Today's aerospace, automotive and consumer goods industries make extensive use of highly integrated digital design, computer-controlled machining, moulding, forming and most recently, 3D printing techniques. This is because they have high performance materials such as polymers and metal alloys at their disposal. These materials and their processes bring about precision and tolerances not normally possible in mainstream construction because they are expensive to form at construction scales. This is something that Freeform Construction is looking to change by developing high-performance, technical 'freeform' α-gypsum products and processes for construction automation.
Here Global Gypsum Magazine's Peter Edwards and Freeform Construction's Rupert Soar jointly explore what might occur in the next phase of offsite construction. How might buildings become more sustainable, environmentally-sensitive and more beautiful than buildings seen before?
- Written by Simon Wintz, Claudius Peters Technologies S.A.
Stockyards are used in the gypsum industry for storage of natural or synthetic gypsum and act as a buffer storage or mixing facilities for combining different gypsum sources before calcining. For new projects, operators must consider capital costs and the operational efficiency of equipment and must choose between the virtually infinite possibilities offered by the market. Homogenisers, blenders or storage only and circular or linear storage are the main decisions. This paper attempts to clarify this selection process, with particular attention to the specific properties of gypsum.
Stockyard size and storage capacity
The first question to ask when designing a new stockyard project is the size in terms of storage capacity. The size of the storage capacity is not just proportional to the production capacity. It results from the combination of a feed and a reclaim process and is only a synchronising buffer between two different conveying flows. Even though raw materials have generally relatively low cost per tonne, the stored quantities must not be oversized unnecessarily.
- Written by Ian Abley, Audacity
Higher thermal performance can be achieved by either installing more thermal insulation in a construction, or by using lower thermal conductivity insulation. This emphasis risks creating problems for constructions if other aspects of building codes are overlooked.
There is an opportunity for expressing the eco-thickness of architecture, but when development value puts a premium on floor space or storey heights, commercial attempts to make thinner walls and roofing are struggling with the uncertainties of product innovation. Foil-faced polyisocyanurate foams have not managed to achieve a lower than 0.021W/mK thermal conductivity. There is no full-fill polyisocyanurate foam product on the market and the reduction of air cavities in masonry walls from 50 to 25mm requires better workmanship.
Cavities behind rainscreen or ventilated coverings must be retained. Multifoil insulation products have received criticism and are now limited in their claims to performance. Silica aerogels are used in expensive internal dry-lining but cannot achieve a thermal conductivity below 0.013W/mK. It is increasingly recognised that only vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) can achieve lower than 0.005W/mK to offer the thinnest construction. Some VIPs promise thermal conductivities as low as 0.001W/mK.
- Written by Volker Schmitz, PCME Ltd
Volker Schmitz from PCME Ltd reviews established methods of measuring dust concentration in industrial installations and highlights the benefits of PCME's electrodynamic techniques.
Established dust analysis methods
Gravimetric techniques: Gravimetric sampling involves taking an isokinetic sample (ie: one in which the velocity of the sampling nozzle is the same as the stack) through a pre-weighed filter and then re-weighing the filter after a given time. One also measures the flow and can thus obtain the concentration of the dust in mg/m³.
It is the only method that gives the user a real concentration. All other methods are relative methods and must be calibrated accordingly. This means that to read concentration values using any other dust monitor, it first has to be calibrated using a gravimetric sample.
- Written by Xu Shengyong, Beijing New Building Materials Co. Ltd.
In the 1970s China began independent design and manufacture of gypsum wallboard production with a capacity of 4MM2/yr. In 1979 Beijing New Building Materials Company Ltd (BNBM) was established, pioneering the large-scale production of gypsum wallboard in China. It introduced the first modern, 20MM2/yr wallboard production line in the country and is now the market leader in China.
Compared to developed countries, China's paper-coated gypsum wallboard industry started comparatively late but developed very rapidly. With the rapid development of the economy, of the construction industry and the need to refurbish a large number of buildings, the market demand for paper-coated gypsum board has begun to surge during the 11th Five-Year Plan period. Wallboard has now become the dominant material for non-load bearing walls and suspended ceilings in China.
