Posted on 12/01/2023 1:18:27 PM PST by Red Badger
It sounds like a headline from the future: the weekend before Thanksgiving, a bulldozer came for the first example of a printed home that was supposed to help the housing crisis in the city of Muscatine. Fortunately, it hadn’t been completed and sold yet.
Printing of this first house began in May 2023, and nine more were to be completed by the end of the year. The house was being constructed from Hempcrete, which a biocomposite of hemp hurds, and either lime, sand, or pozzolans that is used in Europe and Canada.
In tests, the hempcrete was capable of reaching a compressive strength of 6,000 to 8,000 PSI. But in actuality, it didn’t even meet the 5,000 PSI minimum required for the project.
The project is a collaborative effort between the Community Federation of Greater Muscatine (CFGM), Muscatine Community College, and Alquist 3D. Although not as proven a printing material as traditional concrete, Hempcrete was chosen in part because Muscatine Community College has Iowa’s only hemp program. One of the goals for the project was to have students research hemp’s properties, and launch a 3D printed construction curriculum in partnership with Alquist 3D.
The project’s leaders haven’t given up hope yet. Although it was back to the drawing board to get the hempcrete just right, it should now meet the 5,000 PSI requirement. The plan is to start building the originally-planned second house in the spring, and begin construction on this first site after that.
Want to know more about the state of 3D printing when it comes to housing? Check out our handy guide.
VIDEOS AT LINK.....................
I know it’s easy to laugh.
But the first cars, planes, submarines,.... didn’t perform very well either.
Far out man...
It wasn’t the design or the building method.
It was the materials. They used hemp ......................
It worked so well in Europe and Canada !
For that, I salute them.
Apparently, they've learned something about the material properties of their highly experimental concrete mix, and now they're applying what they learned.
That's the way science and engineering work.
It was the materials. They used hemp ......................
Kind of like the "stem cell researchers."
They are so absolutely certain that fetal stem cells are going to be the key to some extraordinary medical treatment.
It’s not a good idea to build your house out of pozole............
“The house was being constructed from Hempcrete, which a biocomposite of hemp hurds, and either lime, sand, or pozzolans “
They have to demolish it? They can’t roll it up in little pieces of paper and smoke it?
"And the second little piggy made his house out of... POZOLE."
“hemp”
and the second little pig built his house with straw ...
didn’t work out well for him either ...
just saying
Gives a whole new meaning to:
“I’m going to huff, and puff, and blow your house down.”
Other manufacturers have been successful:
https://www.mightybuildings.com/projects-and-designs
https://www.zdnet.com/article/3d-printed-houses-for-45-less/
It seems as though the alkali in concrete could negatively affect hemp cellulose; it wouldn’t be my choice of reinforcement.
Mighty Buildings in the link above have built in earthquake zones. They have steel frames reinforcing 3D printed panels. Panels are shipped and assembled on-site.
Workers have done a similar thing at the factory where I work. If a new room is needed a man delivers panels on a flat bed truck and two workers take the panels and bolt them together.
No need for any more people to do the construction.
Should have used AR glass fiber:
https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/composites/product/cem-filreinforcementfibers
Did not see any rebar in the pics of the tear-down and the pour.
Lots of cold joints in the layered pour.
Learning from the past is also part of how science and engineering work. Perhaps someone should remind them ...
“Hell to pay” is another good one.
Doesn’t mean, in original context, what people think it does.
>>That’s the way science and engineering work.
True, but usually engineers test the strength of materials BEFORE trying to build a large structure out of it.
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