21–30 of 180 posts
Interesting, but what about biodegradability? Will it not be eroded by microorganisms in the outdoors over time? It is still wood, after all.
The title is completely false. Metals are used for their material properties more than just strength but homogeneous strength and stiffness (in all directions) and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions (thermal and moisture cycling) Not to mention ease of manufacturing. The material described in the article will never make it out of the lab.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
Specifically, steel melts/weakens in a fire, which can result in loss of structural integrity, while heavy timber will char and then very slowly burn.
http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures...
http://www.nzwood.co.nz/faqs/which-building-material-perform...
The title is completely false. Metals are used for their material properties more than just strength but homogeneous strength and stiffness (in all directions) and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions (thermal and moisture cycling) Not to mention ease of manufacturing. The material described in the article will never make it out of the lab.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
When I first heard about it I thought of this use case and couldn't help but wonder if the technique might work with IPL or some other generalized light source with a longer illumination period. It would be cool to find out.
The title is completely false. Metals are used for their material properties more than just strength but homogeneous strength and stiffness (in all directions) and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions (thermal and moisture cycling) Not to mention ease of manufacturing. The material described in the article will never make it out of the lab.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
> (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). Specifically, steel melts/weakens in a fire, which can result in loss of structural integrity, while heavy timber will char and then very slowly burn. http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures... http://www.nzwood.co.nz/faqs/which-building-material-perform...
Interesting, but what about biodegradability? Will it not be eroded by microorganisms in the outdoors over time? It is still wood, after all.
Well-prepared and maintained wood lasts for centuries: Kirkjubøargarður, Hōryū-ji, Nanchan Temple, Greensted Church, various houses in Schwyz, … date back to before the 13th century (Hōryū-ji was finished early in the 7th century).
Over human historical scale — and assuming proper maintenance — the biggest issue is fire rather than decay (that's how most of Hōryū-ji's 7th-century materials were lost and had to be replaced).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
How can wood have better fire resistance than steel? I mean wood burns . /s
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Engineered wood has been a thing for over 100 years. Wood has a lot of desirable properties that make it a good construction material (fire resistance for instance is much better than steel). This article is definitely missing the wood for the trees to some extent, but it is an interesting development and even if the gain isn't going to be quite as large as indicated and there are some serious questions about whether…
How is wood more fire resistant than steel? What are the metrics used for this?
By contrast: steel is an excellent conductor of heat and the interior of a beam is just as hot as the outside of the beam exposed to the fire.