Study of electrical conductivity and hardness of the alloys of ternary Bi-Sb-Zn system and calculation of isothermal section at 298 K

Considering the importance of the lead-free solders, alloys of ternary Bi-Sb-Zn system were characterized by microstructural SEM-EDS and optical microscopy analysis, Brinell hardness tests and electrical conductivity measurements. Isothermal cross section at 298 K was calculated using CALPHAD method and PANDAT 8.1 software package. The phases on calculated cross sections were found to be in a good agreement with experimentally determined phase compositions in analyzed microstructures

Gridshell as Formwork: Proof of Concept for a New Technique for Constructing Thin Concrete Shells Supported by Gridshell as Formwork

This paper documents an empirical experiment conducted in August 2014 as proof of concept for a new method of constructing concrete shells. An idea initially presented by the first author in 2012, it uses redeployable gridshells onto which fabric is midstressed and concrete applied. Primarily, this system addresses key issues that led to their decline in use: construction methods/formwork systems were not reusable, nor were they easily customizable to create different shapes. Employing 27 man-hours over seven days, two concrete shells were achieved using the same reusable and reconfigurable formwork. Lightweight (0.6 kg) PVC gridshell formwork supported 106.92 kg of concrete to create a concrete shell that covered 1.11 m2 (floor area). The construction verifies a low-cost (£6.06/m2) efficiency and material utilization in the construction of very strong wide-spanning thin concrete structures. Detailed analysis of formwork behavior during construction and detailed measurements of resultant shell results prove this new method of deployable gridshells as a reusable and reconfigurable formwork to construct very strong concrete shells very quickly. Whilst the emphasis of the research focused on the construction process, the vaults were tested and sustained a failure load of 4.2 kN (4.32 times their deadweight), applied as a point load at the crown

Negotiated matter: a robotic exploration of craft-driven innovation

This paper introduces a novel approach to craft-driven robotic innovation in architectural research. Here craft is not portrayed as a source of ornamental or historical inspiration, but instead as an open-ended process described by a framework involving material properties, diverging modes of knowledge production and representation, emergent tectonic configurations and embodied interaction with technology. To do so, this paper firstly contrasts a definition of craft (Pye 1968) with practices of robotic architectural production. Additionally, the notion of emergent tectonics resulting from negotiated material and technological processes is addressed by critically situating the theories of architectural tectonics by Kenneth Frampton (2001) and digital tectonics by Leach, Turnbull and Williams (2004) in the context of robotic fabrication in architecture. Finally, the ongoing project “Computing Craft” is presented as a case study illustrating a proposed framework for robotic craft-driven innovation

Virtual Design Studio: Multiplying Time

This paper describes a Virtual Design Studio exercise involving three academic institutions-University of Hong Kong, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, and University of Washington in Seattle-whereby teachers and students, obviously on three different continents and in three different time zones, roughly eight hours apart, tried to “multiply time”. Students were asked to design a house for a Chinese painter and a Swiss writer on a small island in Puget Sound near Seattle. In a short and intensive design charrette, students explored in five different phases various dualities associated with the given design problem. In each phase students were asked to select someone else?s design, thus implicitly forming design teams. The paper describes the structure and goals of the studio exercise, the methodologies applied, the resulting design processes, and the lessons learned. 

Effect of chemical composition on the microstructure, hardness and electrical conductivity profiles of the Ag-Bi-Ge Alloys

© 2019 Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos. All rights reserved. Microstructure, hardness and electrical properties of the selected ternary Ag-Bi-Ge alloys were investigated in this study. Isothermal sections of the Ag-Bi-Ge system at 25, 100 and 500 °C have been extrapolated using optimized thermodynamic parameters from literature and experimentally investigated. Performed experiments were optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), hardness measurements by Brinell method and electrical conductivity measurements. EDS results were compared with predicted phase equilibria and good overall agreement between experimental and calculated values was obtained. XRD results were also in agreement with predicted phase equilibria. Hardness and electrical conductivity of selected alloys were measured and by using appropriated mathematical model these properties were predicted in the whole composition range

An experiment in design collaboration

Computer supported communication and collaboration among partners in the building design and construction process are no longer mere possibilities, but, given the will and know-how of the participants, a reality. Team members could work on a building design at any place, simultaneously together (synchronously) or separately (asynchronously), while the latest state of the design would always be available in a shared database. But to be successful, this emerging type of cooperation often requires new design and communication methods. This paper documents an experimental approach to design collaboration, tested in an intensive, one-week long Virtual Design Studio exercise involving three academic institutions. It briefly describes the structure and goals of the studio exercise, the methodologies applied, the resulting process of collaboration, and the lessons learned