Concrete, the world’s most widely used construction material, has a giant target on its back and plenty of people want to take a piece of its pie. It’s cheap and strong, which has, so far held off many would-be competitors from getting popular. One of concrete’s major drawbacks and one of its most vulnerable areas is the fact that it’s extremely time consuming and difficult to demolish.
Researchers working with ETH Zurich and MIT believe they may have come up with a solution for our constantly evolving world, with a process they call “Rock Print.” The idea is simple, yet hard to believe: A 3D printer precisely places string in layers in between stone, which packs the stone into a strong and stable structure that is able to be formed into irregular shapes. When you’re done with the structure, simply wind up the string and the rocks fall to the ground. Both the string and stones can then be used elsewhere.
So, how in the world does this work? The researchers were inspired by Dr. Heinrich Jaeger, professor at Chicago University, and his principle he called the “jamming phenomenon.” In short, the phenomenon is the product of stuffing a bunch of material together, which we learned last week is kind of how concrete actually works on a molecular level.
In the video below, you’ll see members of the Rock Print team, with the help of a string placing robot, assemble a freestanding, 13 foot tall structure for an exhibit, followed by the demolition, which only involves winding up the string.
This is clearly just a start, but it’s an extremely interesting one. There’s no evidence yet that any strength testing has been completed on the process and we’re also not sure how secure a structure can be if it can be disassembled by pulling on a string, like an old wool sweater.
Full Story: "Reversible Concrete" Is Ready to Revolutionize Temporary Architecture | The Creator's Project
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