I or H bricks or tiles with dowels for stronger, lighter assembled structures

[Peter Dow]

INTRODUCTION FOR PLANTANDCONSTRUCTION.CO.UK

I am posting in the Material & Resources / Recycling forum because I am presenting my idea for building with reusable bricks and tiles, without mortar, to make structures which can be dismantled as easily as they are erected.

These new reusable bricks and tiles will be require to be made from tougher materials than the usual fired-clay or ceramic used to make traditional building bricks and tiles. Instead, the bricks and tiles would be made from materials such as

• metal,
• reinforced concrete with rebar inside the brick,
• ceramic-metal composites ("cermets") and
• fibre-reinforced plastics.

OK, well if you are ready, I'll begin.

From the engineering consideration that regular tiles and bricks are far from optimal in terms of adding strength to structures, I've been considering that better would be this very particular 2D pattern of tiles and bricks illustrated in this image which I call "Tessellated I in Steel".


View larger version of Tessellated I in Steel 1800 x 800

Representing a surface of "I"-shaped (rotated by 90 degrees, "H"-shaped) steel tiles. The shape is of square proportions, the column of the I being one third of the width of the square and the top and the base one quarter of the height of the square.

Here is an I-tessellation in paving stones -



But my pattern of I or H tiles or bricks is very specifically designed so that it can be developed into a more detailed 3-D design which introduces further efficient tile-to-tile / brick-to-brick interlocking or making-rigid features which solve some of the limitations and issues arising with structures made from conventional bricks and tiles.

Conventional brickwork structures need a weaker mortar layer to hold a brick wall together - http://nancymorris.com/wp-content/up...Brick_Wall.jpg

Conventional tiled structures need to stick tiles onto a mounting surface - http://www.granitetransformations.co...steel-tile.jpg

These limitations of those brick-to-brick or tile-to-tile bonding methods make for weaker and heavier brick and tile structures than is ideal in some engineering applications.

In particular for temporary brick or tile structures, a high strength to weight ratio is desirable so that the parts of the structure can be moved easily to where they need to be erected.

In addition, temporary structures need the ability to disassemble the structure as easily as it was assembled.

We see examples of ease of disassembling a structure with kids building toys such as Lego and Meccano and in many manufactured products which use such typical features as nuts and bolts and bolt-holes but many other variations to secure one part to another strongly but in a reversible and flexible way.



So with those requirements in mind, my 2D I / H tessellation pattern was designed with a view to a 3D design of structures which I will now specify and show you a model to help me explain my 3D design more clearly.


3-Dimensional model video



http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3097/dowihbricks2.jpg

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/7...wihbricks3.jpg

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5...wihbricks4.jpg

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6...wihbricks5.jpg

This video shows my model of the 3-dimensional shape of a simple structure composed of 6 bricks or tiles, each of which, when viewed from one-direction anyway, is a 2-dimensional "I"-shape (equally when rotated by 90 degrees "H"-shaped).

This model has been made from aluminium tubing and in order to distinguish one brick from another they have been coloured using marker pens - so there are two bricks coloured blue, two coloured green and two coloured red. This colouring was necessary for clarity because otherwise the permanent joints within bricks (which are only an artifact of the method to make a brick from square tubing) might be confused with the simple touching surface where two neighbouring bricks abut, abutting securely but without being in any way stuck by glue etc.

This 3-Dimensional model reveals a further design feature of the I or H brick and tile structures, which secures the bricks and tiles together in 2 further dimensions, some such feature being necessary because the 2-D I or H shape in of itself only secures the bricks together in 1 dimension.

This feature is revealed here to be nothing more complicated than dowels or fixing rods which run in the vertical direction of the Is (or the horizontal direction of the Hs) through shafts in the Is' bases and tops and which serve to lock the tops and bases of neighbouring Is together, preventing movement radially from the dowels.

HI-BRICKS & DOWELS demonstration video by Peter Dow (YouTube)

Transcript of the video



Hi everybody and welcome to my "H" / "I" Bricks or HI-BRICKS & DOWELS demonstration video.

This is Peter Dow from Aberdeen, Scotland.

There are two components to a HI-BRICKS & DOWELS construction -

• the BRICKS, which you can either describe as "H"-shaped or "I"-shaped, depending on which way you turn them around
• and the DOWELS

The shape of the "H" or "I" bricks is designed so that they fit together to form a layer or a wall of bricks and importantly, the bricks, just by their very shape, immobilise each other from moving, in one dimension only.

Let's have a look at that.

Let's consider this green brick here as the fixed point.

We can see that it immobilises its neighbouring bricks in one dimension. They can't move with respect to the green brick in this dimension. So that's locked. Even though there is no bricks here or here, the very shape stops it moving in that dimension.

Now the shape doesn't stop the bricks moving with respect to each other in that direction, or in that direction but they are fixed in that one dimension.



Now if we want to make a rigid structure of bricks in all three dimensions but without using mortar or glue so that we can assemble and disassemble the structure whenever we like, what we need next are the DOWELS.

As you can see, the "I" or "H" bricks have shafts running through the corners so that you can run a dowel through the corners - two shafts, four holes per "I" or "H" brick.

And when you assemble the bricks you can slide the dowel in ... and this forms a structure which is rigid in all three dimensions, which is what we need to form structures.

[Muz]

Reminds me of a 3D puzzle I got in a Christmas cracker a few years ago made of rubber. How would you make a wall of that , which wouldn't flap about like a flag in the wind, without making it so thick it would defeat the purpose ? .. thats the advantage of mortar .. it sets solid, and so makes the inherent strength of the structure, and even a single brick thick wall, can demonstrate immense strength as well as being wind and water tight for years on end, something modular like your idea could never be sealed from wind and rain or if so, how would you do it ? Just look at the grass growing between the interlocking monoblock as an example ?

[Peter Dow]

Reminds me of a 3D puzzle I got in a Christmas cracker a few years ago made of rubber. How would you make a wall of that , which wouldn't flap about like a flag in the wind, without making it so thick it would defeat the purpose ?

For the real bricks, the fit between them would be snug because they would be mass produced accurately to achieve that.

My model is a wee bit loose because the parts are hand made, all slightly different with plenty of play between the bricks.

For the thinnest walls of temporary structures, the tiles would probably be made of corrugated metal and look like panels and the corner shafts for the dowels would be as thick as the panel thickness and run at right angles to the corrugations to get stiffness in both directions.

.. thats the advantage of mortar .. it sets solid, and so makes the inherent strength of the structure, and even a single brick thick wall, can demonstrate immense strength

They don't use brickwork for structural walls in earthquake zones because they don't have the immense strength of reinforced concrete.

Wikipedia: Brick - Limitations

Starting in the twentieth century, the use of brickwork declined in many areas due to earthquakes. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 revealed the weaknesses of brick buildings in earthquake-prone areas. Most buildings in San Francisco collapsed during the earthquake, due to the cement-based mortar used to hold the bricks together. During seismic events, the mortar cracks and crumbles, and the bricks are no longer held together.

If my HI Bricks are made of reinforced concrete (with rebar in the brick) then the HI bricks structure will be as strong as today's immensely strong reinforced concrete structures.

as well as being wind and water tight for years on end, something modular like your idea could never be sealed from wind and rain or if so, how would you do it ?

Think of the gap between a closed window and its frame. That can be tight and keep water out, or it can be loose, depending on accurately the window and the window frame have been made, how tightly the window is held closed by the window-closing mechanism.

The outer brick walls could be sealed against water in case that it freezes in the space between bricks in cold weather. So I suppose a thin layer of sealant might be smeared on the bricks of the outer wall as they were being laid, or it might be possible to spray the sealant on the assembled outer wall, maybe?

Just look at the grass growing between the interlocking monoblock as an example ?

Well you get loose brickwork too.



There's plenty of close fitting gaps in things that are outside that don't generally have grass growing in the gaps - doors and panels of parking ticket machines, parked cars, telephone boxes. It's not rocket science to make a tight-fit.

[Wee Jim]

That last picture looks like the wall for what we would refer to as a dry stane dyke so it does not need to be wind and water tight! I have read thought your stuff Peter and I gotta say it just looks pointless but that's my opinion of which I am entitled. Your blocks although good look like they would be expensive to produce and time consuming to construct.

If I am understanding it right you intend to have them inter locking and have rods connecting them together? So go do you get the cutting to say in place on a square edge?

[Peter Dow]

That last picture looks like the wall for what we would refer to as a dry stane dyke so it does not need to be wind and water tight!

Aye I know. It tells you nothing about how wind and water tight bricks with mortar are in the way the I-tessellation made from paving stones with grass tells you nothing about how wind and water tight my HI brick structures with sealant would be.

I have read thought your stuff Peter and I gotta say it just looks pointless but that's my opinion of which I am entitled. Your blocks although good look like they would be expensive to produce and time consuming to construct.

Well the point of the extra expense would be to use the higher strength to weight ratio of HI bricks and the ease of disassembly and reuse of the bricks elsewhere for applications that need big, strong or light-weight temporary structures. Likes of

• the stage for a music festival on a green field site
• vehicle storage and repair garage for oil drilling sites in Alaska / Canada / Siberia / Antarctic
• underground structures in mining
• flood or earthquake disaster or refugees from war zones or other homeless needing emergency shelters

One point to note is that there would be different sizes and strengths and materials to make suitable I / H bricks & dowels for the different applications.

If I am understanding it right you intend to have them inter locking and have rods connecting them together?

Correct. Wasn't that obvious from the 2nd video? What did you think I was doing with those dowels?

So go do you get the cutting to say in place on a square edge?

Eh?

[ianoz]

Aye I know. It tells you nothing about how wind and water tight bricks with mortar are in the way the I-tessellation made from paving stones with grass tells you nothing about how wind and water tight my HI brick structures with sealant would be.


Well the point of the extra expense would be to use the higher strength to weight ratio of HI bricks and the ease of disassembly and reuse of the bricks elsewhere for applications that need big, strong or light-weight temporary structures. Likes of

• the stage for a music festival on a green field site
• vehicle storage and repair garage for oil drilling sites in Alaska / Canada / Siberia / Antarctic
• underground structures in mining
• flood or earthquake disaster or refugees from war zones or other homeless needing emergency shelters

One point to note is that there would be different sizes and strengths and materials to make suitable I / H bricks & dowels for the different applications.


Correct. Wasn't that obvious from the 2nd video? What did you think I was doing with those dowels?


Eh?

I guess I would have to see these in full size to see how it would work ..
You say in mass produced form they would be uniform in size .Bricks and Concrete blocks i see here mass produce are so not uniform ,that brick layers have to vary the mortar to make them fit .
This is not what your close tolerance blocks need to work .
Jims last question that you EH????? to , I think refers to how a say, paved area would finish with a straight edge . Your Hs and Is leave a hole in the side .

[Wee Jim]

Jims last question that you EH????? to , I think refers to how a say, paved area would finish with a straight edge . Your Hs and Is leave a hole in the side .

Yeah that's what I was trying to say!

[Peter Dow]

I guess I would have to see these in full size to see how it would work ..

I haven't yet got a full size brick or structure demonstration. My own production facilities and time are strictly limited. Therefore for progress towards full a size demonstration my plan is to present the outline concept, show my model, as I have done here, to see if I can find any design and development partners out there.

Although my idea is available now for building materials manufacturers to develop and put into production, it will require investment of time and money by innovators in the industry before these bricks and dowels can be available from builders' merchants. So this is for the future but I hope that for now, you will find my idea an interesting read.

You say in mass produced form they would be uniform in size .Bricks and Concrete blocks i see here mass produce are so not uniform ,that brick layers have to vary the mortar to make them fit .
This is not what your close tolerance blocks need to work .

Well there are other mass produced products, even in construction which do need closer tolerances than is common with bricks - for example, plumbing pipes and components, doors and windows with their frames. The tolerances needed are fairly routine in the mass production of many goods, though not the mass production of bricks.

Jims last question that you EH????? to , I think refers to how a say, paved area would finish with a straight edge . Your Hs and Is leave a hole in the side .

Yeah that's what I was trying to say!

There will need to be variants of the basic HI-brick to neatly finish off ends, edges and corners of HI-brick structures, and to allow curved HI-brick structures. Possibly a half-brick might be one such variant for the issue you are talking about?

[Wee Jim]

There will need to be variants of the basic HI-brick to neatly finish off ends, edges and corners of HI-brick structures, and to allow curved HI-brick structures. Possibly a half-brick might be one such variant for the issue you are talking about?

so you would need another shape of block? This leads to complications as when your building many thanks happen! You will have different costs for these blocks, and you will probably have too many or too few when you need them and that would just piss me off at least with a brick you can just cut a bit off!

Also if you were to build a house out of this is there not a lot of rules and regs these would need to be tested and stuff so they would be approved by building infections etc!

[Peter Dow]

so you would need another shape of block? This leads to complications as when your building many thanks happen! You will have different costs for these blocks, and you will probably have too many or too few when you need them and that would just piss me off at least with a brick you can just cut a bit off!

Sorry for taking so long to reply to your post Wee Jim. I didn't notice your post at the time you made it and I put the project on hold.

I had though got some ideas for different shaped blocks.

4-way corner brick



- and there are variations on that theme, 3-way and 2-way corners and there could be versions at different angles as well.

I also thought a 1.5 (one and a half) brick would be good for finishing the edge of a layer of bricks with a straight edge and as shown here, could be used to make beams.

1.5 brick



I can solve any design issues which come up but I really need a partner who has got time to invest in making bricks, models and full size for a prototype and proof of concept.

Right now, I have so many projects and ideas to think about, that I don't have time to take this much further on my own, at this point in time anyway.

and that would just piss me off at least with a brick you can just cut a bit off!

Well they will need to be made of stronger material that won't just break like a brick. So they will need to manufactured as half-bricks or one-and-half-bricks or whatever.

Also if you were to build a house out of this is there not a lot of rules and regs these would need to be tested and stuff so they would be approved by building infections etc!

You mean "regulations". That goes without saying for all new ideas - they have to be proved with prototypes before they go into production.

I really need a partner - inventor or company - to help with the prototyping and investment in production facilities to take it to market.

[Peter Dow]

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you ianoz. (Excuse, excuse)

I guess I would have to see these in full size to see how it would work ..
You say in mass produced form they would be uniform in size .Bricks and Concrete blocks i see here mass produce are so not uniform ,that brick layers have to vary the mortar to make them fit .
This is not what your close tolerance blocks need to work .

Well its different - more like assembling a manufactured product. The structure will be rigid so if the bottom of a wall is flat, the top will be flat as well.

last question that you EH????? to , I think refers to how a say, paved area would finish with a straight edge . Your Hs and Is leave a hole in the side .

Yes I know. That's what the half-bricks or one-and-a-half bricks are for. (See last post, post #10)

[Muz]

I dont think he was holding his breath Peter

Anyways .. any other world changing ideas since last you posted ? genuinely I'm interested ... a bit

[jackpreacher]

Thermal expansion in large structures is a curse structural engineers design around. Although tight fitting joints are a sound principle on small structures they don't scale up as Th.Ex creates focused stress regions which inevitably lead to crack propagation. This happens in regular brick/block construction as well but to a far lesser extent, unless the structure has been put up gronked in the first place.

My opinion?....well, for what it's worth: Advances in materials stimulate new concepts in construction/fabrication, but ceramics have been around so long now that history shows the best way to build.

[Peter Dow]

I dont think he was holding his breath Peter

Anyways .. any other world changing ideas since last you posted ? genuinely I'm interested ... a bit

I usually post a copy of what I am doing in my forums - the For Freedom Forums for robust political debate, inspired by Scots, open to all (with a Braveheart design theme!)

You can see the links and title of the latest 20 posts (by all authors) on the forum home page at http://scot.tk/DEBATE

You'd be most welcome to register a username there Muz, Wee Jim. ianoz, jackpreacher and everyone that's interested. There used to be a username called "Muz" that was a member but that was years ago.

Link to "Muz" username.
http://scot.tk/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=19

So if that's not yours you had better register another username and call it something other than "Muz".

[Wee Jim]

I can't help but feel this is like reinventing the wheel!