Construction & Technology
001
For our class today, we were assigned into group for our first assignment which is to make an arch with only plasticine and 3" long column. During the discussion, we discuss about what theme we want, pattern, width of arch, height and so on.
This is the sketch of how our arch might be.
understanding
arch
002
Today is the day we are supposed to build an arch. We used grey, brown, green, and yellow for the colours of the plasticine for our arch. Basically our arch looks like this
During the process, we were having some difficulties for making it stand. We decided to roll the extra plasticine to place it there for support. After that, the column stand but then we were having trouble with placing the keystone to keep the other plasticine together. All the shapes we made were either not fit, too thin, or not in the similar sizes, so it keeps falling. We tried remaking it over and over, it finally able to fit but still can't support the weight of the loads (slanted to one side). So, we tried modifying again and again. Finally, for our test try, we are able to put at least 6-7 phones as the loads which is quite satisfying and our hard work actually paid off.
process of
making arch
As for our presentation, the arch were tested on 2 situation. One is the load and the other is seismic. For the load, our arch are able to hold about 9 phones, which are slightly better than the record in the test try but not the best compared to the other groups. Our arch was flatten at the top and it bend side ways which causes the loads to fall. As for the seismic, our arch are the most stable among the other group's arch due to having a larger base.
experiment -
load & seismic
003
Wall is a structure that closes up opening to provide shelter. Walls are separated into 2 category, one of it is a load bearing wall and another is a non load bearing wall. A load bearing wall is a part of the building structure that provides support to hold up a building; non load bearing wall act as a divider which divides up places into different room or spaces, it can be demolish because non load bearing wall does not hold up the weight of the building.
Walls are also made up with different kind material to provide different goods to the surrounding and atmosphere. Brick are the most common used material for walls because brick materials provide shelter from excessive heat and keep warmth within an interior.
wall
construction
Bricks are fire resistant, it does not burn when exposed to fire. Brick are strong. With the high compressive strength, it can support heavy loads and act as load bearing wall for high rise building. Bricks are also affordable and low maintenance, it does not rot, dent or tear. Besides, bricks have low carbon footprint, clay bricks are made from natural materials on earth.
why use clay
bricks
for building?
The common thickness of brick wall is 230mm. Normally 20mm thick of cement rendering is plastered on both sides of the bricks. As for the wall that act as a divider, its thickness is around 110mm to 115mm exclude the plaster.After constructing columns and ground beam, bricks were placed at one column to another. String line is used as a guideline to place bricks. Later on, lay 1 to 2cm of mortar along the string line and start placing the bricks on the mortar. The same process is repeated with stretcher bond. After finish laying the bricks, plaster is added to render the bricks to make it smoother.