MIT News September 24, 2024 There is minimal research on the additive manufacturing (AM) viability to produce structural building components, which could reduce tooling costs and increase flexibility for their production. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, industry) has provided design, manufacturing, and experimental testing to assess the feasibility of using glass AM to produce interlocking masonry units for the construction industry. Their glass 3D printer could print a maximum volume for producing full-size masonry units. They discussed how to adapt design guidelines for glass AM to produce interlocking units, evaluated fabrication ease and structural performance using three […]
Tag Archives: Building materials
Buildings grown by bacteria: New research to turn cells into mini-factories for materials
Phys.org March 24, 2020 Researchers at the university of Colorado have demonstrated that the morphology and nanomechanical properties of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) can be tailored by modulating the precipitation kinetics of ureolytic microorganisms through genetic engineering. They hypothesized that microorganisms genetically engineered for low urease activity would achieve larger calcite crystals with higher moduli. They compared precipitation kinetics, morphology, and nanomechanical properties for biogenic CaCO3 produced by two Escherichia coli (E. coli). Both calcite crystal size and nanoindentation moduli were also significantly higher for the low-urease activity E. coli compared with the high-urease activity E. coli. The relative resistance to […]