A Potential New Low Dome Design

[jengineer]

Make it relevant

Here's a photo of an old farmhouse where we stayed, that has the internal butressing you see on lots of older building. It keeps the walls from blowing out after a few hundred years. Not terribly relevant, but interesting.

A metal rod runs inside the building, and washers or varying shaped pins support the outer wall. The rod is threaded to shorten the system and apply tension.

James

method is still used today. A few months ago Jim corss posted a site for a large barrel shaped bread oven. On the crown of the oven they placed metal rods with turnbuckles to keep the dome from blowing out the walls.

Today's large buildings (Mascone Convention center in They City), bridges, overpasses, parking garages use two forms of these tensioners. One form is pre-stressed and the other is post-stressed. Your building is probably post stressed. You build the structure and embed the steel and when you are near done you tighten it up. In one building that I saw get tightend up you could almost see the floor flex from a slight sag to level.

[james]

Re: A Potential New Low Dome Design

Excellent Patrick. Thanks. I will take a few photos of definite "post-stressed" tensioners -- they're pretty interesing looking. Plus, I've learned a new word today. Thanks again.
James

[adman2u]

Re: A Potential New Low Dome Design

I have been cutting bricks with and old skill saw with a metal masonry blade not a tile saw - it is much faster - I just mark them - throw them on the ground and cut