Romans used to use same technique when building domed roofs, Pantheon's dome is build the same way, empty clay jars, and light porous rocks, were used to lighten the dome, few thousands of years later it still standing
Correction. It is standing because 1) it is a dome, which spreads pressure equally 2) Roman concrete that is used to make that structure is self repairing
If it's still structurally sound, this is a genius use of materials. Less concrete is good. Using up some plastic is good, and better insulation is good. This is a win all around.
Unless you are an activist. Remember, these people are perpetually unhappy. They will hate this even more because it uses a petroleum product. There doesn't have to be any logic to their point of view, just emotion.
Love it. My concern is with the steel being at the edge of the concrete. When the roof starts to leak you're going to get some leakage through the inevitable cracks and some spalling will occur as the rust expands. It's not like a structural concrete beam where you have a few vital chords you have to protect with an inch and a half of concrete, so this may not matter. Neglected over an extended period of time, without an intact roof, it might be hard to assess the loss of strength. That might be the one drawback. Seems like a fantastic idea nevertheless. Optimized use of concrete. An actual, viable usage for recycled plastic. Follow up: So then I went to look at some of the failures in the Netherlands (and very weak reviews by follow up investigations). I guess there's a problem with the lower slab delaminating if it isnt surfaced right. Obvious but shocking that such problems could get out the factory door. Also some failures to engineer the connection when spanning the wrong way. So my question becomes is this just a try-it-and see product? Have no engineering models been developed beforehand about localized rotational shear and things like that? That would be my next question. This is the kind of work and science that lies behind traditional slabs and beams.
Regrettably this is something we're seeing more commonly these days with "green efforts". They have an idea, they want it to work desperately and cherry pick the data to support it. Minimal testing is done prior to implementation, and the consequences are generally suffered by others while the original architect of the idea doesn't have any accountability. I'm all for recycling materials and finding ways to improve construction and how we do things, but I'm a firm believer in thorough testing to make sure the technology is actually reliable and economically efficient. Reliability is obvious, especially in construction, a mistake can cost lives. The economic portion is necessary because otherwise we see 2 things happen. Option A it becomes mandated but it's cost makes it prohibitive to the average person, driving up markets and inflation. Option B it's a fantastic product but due to economic costs it's never used and forgotten because only the extremely wealthy can afford it. In this case it seems to have failed the reliability test by chasing the economic test.
@@jamesmerkel1932 I hope there's more behind it than that. Green can be a religion for sure. 3200 years ago the book of Deuteronomy, established the principle of liability for actions and choices and even in the lawlessness of today that Judeo-Christian principle has continued to survive. In the cases where it failed there is going to be architect, contractor and/or manufacturer who is going to carry a heavy penalty. At least it would be that way in the USA. When they erected tall buildings with concrete frames in the thirties they were heavily over designed. Later they figured out how to model the internal forces and stresses and were able to thin it down considerably. In my world architects take calculus, physics and three or four structures/engineering classes before any one will let them get near hiring an engineer who will do the final design. As you say, be it "green" anything ... or printed concrete, or whatever, we need that traditional approach to safety no matter how innovative the product. Here's hoping. Right? Scary situation)
@@_SYDNA_I get what u saying but I think his point is that we are making fast solutions trying to fix problems we created on the first place and we aren't testing those solutions on the first place, I for example don't think using this plastic balls are a Smart thing to do and bet a lot of architect's and engineer's think the same.
The test of time differs greatly from how old the affected people / customers are. This is the same reason why salespeople tend to give extended warranties to elderly people because they know they won’t be around for to much longer.
In America, brick layers and cement masons have been using a similar technique for eons. If you were to disect a brick wall, driveway, or foundation slab you would discover a few dozen empty cans of Bud Light, Miller, and Coors😏
My first project with this was like 12 years ago. My second year working lol. This is old technique. Also not widely used due to the slab thickness. We can do PT slab at 7" for residential tower floors. This is at least 18" thick. Typically used in lobby or long span buried garage. But again, we can achieve this with 12" slab with 6" drop bands. So yeah. I had done 2 projects with it in 13 years
@@gracefool the bubble deck's strength is from composite floor structural design, the rebars on the top and bottom provides tensile and compression strength (bottom side with concrete mass). if you shrank the deck thickness you are reducing the distance from center of inertia, which leads to lower structural capacity. reducing the effectiveness of the over all structure. at which point you would just go with a traditionally reinforced or Post tensioned deck system. thats why bubble deck is so rare.
Tell that to the 1000s of pounds of equipment and utilities that hang off that deck, if you dont have the concrete embedment or your hanger inserts in a plastic ball youre going to have your deck blown out
That coming from your engineering degree? If the roof weighs 50% of what it would otherwise but it still 75% of the strength that is a net gain. Math isn’t hard.
Yes, I have designed buildings with a similar technique. It does use less concrete but requires far more dense concrete, so the concrete volume savings are lost on the more expensive concrete. The real benifit is the way the weight is more evenly spread requiring less support in the previous layer.
Yep, this was my observation, and I see that, to cover the lack of strength in the ball-holes, they have added one vertical steel support for each ball line also, which means the steel is much more (in the classic method is enough to have top and bottom reinforcement with some supports to keep them in place).
It is actually a shortcut, the concrete needs to be of really high quality. In the netherlands a parking garage collapsed using this method with faulty concrete.
Was that the fault of the plastic balls or the concrete? I was thinking the presence of the balls adds new internal surfaces where the concrete could detatch is moisture got in. If it was actually the wrong material used that caused issues, it leaves the method untested (since the structure didn't execute the construction method correctly).
@@michaels.3709if my memory serves and I'm thinkng of the same event, the lower slab delaminates due to incorrect surfacing, presumably before leaving the factory.
@@mikemurphy5898Yeah, you're pouring the slab in two steps, and adhesion between the two layers is essential. If you don't do that part right, you don't have the concrete equivalent of an I-beam, you have two thin slabs with some junk in between.
@@AlexandervanGessel Structurally the best solution would be to assemble rebars and plastic balls on site. Concrete to be poured in one time. It always has a risk to try new methods. The only guarantee to prevent mistakes is to do nothing.
It's the same principle as an I-beam - material is removed from the center since it doesn't carry much of the load to maximize strength/weight ratio, also lower cost
This makes sense for steel, which work well under both tension and compression. But concrete has bad tensile strength, so removing part of the bulk could create interfaces (eg. plastic-concrete interface at the ball's surface) that puts the concrete under tension from typical loads because of material differences.
@@michaels.3709 I don't understand the interface thing you're talking about, it's hollow plastic so it can't stress the concrete. And concrete's poor tensile strength is always an issue regardless of geometry, that's what the rebar is for, that interface is not an issue because of the similar CTE of steel and concrete.
@@michaels.3709 Tensile strenght is an an issue even with a normal concrete slab, but its counteracted with rebar in both cases. In this case the I would imagine the shear strenght in the webs between the balls is something that needs to be taken into account. I’m pretty confident the engineers responsible have taken it into account and fully tested these.
It probably _does_ decrease the strength of the concrete, but not as much as it decreases the weight - the overall effect being increased strength _relative_ to weight.
@@callumgill7019 1- Pantheon is still there mainly because nobody destroied it. 2- Clay pots are way differents from plastic balls for a lot of reasons.
It's not new. A hundred years ago In the UK, pig farmers used to put down empty beer bottles then concrete over the top when they were building a pigsty. This insulation stopped the pigs trotters from freezing in winter. They weren't the first.
@@Tribecasoothsayer it's a good idea. That's why humans have been doing it for hundreds of years. My issue was with the word "new". Instead of arguing when you don't understand a comment why not just give it a thumbs up/down or scroll on.
That’s cool. One thing I know from my many failed attempts of mechanical engineering is that more material does not necessarily mean more support. It’s truly an ingenious way to bring rebar reinforced concrete weight down, and gives us an amazing way to encase plastic waste too in a useful way.
A brilliant way to optimize deck strength and stiffness for a given amount of concrete with the side benefit of making the high-rise seismic strength better also. Bonus points for recycling plastic. I'm a structural engineer unlike 99% of the commenters
Yeah engineers design all the modern garbage cars we now have to deal with as well. LVLS are another brilliant engineer idea. A structural beam made of wood chips and glue rated for 75 years. So in 75 years your house is.... what happens when a pipe leaks on those glue beams?
This is not plastic recycling. It is stashing it away till the next developer tears the structure down after 20 years and argues that all materials have to be thrown into the junk pile because it is cheaper than separating them.
@@ryanbeckner9539modern cars go faster, for much farther, for a lot cheaper, and do it WAY safer, than older car designs. Just because they become harder to maintain for the average person, doesn’t mean they become worse designs. You can try to hate on “engineers” all you want, but those designs of old you love so much, were designed by engineers of the time, too. Sit down.
In southern India we have been using this technique for some 30, 40 years, however we use earthen pots. It does reduce the weight and lowers the stress on structural beam also it acts as a insulation for our hot climate.
@@kevinn4038 let me give you one example of a architect marvel of the southern India you racist LITTLE punk 😮💨. Try googling Brihadeeswara Temple and tell me if you were able to get the marvel I am talking about.
If you have a large pot for plants, use plastic bottles with caps on to fill the space in the bottom, put dirt over top, makes pot allot lighter and roots have air and spaces between bottles
Great idea for ornamentals! I wouldn't use plastic for vegetable or herbs. Plastics can leach into the soil over time. If you're wanting to reduce weight, you can fill the bottom with perlite or lava rocks or vermiculite. This also improves drainage for the roots as well.
I don't know if it's reliable time will tell I'm really hoping it is. This could reduce our plastic waste this is such a good idea. Someone had mentioned the Romans had done this as well. Very cool I did not know that I watch quite a bit of documentaries and I can't say the Romans were very smart engineers.
Yes, and when that building gets knocked down in 40 years time (and it will) there's more plastic to pull out from concrete and no one will want to recycle that. Sustainability 0/10.
The balls are made from recycled materials. They need less concrete to build. The structure needs to be less strong since the building is way lighter. There is so much stuff in buildings, plastic balls filled with air are the least problem.
Reliability is wholly dependent on whether the plastic causes a "delamination" in this rudimentary composite. Concrete only plays nice with certain materials, like rebar, and it can take years of normal stress loading with environmental pressures to find out if it truly works.
There are mostly parking garages made with this method. Its the same idea as hollow prefab flooring which needs a mold to get the empty space. This bubbledeck is the same idea but poured directly on site and the molds stay inside. But... don't make the same mistake as in Eindhoven and turn the slabs 90 degrees to get a bigger span... that will result in collapsing, as it also will with any other type of concrete slabs with trusses, it was not the bubbledecks fault.
Maybe it has less tolerances for any errors. Maybe not enough concrete or not enough rebar here or there or some corrosion over time (for example, cars come with salt on them from icy winter streets with temperatures around freezing). But yes, I don't know, just guessing. I think, like some other commenters, let it stand the test of time. I guess, some time has already passed, not with a positive outcome... On the other side, the romans did something similar with empty pottery in domed roofs 2000 years ago. Yes, pottery is not a balloon, but pottery does not hold a roof either, the air in it neither. It must be about what's around that bubbles of air, sure, that's what holds the roof.
To be fair, they did say they were using it for a roof. But it is good to know that there are limits that should not be crossed when using this method.
Who made the decision to use this in a parking garage? It should be used in buildings. It improves insulation and noise dampening, and that doesn't matter in garages where people are just going to leave their cars and go inside.
I am Roman and it looks like the way that they used ceramic jars to lighten the roof of the pantheon, except they included steel tension members that would make it much like a three dimensional beam with webs which Roman practice did not use, as steel reinforcement was first done in the twentieth century or just before. If they recycle the material they just crush the concrete and remove the plastic and steel. But it seems like it would carry more structural loads than a deck made with pans and concrete and steel tension members. Concrete acts mainly in compression which is why the Pantheon is 13 feet thick in the walls and tapers to 3 feet thick at the 33 foot oculum. The addition of steel tension members means that much less concrete is required and the balls mean that you are not using more than necessary to handle the structural loads. I imagine that they use fewer balls near structural columns. It would be a fun system to do the numbers on.
multiple companies that have used this technique are currently under investigation and court hearings due to multiple structural failures and even collapses resulting in death just fyi.
Not really. The plastic is oil based and should be used in a recyclable loop. This is as bad as turning plastics back into fuel. Its not sustainable. Better to use pottery balls.
@@nancienordwick4169 The most sustainable lightweight concrete aggregate is the oil palm shel kernels. I think they are the only organics approved in some western countries as a lightweight aggregate.
Great idea! The only issue I see with it is it becomes more difficult to recycle. Concrete is very recyclable, but when you have concrete mixed with bits of plastic, probably less so.
The romans did something similar, they would add clay pots into their concrete while mixing for the same reasons, and it worked, most of those buildings are still standing
@@ΝίκοςΜπέτσης-ΗΠΑ The Pantheon was built doing this, they used pots about the size of a fist mixed into the concrete of the dome part of the roof, along with the recessed areas to reduce the weight and improve durability.
@@-phenring- And how many floors were on the top of the Pantheon roof? You are comparing a faux ceiling designed to hold itself for decorative purposes with an actual floor on a multiple stories building that need to hold thousands of tons of weight in addition to its own.
Why is it that the more we get from the older concrete why is it that the new former created should be better than the old but the older stuff has more strength more durability and more water resistant
Roman concrete wouldn't work in this case. Roman concrete is good under compression and very poor to handle tension. And a flat roof is dealing with tensile forces. For that, we need reinforced concrete.
The plastic balls will degrade over time. They are only there to provide a void. If the slab is not load bearing, and spans have been calculated to be within spec, there is nothing wrong with this technique as long as it’s implemented ’as designed’.
I think as they are using plastic balls which are already made from plastic waist.plastic will run longer than concrete.concrete buldings have maximum life of 100 years if maintained well.but plastic do not degrade till more than 209 years.and I think these are not plastic Buble or baloons they are rigid plastic balls not hollow.
1. Uses recycled plastic a social good, while reducing the volume needed to construct a deck. 2. Creates lighter flooring in a stronger honey comb patter, lighter and stronger. 3. Interior Airspace provides insulation, reducing HVAC needs and thus energy reduction for the building for both heating and cooling, reducing potential CO2 emissions from required energy inputs for the HVAC systems a cost reduction and social good. Overall, looks like a winner to me.
This is why you need engineers who can calculate the necessary material strength properly. Remember. _Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands._
@@tonym2513 Peace. Thank you for response! Am of mind we are Earthbound for mutual benefits. Your reply is evidence of built-in possibilities. Exhibitng coolness is cool! Peace.
Actually, it is well known in engineering that the vast majority of forces are acting at the very edge of the sample, so having air gaps in the middle is actually not much if an issue. It is how steel truss works. You don't need it to be solid as long as the edges have material. And the marginal loss in structural performance could easily be made up for by using some the weight and material savings to make the slab bigger. If the edges are further apart, that greatly increases strength.
We had the new Science and Technology Building built using this technique 6 years ago. The building is 5 stories high with 4 of the floors using the space balls. That part of the building has been fine, other parts not so good. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
They likely poorly mixed the other floor, maybe on purpose to "prove" the technology. The strongest and most lasting floor will be the one without the balls as long as the concrete mix is done by someone who is not trying to prove a point.
@@FletcherHillier You're wrong. Because of one simple mistake. You assume that the floors with space balls MUST be the same thickness as the floors without. They could simply make it thicker to make it the same strength. The floors don't have to be the same thickness. The engineers will calculate how thick they need to be to achieve the required strength. These floors would be the same strength as those built using the old method, but be both thicker and lighter. How do we get there? We start assuming that we will use the same amount of concrete as before. The new floor would obviously be thicker because of the balls. The new floor would also be a lot thicker. The increased thickness structurally makes the floor stronger. Now we reduce the thickness of the floor gradually (in the model, we haven't started actually building yet). We keep going until the strength is the same as before. We end up with a floor that is thicker than before, weigh less because it uses less concrete, and it is also the same strength. Assuming that we model it correctly. The calculations are the engineers jobs. That's why they went to school. So that they can do this correctly.
@@danielch6662your point on floor thickness is correct. This design could be most useful for high loading such as with heavy equipment, where at least as much concrete is used per square foot as with standard thickness floors, but by increasing overall thickness while keeping mass low you substantially gain in load tolerance.
@@FletcherHillierook😊m.mmook.oooommoomooko😅😅 mm in mookoomookomom mo oommmo ko oooooo IMM oomk mm ommomokmkm mini ok😊 mk ooooo😊I'm mo m mm ii ok o mm ommmmmmm oom m oom ooooooooooomomommommmoo mooooom omoommmkommm moooomo mm momomoomommomoooo mo omoooom ii ooooooommooo moi I'm oomo mk ii ooo look ooooooo ooh omooomooomokooom look mmmooooooomoooooooomommoooo oom ooooooo mo common ooooooom mm mm mmmmm mm o😊mmmkmmmmmmmmmm
Having been in construction for decades working in both commercial and residential, I would say wait ten years after being built then conduct a structural inspection. This is not good building practices. Test it in the field before using it routinely. I am not sure it will last for decades.
It's used here in Australia by a shonky apartment builder called Hanssen. I've worked on a couple of these. It is crap. It is done to save money on concrete. I recommend never buying a Hanssen apartment to everyone, whenever I am asked. I've been working on multi-storey buildings for nearly 30 yrs and wouldn't trust this system, as i doubt they will last even 20 years.
Eps Styrofoam balls would be better for sustainability, but by making it more 3D it's like thick paper vs cardboard. The 3D cardboard is stronger on a same weight basis.
Yeah, why can’t we stick to old fashioned ways? Why can’t we just push mud and poop between thin strips of wood like our ancestors did? Even better, what was wrong with caves?
bubble air inside concrete... that concrete wall bcome hollow, imagine easier to chewing bread ( with air bubble inside ) or compress bread ( without air bubble ) ? it bcome weak in long term imo, its goddamn air !
@@Jack-xe2xeive never seen or held one, but your theory is correct. If the ball doesnt deflate however, and retains it shape for x amount of time with or without air, spherical shape is typically the strongest shape out there. Able to withstand pressure on all sides, but as long as it can retain that shape. I havent seen longitudinal research on this material, so idk how natural disasters affect it, might it be earthquake or an office fire.
This is a way for some sleazy company in China to get something done cheaper. If you haven't seen one of the tens or hundreds of thousands of videos illustrating the quality of Chinese construction, you should.
Waffle doesn't mean there'll be a huge spherical bubble gaps in your structure. Each independent waffle unit is a complete load bearing structural entity.
@@eriol_hthis is better than waffle design though because spheres distribute stresses so well. Coffers have corners and corners mean stress concentration points.
I like it. But to use it in a structural design in a seismic country, I would first need to see some testing to see if the slab still behaves like a diaphragm, to distribute the loads to the vertical elements. It's for sure a nice solution for regions governed by static design.
Been doing similar for years in the concrete formwork industry, only better.. using upside down plastic crates, rebar and concrete.. when the formwork is struck ( dismantled ). The crates are removed and re-used.. seen a lot in older multi storey car parks etc 😊👍
Yes. But this shit also flexes, normally and overtime, which given it's surrounded by concrete which DOESN'T flex doesn't bode well. Also, it loses all structural integrity from heat, so God forbid there's a fire! Horrid idea.
Great idea to make this a more manufactured process, only time you would want to avoid this is when pouring concrete for bulletproof/protective properties.
That's why exactly the balls are here for... the structure is stronger with them... & if the roof collapses the people won't be much hurt by plastic balls
@@ogshurkinthat collapse in eindhoven was due to negligent management. the bubble deck was rotated a quarter turn contrary to what was on the original plan, personal failed to calculate new loads or perhaps miscalculated to determine wether rotating a quarter turn would be safe. this resulted in it collapsing. again not because of poor shear strength but rather improper design
Wow, that’s really cool. I think it’s extra cool that the hexagonal packing of spheres specifically *isnt* used. Not sure why, but I’m sure it’s on purpose.
Interesting, but as a Chartered Structural Engineer I am dismayed at some of the comments. The hollow balls reduce the ‘dead weight’ the structure has to carry. The technique is useful for longer (eg roof) spans, allowing a flat slab (simple) pour. The reduced weight affects the vibration response but that’s less important with roofs. Within the deck itself at mid-span reduced weight helps reduce bending moments and tension/compress forces. BUT closer to supports (and in particular columns) the shear forces build up and you need solid concrete (and usually vertical shear links). The designer must check the shear stress at the column face and increasing perimeters away, reinforcing each accordingly, until v
In the Netherlands, 4 buildings (3 parking garages, one office) had one or multiple floors fail, 2 of which during construction. In all cases, the bubble floor design wasn't at fault, but the design was found to be less fault tolerant when constructing, especially the anchoraches from the floors to the walls. Several buildings with this technique are load limited until further inspection takes place.
I'm definitely going to need to see some actual data on this. Using spheres definitely minimizes stress strength loss. Seems they're using more rebar to compensate for the shear loss. Can't tell from the video if they're tensioning the rebar. Certainly seems beneficial at weight management, but the massive loss in shear strength makes this much more prone to failure if any corners are cut in the construction process
Pardon my ignorance, but I was just wondering, in case of extreme heat like from fire, will it not pop and crack or perhaps shatter the concrete apart, compromising the structural integrity?
Maybe adding protrusions and texturing on the plastic balls would further increase the strength by giving extra surface space for the concrete to bind to ?
Clay jars work because they are of a sedimentary structure versus the polymer structure. Polymer is going to have a whole bunch of issues including moisture, which will then separate between a sediment and a polymer membrane.
I'd love for someone to explain why concrete full of voids does not become weakened compared to a solid slab. Everything else is pretty easy to wrap your head around. I know that an arch is a very strong stucture, but traditionally a filled in arch (a solid slab) is even stronger as far as i know.
This idea perhaps sounds good but we cant reuse it anymore when the building has entered the demolition phase. Usually the concrete could be used again as a mix to reduce cement high emission production stage but because plastic used (eventhough its also recycled plastic), we cant use it anymore 😅
I wonder if vibration of the building will cause cracking, due to the plastic transferring from one to another. Although a very good way recycle plastic I believe it should also insulate very well.
Seems like you might have problems with temperature variations between plastic and concrete. I don't know the numbers off hand but the expansion, contraction, condensate/moisture of a different filler material like plastic would need to be accounted for in the design.
As long as they're using exclusively recycled plastics that have no further usage it's totally fine. Something tells me though that they'll eventually manufacture new balls from new materials because that's cheaper than recycling plastic.
I see many good points to it. However I doubt the very long term durability of could suffer slightly, but probably by that time the building will be obsolite anyway. Deconstruction could also present some hurdles.
Nice idea! Will the saving of concrete and material be bigger than the additional labour costs for building bubble-grids and storage costs for the bubble-grid -elements?
Wow. Is it structurally safe? Is it safe to use in high rise buildings? How will the rebar and concrete tension/compression work if plastic was placed between them? 😅
Romans used to use same technique when building domed roofs, Pantheon's dome is build the same way, empty clay jars, and light porous rocks, were used to lighten the dome, few thousands of years later it still standing
Wow!
clay isn't made from plastic
History repeats itself😊
Correction. It is standing because
1) it is a dome, which spreads pressure equally
2) Roman concrete that is used to make that structure is self repairing
@@bizarreworld2510 Ok and how does that contradict what i said? It is not a correction, it is an addition.
If it's still structurally sound, this is a genius use of materials. Less concrete is good. Using up some plastic is good, and better insulation is good. This is a win all around.
They've been doing something similar with aircraft aluminum for decades, this is just kind of interesting that it's being applied to concrete.
Unless you are an activist. Remember, these people are perpetually unhappy. They will hate this even more because it uses a petroleum product. There doesn't have to be any logic to their point of view, just emotion.
@@ickster23you ok?
@@MrLargonaut I think so, but I've been wrong before. 😉
@@ickster23 *internet hug*
Love it. My concern is with the steel being at the edge of the concrete. When the roof starts to leak you're going to get some leakage through the inevitable cracks and some spalling will occur as the rust expands. It's not like a structural concrete beam where you have a few vital chords you have to protect with an inch and a half of concrete, so this may not matter. Neglected over an extended period of time, without an intact roof, it might be hard to assess the loss of strength. That might be the one drawback.
Seems like a fantastic idea nevertheless. Optimized use of concrete. An actual, viable usage for recycled plastic.
Follow up: So then I went to look at some of the failures in the Netherlands (and very weak reviews by follow up investigations). I guess there's a problem with the lower slab delaminating if it isnt surfaced right. Obvious but shocking that such problems could get out the factory door. Also some failures to engineer the connection when spanning the wrong way. So my question becomes is this just a try-it-and see product? Have no engineering models been developed beforehand about localized rotational shear and things like that? That would be my next question. This is the kind of work and science that lies behind traditional slabs and beams.
also how would it react to snow build up is something on my mind
What happens if the plastic degrades? Then you have a bunch of voids to fill with water if any cracks occur
Regrettably this is something we're seeing more commonly these days with "green efforts". They have an idea, they want it to work desperately and cherry pick the data to support it. Minimal testing is done prior to implementation, and the consequences are generally suffered by others while the original architect of the idea doesn't have any accountability.
I'm all for recycling materials and finding ways to improve construction and how we do things, but I'm a firm believer in thorough testing to make sure the technology is actually reliable and economically efficient.
Reliability is obvious, especially in construction, a mistake can cost lives. The economic portion is necessary because otherwise we see 2 things happen. Option A it becomes mandated but it's cost makes it prohibitive to the average person, driving up markets and inflation. Option B it's a fantastic product but due to economic costs it's never used and forgotten because only the extremely wealthy can afford it.
In this case it seems to have failed the reliability test by chasing the economic test.
@@jamesmerkel1932 I hope there's more behind it than that. Green can be a religion for sure. 3200 years ago the book of Deuteronomy, established the principle of liability for actions and choices and even in the lawlessness of today that Judeo-Christian principle has continued to survive. In the cases where it failed there is going to be architect, contractor and/or manufacturer who is going to carry a heavy penalty. At least it would be that way in the USA.
When they erected tall buildings with concrete frames in the thirties they were heavily over designed. Later they figured out how to model the internal forces and stresses and were able to thin it down considerably. In my world architects take calculus, physics and three or four structures/engineering classes before any one will let them get near hiring an engineer who will do the final design. As you say, be it "green" anything ... or printed concrete, or whatever, we need that traditional approach to safety no matter how innovative the product. Here's hoping. Right?
Scary situation)
@@_SYDNA_I get what u saying but I think his point is that we are making fast solutions trying to fix problems we created on the first place and we aren't testing those solutions on the first place, I for example don't think using this plastic balls are a Smart thing to do and bet a lot of architect's and engineer's think the same.
Retired construction worker here. I’m impressed. I hope it stands the test of time.
Same. Only time will tell. As long as they don't bust. I love the fact it's less weight to support.
It won't. Just line 3D printed homes. Just a waste of time and effort.
The test of time differs greatly from how old the affected people / customers are.
This is the same reason why salespeople tend to give extended warranties to elderly people because they know they won’t be around for to much longer.
In the Netherlands a couple parking garage partly collapsed and they used this technique
@@Sealshark007huh…
In America, brick layers and cement masons have been using a similar technique for eons.
If you were to disect a brick wall, driveway, or foundation slab you would discover a few dozen empty cans of Bud Light, Miller, and Coors😏
Not just America hahaha that's builders universally
Also used done in wood construction, cans are filled with cigarette butts for insulation and carefully placed between two layers of drywall.
And loose rocks. Every Mason that runs low on concrete grabs Every rock not buried 😂
alright that was good.
😂😂Don't forget about how they leave them under the lawn too.. probably helps with aeration.
My first project with this was like 12 years ago. My second year working lol. This is old technique. Also not widely used due to the slab thickness. We can do PT slab at 7" for residential tower floors. This is at least 18" thick. Typically used in lobby or long span buried garage. But again, we can achieve this with 12" slab with 6" drop bands. So yeah. I had done 2 projects with it in 13 years
Why can't you just use smaller balls?
@@gracefool the bubble deck's strength is from composite floor structural design, the rebars on the top and bottom provides tensile and compression strength (bottom side with concrete mass). if you shrank the deck thickness you are reducing the distance from center of inertia, which leads to lower structural capacity. reducing the effectiveness of the over all structure. at which point you would just go with a traditionally reinforced or Post tensioned deck system.
thats why bubble deck is so rare.
It seems all good to me until it's time to break that concrete up and recycle it which it probably now cannot be
The balls force the concrete to form arches which is very strong, and the weight reduction is great also
Tell that to the 1000s of pounds of equipment and utilities that hang off that deck, if you dont have the concrete embedment or your hanger inserts in a plastic ball youre going to have your deck blown out
I didn't think about the fact it forms an arch. I believe you are right. That eliminates the pressure and the likelihood of the balls busting.
Spheres are an extremely strong structure.
@@Roosters-rants1977Once the concrete cures, the ball doesn't matter anymore.
I agree less concrete is used BUT!
(And I’m asking) wouldn’t the concrete require to be more dense for this application ?
"to increase structural strength and optimise space" they do it to save money on concrete
Yeah I'm thinking this and pritty sure the roof life spand will be less.
That coming from your engineering degree?
If the roof weighs 50% of what it would otherwise but it still 75% of the strength that is a net gain. Math isn’t hard.
That is the economic philosophy of neoliberalism. It’s has literally destroyed the entire planet.
@caseybillups5163 aparantly grammar though....
@MrEnzo8604 we're talking concrete. Not rockets.
Makes recycling the concrete a nightmare. You'll get plastic bits mixed in when you break it up.
Wash deck or float tank of some design could probably separate the two materials half decently.
Eh, more aggregate surfaces for concrete to bond upon
Yes, I have designed buildings with a similar technique. It does use less concrete but requires far more dense concrete, so the concrete volume savings are lost on the more expensive concrete. The real benifit is the way the weight is more evenly spread requiring less support in the previous layer.
Yep, this was my observation, and I see that, to cover the lack of strength in the ball-holes, they have added one vertical steel support for each ball line also, which means the steel is much more (in the classic method is enough to have top and bottom reinforcement with some supports to keep them in place).
Does this hold up against large hail or high winds
so the balls will left in the walls forever?
Hey, why and where is this method actually used? What happens to the load bearing capacity and tensile strength?
@flippery-flop yes. You can't remove them.....
It is actually a shortcut, the concrete needs to be of really high quality. In the netherlands a parking garage collapsed using this method with faulty concrete.
Was that the fault of the plastic balls or the concrete?
I was thinking the presence of the balls adds new internal surfaces where the concrete could detatch is moisture got in. If it was actually the wrong material used that caused issues, it leaves the method untested (since the structure didn't execute the construction method correctly).
@@michaels.3709if my memory serves and I'm thinkng of the same event, the lower slab delaminates due to incorrect surfacing, presumably before leaving the factory.
@@mikemurphy5898Yeah, you're pouring the slab in two steps, and adhesion between the two layers is essential. If you don't do that part right, you don't have the concrete equivalent of an I-beam, you have two thin slabs with some junk in between.
@@AlexandervanGessel Structurally the best solution would be to assemble rebars and plastic balls on site. Concrete to be poured in one time. It always has a risk to try new methods. The only guarantee to prevent mistakes is to do nothing.
That structure collapsed because they parked heavy electric cars in the garage and it was not designed for that much weight.
saves concrete: good
re-uses old plastics one time: quite good
Making both materials unrecyclable after they been put together:......
Sounds like a load of balls to me.
😂😂
Definitely. And i don't trust lots of balls in my house😂
You got me at balls 🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂Bravo
😅
It's the same principle as an I-beam - material is removed from the center since it doesn't carry much of the load to maximize strength/weight ratio, also lower cost
This makes sense for steel, which work well under both tension and compression. But concrete has bad tensile strength, so removing part of the bulk could create interfaces (eg. plastic-concrete interface at the ball's surface) that puts the concrete under tension from typical loads because of material differences.
@@michaels.3709 I don't understand the interface thing you're talking about, it's hollow plastic so it can't stress the concrete. And concrete's poor tensile strength is always an issue regardless of geometry, that's what the rebar is for, that interface is not an issue because of the similar CTE of steel and concrete.
@@michaels.3709 Tensile strenght is an an issue even with a normal concrete slab, but its counteracted with rebar in both cases. In this case the I would imagine the shear strenght in the webs between the balls is something that needs to be taken into account. I’m pretty confident the engineers responsible have taken it into account and fully tested these.
It probably _does_ decrease the strength of the concrete, but not as much as it decreases the weight - the overall effect being increased strength _relative_ to weight.
There you go
I’ll get back to you in 50 years
The Roman’s did this 2000 years ago and yet the Pantheon still stands today
@@callumgill7019 Roman concrete is far stronger than anything we use today
@@callumgill7019 1- Pantheon is still there mainly because nobody destroied it.
2- Clay pots are way differents from plastic balls for a lot of reasons.
@@SirPano85 Agreed concrete does not adhere to plastic like it did with clay.
Lateral force resistance is greatly diminished here....
It's not new. A hundred years ago In the UK, pig farmers used to put down empty beer bottles then concrete over the top when they were building a pigsty. This insulation stopped the pigs trotters from freezing in winter. They weren't the first.
Yes, another commenter wrote that the romans used it maybe 2000 years ago for domed roofs with empty hollow pottery to save weight.
That would work better than the plastic balls
You’re getting lost by thinking “who was first”. For this purpose, it’s not the same thing as pigsty makers. It’s still a smart idea.
@@Tribecasoothsayer it's a good idea. That's why humans have been doing it for hundreds of years. My issue was with the word "new". Instead of arguing when you don't understand a comment why not just give it a thumbs up/down or scroll on.
“Welp, sounds like we’re gonna need plenty of empty beer bottles then…” 😏
That’s cool. One thing I know from my many failed attempts of mechanical engineering is that more material does not necessarily mean more support.
It’s truly an ingenious way to bring rebar reinforced concrete weight down, and gives us an amazing way to encase plastic waste too in a useful way.
How do they fair in earthquake prone areas?
A brilliant way to optimize deck strength and stiffness for a given amount of concrete with the side benefit of making the high-rise seismic strength better also. Bonus points for recycling plastic. I'm a structural engineer unlike 99% of the commenters
What happens when the plastic melts inside of the concrete?
Yeah engineers design all the modern garbage cars we now have to deal with as well. LVLS are another brilliant engineer idea. A structural beam made of wood chips and glue rated for 75 years. So in 75 years your house is.... what happens when a pipe leaks on those glue beams?
This is not plastic recycling. It is stashing it away till the next developer tears the structure down after 20 years and argues that all materials have to be thrown into the junk pile because it is cheaper than separating them.
@@ryanbeckner9539modern cars go faster, for much farther, for a lot cheaper, and do it WAY safer, than older car designs. Just because they become harder to maintain for the average person, doesn’t mean they become worse designs. You can try to hate on “engineers” all you want, but those designs of old you love so much, were designed by engineers of the time, too. Sit down.
no
In the Netherlands such a floor collapsed couple of years ago 2017/2018 I believe
In southern India we have been using this technique for some 30, 40 years, however we use earthen pots. It does reduce the weight and lowers the stress on structural beam also it acts as a insulation for our hot climate.
And India is world renown for things like their structural integrity and cleanliness.
@@kevinn4038 let me give you one example of a architect marvel of the southern India you racist LITTLE punk 😮💨. Try googling Brihadeeswara Temple and tell me if you were able to get the marvel I am talking about.
@@incorrect2550 *"will remain there even when the dust of your bones is gone!!"* *I WILL USE THIS INSULT*
Yeah, if India is doing it, it must be safe, smart, and honest. MUST be....
@@incorrect2550 brother don't waste our time on indulging with these rA¢ist LITTLE punks. Previously I thought of replying to him but then meh.
we don't need the plastic and we need less concrete, looks like a win/win to me. Love it.
This is very interesting!! I must learn more❤
In a flood the building will float. 😅
lol
😂😂😂😂😂Thanks for the laugh bro!
If you have a large pot for plants, use plastic bottles with caps on to fill the space in the bottom, put dirt over top, makes pot allot lighter and roots have air and spaces between bottles
Great idea for ornamentals!
I wouldn't use plastic for vegetable or herbs. Plastics can leach into the soil over time.
If you're wanting to reduce weight, you can fill the bottom with perlite or lava rocks or vermiculite. This also improves drainage for the roots as well.
You could also just use straw, and it will add nutrients.
My mom rip tought me to use milk jugs to use less dirt in the same way.
@@zeketestorman4981 and mold and home for rodents
Pinecones
I don't know if it's reliable time will tell I'm really hoping it is. This could reduce our plastic waste this is such a good idea. Someone had mentioned the Romans had done this as well. Very cool I did not know that I watch quite a bit of documentaries and I can't say the Romans were very smart engineers.
Yes, and when that building gets knocked down in 40 years time (and it will) there's more plastic to pull out from concrete and no one will want to recycle that. Sustainability 0/10.
Sustainability is a lie, nothing Global-Industrial-Civilization does can be sustainable, enjoy it while it lasts.
40 years?
He is from china😂
The balls are made from recycled materials.
They need less concrete to build.
The structure needs to be less strong since the building is way lighter.
There is so much stuff in buildings, plastic balls filled with air are the least problem.
Don't understand the way you think
" NEW TECHNIQUE " LOL Theres a factory near where I live and they been making these since the 90s
Reliability is wholly dependent on whether the plastic causes a "delamination" in this rudimentary composite. Concrete only plays nice with certain materials, like rebar, and it can take years of normal stress loading with environmental pressures to find out if it truly works.
There are mostly parking garages made with this method. Its the same idea as hollow prefab flooring which needs a mold to get the empty space. This bubbledeck is the same idea but poured directly on site and the molds stay inside.
But... don't make the same mistake as in Eindhoven and turn the slabs 90 degrees to get a bigger span... that will result in collapsing, as it also will with any other type of concrete slabs with trusses, it was not the bubbledecks fault.
This is dangerous, in the Netherlands a parking garage collapsed. It's not allowed to use in the Netherlands anymore.
Glad you mentioned it....
Maybe it has less tolerances for any errors. Maybe not enough concrete or not enough rebar here or there or some corrosion over time (for example, cars come with salt on them from icy winter streets with temperatures around freezing). But yes, I don't know, just guessing.
I think, like some other commenters, let it stand the test of time. I guess, some time has already passed, not with a positive outcome...
On the other side, the romans did something similar with empty pottery in domed roofs 2000 years ago. Yes, pottery is not a balloon, but pottery does not hold a roof either, the air in it neither. It must be about what's around that bubbles of air, sure, that's what holds the roof.
Yeah wouldn't use this for a parking lot.
To be fair, they did say they were using it for a roof. But it is good to know that there are limits that should not be crossed when using this method.
Who made the decision to use this in a parking garage? It should be used in buildings. It improves insulation and noise dampening, and that doesn't matter in garages where people are just going to leave their cars and go inside.
Is it flexible on earthquakes?
I bet extremely flexible it’s completely eliminating the rebar strength
House becomes bouncy during earthquakes. Thus surviving.
Concrete isn't flexible.
The Romans have left the chat!😂
All roads lead to...
I am Roman and it looks like the way that they used ceramic jars to lighten the roof of the pantheon, except they included steel tension members that would make it much like a three dimensional beam with webs which Roman practice did not use, as steel reinforcement was first done in the twentieth century or just before. If they recycle the material they just crush the concrete and remove the plastic and steel. But it seems like it would carry more structural loads than a deck made with pans and concrete and steel tension members. Concrete acts mainly in compression which is why the Pantheon is 13 feet thick in the walls and tapers to 3 feet thick at the 33 foot oculum. The addition of steel tension members means that much less concrete is required and the balls mean that you are not using more than necessary to handle the structural loads. I imagine that they use fewer balls near structural columns. It would be a fun system to do the numbers on.
multiple companies that have used this technique are currently under investigation and court hearings due to multiple structural failures and even collapses resulting in death just fyi.
Obviously very strong due to the arches formed within the concrete, would love to see the tests, stress and sound tests
That’s a great idea for recycling ♻️ plastic
More like hiding plastic - for the duration of a concrete building. Soo... 30-50 years if we're lucky.
Not really. The plastic is oil based and should be used in a recyclable loop. This is as bad as turning plastics back into fuel. Its not sustainable. Better to use pottery balls.
@@nancienordwick4169 The most sustainable lightweight concrete aggregate is the oil palm shel kernels. I think they are the only organics approved in some western countries as a lightweight aggregate.
Maybe when the building gets demolished they'll have better plastic recycling methods
Air expands and contracts,surely this will gradualy weaken the bubble deck? Looks like a way to save money rather than make structures safer 😮
Interesting take.
Concrete is porous, plastic will degrade and let air contracts and expand through.
@@MichaelHarto Still a ton of weak spots.
@@Paopao621 not saying that it's great, just saying how the air expand and contracts.
Tofu dreg maybe?
Great idea! The only issue I see with it is it becomes more difficult to recycle. Concrete is very recyclable, but when you have concrete mixed with bits of plastic, probably less so.
I think I prefer the solid plastic brick rather than deflat-able plastic balls.
The amount of certified keyboard specialists out here! Haha 😂
I read the comments just to see people spout shit about topics they have no clue about with absolute confidence.
A lot of it is funny to read.
Or some of us have been doing concrete for over a decade. Mostly though you just need common sense.
I’m a Certified RUclips graduate. I know my stuff😳🤣😂🤣😂
And to think some people here believe their nonesense, cuz it sounds technical... 💀
When construction workers are literally "balls deep" in their project.. 😂😂😂
The romans did something similar, they would add clay pots into their concrete while mixing for the same reasons, and it worked, most of those buildings are still standing
Can you name one?
I have more convidence in backed clay than those plastic balls. Like bricks they are basically indestructible once made right.
@@ΝίκοςΜπέτσης-ΗΠΑ The Pantheon was built doing this, they used pots about the size of a fist mixed into the concrete of the dome part of the roof, along with the recessed areas to reduce the weight and improve durability.
@@-phenring-
And how many floors were on the top of the Pantheon roof?
You are comparing a faux ceiling designed to hold itself for decorative purposes with an actual floor on a multiple stories building that need to hold thousands of tons of weight in addition to its own.
and Christians ...
Now the building will float!
Piano tuner here. I can say without a doubt that this is a solid construction method.😮
Compare this method to the Roman concrete, I believe the Roman concrete will outlast this method.
The Romans used this method, but they used little clay pots. The dome of the Pantheon is full of them.
Why is it that the more we get from the older concrete why is it that the new former created should be better than the old but the older stuff has more strength more durability and more water resistant
Roman concrete wouldn't work in this case. Roman concrete is good under compression and very poor to handle tension. And a flat roof is dealing with tensile forces. For that, we need reinforced concrete.
The issue with Roman concrete is that it contains seawater/salt. This is terrible if you are using rebar.
Nothing seems to outlast Roman concrete.
Tofu project😂
Very smart solution. Elimination of unnecessary weight.
The plastic balls will degrade over time.
They are only there to provide a void.
If the slab is not load bearing, and spans have been calculated to be within spec, there is nothing wrong with this technique as long as it’s implemented ’as designed’.
As long as nothing else is built on the deck / roof, it can work.
But I think a better application is for smaller units like private homes
I think as they are using plastic balls which are already made from plastic waist.plastic will run longer than concrete.concrete buldings have maximum life of 100 years if maintained well.but plastic do not degrade till more than 209 years.and I think these are not plastic Buble or baloons they are rigid plastic balls not hollow.
@@kunalsharma3125still, a cool idea to reduce plaatic garbage
@@omariomariomario1194 exactly
link your engineering degree and years of experience so we can verify that you're not full of 💩
makes total sense. genius invention. once the concrete has hardened it's totally insignificant what happens to the plastic or the air inside.
even fire ?
1. Uses recycled plastic a social good, while reducing the volume needed to construct a deck. 2. Creates lighter flooring in a stronger honey comb patter, lighter and stronger. 3. Interior Airspace provides insulation, reducing HVAC needs and thus energy reduction for the building for both heating and cooling, reducing potential CO2 emissions from required energy inputs for the HVAC systems a cost reduction and social good. Overall, looks like a winner to me.
Once an apartment catches fire all floors will collapse down..risky in short its risky.
Excellent question!
I would loke to know myself.
But it is a concrete building?, very low fire chance ?, maybe depending on building use?
This has happened to concrete buildings regardless
This is why you need engineers who can calculate the necessary material strength properly. Remember. _Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands._
This is for roofs only, the top.
Pesce. Barring any flaws in empiracal logic, seems a very sensible, utilitarian construct to utilize materials as spartan as possible. Kudos! Peace.
impressive, the ratio of words to cool words in your comment.
@@tonym2513 Peace. Thank you for response! Am of mind we are Earthbound for mutual benefits. Your reply is evidence of built-in possibilities. Exhibitng coolness is cool! Peace.
Actually, it is well known in engineering that the vast majority of forces are acting at the very edge of the sample, so having air gaps in the middle is actually not much if an issue. It is how steel truss works. You don't need it to be solid as long as the edges have material.
And the marginal loss in structural performance could easily be made up for by using some the weight and material savings to make the slab bigger. If the edges are further apart, that greatly increases strength.
And now we know why their buildings fall down so often 🤣
We had the new Science and Technology Building built using this technique 6 years ago. The building is 5 stories high with 4 of the floors using the space balls. That part of the building has been fine, other parts not so good.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
They likely poorly mixed the other floor, maybe on purpose to "prove" the technology. The strongest and most lasting floor will be the one without the balls as long as the concrete mix is done by someone who is not trying to prove a point.
@@FletcherHillier You're wrong. Because of one simple mistake. You assume that the floors with space balls MUST be the same thickness as the floors without. They could simply make it thicker to make it the same strength. The floors don't have to be the same thickness. The engineers will calculate how thick they need to be to achieve the required strength.
These floors would be the same strength as those built using the old method, but be both thicker and lighter. How do we get there? We start assuming that we will use the same amount of concrete as before. The new floor would obviously be thicker because of the balls. The new floor would also be a lot thicker. The increased thickness structurally makes the floor stronger.
Now we reduce the thickness of the floor gradually (in the model, we haven't started actually building yet). We keep going until the strength is the same as before. We end up with a floor that is thicker than before, weigh less because it uses less concrete, and it is also the same strength. Assuming that we model it correctly. The calculations are the engineers jobs. That's why they went to school. So that they can do this correctly.
@@danielch6662your point on floor thickness is correct. This design could be most useful for high loading such as with heavy equipment, where at least as much concrete is used per square foot as with standard thickness floors, but by increasing overall thickness while keeping mass low you substantially gain in load tolerance.
@@FletcherHillierook😊m.mmook.oooommoomooko😅😅 mm in mookoomookomom mo oommmo ko oooooo IMM oomk mm ommomokmkm mini ok😊 mk ooooo😊I'm mo m mm ii ok o mm ommmmmmm oom m oom ooooooooooomomommommmoo mooooom omoommmkommm moooomo mm momomoomommomoooo mo omoooom ii ooooooommooo moi I'm oomo mk ii ooo look ooooooo ooh omooomooomokooom look mmmooooooomoooooooomommoooo oom ooooooo mo common ooooooom mm mm mmmmm mm o😊mmmkmmmmmmmmmm
Ommmkmmomm
Thanks for asking, we are the expertise 😅😅😅😅😅
I was thinking the same thing..I work in retail so naturally I'm an expert in construction
45 years in the trades, the last time a similar gimmick was tried a whole lot of people got extremely large prison terms, history always repeats
I’m a Civil Engineer and I say bollocks to this.
Remember Autoclave Aerated Concrete anybody?
No, what's rac
Give us more than an acronym, we need something we can google if you aren't going to give us details.
@@SoManyRandomRamblingssorry. Autoclave aerated concrete.
@@kirati thank you. Was super curious
Yeah hopefully they've tested this new technique with the problems of aerated concrete in mind.
Sounds great. I have no real idea about whether it actually is, but recycling plastic + using less concrete + decreased weight, all sounds fantastic
Having been in construction for decades working in both commercial and residential, I would say wait ten years after being built then conduct a structural inspection. This is not good building practices. Test it in the field before using it routinely. I am not sure it will last for decades.
It's used here in Australia by a shonky apartment builder called Hanssen. I've worked on a couple of these. It is crap. It is done to save money on concrete. I recommend never buying a Hanssen apartment to everyone, whenever I am asked. I've been working on multi-storey buildings for nearly 30 yrs and wouldn't trust this system, as i doubt they will last even 20 years.
It doesn't have to last for decades. It only has to last until the chick clears.
Eps Styrofoam balls would be better for sustainability, but by making it more 3D it's like thick paper vs cardboard. The 3D cardboard is stronger on a same weight basis.
Sheldon : BAZINGA
Only time will tell just how good it is.
Reading the comments just makes you realise that some random people are a thousand time brighter than the inventor of those fucked up balls
Yeah, why can’t we stick to old fashioned ways? Why can’t we just push mud and poop between thin strips of wood like our ancestors did? Even better, what was wrong with caves?
Its a complete lack of common sense. But its not surprising if you see their walls made out of cardboard and reebar made from fiberglass.
bubble air inside concrete... that concrete wall bcome hollow, imagine easier to chewing bread ( with air bubble inside ) or compress bread ( without air bubble ) ?
it bcome weak in long term imo, its goddamn air !
@@Jack-xe2xeive never seen or held one, but your theory is correct. If the ball doesnt deflate however, and retains it shape for x amount of time with or without air, spherical shape is typically the strongest shape out there. Able to withstand pressure on all sides, but as long as it can retain that shape. I havent seen longitudinal research on this material, so idk how natural disasters affect it, might it be earthquake or an office fire.
This is a way for some sleazy company in China to get something done cheaper.
If you haven't seen one of the tens or hundreds of thousands of videos illustrating the quality of Chinese construction, you should.
Wooden roof trusses are mostly air also. Spherical voids appears to be a variation on "waffle" topology commonly used in such applications.
Waffle doesn't mean there'll be a huge spherical bubble gaps in your structure. Each independent waffle unit is a complete load bearing structural entity.
@@eriol_hthis is better than waffle design though because spheres distribute stresses so well. Coffers have corners and corners mean stress concentration points.
I like it. But to use it in a structural design in a seismic country, I would first need to see some testing to see if the slab still behaves like a diaphragm, to distribute the loads to the vertical elements.
It's for sure a nice solution for regions governed by static design.
Been doing similar for years in the concrete formwork industry, only better.. using upside down plastic crates, rebar and concrete.. when the formwork is struck ( dismantled ). The crates are removed and re-used.. seen a lot in older multi storey car parks etc 😊👍
Fresno State library is like that...look up you can see the bottom of the deck.
What is the name of that method?
It's called a void formed slab.. utilising polypropylene void formers.@@therzook
Reducing weight on large buildings can make structures stronger as there is less gravitational force pulling said structure downwards.
Grav force is the same, its the wieght from the above materials that is reduced if theyre also hollowed, and the arch helps spread weight
Yes. But this shit also flexes, normally and overtime, which given it's surrounded by concrete which DOESN'T flex doesn't bode well. Also, it loses all structural integrity from heat, so God forbid there's a fire! Horrid idea.
Great idea to make this a more manufactured process, only time you would want to avoid this is when pouring concrete for bulletproof/protective properties.
Death waiting for the next earth quake
That's why exactly the balls are here for... the structure is stronger with them... & if the roof collapses the people won't be much hurt by plastic balls
Engineering. Strength increases with the square of thickness, and stiffness increases as the cube.
It's a truss
Wrong. bending stress is directly proportional to depth and flexural stiffness depends on dimensions and type of material.
Well, I'm having truss issues.
@@ParaBellum282
Truss or trust?
No this is a terrible idea. They tried this in Britain in 40 years all of this will have to be torn down.
What fault specifically did they find. Almost all reinforced concrete failures are cause by a lack of coverage leading to corrosion.
@@iancormie9916 there was a parking garage in 2017 that tried this and collapsed, something about terrible sheer strength.
@@ogshurkinfloors in parking garages are waaaay different to residential floors
@@ogshurkinthat collapse in eindhoven was due to negligent management. the bubble deck was rotated a quarter turn contrary to what was on the original plan, personal failed to calculate new loads or perhaps miscalculated to determine wether rotating a quarter turn would be safe. this resulted in it collapsing. again not because of poor shear strength but rather improper design
What happens to the air in the balls when it is cold and then when it is hot? Does the shrink and expanding effect the concrete?
Wow, that’s really cool. I think it’s extra cool that the hexagonal packing of spheres specifically *isnt* used. Not sure why, but I’m sure it’s on purpose.
Just 👀 at it! Considering what you have given to others I am happy to see this and happy for you.
Interesting, but as a Chartered Structural Engineer I am dismayed at some of the comments.
The hollow balls reduce the ‘dead weight’ the structure has to carry. The technique is useful for longer (eg roof) spans, allowing a flat slab (simple) pour. The reduced weight affects the vibration response but that’s less important with roofs.
Within the deck itself at mid-span reduced weight helps reduce bending moments and tension/compress forces. BUT closer to supports (and in particular columns) the shear forces build up and you need solid concrete (and usually vertical shear links). The designer must check the shear stress at the column face and increasing perimeters away, reinforcing each accordingly, until v
In the Netherlands, 4 buildings (3 parking garages, one office) had one or multiple floors fail, 2 of which during construction. In all cases, the bubble floor design wasn't at fault, but the design was found to be less fault tolerant when constructing, especially the anchoraches from the floors to the walls. Several buildings with this technique are load limited until further inspection takes place.
That's interesting. I like it, especially the sound proofing part.
That's actually incredibly clever.
I'm definitely going to need to see some actual data on this. Using spheres definitely minimizes stress strength loss. Seems they're using more rebar to compensate for the shear loss. Can't tell from the video if they're tensioning the rebar. Certainly seems beneficial at weight management, but the massive loss in shear strength makes this much more prone to failure if any corners are cut in the construction process
Pardon my ignorance, but I was just wondering, in case of extreme heat like from fire, will it not pop and crack or perhaps shatter the concrete apart, compromising the structural integrity?
Maybe adding protrusions and texturing on the plastic balls would further increase the strength by giving extra surface space for the concrete to bind to ?
Clay jars work because they are of a sedimentary structure versus the polymer structure. Polymer is going to have a whole bunch of issues including moisture, which will then separate between a sediment and a polymer membrane.
This system is in use from at least the early 90's. New my ass.
Creating an air gap like this helps immensely with reducing sound transfer between floors
I'd love for someone to explain why concrete full of voids does not become weakened compared to a solid slab. Everything else is pretty easy to wrap your head around. I know that an arch is a very strong stucture, but traditionally a filled in arch (a solid slab) is even stronger as far as i know.
"The balls harden." *Reverberated fart noise
This idea perhaps sounds good but we cant reuse it anymore when the building has entered the demolition phase. Usually the concrete could be used again as a mix to reduce cement high emission production stage but because plastic used (eventhough its also recycled plastic), we cant use it anymore 😅
I wonder if vibration of the building will cause cracking, due to the plastic transferring from one to another. Although a very good way recycle plastic I believe it should also insulate very well.
Yeah, can you land a HELICOPTER on it?! 😱😁😝🤪🤣👍👍🇺🇸
Seems like you might have problems with temperature variations between plastic and concrete. I don't know the numbers off hand but the expansion, contraction, condensate/moisture of a different filler material like plastic would need to be accounted for in the design.
As long as they're using exclusively recycled plastics that have no further usage it's totally fine.
Something tells me though that they'll eventually manufacture new balls from new materials because that's cheaper than recycling plastic.
That building lookin like a mega man stage 😂 bounce man
Depends, if it's made in China, then no
I see many good points to it. However I doubt the very long term durability of could suffer slightly, but probably by that time the building will be obsolite anyway. Deconstruction could also present some hurdles.
Nice idea! Will the saving of concrete and material be bigger than the additional labour costs for building bubble-grids and storage costs for the bubble-grid -elements?
Thats cool plus it will protect building from cold to
Wow. Is it structurally safe? Is it safe to use in high rise buildings? How will the rebar and concrete tension/compression work if plastic was placed between them? 😅
How does the reduced weight affect stability?
That's very smart. The ball is the most durable shape there is. There is a reason deep sea exploration subs are ball shaped.
This is one of those kinds of innovations that seems like a win-win-win