Patent Application
20230183967
The predominant logic of current building construction involves the assemblage of multi-material, industrially-produced components, mainly comprised of minerals and metals (steel, concrete, aluminum, gypsum, copper, etc.). Implicitly such buildings are high mass and high energy-intensity, given the mining, purifying, smelting, baking, and other processes, etc. that they rely upon. This imposes a significant embodied energy footprint to such buildings, which at civilizational scale has portent of vast CO2 pollution given the anticipated doubling of buildings globally by 2050.
This late-industrial logic of assemblage of industrial readymade components means that buildings are comprised of thousands or tens of thousands of discrete parts, and implicit in this is a vast number of joints and mechanical connections. Inherently this means there will be differential thermal expansion between elements, with joints prone to leaking energy: a high in-use energy footprint. Current embodied and in-use energy consumption of buildings is some 40% of global energy production, before a doubling of global building stock. Basic physics dictates that buildings be low mass and low energy intensity to reduce their embodied footprint; and equally that buildings be few-joint, well-insulated, thin-skin assemblies, with a vast reduction in parts, materials, connections and cold bridges.
There is also an affordability crisis in the building sector, where the multi-trade, multi-material methods of the dominant building paradigm are imposing very high labor and logistical complexity that results in high cost. The sheer number of components and the dizzying choice they offer, has meant that the building sector has not increased its efficiency, despite computation. This contrasts with the manufacturing sector that has embraced new materials that lend themselves to CAD-CAM automation, witnessing a doubling of productivity.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for an improved material-processing system and method for rapid manufacture and assembly of minimal environmental footprint buildings in an effort to overcome the aforementioned obstacles and deficiencies of conventional multi-material, multi-trade building systems.
Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
In some examples, fiber-reinforced composites, including examples where fine structural fibers such as glass or carbon fiber are consolidated with a matrix material such as a polymeric resin to consolidate them spatially, can attain effective structural performance that compares favorably to wood or steel. By weaving such fibers and by orienting different orientations and woven or unidirectional fibers in layered and consolidated composites, in various examples their structural properties may be augmented and devised to be non-isotropic, allowing great structural versatility and performance that can be used in place of such traditional materials.
A particular advantage offered by fiber-reinforced composites in various embodiments can be the ability to manufacture thin structural skins, with a variety of methods allowing very large dimension in continuous structural sheets. Another advantage of some embodiments can be that by bonding such thin structural skins on either side of a lightweight core such as a polymeric foam, the thin skins can act like the flanges of a beam and the core like a low-density spatialized web, which in various examples can allow for efficient panelized beams where the fiber-reinforced skins can carry tension and compression and attain stiffness by virtue of their separation by the core, with stiffness increasing to the power of 4 relative to their separation in some example.
Since composite materials can be relatively expensive compared to traditional materials in some examples, as fibers and/or matrix resins can require sophisticated manufacturing in some instances, economy of material can be desirable in some embodiments of skin-core-skin composite structures. For example, the described skin-core-skin composite structures can use minimal amounts of relatively expensive materials to attain maximal structural performance. Yet the thin-skin morphology can have limitations in some examples, as loads can be carried in ultra-thin skins that can fail when highly stressed, such as when these skins are placed under compression where they tend to buckle, splitting off the lightweight core materials that can have limited tensile capacity. For this reason, cores like balsa or made of other various materials, oriented with the grain perpendicular to the fiber-reinforced skins, can be used in high stress structures like racing boats to limit skin buckling or wrinkling. However, this can add weight to the structure and can be an expensive material, so it may not be desirable in some embodiments.
Another disadvantage of some embodiments of thin-skin composite structures can be that joining one skin-core-skin panel to another can be technically challenging, as the skins can carry high but distributed load, spread through the fiber matrix, that may need transferring to the adjacent skin. Mechanical connections may be ineffective or undesirable in some examples as bolts or screws may create high load concentration points that chafe at the thin-skin fiber-based matrix, which in some embodiments can require local reinforcement to avoid the fibers simply being displaced locally and a hole or split developing. Some such structures can therefore prefer adhesive bonding over a large surface area, so that load transfers from one fiber/matrix sheet through the adhesive and into the next fiber-matrix sheet. This may be thought of in some examples as a “band aid”, functioning well so long as there is no prying load or moment that would peel off the tape as the adhesive itself has no fiber reinforcement. So taped joints can be effective at carrying in-plane loads in various embodiments, and in some examples such structures need to be engineered carefully to manage load flow to limit shear and bending at joints.
In some cases, adhesive taped jointing can require that both skins be bonded given that they may work structurally in concert - both tension and compression may need to be resolved at joints in various examples. By implication, various embodiments of such skin-core-skin composite structures may be thought of as not one but two monocoque structures, such that both skins carry load. At places where skin-core-skin panels join, in some examples, it can be desirable to provide a double joint, which in some embodiments can be attained by adhesive taping over the joint on both external surfaces, with the lightweight cores bonded together between skins to mitigate shearing that might pry the adhesive bond of the joining tapes.
Such taped joints can be difficult to apply in some embodiments, such as in various building use examples, as some such examples can require effective bonding over the total surface area of quite large-overlap tapes, and this can benefit in various embodiments from heat and pressure that can be difficult to apply in some examples given the general large size of panels and the need in some instances to bond large components out of a workshop environment. As a result, generally, composite manufacture – for example of boats, aircraft, wind turbine blades, etc. – can favor continuity of fiber-reinforced skins, such that a boat hull or aircraft fuselage is manufactured as a single skin-core-skin monocoque, or the like. Transportation of the large resulting elements can be difficult in various examples, sometimes requiring special transportation equipment, limiting routes that can be navigated, and involving road closures and police escorts that can be very expensive and restrictive.
Composites can be desirable in markets where large scale structures are required, such various examples as where strength-to-weight is an issue, as it can be with wind turbine blades, aircraft, boats and other markets where there can be benefit in performance. In cases were used for buses and trains, they can offer resilience against impact and light-weight for fuel economy. These applications can deploy composites as un-jointed double-skin monocoque structures, and in various examples they attain economy either via repetitive molding of standard parts and/or through lifetime economy in fuel savings. The internal bulkheads of boat hulls, or internal webs of wind turbine blades, for example, can be bonded via external tapes with adhesive overlap to transfer load between thin-skin elements. One-off designs for things like racing boats evidence the versatility that composites offer, but molded monocoques in various examples can require an expensive mold that can maintain vacuum pressure over a range of temperatures, so in various examples, economy can only be attained by serial manufacture, as in various examples of turbine blades, with no real possibility of variation of composite part.
In various embodiments, use of composites in the building sector can benefit from light-weighting and thermal performance offered by various examples of skin-core-skin insulated structural envelopes. For example, energy leakage in buildings can be from joints between components or via thermal bridging of studs and structural framing elements. Thin-skin composite buildings in various embodiments can reduce the embodied and in-use footprint of buildings, which can be desirable in the current context of CO2 pollution and environmental change. Yet buildings can be idiosyncratic by nature, and generally far too large and odd-shaped to allow transportation as single monocoque entities. As such, there is need for a method of jointing large composite structural parts, such that they can be transported using typical road transportation to allow economy. Such multi-part composite assembly in various embodiments can allow versatility of building form but can require an effective and economical jointing system and method in various examples, and examples of some such effective and economical jointing system and method are shown and described herein.
Most typically, buildings are comprised of planar elements, with buildings and rooms generally of rectilinear form. Since this can correspond with an economical fiber-reinforced panel production, various embodiments herein can target jointing of planar large-format composite structural panels, allowing floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, fixed furniture, and many other planar elements, such as doors and screens, to be fabricated off-site, ready for easy flat-pack transportation and simple on-site jointing. However, these example embodiments should not be construed to be limiting and various non-planar and/or large and small format composite structural panels are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
Various embodiments relate to non-standard manufacturing capability, meaning that either modular or one-off panels may be produced as needed, including various examples with some or all details integrated in the structural composite panels including various embodiments of the example jointing methodologies that are outlined below.
Such jointing can be sub-dermal rather than supra-dermal, such as occurring beneath each fiber-reinforced skin. This can have the benefit in various embodiments of allowing the joints to be invisible and to allow for pre-finished panels that are factory-finished to high standard without need for remedial filling, sanding and painting, as can be needed with various examples of an externally taped joint. Pre-finished panels on various embodiments can avoid the current logic of gypsum board finishing that can require taping/mudding/sanding and painting, generally 2 or 3 times. Various embodiments can eliminate or reduce this need by establishing an excavated cavity in a dense sub-dermal block of material that serves as a slot receptacle for adhesive bonding of a sub-dermal structural connection on one or both of its faces, allowing the (e.g., adhesive) bond to be half the length of anyone-side-bonded taped joint in some examples. These joints can occur where two planar composite panels may require jointing, which in various embodiments can establish a double monocoque structural envelope, but in a multi-panel assembly.
A vulnerability of some polymeric composites in buildings can be their fire performance, since various embodiments of a thin-skin structure can quickly get very hot under heat load, where just the radiant heat from a fire event can immediately raise temperatures of skins, adhesives and cores to high levels (assuming convection and conduction can be mitigated by physical means, such as intumescent coatings in various example). Given that various embodiments of fiber-reinforced structures can be comprised of polymeric matrices derived from hydrocarbons, which may degrade quite readily under heat insult, so any external (supra-dermal) taped structural joints can prove most vulnerable in various examples given their closest proximity to fire in a room or at a façade surface. Adhesives, (e.g., polymeric), can degrade as they get hot in various examples, so externally taped joints and their adhesive bond-line can degrade first in a fire event in some instances, which can be the inverse of what fire codes seek to achieve - that the base structure is the last thing to fail.
By displacing joints into sub-dermal cavities in dense, fire-retardant blocks, in various embodiments, adhesive and/or structural connection elements can be protected in the thermal shadow of such fire-retardant mass. In other words, the various embodiments described below can offer a system and method to create cost effective, code compliant jointing for planar composite building elements that can allow the benefits of lightweight and resilient composite structural panels to be used as a general building technology.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for an improved jointing system and fabrication/assembly method for multi-panel, quasi-monocoque, composite building structures, in an effort to overcome the aforementioned obstacles and deficiencies of conventional building systems.
The present disclosure in some aspects concerns a jointing system and method that in some embodiments allows fiber-reinforced composite structural panels to be connected together to create building enclosures and assemblies.
In various embodiments, composite structural panels can be comprised of fiber-matrix structural composite skins bonded to opposite sides of a core material panel such that the structural skins can act as the flanges of a large panel-size beam where the core acts as a web. By separating the two flanges, the core can allow the skins to carry tension or compression according to load, and stiffness can increase as a power of 4 in various examples per the distance the fiber-reinforced skins are separated.
The fibers in the various embodiments of structural skins can be glass fiber or carbon fiber or any other suitable load-carrying fiber, and they can be woven into sheets, or stitched together as unidirectional fibers, or accumulated by any suitable system or method to provide load-carrying capacity and resilience when consolidated with a matrix material. In some examples the matrix material can have no, or substantially no voids, and can serve to hold the fibers in their spatial arrangement and transfer load between them. The matrix material may be a polymeric resin such as epoxy or PET, or any other matrix that can function to inundate the fiber matrix fully and bond to the fibers to permit combinatory structural performance.
These composite structural skins can be built up from many layers of fiber in some embodiments, and the layers can be different fibers, different weaves, different densities such that the structural performance of the skins and hence the panels can be altered according to need or desire in a specific location, or for other suitable purposes. In other words, by varying the build-up of different fibers in various examples, such fiber-reinforced skins can offer a range of different performance capabilities. Where local stiffness or structural resilience is needed or desired, in some embodiments a strip or patch of fiber reinforcement can be added locally as needed or desired to provide adequate structural capacity at that particular location per building code or other performance criteria or for other suitable purpose.
The core material in various embodiments can be light weight to impose minimal additional load on the skins, which can be desirable in some embodiments given that various buildings can benefit from considerable stiffness to resist live loading, snow loading and wind loading, or the like. But the core material density and performance can be varied to suit performance requirements in a specific location, or for other suitable purpose. In some embodiments, a layer of acoustically absorptive core material may be bonded to a fire retardant core material and/or to a thermally insulating core material, each offering technical performance that augments the base panel material as needed, desired or for various suitable purposes.
Where there is considerable compressive load acting on a fiber-reinforced skin-core-skin composite panel, in some embodiments there can be a risk of skin buckling or wrinkling due to the thin-ness and relative flexibility of the skins that can pull away from or split various examples of low-density polymeric cores such as EPS or PET. To counter this, in some embodiments a more resilient core such as end-grain balsa wood or carbon foam or any other suitable core material can be used as a sub-dermal layer that resists fiber-reinforced skin deformation.
In some examples, the described techniques may include a panelized building assembly comprising a double skeleton of planar connectors, positioned parallel to and behind the inner and outer building surfaces. The planar elements may be folded symmetrically about the bisected angle between adjacent surfaces so as to form a coherent and continuous double layer that can, in some cases, offers structural, fire, acoustical and waterproofing performance consistently between every panel. The connectors may extend into the mass of a block of material that forms a continuous edge around the perimeter of every panel, which is bonded continuously to the fiber-reinforced skin of the panel that it is the edge of, and to the core material that the inner and outer fiber reinforced skins are also continuously bonded to.
In some cases, the edges may offer structural, fire, waterproofing and acoustical performance around all panel edges, inside and outside, and may be comprised of a single liquid that has solidified, or a series of linear solid elements, with or without fiber or other structural reinforcement. The connectors may be adhesively bonded or mechanically connected with sealants or gaskets to form a coherent and consistent barrier to water, sound, fire between inner and outer building surfaces.
Between the centerline of the inner and outer structural connectors, in some cases, there may be a structural material that connects the core of adjacent panels across the joint plane to permit shear load transfer between the cores that complements the load carrying capacity of the inner and outer connectors. This material may be an elastomeric adhesive, or in some cases a panel or section of a similar material as used for the skin elements. In some high-load cases, there may be additional material connecting the inner and outer connectors so as to permit them to act as a unitary structural element rather than as flanges of a beam co-jointed by the filler between the cores.
As illustrated in diagram 100c, no two panels of the 9-panel assembly are the same, evidencing non-standard assembly. However, there is a coherent logic in the geometry of the sub-dermal connectors and the sub-dermal edge blocks that are cavitated to offer connection and protection to them. In these, the topology remains constant, with specific parameters such as angles and dimensions able to be varied. As illustrated diagram 100d another view of the same 9-panel building corner where 180-degree joints, 90 degree joints, 30-degree joints (roof), all follow the same geometric topology. Such ubiquitous jointing can allow a quasi-monocoque skin-core-skin structural logic using jointed panels, which can allow large-scale transportable building elements to be fabricated off-site to allow highly integrated manufacture of buildings. In various embodiments, structural jointing can enable an all-composite structural building envelope to offer building code compliant performance along some or every panel-to-panel connection, offering in various embodiments structural load-transfer, water tightness and weatherproofing, and thermal and acoustical performance.
As a class of materials, fiber-reinforced structural composite skin-core-skin panels can offer highly efficient use of materials in various embodiments, attaining strength-to-weight advantage over many other structural assemblies owing in some examples to load being carried in very thin fiber “skins”, which in various embodiments can be of any suitable thickness , such as within the 1 mm-2 mm range, 2 mm - 4 mm range, 1.25 mm - 1.75 mm range, or the like. By virtue of two fiber-reinforced skins being (e.g., fully) bonded to a central separating core, in some embodiments such panels can perform well structurally by having high load concentration in the fiber/matrix skins. Since the fibers can extend in two or more directions across the (e.g., full) surface of the panel in various embodiments, a high load can get distributed along those fibers in various examples, but they can still be highly stressed structural elements relative to many typical materials in some embodiments.
Since buildings can be very large and complex spatial assemblies, there can be a need to join skin-core-skin panels together structurally to benefit from composite panels’ material efficiency. But given that the two skins work together, and that composites may attain greatest elegance in material use in monocoque structures in some embodiments, there can be a need to transfer load from inner to inner and from outer to outer fiber-reinforced skins, while at the same time attaining a transfer of shear load capacity from one low-density core to its adjoining low-density core.
In various embodiments, attaining effective load transfer from fiber-reinforced skin to fiber-reinforced skin can comprise adhesively bonding a broad strip of similar fiber-reinforced composite material across the joint on inner and/or outer surfaces. This can permit load transfer from skin fiber/matrix to adhesive to tape fiber/matrix, across the joint and from tape fiber/matrix to adhesive to skin/fiber matrix. The adhesive can allow loads to “flow” from one skin to the adjacent skins via an adhesive that is bonded over a quite large area to keep loading on the adhesive quite low. Another load transfer connection in various embodiments can be to bond core to core using an elastomeric adhesive that can be trapped between the external skin-to-skin tapes, filling the void between the low density, possibly multi-material core edges (to carry shear load).
However, in some embodiments, adhesive bonding of supra-dermal tapes across joints between fiber-reinforced panels may not lend itself to application on a building site, since heat and pressure can greatly benefit such a glued tape joint in various examples, and in various examples it may be difficult for these to be applied in the field. The aesthetic impact of taped joints may be undesirable in some examples for being detrimental to architectural finesse and may require remediation by mudding of the tapes (e.g., akin to taping gypsum board joints and then applying filler), then sanding such mudded regions flat, which can create dust and can require on-site finishing, all of these being detrimental in various examples to the high-quality off-site finishing that composites can allow.
In some embodiments, supra-dermal taping of joints can be undesirable because a structural connection (e.g., the tape), and the adhesive which bonds it to the exterior of the fiber-reinforced skin of a composite structural panel, can be in closest proximity to a potential fire either with a building (e.g., in a room) or at the facade of a building. In a fire event, conduction, convection and radiation can all occur, as well as buffeting by turbulence of hot gases and flame. Even when there is a robust protective coating to mitigate conduction, convection and buffeting, in various examples, radiant heat can tend to penetrate to the fiber-reinforced skins and adhesives and given their low mass and heat capacity in various examples, they can tend to get very hot quite quickly. Since typical fiber-reinforced structural composite panels can be comprised of polymeric resins, cores and adhesives, in some examples these can be vulnerable to degradation, liquification and gasification that tends to support vigorous combustion unless oxygen can be severely limited in some examples. The vulnerability of such supra-dermal taped structural connections can therefore be an ineffective strategy for some embodiments of composite buildings, being unlikely to offer good adhesion sufficient for structural connections, nor adequate fire retardancy except by significant defense of the composite skins and joints in various examples (e.g., by covering the composite assembly by a material such as gypsum board, which can obviate the use of composites by falling-back to multi-trade assembly on a building site).
The sub-dermal jointing method detailed here can offer in various embodiments an alternative solution that can address a need for affective adhesive bonding that minimizes time and labor in site assembly, and/or to provide defense of vital structural joints against radiant heat insult in a fire event. However, the following disclosure should not be construed to be limiting on the wide variety of further embodiments that are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
Diagram 300 illustrates an example of a 180-degree panel-to-panel (or beam to beam) sub-dermal joint 302 showing (e.g., fiber-reinforced) structural skins 308, 310, 312, 314, solid sub-dermal edges 316, 318 with cavities 320, 322, structural sub-dermal joining elements 324, 326, adhesive 328, 330 in the cavities around the structural joining element 324, 326, and adhesive 332 between core edges between sub-dermal jointing elements 324, 326.
In various embodiments, this technology involves sub-dermal jointing to connect together skin-core-skin fiber reinforced panels, whether structural or non-structural. By “sub-dermal” we mean that the joining occurs on the core side of one or more fiber-reinforced skins.
Each skin of a skin-core-skin fiber-reinforced panel can be connected to the corresponding skin on the adjacent panel in various embodiments, so there can be sub-dermal joints at some or every skin edge. The fiber-reinforced skins may be comprised of many different materials such as multi-layered fibers and matrix resins, and/or each panel may have different multi-material composites, so “skin” here in various embodiments can refer to a portion of, or an entire, load-carrying entity bonded to either face of a separating core material. The edge of one or more core material can be connected to the core in an adjacent panel, and a core panel that separates the two fiber-reinforced skins may be comprised of multiple materials such as PET and CFoam or any suitable combination of materials.
The sub-dermal joints can comprise the sub-dermal skin-to-skin jointing and the core-to-core jointing, which in some embodiments work together to attain the required or desired performance for use in buildings or for other suitable purpose.
The skin-to-skin joints on various embodiments can comprise at least one or at least two of the following elements. The first can be the actual connecting element, which can link one panel to the other, extending into the volume of one or both panels and bridging between them. The second can be a material block that can sit just below the fiber-reinforced skin of one or both panels along the edges of the fiber-reinforced skin, its top face in full or at least partial contact with and bonded to the back face of the fiber-reinforced skin of the composite panels in various embodiments, and its panel face and/or bottom face in full or at least partial contact with and bonded to the core material(s) in various embodiments.
The connecting element and the sub-dermal material block can be joined together to permit structural load to be transferred from one to the other. This joining may be achieved in some examples by mechanical means such as screws or bolts or any other suitable mechanism. Or in some embodiments, this joining may be achieved by adhesive bonding of the connecting element and the material block whether a glue or elastomer or any other suitable bonding material. The joining material and method can be deemed suitable in some embodiments when they meet the functional needs or desires for the joint in that specific location according to building code or other performance criteria, or for other suitable purpose.
To enable connection-of and load-transfer-between the connecting element and the sub-dermal material block, in various embodiments the material block can have an excavated cavity of the same form as, but slightly larger than, the connecting element, (e.g., such that the connecting element may be easily inserted into the cavity).
In various embodiments, structural joining elements 504, 506 can establish a double skeleton structure (inner and outer) that runs sub-dermally under the edge of every or one or more fiber-reinforced structural skin edges of two panels 508, 510 where it is joined to a neighboring skin. In some examples, such a double skeleton not only provides structural connection, but also waterproofing, air-tightness, acoustical separation, resistance to insects, and/or prevents fire penetrating into the core of the panel, and other benefits. Where panels have a free-standing end, in various embodiments, the structural jointing element may wrap or cover the exposed end, fully or substantially closing the core in a ubiquitous manner such that there are no or substantially no gaps in the totality of the building envelope. In one example, the topology of the joint is everywhere the same, with the depth below the fiber reinforced skin, and the distance from the centerline of the joint being standardized. In one example, the cavity in the sub-dermal edges can be topologically standard and continuous, with internal corners radiused to maintain the depth of cavity from the centerline of the joint between the panels.
Another way to think of various embodiments of the sub-dermal structural joining elements would be to imagine a continuous structural strip taped externally between adjacent panel fiber-reinforced skins (like a “Band Aid” that runs everywhere across all panel joints and around all edges), but where that strip has sunk into the edges by a standard depth everywhere, so forming a sub-dermal rather than supra-dermal continuity. Such “sinking” can descend the structural strips below the fiber-reinforced skins and into the sub-dermal edges, which might be imagined as liquid when the strip sinks, but which then solidify around the strips. The advantage of sub-dermal jointing in some embodiments can be to attain fire retardancy by encasing the structural joints in a fire-retardant solid edge. Some such embodiments can allow panels to be fully or partially finished off-building-site in the workshop, since the connection of the panels in various embodiments can be hidden below the surface, not affecting the surface finish of the composite structural panels. Some such embodiments can allow a robust panel edge where the sub-dermal edge provides solid support to the fiber-reinforced skin, and can allow it to be finished precisely, for example using diamond-encrusted routing bits or endmills to cleanly sever the glass-fiber skins.
The structural joining elements of various embodiments can be linear since the panels of various examples are planar, and in one example they are planar strips where the tapered edges are co-planar (180 degrees) (as described above in reference to
One example of a connecting element and cavity can include a flat pultruded fiber-reinforced linear plate, tapered at its edges, with the cavity then a negative slot in the sub-dermal block as if the surface of the connecting element had been offset outwards (e.g., by 1-2 mm) on some or all sides, with the offset form excavated from the sub-dermal block. The connecting element in various embodiments can then be freely inserted into the larger cavity, the (e.g., 1-2 mm) space available for an adhesive material to fill, and in some examples attaining a robust bonding-together to the two elements on one or both sides of the inserted connecting element.
In one example, a bead of glue deposited into the end of the excavated cavity can flow up between the sides of the connecting element and the sides of the sub-dermal cavity. If the bead were calibrated to contain the same volume as that of the (e.g., 1-2 mm V-shaped) gap, then the glue in various examples can extend up to the full depth of the cavitated slot, with various embodiments offering a robust adhesive bond of connecting element and sub-dermal material block, and with various examples providing guaranteed surface coverage. In another example, the connecting element and the sub-dermal material block can be mechanically connected, (e.g., with a gasket trapped and squeezed into the cavity or in any suitable place to offer water- and air-tightness). Another function of such gasket in some embodiments can be load-transfer from connecting element to sub-dermal block. In another example, the joining element may be shaped to snap or friction-fit into a cavitated slot, and in various embodiments transferring load (e.g., directly) from joining element to sub-dermal block.
The skin-to-skin jointing and the core-to-core jointing can in some embodiments together establish an effective sub-dermal joint, as in various examples it can be desirable for the core to resolve shear loads while the skin-to-skin jointing elements resolve tension and compression. At a location where there is a core edge of one panel adjacent to a core edge of another panel, these faces can be joined, for example to permit load transfer from core to core.
In one example this joint is 5 mm wide, with various embodiments allowing for realistic on-site tolerance in bringing panels together accurately, the gap between the cores filled with an elastomeric adhesive can allow the cores to transfer shear load from core to core through the adhesive. In another example, the cores can effectively butt together with a minimal gap between them, but in various examples the faces can be similarly bonded with an adhesive or other suitable coupling that has similar resiliency as the core materials, so the adhesive or other coupling flexes a similar amount under load.
In various embodiments, a sub-dermal material block fills a cavity in the core material under some or all edges of the fiber-reinforced skin, (e.g., fully) bonded to some or all adjacent materials, whether the fiber-reinforced skin or the core (which may comprise multi-materials), or both. In this way, in some examples the core and sub-dermal insert become (e.g., fully) integrated in a multi-material core panel, some or all materials bonded to some or all other materials. The sub-dermal block may be inserted into the cavity in the core materials in some embodiments as a series of solid blocks of material, cut (e.g., precisely) to shape to establish adjacency with core materials on some or all faces, and in various examples bonded to the core materials and/or to other sub-dermal blocks to form a coherent sub-dermal edge to the panel.
In various embodiments the sub-dermal block may be inserted into the cavity in the core materials as a liquid or paste or semi-solid material, and in some examples cured to form a solid that (e.g., precisely) fills the shape of the cavity to establish adjacency with core materials on some or all faces, and in various examples become bonded to the core materials and/or to other sub-dermal blocks to form a coherent and robust sub-dermal edge to the panel. As used herein, a semi-solid may refer to a paste, whereby the paste may be comprised of various materials, selected for specific performance attributes, including fire retardancy, water proofing, insulation properties, adhesion to different surfaces and different materials, and so on. As also described herein, any type of material, even those different than composites may be used to construct and form the various panelized building elements described herein, including various different aspects of panels, jointing elements, and so on, to a similar effect, including various metals, rubber, different type of plastic, organic material, and so on. The adhesives or gaskets used for these various materials may be selected to accommodate attributes of these materials.
The solid sub-dermal block, or the liquid, paste or semi-solid cured block, in various embodiments can extend at least to be co-planar with the outer surface of the core panel, which may be desirable to permit the fiber-reinforced skin to be bonded to a (e.g., absolutely) flat surface. Sanding, fly-milling or plaining the core and/or the sub-dermal solid block can attain (e.g., absolute) flatness, which can be desirable in various examples for full and consistent adhesion of the fiber-reinforced skin to the core-with- solid-edge integrated block panel.
In various embodiments, it can be desirable for there to be adequate bond length between the block and the fiber-reinforced skin, and/or between the joining element and the material block, to transfer load into and across the joint. In one example this would be a 70 mm overlap between the fiber-reinforced skin and the sub-dermal block and a 50 mm overlap in the cavity between the joining element and the sub-dermal block. But these example dimensions may be varied to suit the given needs or desires of a specific project or to meet building code or other technical performance requirements, or for other suitable purpose.
In one example the width of the sub-dermal block can be uniform throughout a given project, and/or the depth of the sub-dermal block can be uniform throughout a given project, which in various examples can offer benefit in design, engineering and manufacturing in being consistent. But these dimensional parameters may be varied in various embodiments.
In various embodiments, it can be desirable for there to be adequate material in the sub-dermal block to permit a cavity to be excavated to accommodate the joining element, but in various examples still allowing enough remaining material in the block that, when bonded with the joining element, there can be enough structural capacity to transfer load into and across the joint. In one example the material block can be 20 mm deep, with the cavity 7 mm deep and 50 mm wide, the joining element then 5 mm deep and 48 mm wide with allowance for tolerance and adhesive thickness of 1 mm on some or all sides of the joining element. But these dimensions may be varied to suit the given needs or desires for a specific project or to meet building code or other technical performance requirements, or for other suitable purpose.
The sub-dermal block can in one example be cut, milled or routed along the external edge of the fiber-reinforced skin, allowing the overall panel to attain an accurate and robust exterior edge. In such an example, the sub-dermal block can be oversized relative to the final panel dimension such that there can be some tolerance for the cutting, milling or routing operation. In one example, the sub-dermal block can be oversized by 5 mm on these external faces, offering an excess of material to be trimmed-back to (e.g., exact) dimension, but in various examples also offering a solid sub-dermal support to the cutting, milling or routing operation, which can allow the fiber-reinforced skin to be cleanly severed in some examples, which can be difficult to do in some embodiments of fiber-reinforced composites. In other words, by having an oversized sub-dermal mass, in various embodiments the clean-severing of the fiber-reinforced skin can be aided, as the skin can be held firmly (e.g., to limit vibration or movement as the cutting tool impacts the material). In one example a diamond-encrusted endmill or router can be used to make this first clean cut, attaining a crisp and accurate edge to the fiber-reinforced panel.
The excavated cavity can be formed in various embodiments by any suitable method such as casting or molding, but to ensure accuracy in some examples it may be created by cutting, milling or routing in a subsequent operation from the trimming, cutting or routing of the perimeter edge of the fiber-reinforced panel. When it is cut, milled or routed in some examples the excavated cavity may be disc-cut or endmill-routed, but discs in various embodiments can clear out dust and debris out of the area being cut due to the high-speed rotation, so they offer clean, debris-free cavitation at high speed.
At internal corners of polygonal panels, such as the inner corner of an L-shaped panel, in various examples disc and endmill cavitation can tend to create a radiused inner corner as the shaft of the tool cannot get in close due to the panel edge. In various embodiments, the cavity can be the negative of the tool that formed it, and the connecting element can be fabricated to match that (e.g., exact) circular shape whether by casting or molding or by 3D-printing or other suitable method. Typical internal corner conditions of some examples can lend themselves to mass production of connecting elements, while atypical or unique internal corners in some examples can be 3D-printed or produced by any suitable systems or method to attain a particular form with space for tolerance and adhesive bonding.
The sub-dermal edge blocks may be a rectangular form with parallel faces, but if so, then in some embodiments the load concentrations at the inner corners of the edge block where it is bonded into the core materials may be high. When the fiber-reinforced skin is loaded, in various examples the sub-dermal block can have a tendency to rotate as load is applied eccentrically to just its upper face, and this may in some examples translate high load to such an internal corner. For this reason, in various embodiments the sub-dermal block may have a chamfered or rounded internal corner where it is bonded to the core materials, mitigating a high load concentration. A tapered inner edge to the sub-dermal block, getting thinner towards the fiber-reinforced skin as it moves away from the panel edge in some examples, can permit load to be distributed from skin-to-block more gradually, which in various embodiments can minimize the risk of high load concentration.
As noted, when the fiber-reinforced skin is loaded, in various embodiments the sub-dermal block can have a tendency to rotate as load is applied eccentrically to just its upper face. To mitigate this, in some examples the sub-dermal blocks may be linked across the core to the sub-dermal block on the other side of the skin-core-skin composite panel. This linkage can in various embodiments offer support at the internal corner of the sub-dermal blocks, where rotation of both blocks, one under the inner fiber-reinforced skin and one under the outer fiber-reinforced skin, can tend to balance each other out. In some embodiments it can be desirable for such block-to-block linkage to have tension and compression capability, so bonding (e.g., fully) to both blocks with a material that has adequate structural capacity. In one example the linking element can be a metal screw that attaches to both blocks to hold them in place securely under tension or compression. In another example it would be the same liquid, paste or semi-solid material used for the blocks, applied into cavities in the core that link the two blocks, establishing a coherent material mass joining inner and outer sub-dermal blocks via a connecting through-core element. In some instances of this latter case, the through-core connector can have sufficient fiber or bead reinforcement to attain tension and compression structural capacity, adequate to building code or other functional requirements or desires for the specific building and location or for other suitable purpose.
In various embodiments, it can be desirable for one or more connecting elements between inner and outer sub-dermal blocks to be (e.g., fully) bonded to the core materials whether mechanically, for instance by continuous screw thread, or by adhesive bonding, or by direct bonding of a liquid, paste or semi-solid curing (e.g., to form a cohesive multi-material mass with the core).
The sub-dermal block-to-block connection 716 may be of any suitable shape or size or direction or distribution according to the specific structural need or desire for that location or for other suitable purposes. In one example, the connection 716 may comprise one or more circular columns (e.g., every few inches) perpendicular to the fiber-reinforced skins 720, 722. In another example, it may comprise a thin fin of material several inches long, (e.g., occurring every couple of feet), perpendicular to the fiber-reinforced skins 720, 722. In another example the connecting element can be a continuous fin, but in some such cases the core can be severed, so may require bonding-back into the core panel in various embodiments. In another example, such columns or fins may be at a diagonal angle of 45 degrees or other suitable angle, as might suit reinforcement in a 90-degree corner where the sub-dermal blocks can be displaced by 45 degrees on the inner and outer fiber-reinforced skins. In another example, the connectors between blocks can comprise fins oriented perpendicular to the panel edge (e.g., being ½″ wide and spaced every 6″). In various such examples, the dimensions and/or spacing of the connecting elements may be varied in various suitable ways to attain adequate structural performance suitable for a specific location or building to meet building code or other functional requirements, or for other suitable purpose.
In very high load conditions for example, it may be desirable for a fiber-reinforced braid or other suitable continuous fiber sleeve or sheet to be inserted into the block-to-block connection 716, but in some examples in a manner that can ensure continuity of fiber into the two blocks. In one example, a (e.g., slightly oversized) tubular fiber-reinforced braid can be inserted into a milled circular cavity in the core material, and the ends of the braid can be flared to attain fiber in the base of each sub-dermal cavity; and in various examples, the two cavities and the milled hole can be filled with liquid, paste or semi-solid in a suitable manner (e.g., that inundates around the fibers of the braid in both cavities and/or in the linking column). In another example, one or more sheets of (e.g., slightly overlong) woven fiber sheet can be inserted into a milled linear slot in the core and the fibers folded over into the cavities, and in some examples before inundating both cavities and the connecting slot in a manner that (e.g., fully) infiltrates the fiber reinforcement. The goal of some embodiments can be to attain a high degree of structural capacity that stabilizes the sub-dermal blocks relative to the core materials and the fiber-reinforced skins.
The inner and outer sub-dermal blocks may be linked by a connecting element 716 on one or more non-connected edges of the panel. This can occur in some examples whenever or at least in some instances where a wall ends without connection to another panel, for example in order to close off the vulnerable core material with a solid mass that offers adequate resiliency, fire retardancy, weather-proofing and/or other needs to meet building codes or other functional requirements or for other suitable purpose. In some embodiments where the panel links to an adjacent panel, such connection(s) can follow the examples of the inner block-to-block connectors, being for example circular columns or thin fins with any suitable size or shape or spacing as needed or desired to further consolidate the sub-dermal blocks or for other suitable purpose. In some embodiments, such elements may only be required or necessary or desirable in very high-load situations.
In various embodiments, it can be desirable for material used for the sub-dermal blocks to be able to bond to the fiber-reinforced skin and/or the core materials, for example adhesively if the blocks are solid, or by adhesion of the liquid, paste or semi-solid material as it cures. Since some fiber-reinforced composites can be comprised of hydrocarbon-derived polymeric resins, polymeric adhesives and/or polymeric foams, and in various examples use of a hydrocarbon-derived material for the sub-dermal blocks can help compatibility with the adjoining materials, which can be desirable in some embodiments. One example would be to use an epoxy resin that readily allows for fire retardant additives or structural reinforcement or any other suitable modifiers to allow it to meet building code or any other functional requirements or for other suitable purpose. Since the sub-dermal blocks, which may be trimmed in various examples to give a precise edge to the panel, can then be exposed to the exterior, in various embodiments issues of weather-proofing, resilience against wear and tear, insect resistance, UV resistance, fire retardancy, and other needs or desires can make it desirable for just such a versatile and adaptable material as epoxy, although it could be any suitable material in further embodiments.
In one example where the sub-dermal block is a liquid, paste or semi-solid, it may be deployed into cavities in the core material by a mechanical pump via a nozzle, and in various examples with the core acting as a dam for the material to flow up against and solidify as it cures. Deployment of a liquid, paste or semi-solid material can allow that additive and the chemical composition be added differently in different locations, and in some embodiments allowing that its fire retardancy, or structural performance, or resiliency can be altered, in one example offering gradation of properties. In various embodiments, it can be desirable for such a change of properties to meet building codes or other performance criteria according to the functional need or desire in that specific location, or for other suitable purpose.
In various embodiments a connection between adjacent fiber-reinforced panels can be created by several connecting-elements. Linear connecting-elements can join panel edges along their length in some embodiments, but at corners in some embodiments there may be corner connecting-elements. In one example, the linear connecting-elements may be cut at the bisected angle to be coupled (e.g., adhesively butt-jointed) to the next linear joining element cut to the same angle, (e.g., as in a picture frame). In another example, there can be independent corner connecting-elements used to join panels at their corners, whether for internal or external panel corners. This latter example in some embodiments can benefit from avoiding adhesive joints at bisected corners, which in some examples can be tricky to get accurate and fully bonded, and instead displaces the joint away from the corner, allowing that it be a simple orthogonal butt-joint between the linear connecting-element and the corner connecting-element.
In various embodiments, connecting-elements, whether linear or corner, can be adhesively bonded together. Where connecting elements need to be jointed along their length, then in some examples they can be adhesively bonded between clean orthogonal cut ends of same-section profiles to form an effective single continuous element. This can be desirable in some embodiments to avoid water or air penetration, and insect ingress, or the like. In some embodiments where corner elements are bonded to linear ones, the joints can be orthogonal clean cuts some distance from the corner. In various examples this can be easier and less prone to leakage than bisected corner joints.
In various embodiments, connecting-elements, as many as may be necessary or desired, can be (e.g., adhesively) bonded to form a continuous joining element that surrounds some or every panel on one or both inner and outer faces, providing in some examples a desirable barrier to air, water, weather, insects and/or fire ingress, or the like. In various embodiments, a double barrier can offer excellent building envelope performance, and in some examples especially when the connecting-elements are adhesively bonded to the sub-dermal blocks, as this in some instances can form a continuous and coherent composite materiality that effectively has no (or substantially no) gaps or joints. In various embodiments, inner and outer connecting-elements can be attached to the sub-dermal blocks of both the two adjacent panels by overlapping the connecting-element and the sub-dermal blocks within the excavated cavities in each block.
Simple corners such as 90-degree orthogonal junctions can occur in many places given that most rooms and buildings are orthogonal, so in various embodiments such corners may be formed via mass-production methods such as resin transfer molding (RTM), or the like. The form of these can be to extend exactly or substantially the same cross section as some or all the individual connecting-elements that run into the corner but fused into one un-jointed corner element.
Less typical or unique corner connecting-elements, for instance those with non-orthogonal angles, or where two corners occur directly adjacent to each other, may be less appropriate to be mass produced in some embodiments. So atypical corners can be produced by method such as 3D printing in some examples, (e.g., as if the linear connecting-elements had been extended into the corner and fused together).
Corner connecting-elements of various examples do not carry high structural load, so they can have less stringent need to have engineered fiber laminates as linear connecting-elements may in some embodiments. For this reason, fiber-reinforced 3D prints, whether with continuous-fiber 3D prints or short-strand reinforced 3D prints can both prove adequate to such occasional atypical corner connecting-elements in accordance with various embodiments.
In various embodiments, it can be desirable for linear connecting-elements to be of sufficient structural capacity as to carry the skin-to-skin loads per building codes or other performance criteria or for other suitable purpose. In one example, the connecting-elements can be metal, such as aluminum, but in some examples, metals can suffer different thermal expansion than composites, so can tend to separate over time from the composite sub-dermal blocks in some examples unless the adhesives are slightly elastomeric. In another example, the connecting-elements can comprise fiber-reinforced pultrusion’s, and these can benefit from similar thermal expansion as the other fiber-reinforced elements in some examples, but in various instances also offering different structural properties according to the lay-up for the fibers. However, any suitable material that allows sufficient structural capacity within a given size and shape of connecting-element may be used in various embodiments, so long as it can be adequately attached to the cavity of the sub-dermal blocks to attain building code compliance or meets any other technical performance criteria or for other suitable purpose.
In some cases, a connecting element, such as element 1002, may form a building assembly or kit with at least two panels to be joined. Int his example a panelized building assembly, may include a linear joining element that includes a first L-shaped channel substantially parallel to and spaced a first width apart from a second L-shaped channel, and a bridging element connecting the first L-shaped channel to the second L-shaped channel. A first portion of the first L-shaped channel, a first portion of the second L-shaped channel, and the bridging element may define a planar flange. The L-shaped channels may also, in some cases referred to as flanged sections (both referencing structures such as or similar to 1016, 1018, and 1020).
The building assembly may also include a first composite planar panel that includes a core material sandwiched between two first skin elements and a first edge, with the first edge defining a first slot and a second slot within at least one first portion of reinforced material coupled to at least one of the first skin elements and between the first skin elements. The first slot and the second slot may be spaced the first width apart to accommodate receiving a second portion of the first L-shaped channel and a second portion of the second L-shaped channel. The building assembly may also include a second composite planar panel including a second core material sandwiched between two second skin elements, where a fist skin element of the two second skin elements at least partially defines a recess for receiving the planar flange of the linear joining element to secure and orient the first composite planar panel at an angle to the first skin element of the second composite planar panel.
In some cases, the bridging element may include a third L-shaped structure that in part defines the planar flange. In various examples, at least part of the first portion of the first L-shaped channel, the second portion of the first L-shaped channel, the first portion of the second L-shaped channel, the second portion of the second L-shaped channel, or the third L-shaped structure is rounded or angled at least one corner to transfer load more evenly across the first composite planar panel and the second composite planar panel, when joined via the joining element. In some cases, the recess in the second panel may include a T-shaped recess. In other cases, other shapes and topologies may be used to a similar effect to secure the joining element to a skin of a panel. In some instances, the second composite planar panel further includes a portion of reinforced material proximate to the recess, such as below the recess relative to the skin material, to reinforce the connection point between the panel and the joining element. In some cases, the recess spans substantially the length of the second composite planar panel. In some cases, at least one of the first portion of the first L-shaped channel, the second portion of the first L-shaped channel, the first portion of the second L-shaped channel, the second portion of the second L-shaped channel, or the third L-shaped structure is tapered.
In some examples, the building assembly may also include another panel that may be connected to one of the panels described above using a sub-dermal join and joining element, as described throughout this disclosure.
In various embodiments, such as described above in reference to
The shape of the connecting-elements in various embodiments can be that of a tapered plane, thicker in the middle where it carries all the load between the panels and diminishing in thickness as it overlaps more and more with the excavated cavity of the sub-dermal block that itself overlaps with the fiber-reinforced skin. In one example, the connecting element tapers towards the closest fiber reinforced skin (e.g., so that it transfers load into the sub-dermal block and into the fiber-reinforced skin in a differential and directed manner). In such an example, if the tapered connecting element comprises a fiber-reinforced pultrusion, then in various examples, the laminates can be progressively smaller (e.g., to attain the profile needed and have load-carrying capacity that is largest at its center and less at its extremities). In some embodiments this can minimize a load-concentration at the edges where the connectors end at the end of the excavated cavity, and in various examples this can mitigate a tendency for the sub-dermal blocks and the core to split at these locations, which they may otherwise be more prone to do in some examples. In one example, the connectors can be simple rectangular elements with non-tapered sides, as this can be suitable in some embodiments for low-load scenarios which may be typical in some small buildings such as single-family houses.
In various embodiments, the linear connecting-element and the corresponding corner connecting-elements can have different profiles to suit a given location and function, for instance in having a top-hat section where the brims of the hat extend into the cavities in the sub-dermal block and the top hat profile fills the exterior joint between trimmed sub-dermal block edges. The connecting-elements can in some embodiments be attached securely to both of their sub-dermal blocks such that they perform some or all necessary or desired building functions: for example, structural, water, air and weather-proofing, fire-retardancy, insect-resistance, UV resistance, wear and tear, and any other necessary or desired functions.
In one example, the attachment can be mechanical, such as a bolt, or screw linking through the joining element from one side of the sub-dermal cavity to the other, with some examples including gaskets or sealants attaining a necessary, desired or suitable water and/or air-tightness needed, desired or suitable in a contemporary building. In another example, the attachment can be by adhesive bonding, for example where the adhesive fills the gap in the excavated cavity around the connecting element. In some such examples, a bead of adhesive or prescribed volume may be introduced into the bottom of the excavated cavity in the sub-dermal block such that as the connecting element is pressed into it, so the bead can be displaced to fill the gap fully between the connecting element and the sub-dermal block.
Between the inner and the outer connecting elements in various embodiments there can be a gap left between the edge faces of the core panels, where the core panels may comprise of more than one material in some examples. This gap, from the core-side face of the inner to the core-side face of the outer connector, can in some embodiments be connected such that the adjacent cores can act in concert to carry shear and other forces. The connection can be mechanical, such as bolts or screws or any other suitable system or method (e.g., that effectively transfers load as in a shear-plate connection). In some embodiments it can (e.g., also or alternatively) be adhesively bonded by filling the gap with a (e.g., elastomeric) material that performs in similar manner to the core material itself, which in some embodiments can be slightly elastic in their low-density polymeric material properties, as for example in foamed materials such as EPS or PET, or the like. By being elastomeric in some embodiments, the adhesive may not break or tear the core material under load, which might occur in some embodiments if the adhesive is inflexible.
An adhesive core-to-core bond in various embodiments can transfer loads best by the gap between cores being fully filled, and in some examples (e.g., also) by bonding to the back faces of the two connecting-elements. In one example, such a core-to-core adhesive can comprise a peel-off adhesive tape that can be bonded to one core face with the second peel-off layer then removed as the second panel is pressed in place onto the adhesive strip. Another example can minimize adhesive volume by deploying it in a crisscross or other suitable pattern with trapped voids, or any other suitable pattern that attains necessary or desired load transfer per building code or other performance criteria, or for other suitable purpose.
The elastomeric adhesive can be well protected in the interior of the panel in various embodiments, for example shielded from radiant heat by the sub-dermal edge blocks and/or the connecting elements, but in some embodiments, it may still need to attain adequate fire performance such that it doesn’t liquify or gasify under radiant heat load, as this may compromise the structural integrity of the panel-to-panel assembly. In various embodiments, any suitable elastomeric adhesive can be used. In some embodiments, it can be desirable for adhesives and/or resins to be non-toxic and/or suitable for building use per building codes and other relevant technical criteria or for other suitable purposes. This can be important in some examples to avoid off-gassing and/or unpleasant odors in the building.
In some cases, various embodiments of the sub-dermal jointing for composite panel buildings can be described as follows. In various embodiments, a desirable performative aspect of a fiber-reinforced structural composite panelized building can be the joints between the panels, because in some examples the panels themselves can be engineered to meet thermal, structural, weatherproofing, fire retardancy and any other functional requirements mandated by building codes or other technical performance criteria or for other suitable purposes. The joints between such large code-compliant composite building elements can be where there is a gap between adjacent panels, that gap being vulnerable in various examples to some or all these same functional requirements, and in some examples where air and water leaks occur, where thermal bridging occurs, where fire takes hold most effectively, and where structural performance may be most vulnerable to compromised load-carrying capacity. This can in some embodiments be true in a class of materials where load can be carried in pairings of thin fiber-reinforced skins that may generally favor seamless continuity of fiber-reinforcement to perform as a monocoque structure.
The vulnerability of joints can in some embodiments be countered by establishing a ubiquitous double-layer of continuous connecting-elements, one extending sub-dermally beneath the outer fiber-reinforced panel skin, the other extending sub-dermally beneath the inner fiber-reinforced skin. These can run along some or every panel-to-panel edge, establishing a ubiquitous double skeleton in some examples, with elastomeric adhesive linking the mid-point of the inner connecting-elements and the outer connecting-elements: so, in various embodiments, two solid structural elements and one elastomeric connector filling in-between some or every panel-to-panel gap.
The structural connecting-elements may be jointless along some or all linear edges except in some examples at corners where two or more edges meet (e.g., where they are either adhesively butt-jointed to the next linear connecting-element or adhesively butt-jointed to a small corner connecting-element). The result in various embodiments can be a polygonal skeleton around some or every panel that forms for example a continuous, impermeable double-layer of structural connecting-elements. Conceptually, in various examples this skeleton describes the volume of the building, with the composite structural panels then infilling between the vital joints.
The connecting-elements that can comprise the skeleton of joints are structural connectors allowing load-transfer from skin-to-skin in adjacent panels. They can be structurally attached to the panels in some examples by being inserted into cavities in sub-dermal blocks at some or every panel edge. The sub-dermal blocks that run along some or every panel edge can be bonded to the fiber-reinforced structural skins of the composite panels on some or the totality of the faces that abut the skins and can be continuously bonded to some or all surfaces of the core materials on their inner faces in accordance with various embodiments.
Such a continuous skeleton of connecting-elements, having very few adhesively-sealed butt-joints in various embodiments, attain air- and water-impermeability, and can also defend the gap(s) between panels from fire and insects, or the like. The majority or at least a portion of their surface can be embedded in cavities in the sub-dermal blocks that can run around some or all panel edges, with only a narrow mid-section exposed to the external environment or the internal space in various embodiments. So, in some examples, there can be only a narrow strip of the connecting element that provides a defense against external threat, minimizing risk of it being compromised in some examples. In a fire event, in some embodiments the fiber-reinforced skins and/or the sub-dermal blocks can defend the connecting elements, and in various example allowing greater retardancy to degradation of the connecting-elements than the rest of the panelized building envelope. In other words, in various embodiments the structural skeleton, establishing quasi-monocoque structural performance, can be the best protected aspect of the building, as it should be in various embodiments: for example, the structural joints can be designed to be the last thing to fail in a fire.
The connecting-elements, being slightly closer together than the fiber-reinforced skins of the composite structural panels in some embodiments, may be stronger to attain the same stiffness as the panel skins in various example, as the separation between them may be less. For this or other suitable reason, the connecting-elements can have better structural capability than the fiber-reinforced skins. In one example, more fiber or a higher modulus fiber can be sued for the connecting elements if they are composite, such as pultrusions in some examples. This can mean that in various embodiments they will survive longer in a fire event than the panels themselves, so fulfilling the need or a desire for the base structural connectors to maintain integrity longer than the infill panels, avoiding in various examples catastrophic collapse by joint failure. The net result of establishing a ubiquitous jointing logic in various embodiments can be that anywhere in a building, or at least in some portion in a building, some or all the joints can attain the same or similar performance, defending against water, air, fire, insect penetration, and the like and attaining a robust and resilient structural connectivity between two or more adjacent panels.
By linking skin-to-skin structurally via sub-dermal structural connecting-elements, in various embodiments the entire assembly or a portion of the assembly can become quasi-monocoque, allowing a plurality of discrete panels to be brought together to offer a coherent structural capability. The fiber-reinforced thin-skins of the composite panels of various embodiments can become the primary load-carrying elements, and in some examples with load transferred via the sub-dermal blocks at the panel edges to connecting-elements that link to one or more adjacent skin(s). The load path of some embodiments diverts only slightly from fiber-reinforced skin into sub-dermal structural connecting-element and back out to the adjacent fiber-reinforced skins, allowing in various examples the assembly to perform as the primary structure of the building.
Beams and columns in some embodiments may be joined to such a monocoque panelized assembly to offer local structural capacity, but in various examples the panel-to-panel sub-dermal jointing can allow for thin-skin composite structural panels to perform structurally per building codes or other performance criteria or for other suitable purpose.
In various embodiments, defining a ubiquitous geometry for the sub-dermal jointing can offer an effective way to establish a base logic in what can be a highly versatile building technology that in some examples permits any suitable arrangement of any suitable polygonal planer composite panels of any suitable plurality to be co-joined to form (e.g., code-compliant) building assemblies. It should be clear that the geometry of the sub-dermal jointing can vary around a building according to engineering or aesthetic needs or for other suitable purposes. However, in one example, the geometric logic is maintained throughout the entire building, or a substantial portion of the building, as a controlling logic as this can offer a simplicity and standardization of design manufacture that can aid speed and/or economy of the building.
In the example where a consistent geometric logic is established, the base parameters can be as follows in various embodiments.
As illustrated in diagram 1600a, for a skin-core-skin composite panel where the fiber-reinforced skins are parallel, a Base Polygonal Volume (BPV) can be established in some examples that fills between the inner faces of the two structural skins, this volume can be extended in various embodiments to the point at which it intersects with a similar polygonal volume from one or more adjacent panels. As illustrated beams 1692 and 1604 may respectively have BPV1 1606 which abuts BPV2 1608 (and so on). The plane of intersection of adjacent BPVs, the Joint Bisector Plane (JBP) 1610, can be defined where the volumes intersect, which can be the bisector of the angle between the BPVs 1606, 1608, the plane extending from the inside of inner skin to one skin to the inside of the other skin. This plane can be the centerline of an eventual joint between panels.
As illustrated in diagram 1600b, Planes PE (Panel Edge), such as PE1 1612 and PE2 1614, can be offset on both sides of the JBD 1610 by a distance ½J where J 1616 can be the full Joint Width. Where the BPV intersects the PE planes can be what defines the faces of the core of the panels at the joint. In one example, the joint width J 1616 can be 10 mm, so each PE 1612, 1614 is 5 mm offset each side of JBP 1610. In some cases, the Outer Edge OE of the polygonal panels can be the line formed by the intersection of the BPV and PE, which can be in some examples a continuous polygonal line describing the outer edge of the panels, such as illustrated as OE1 1618, OE2 1620.
As illustrated in diagram 1600c, the outer edge OE, 1618, 1620, can be offset a distance E 1622, 1624 on the planar surface of the BPV away from the JBP 1610. This can define a polygonal line Inner Edge (IE) 1626, 1628 that can be the width of the sub-dermal Edge Block that can be formed under the inner face of the fiber-reinforced skin. Because the panel can be polygonal in various examples, this offset IE 1626, 1628 can be a polygonal line offset equally from some or all OEs 1618, 1620. In one example E is 70 mm. In some cases, the surface between OE and IE can be the outer face of sub-dermal block. A plane can be extended from the IE 1626, 1628 into the depth of the BPV at 45 degrees towards the JBP, defining the tapered inner face of the sub-dermal block.
As illustrated in diagram 1600d, a plane offset inwards from the outer skin faces of the BPV can be offset a distance D 1630 that can be the depth of the sub-dermal edge. This plane D 1632, 1634 can be cut by the 45-degree plane from the IE and by the PE planes, this polygonal band forming the inner face of the sub-dermal block. In one example D = 25 mm.
As illustrated in diagram 1600e, a plane C 1636 can be offset from the skin surfaces of the BPV towards the center of the BPV by a distance C (Cavity). Where this plane intersects the JBP a line C can be created. In one example, C = 12.5 mm, this being at the mid-point of D = 25 mm. The polygonal line CC 1636, 1638 can be offset on both sides from the JBP on the plane C, establishing the depth of a cavity in the sub-dermal block on the centerline of the cavity. In one example, the offset distance from C to CC (the Cavity Depth) can be 50 mm. In various embodiments, CC should not cross the 45-degree plane from IE, as this would mean the cavity is deeper than the sub-dermal block that encases it. The cavity width CW can be tapered in various embodiments and can be defined by a tool such as a disc that excavates it from the sub-dermal block to the depth CC.
The outermost edge of the face of the sub-dermal block that lies on the PE can define a plane perpendicular to the skin face of the BPV. This plane can be offset outwards by a distance T (Tolerance) outward from the panel, establishing in various embodiments a polygonal line outside the OE that provides a tolerance T of extra material for the sub-dermal block to allow for, in some embodiments, manufacturing tolerances such as mis-placement on the cutting table.
In various embodiments, such a geometric logic can apply to some or all jointed edges of some or all fiber-reinforced panels. In one example, the offset planes and lines can have consistent dimensions throughout a given project or portion thereof, which can have great practical advantage in offering a standardization in a non-standard panelized building system or for other suitable purposes. In other words, the joint parameters can be consistent, but the panel geometry can allow for variation of panel geometry and building form.
In various embodiments, these same geometric rules may apply no matter what the angle is between panels and no matter what polygonal shape the panels may have (or at least within various suitable ranges or types of panels). Returning to
As illustrated in views 1900a-1900g, this floor panel shows a large structural element (e.g., 40 ft × 8 ft × 10″) that can rely on cavitated sub-dermal infill of functional materials just as needed or desired locally to fulfill functional requirements in that specific location according to building codes or other technical criteria or for other suitable purpose. Attaining variable-form, poly-functional building elements, with jointing integrated into the edges regardless of geometry, can offer great benefit in some embodiment in offering a simple, rapid, low-labor methods for assembling high quality and high-performance buildings.
View 2300e illustrates the core material 2302 with upper and lower skins 2314, 2316 attached. Next, in view 2300f, the skins 2314, 2316 and core 2302 may be trimmed to form an edge 2318 of the panel. In view 2300g, the resulting edge 2318 may be notched 2320, 2322 on the ends, in some cases, and slots 2324, 2326 cut into the filled portions, as illustrated in view 2300h.
Diagram 2400a illustrates balsa or other strips and sections 2404,2406 being added to a core 2402, which in some examples, may also be made of balsa wood. Diagram 2400b illustrates the core 2402 and strips 2404 from a side view, where the recesses 2406 are filled with a type of reinforcing material 2608, such as syntactic beads, to flatten an upward facing surface of the panel structure, to accept a skin element 2410. Diagram 2400c illustrates a finishing layer 2412 placed on top of the skin element 2410, and a vacuum bag 2414 placed over that, to enable a series of cuts to be made from above the core 2402.
Diagram 2400d and 2400e illustrate the sub-dermal cavity after infusion where resin 2416 inundates the fiber-reinforced skin 2410 as well as the voids in the filler material of glass or carbon beads or other suitable filler. Diagram 2400e illustrates an additional finishing paint (e.g., intumescent paint) 2422 applied to the outside of resin layer 2416, with biscuit 2418 inserted into slit formed in the resin or reinforced material 2608, with an adhesive 2420 applied in the middle of the j oint between the cores of the two panels. The fiber-reinforced composite skin and the sub-dermal filler in the cavity are inundated by a matrix (such as a polymer resin or other suitable matrix) to form a coherent integrated composite structural material. Infusion offers speed of fabrication as resin flows through all structural fiber-reinforced skins and bead-reinforced edges rapidly under vacuum, balancing both sides of the panel to minimize differential shrinkage and warping, and attaining a robust and well-integrated edge-skin continuous edge, minimizing risk of damage and delamination. Diagram 2400f shows a perspective milling step for forming the slots in the reinforced material.
In various embodiments, a process for creating a building panel may include some or all of the above steps. In some cases, one or more of the above stages may be omitted to produce the panel. In some cases, there may be one or more additional steps, for example according to the complexity of a given panel, and the degree of supplemental finishing or detail that a given building might require or for other suitable purpose.
In some examples, process 2600 may begin at operation 2602, in which a sheet of core material may be prepared for fabrication of one or more building panels. Operation 2602 may include cutting the sheet to a size usable by a milling or other machinery. Next, at operation 2604, one or more areas or channels may be excavated from the upper face of the core material, where the excavated sections define boundaries of the one or more panels. In some cases, portions of the core material may be excavated for other purposes, such as to add one or more different materials to the core material, to provide different attributes (e.g., insulating properties, fire retardant properties, acoustical properties, and the like).
Next, at operation 2606, one or more of the recesses may be filled with a reinforced material, such as any of a variety of types of fiber reinforced material. In some cases, the material used to fill the recesses may be in liquid form; yet in other cases, the material used may take a semi-solid or solid form. Next, in some optional cases, the surface of the core may be sanded, milled, or otherwise processed to form a flat planar surface, for attachment of skin elements to the core material, at operation 2608. In various cases, one or more of operations 2604-2608 may be repeated for the other side of the core material, at operation 2610. In some cases, processes may only need to be performed on one side of the core material, such as where only one slot is formed in the sub-dermal edge of a given panel, for use with a single planar joining element. In cases where two planar joining elements are used for a given edge of at least one of the panels to be extracted from the sheet of core material, then at least operation 2604 and 2606 may be performed for the other side of the core material sheet.
The skin elements (e.g., sheets of some type of fiber reinforced material), may then be attached to both sides of the core material, at operation 2612. Edges may then be cut or milled (e.g., in one or multiple stages to cleanly cut skin and core materials, for example), to form one or more individual building panels from the larger sheet, at operation 2614. In some optional cases, other details may be excavated from one or both planar surfaces (or any of the edges) of the resulting one or more panels, at operation 2616. In some optional cases, one or more finishes, such as paint or coating material, thin veneer skin, such as wood or composite, may then be applied to one or both of the planar sides of the one or more panels (and/or edges) at operation 2618. Finally, one or more sub-dermal edges (e.g., slots or cavities as described above), may then be excavated, milled, or otherwise formed in one or more edges of the resulting panel(s).
In various embodiments, step-by-step fabrication logic allows for automated or quasi-automated production (e.g., in some cases supplemented by-hand production) down an assembly line where dedicated equipment at each stage completes a set of given tasks that build towards a highly integrated planar composite panel. In some embodiments, such equipment is digitally controlled, and the panels can be entirely non-standard, allowing any suitable dimension, thickness and shape, and allowing any suitable joint typology. This in various embodiments can offer versatility of building form, with the specific geometries fed into the manufacturing protocol.
Embodiments of the present disclosure can be described in view of the following clauses:
1. A panelized building assembly, the assembly comprising:
2. The panelized building assembly of clause 1, wherein the bridging element comprises a third L-shaped structure that in part defines the planar flange.
3. The panelized building assembly of clause 2, wherein at least part of the first portion of the first L-shaped channel, the second portion of the first L-shaped channel, the first portion of the second L-shaped channel, the second portion of the second L-shaped channel, or the third L-shaped structure is rounded or angled at at least one corner to transfer load more evenly across the first composite planar panel and the second composite planar panel.
4. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-3, wherein the recess comprises a T-shaped recess.
5. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the second composite planar panel further comprises a portion of reinforced material proximate to the recess.
6. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the recess spans substantially the length of the second composite planar panel.
7. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-6, wherein at least one of the first portion of the first L-shaped channel, the second portion of the first L-shaped channel, the first portion of the second L-shaped channel, the second portion of the second L-shaped channel, or the third L-shaped structure is tapered.
8. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-7, wherein the first portion of reinforced material of the first composite planar panel comprises two distinct portions of reinforced material each bonded to one of the first skin elements, each defining one of the first slot and the second slot.
9. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-8, wherein the linear joining element comprises a fiber-reinforced material.
10. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-9, wherein the core material of the first composite planar panel is completely enclosed by reinforced material.
11. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-10, wherein upon securing the linear joining element to the recess of the second composite planar panel, a substantially waterproof and fire retardant joint between linear joining element to the recess of the second composite planar panel is formed.
12. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 1-11, wherein the second composite planar panel comprises a second edge defining a third slot and a fourth slot within at least one second portion of reinforced material coupled to at least one of the second skin elements and between the second skin elements; and wherein the panelized building assembly further comprises:
13. The panelized building assembly of clause 12, wherein upon joining the second composite planar panel and the third composite planar panel using the sub-dermal joining element, the resulting interface forms a substantially waterproof and fire-retardant joint.
14. A panelized building assembly, the assembly comprising:
15. The panelized building assembly of clause 14, wherein at least part of the first flanged section, the second flanged section, the bridging element, or the planar flange comprises at least one rounded or angled corner to transfer load more evenly across the first composite planar panel and the second composite planar panel.
16. The panelized building assembly of clause 15, wherein the recess comprises a T-shaped recess.
17. The panelized building assembly of clause 15 or 16, wherein the T-shaped recess is formed from a portion of reinforced material bonded to at least one of the first skin elements of the second composite planar panel.
18. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 14-17, wherein at least one of the at least part of the first flanged section, the second flanged section, the bridging element, or the planar flange is tapered.
19. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 14-18, wherein the first portion of reinforced material of the first composite planar panel comprises two distinct portions of reinforced material each bonded to one of the first skin elements, each defining one of the first slot and the second slot.
20. The panelized building assembly of any of clauses 14-19, wherein the first panel comprises a floor panel, and the second panel comprises a wall panel.
The described embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, and specific examples thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the described embodiments are not to be limited to the particular forms or methods disclosed, but to the contrary, the present disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives. Additionally, elements of a given embodiment should not be construed to be applicable to only that example embodiment and therefore elements of one example embodiment can be applicable to other embodiments. Additionally, in some embodiments, elements that are specifically shown in some embodiments can be explicitly absent from further embodiments. Accordingly, the recitation of an element being present in one example should be construed to support some embodiments where such an element is explicitly absent.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/289,029, filed Dec. 13, 2021, entitled “COMPOSITE PANELIZED BUILDING SYSTEM AND METHOD,” U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/289,036, filed Dec. 13, 2021, entitled “INTEGRATED COMPONENTS AND SERVICES IN COMPOSITE PANELIZED BUILDING SYSTEM AND METHOD,” and U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/289,052, filed Dec. 13, 2021, entitled “SUB-DERMAL JOINTING FOR COMPOSITE PANELIZED BUILDING SYSTEM AND METHOD,” which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63289052 | Dec 2021 | US | |
| 63289029 | Dec 2021 | US | |
| 63289036 | Dec 2021 | US |
