Material flows of the fossil fuel industry, from exploration and extraction to distribution and combustion, are massive on a global scale. In 2019, the world produced approximately 80 million barrels of crude oil per day, with most being used as a feedstock for combustible fuels.
When we say composites, the reference is Fiber-Reinforced-Polymer composites, FRP. The most common glues or the polymer matrix of FRP is polyester or epoxy-based resins with variations that boggle the mind.
This issue of SKINS will attempt to introduce you to composite materials in an accurate, useful and fairly in-depth way. But it’s only an introduction; it’s a start but by no means a rigorous exploration of the full potential of this remarkable material technology.
The advantages and challenges for FRP in architectural applications as discussed in our 2015 paper are still very much true today. As the advantages of FRP are discussed comprehensively elsewhere in this issue of SKINS, I will focus my comments on FRP fire behavior.
In the last few years, the design community has embraced the challenge of reducing embodied carbon in buildings. Several tools are now available for …
When it comes to the subject of building enclosure in Australia, one topic has eclipsed all others in recent years: combustible cladding. It has even…
In 2014, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) as an accredited ANSI Standards D…
Cost-effective, sustainable, self-actuating, thermally-responsive, bio-composite exo-skins that act like shields or cloaks for existing buildings cou…
Architectural design freedom achieved on high-end projects currently costs over $1,000/sq. Ft. Building materials have long been relegated to plane s…
The design of complex, high-performance facades involves balancing attention towards principles of material selection, thermal and moisture protectio…
Navigating the building code, while challenging in any respect, can be even trickier when considering the use of emerging materials on building facad…
An innovative lightweight ceramic precast composite panel is introduced in this paper that offers the unique benefits of prefabricated off-site const…
Aging modern heritage buildings and structures face complex repair and reinvestment challenges. Manufactured composite materials and multi-material assemblies often cannot be cost-effectively repaired or replaced in kind.
The Technoform Group, established in 1970 in Kassel, Germany, is a global leader in system design and extrusion of specialized thermoplastic composite materials and systems.
The tragic fire of June 14, 2017 at the Grenfell Tower in London, England has brought to a very public global forum issues related to the impact of f…
There is a desire in architecture to design and achieve transparent canopies and glazed rooves that are free from the visual clutter and the structur…
Today, building facades are expected to do much more than merely provide shelter, which is driving the need for higher performing envelope solutions.…
In the last twenty years we have seen the development of polymer interlayers for laminated glass where the resin compositions have been optimized for…