compressed earth block press [cinva-ram]
Elliot Hallmark
Danny Miller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_(CEB_press)
Huh... so they compress just soil into blocks, then? Would that work with Austin's soil?
There's a hydraulic bearing press in the Space. You might experiment with pressing these blocks that way. Particularly for investigating whether our soil can be used, although technical research may be more insightful.
Danny
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EBo
Austin. Hurmph!
A couple of points of interest that might help building and operating a
block press. It looks like both the walls of the mold and the internal
pins are strictly vertical. If you put a slight taper on them (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_%28engineering%29 and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting_%28metalworking%29 for
inspiration) then as soon as it breaks free from the surface it will not
drag. This will make it easier to operate the machine and will
considerably decrease the abrasive ware. A taper only needs to be 1 to
2 degrees (0.05 to 0.10" over a 3" thick block). You can probably get
away with a lot less than 1 degree, but YMMV. As a note, if it were me
I would taper the pins internal more than the exterior part of the box
(because any variation of the holes in the inside will make no different
to the the blocks exterior fitting)...
I would have to do a LOT of hunting, but about a decade ago there was a
modification of this machine to allow internal tooling to be added.
There they added patterned platens to the top and bottom to produce a
sel locking block:
on the length:
____/--\_________/--\_____
on the end and running down the length in the middle:
____/--\_____
That would allow blocks to lock intermingled header and stretcher rows.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Billbeee-eng-bond.PNG and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickwork for naming conventions.
The modified machine and tooling I mentioned also allowed to make
ceramic/cement interlocking roof tile, paver bricks, half bricks (like
queen closures).
Hope that helps, and sorry I will not be around to help.
BTW, thanks for the pointer on geopolymer materials. I remember seeing
that years ago, but had forgotten.
Something else to wet your whistle... If you go with the geopolymer
version, also check into building a solar wood drying kiln which
operates in the high temp version curing of those materials. See
http://woodscience.vt.edu/about/extension/vtsolar_kiln/. One of the
cool things about this, is that a slight modification of the desigh, you
can build the walls out of your brick and save the extra materials ;-)
Best of luck to you, and I'm sorry I'm not going to be around to play
:-(
EBo --
EBo
percentage the soil is clay, sand, etc. If you have clay soils, then it
works quite well. I also remember seeing someone that made a
compression mold from a hinged split piece of pipe, and then used a shop
press to make samples to test after aging, heat-treatment, etc.
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:31:08 -0600, Danny Miller wrote:
> Well, here's your English plans:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_(CEB_press)
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_%28CEB_press%29>
Danny Miller
and reaction molds.
Danny
Danny Miller
bottom would do just fine in the hydraulic press.
I don't think the bottom needs to be a sealed cap, which would make it
more difficult to remove the sample and may transfer axial compression
force to the pipe. Well, you won't get much cheaper than that for a
test jig.
http://udcinc.org/Compressed%20Earth%20blocks%20Soil%20&%20Moisture.PDF
<http://udcinc.org/Compressed%20Earth%20blocks%20Soil%20&%20Moisture.PDF>
Mentions that Austin's caliche can't make a CEB, but there's clay apart
from the caliche which can.
Danny
EBo
about breaking it up pressing out of the mold. You probably would not
have as much worry.
Matt C.M.
Ceta-Ram in the first link there. If you're interested in putting
something like that together let me know and we can do some planning.
It'll probably cost $75-$125 in steel if you buy virgin
material(instead of scrap) If the metal supplier has scraps
sufficient for a project like this there would be pretty significant
savings though.
Paul Bonser
4U or Westbrook you could slowly pick up scrap pieces to get many of
the parts you need.
They only really sell stuff less than 1 foot as scrap, though, so I dunno.
--
Paul Bonser | http://probablyprogramming.com | @pib
EBo
interested too, but I keep bouncing between being 400 and 1,550 miles
away from ATX an no closer... Hmmm... you got me to thinking... I
work with a 501c3 that does a lot of humanitarian aid. I would be
willing to pony up the money to have one made for them if you would be
willing to make another. I know from experience working as a machinist
and smith that it is often takes only a little more time in comparison
to make 2 or three than it does to make the first one...
If you would be up for another, then let me know and I will add it to
my budget (I've had several unplanned expenses and am almost tapped out
at the moment).
EBo --
Elliot Hallmark
EBo
Elliot Hallmark
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EBo
re: designs...
I just had a thought. The space has both a 3-D printer and a laser
cutter. So, use them to make 1:4 or other scale models of the machine
to figure out extra tooling. A hint can be found in
http://www.ferncometal.com/library.htm (look at using the half block
insert, and the pattern on both the insert and the finished block) So,
this system appears to be just a simple addition of the tools and you
have to know when to stop. One improvement which was implied in the
pictures of the a machine from India (sorry I did not keep the link) was
the ability to swap out the top or bolt tooling to the inside and create
all sorts of shapes. So it looks like if you have a positive stop or
some way to adjust when to stop, you are golden.
Hope that helps.
EBo --
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:07:51 -0600, Elliot Hallmark wrote:
> Danny:
>
> And I don't mean hydraulic hand pump. He says "manual control" and
> he
> means flipping switches for solenoids.
>
> Matt:
>
> Well, I'd be happy to meet you or start however. I would really like
> something toolable like ebo described, to the point of
>
> this<http://www.earth-auroville.com/auram_earth_equipment_introduction_en.php>if
>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**The_Liberator_(CEB_press)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_(CEB_press)>
Elliot Hallmark
EBo
and could not find it. As a note, I read in a blog somewhere that the
brick shapes are often considered proprietary/copyrighted/patented. If
that is the case, it is best to pattern any blocks/bricks after things
which are older than 20 years (in the case of paten) and before 1919 (in
the case of copyright).
Also keep in mind that brick shapes and dimensions are standardized,
and it is a big + to produce compatible blocks. The half block I sent
you allows you to use the standard machine without modification. If you
were just modifying the top/bottom surfaces, then simple inserts should
suffice as long as you can change out the pull linkage for a different
length. That should be trivial if done right (with a hitch or ring
pin). After thinking about it for a little it seems like it would be
easier to start with a machine that build bricks of the standard size
with the linkage either swappable for initial height.
EBo --
EBo
cam across some really cool revisions of the CETA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gz4YdP0IJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ5saYMxIck
and a picture of the tooling swap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NPcwgL9E7U
This appears to be from these people:
from: http://www.engemaquinas.com.br/
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming ;-)
EBo --
On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:32:29 -0600, Elliot Hallmark wrote:
Jonathan Schultz
Austin is in a really weird geological crossroads and has 4 or so different types of soil. It also has all the nature freaks you'd ever imagine cataloging all of it for easy reference. I'd guess you'd want more clay like soil, which you'll find more in east austin, which is over mostly taylor shale group soil.
John Richter
I'm not sure if this was addressed in the very long thread (sort of
busy right now to check), but Open Source Ecology has great open
source design for a brick compressor. In fact, the first replication
of the machine outside of the OSE farm-lab was at Creation Flame in
Austin, Texas:
http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Replication/CreationFlame
http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/CEB_Press
They may be able to help you!
I'm very interested in this project...if I weren't in school.
On Jan 26, 11:49 pm, Elliot Hallmark <permafact...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I have wanted a compressed earth block press for a long while. To buy one
> new is expensive, especially because it is such a specialty item. There
> are open source designs, but I honestly don't have the mechanical skill to
> carry the construction out on my own. Maybe someone with some mechanical
> skill could take a look at these plans and judge how difficult a project it
> is.
>
Elliot Hallmark
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Danny Miller
Pump? Well, how about a power steering pump out of a junkyard? Those are like the 1500PSI range and require a motor to drive them. Harbor Freight sells a 3000PSI shaft-driven pump for $140 (but again you need a driving motor). Also a 220v electrically driven for $400.
Just saying, the cost of hydraulics is NOT a limiting factor here.
Danny
Elliot Hallmark
Not necessarily. A hydraulic ram capable of extremely high pressure is not exactly an expensive item these days. Harbor Freight sells a bunch.
Pump? Well, how about a power steering pump out of a junkyard? Those are like the 1500PSI range and require a motor to drive them. Harbor Freight sells a 3000PSI shaft-driven pump for $140 (but again you need a driving motor). Also a 220v electrically driven for $400.
Just saying, the cost of hydraulics is NOT a limiting factor here.
rc3105
the hydraulic press is a whole different level of compression, or is
it comparable pressure with rapid production???
--
Riley
EBo
it can be an either-or situation. For a given volume/pressure from a
pump (or cutout valve) you can either have it move fast, with less
pressure, or slower and more pressure. So I think you need to ask what
are you trying to accomplish with machine.
Personally, I like the design modification on the machine that is made
in Brazil (I gave links before, but do not have them handy at the
moment). On that machine, the lid is set up so levers on the handle
automatically open/close it, and there is an auto-load hopper that you
swing back and forth. From the videos it seems to work well without
lots of extra complications.
Something I found interesting on in some of the reading I've done is
that it looks like you can compress the blocks to much, but do not have
a good sense for what "good" ranges of pressures might be. Also, the
problems I've seen alluded to with over-pressuring might have been lack
of any relief angles (or draft) on the tooling.
Something else to consider. If you are running a production shop, then
having a hydraulic setup makes sense. Since it only takes a couple of
people a couple of days to make enough bricks by hand for a small house,
then the added expense and complexity does not make a lot of sense.
Also, if you are doing something like this in remote, on site,
situations then you would also have to have a motor to power the
hydraulics to make it work at all. This will make it much more
expensive to do int places like Africa (which one of the posters
mentioned). That being said, the hand operated auto-loader, lid lift,
and bolt lever limit are great additions to the original design.
Well, that's my 2c
EBo --
Steve Baker
The thing with hydraulics is that you can use a relatively pathetic pump
to slowly pressurize a reservoir using a small diameter pipe - then
release that pressure over a large surface area to create a lot of force
(because pressure is a force per unit area).
So perhaps you can have a small pump continuously pressurize a reservoir
and use the resulting fluid to create a large force for a relatively small
amount of time. I would imagine that this earth block compressor will
need to compress for a few seconds - then it's going to take you a while
to remove the resulting block and refill it with earth ready for the next
one. If that's a true statement - then a small pump might well suffice.
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Elliot Hallmark
Elliot Hallmark
Danny Miller
a reservoir holds fluid on the return side at no significant pressure.
The amount of power expended is essentially the rate of ram travel times
the pressure. At first there would be a gap between the ram and the
material, and the hydraulic fluid pumps into the ram at virtually no
pressure. Once the ram contacts the brick, the pressure increases
dramatically and the pump is heavily loaded. However, the degree of
actual volume going into the ram is low, since the ram probably doesn't
move all that far from the start position to compressed position.
However, it must be capable of creating the pressure to compress the brick.
http://udcinc.org/Compressed%20Earth%20blocks%20Soil%20&%20Moisture.PDF
<http://udcinc.org/Compressed%20Earth%20blocks%20Soil%20&%20Moisture.PDF>
Says bricks take about 1000PSI of compression. Since the cross-section
of a ram is probably going to be less than 1/3rd the brick's face area,
a 3000PSI would not provide enough ram pressure to compress a
normal-sized block with a straight-down ram (like the bearing press at
the Space). It would require some arrangement of leverage to produce
1000PSI over a larger area.
That press we have could do a sample of lower cross-section, however.
I gathered two other significant design notes from that site- one,
excessive pressure will not improve the block, and if the material
packed in is of inadequate composition, it will still fail to achieve a
structural strength regardless of increased pressure. Two, excessive
soil moisture is a real problem. Water is utterly imcompressible and
will simply hydrolock in present in significant quantity. It doesn't
form part of the soil matrix and is really only a void in the process.
The videos I saw of it in operation might suggest that the ramming is
not the limiting factor, rather, packing the blocks. Actually the
difficult part here seems to be packing the blocks consistently. There
is no capacity for overflow, nor is the brick machined to size after the
fact. This looks like a significant problem, either they get
underfilled and the block will be smaller- or if the press is
constant-volume, it won't get compressed as much. If overfilled, the
block will be too large or the ram may fail to go down all the way. Is
there really anything regulating how much goes in? Because going by
volume, well, disturbed soil is very compressible and its volume is
highly variable with packing. Going by weight seems much better but
weight will vary some with moisture and soil composition.
I suppose if the ramming process isn't the limiting factor for
production speed, and higher pressure isn't of value, maybe there's not
so much purpose in hydraulics.
Danny
On 1/30/2012 12:59 PM, Steve Baker wrote:
> The thing with hydraulics is that you can use a relatively pathetic pump
> to slowly pressurize a reservoir using a small diameter pipe - then
> release that pressure over a large surface area to create a lot of force
> (because pressure is a force per unit area).
>
> So perhaps you can have a small pump continuously pressurize a reservoir
> and use the resulting fluid to create a large force for a relatively small
> amount of time. I would imagine that this earth block compressor will
> need to compress for a few seconds - then it's going to take you a while
> to remove the resulting block and refill it with earth ready for the next
> one. If that's a true statement - then a small pump might well suffice.
>
>
> rc3105 wrote:
>> isn't that a bit apples& oranges?
Luke Iseman
EBo
I cannot remember if I have responded to this or not (I'm getting many
hundreds of emails a day... uggg...)
I would be interested in seeing if we could make one based off of the
Brazilian version I think I posted last week. It has some simple
linkages to automatically removed the hinged lid, and a hopper with a
manually operated auto-filler. Looked really nice for one/two person
operation. Anyway, if we could make a CAD model of that, then we could
generate the cutouts to then weld everything together...
EBo --