mike.texasdomes.com

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My Conference Presentation

Posted by mjsouth on March 7, 2008

We had the Monolithic Dome Convention this weekend, and there were a lot of people that weren’t able to come to it.  I have taken my presentation and made it into a pdf available for download. 

My presentation was about equipment.  I kept it fairly general except for the new Paxis Scaffold.  Go through it, and if you have any questions, just ask them in the comments and I will answer ASAP. 

2 Responses to “My Conference Presentation”

  1. Frank Walsh Says:

    Hello David,

    I have some questions about dome construction that are not related to this blog. I have been researching domes for a number of years and recently I have read about foam concrete.

    I would like to know if it is feasible to use foam in shotcrete form to Create a thin shell dome using the inflatable airform and spraying a thin layer of dense concrete followed by rebar and a layer of low density foam concrete, followed by a thicker layer of dense concrete on the interior.

    I also considered using denser concrete for the bottom of the dome, graduating to less dense material at the top (like the dome of the Pantheon).

    Do you know if it is possible to combine these two technologies (foam concrete and shotcrete)?

    The foam concrete manufacturers say that because the foam used is “closed cell” it prevents water from seeping through. If so, you could end up with a lighter, cheaper, water proof, and insulated thin shell that could be used for emergency shelters. What do you think?

    Frank Walsh frank.walsh@att.net

  2. mjsouth Says:

    Thanks for the question Frank. We have been doing some of that experimenting, and we will be doing some more of it at our next workshop.

    I will try to write something about it in the coming weeks, to show the results. For now, you can check out a video about reground styrofoam mixed in the concrete that I posted on YouTube a while back.

    Thanks again,

    Mike

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