August_1971 — Page 41

MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT

BUILDING MODULE MANUFACTURE

An Australian company, Le Fevre Enterprises Pty. Ltd., is offering to license overseas manufacture of building modules using complete production lines supplied from Australia. Already a factory has been set up under licence by a Singapore company to help meet the growing demand for the modules in Southeast Asia.

This modular system, known as Insulbilt, is already in wide use in the construction of homes, offices, small fac- tories, schools, hospitals, motels, tourist cabins and other

projects. Insulbilt in its basic form consists of a panel of polyurethane foam between two sheets of 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) flexible asbestos cement. The asbestos cement be- comes the inner and outer surfaces, is offered in a variety of textures, and does not require painting. Finished size of the panel is 8 ft (2.4 m) by 4 ft (1.2 m) by 21⁄4 in (5.7 cm), but it can be varied to suit application. It provides insulation equivalent to a 10 in (25.4 cm) brick wall.

Cost is minimised by the simplicity of construction. It is said to be cheaper than timber, and requires less building time. The asbestos cement sheets will not burn or explode with heat, and polyurethane foam will not support com. bustion. As they are made from chemically inert materials, the panels are claimed not to shrink, warp or expand, nor to support fungus of any kind. They are vermin proof. For special applications the product is available with the poly- urethane foam between decorative claddings such as fancy plywoods, plastic laminates; vinyl finishes and exposed aggregate. For additional information, please write to Le Fevre Enterprises Pty. Ltd., 62 Princes Highway, Arncliffe, New South Wales 2205, Australia.

PREDICTION OF EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS

The ground motion prediction methodology developed and validated by Environmental Research Corporation (a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation) advances sig- nificantly the technology of earthquake-resistant design for high-rise buildings, nuclear power generating facilities, reser- voir dams, pipeline systems, tunnels, and other structures.

This methodology exceeds the state-of-the-art as cur- rently practised, (e.g., the Uniform Building Code). Cou- pled with powerful numerical computation methods such as finite element codes, it permits full consideration of the individual elements of the total wave propagation system: the source, the transmission path, and the local site geolo-

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gy. This refinement enables the soils and structural engin eers to assess with precision all the important physical phenomena associated with the dynamic response of a structure to earthquake ground motions and the interaction between the foundation of a structure and the soil in which it is embedded. A firmer scientific basis for predicting earthquake loads on any structure at any site will result in sounder designs, yielding economic benefits to plant and building owners. For a free copy of a technical bulletin on this subject, please write to Computer Sciences Corporation, 1901 Building, Century City, Los Angeles, California 90067, U.S.A.

FORMWORK SCAFFOLDING SERVICES

A comprehensive range of formwork, accessories, scaf folding and support systems, including a design service, is available from Rapid Metal Developments (Australia) Pty. Ltd., South Australia. The company also has a specialist. design department for made-to-order formwork applica tions including static forms, dragscreeds and fully mechanis ed tunnelforms.

The standard practice is to provide a no-obligation de- sign service for the most economical way of completing each project. The customer is supplied with the necessary drawings and information together with a quotation for sale or hire of the equipment. In the supply of equipment for the construction of buildings, the firm provides the neces sary drawings and information for setting up the concrete formwork.

One of the labour-saving systems marketed by the com- pany is the 'Rapid Scaffold', which uses only four basic units. The structure is rigidly connected by clevise pins at the ends of the ledgers and putlogs which are located on

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lugs welded to the standards thereby eliminating all loose fittings. The heaviest component, an 8 ft (2.438 m) ledger which weighs only 31 lb (14.061 kg), can be erected and dismantled by one man.

Working platforms can be arranged at intervals of 1 ft 71⁄2 in (0.495 m) making it ideal for brick laying and other scaffolding purposes. The working platforms can be re- moved and repositioned at any time without disturbing the erected structure. Rapid Scaffold has been designed to cover a wide range of open scaffolding and shoring applica- tions such as medium and light independents, birdcages. mobile towers, beam supports and tableforms.

Far East BUILDER, August 1971

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