No_3_March_1969 — Page 35

casting

by C.N. Craig

of major components needed for multi- storey housing blocks as well as low- rise housing developments.

One of the most useful variants of the technique - the Chevron battery - produces panels which, instead of being flat, are L-shaped. The Chevron bat- tery, as the name suggests, has the mould units nestling together in her- ring-bone shape when seen from above.

In the prototype, each arm of the L was 14 ft. (4 metres) long, but these lengths are easily variable by means of moveable end-stops. Alternatively, if many identical units are needed, special fixed end-stops can be used.

The L-shaped units offer a number of advantages, particularly for low-rise housing. Each unit is the equivalent of a wall buttressed by another at right

Cladding panels in position

angles to it. Bridged by rigid floors, these units produce a stable structure without any need for structural joints between walls.

On the first site the battery-cast panels were used only for internal walls and floors, but more recently the method has been extended to concrete cladding panels. Integrated production of cladding and internal panels allows

the same set of workers to work on both, so reducing the number of teams and simplifying site organisation.

Choice for architects

Cladding panels within the scope of the method offer the architect a wide variety in his choice of facade. The panels fall into three main types. There are smooth-faced concrete panels with bold modelling of the panels as a whole for instance, concave panels with deep reveals and curving shadows which do not seriously obstruct light at windows; panels with any desired pattern of grooves, vertical or horizon- tal, (though there are certain limitations in producing the horizontal); and panels with a surface consisting of vertical grooves separated by bands of exposed aggregate.

The last type is obtained by splitting the concrete some hours after casting with a special arrangement of inflatable tubes. All three types of panel may be either load-bearing or non-load-bearing, with or without reinforcement.

To make the advantages of battery casting available for a still wider selec- tion of components, the Building Re- search Station has carried out develop- ment work on stair flights, thin partitions, roof slabs, balustrades and

beams.

MEM

electrical products are known and appreciated everywhere

Sole Agents: -

INNISS & RIDDLE (CHINA) LIMITED,

608-616, Prince's Building, 6th Floor,

P. O. Box 73, Hong Kong.

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MEM electrical accessories comprise full ranges of surface and flush mounting switches and ring circuit accessories (socket outlets and fused spur boxes, switched or unswitched). Finishes include moulded and metalclad, including stainless steel.

MIDLAND ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO. LTD. Reddings Lane Tyseley Birmingham England

MEM

Far East BUILDER, March 1969

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