A BUILDING ELEMENT

Abstract

A building element formed as a sandwich of outer panels (22) made from high strength thin-walled geopolymer concrete (GPC) and a high insulation core material (21) of high-density polystyrene providing thermal efficiency. The outer panels are offset from the core material to provide an edge interconnecting mechanism with adjacent elements and, furthermore, the core material (21) includes surface features/profile (26) that abut/mate with corresponding features in the adjacent core material. A building system utilising the element in block or panel form provides simple and fast construction, without the need of skilled labour. Furthermore, since the insulating core provides a locking and locating interconnection means between the elements this effectively results in a zero-loss system due to bridging. When combined with a compressive vertical tie bar system the outcome is a wall construction of exceptional strength and accuracy.

Claims

1. A building element comprised of: an insulating core material; and outer panels formed from geopolymer concrete located directly against opposite sides of the insulating core material; wherein the insulating core material includes a surface feature on a side edge thereof, a side edge being a surface of the insulating core material not located directly against an outer panel, for, in use, providing interconnection with a corresponding surface feature on an adjoining side edge of core material of an adjacent building element; and wherein the outer panels are bonded and/or fastened to opposite sides of the core material in an offset configuration providing an overhang with at least one side edge of the core material, for an adjacent building element to, in use, interconnect therewith.

2. The building element of claim 1, wherein a side edge of the core material, opposite to the overhang, is exposed from between the outer panels.

3. The building element of claim 1, wherein there is an overhang over two side edges of the core material.

4. The building element of claim 1, wherein the insulating core material is a brick shape.

5. The building element of claim 1, wherein the insulating core material is formed from polystyrene.

6. The building element of claim 1, wherein the surface feature is a series of ridges, longitudinally or laterally.

7. The building element of claim 6, wherein the surface feature is located on an upper side edge and lower side edge of the core material such that, in use, stacked building elements interconnect with each other.

8. The building element of claim 1, wherein the insulating core material is bonded to the outer panels by an adhesive.

9. The building element of claim 1, wherein the insulating core material is fastened between the outer panels by a fastening rod or pin extending laterally from a first panel to a second panel, through the core material.

10. The building element of claim 1, wherein the insulating core material includes at least one bore therethrough, for receiving a tie bar or fastening rod.

11. A system of building construction, implementing a plurality of building elements according to claim 1, wherein: the plurality of building elements are arranged with side edges of the core material abutting to assemble a wall.

12. The system of building construction of claim 11, further including: a base beam, upon which a first row of the plurality of building elements is arranged; and a capping beam located over the assembled wall; wherein at least one tie bar is fixed to provide tension between the base beam and capping beam for compression on the building elements.

13. The system of building construction of claim 12, wherein a second level wall of building elements is assembled upon the capping beam and a further level capping beam is located over the second level wall, including a tie bar fixed to provide tension between the capping beam and further level capping beam for compression on the building elements.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein a plurality of walls are constructed, forming a building structure, each wall including a base beam and a capping beam, the base beams being connected to form a base ring beam and the capping beams being connected to form a capping ring beam.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein an opening for a window is formed in the wall, being surrounded by a plurality of building elements, and including a capping plate at at least one edge of the opening, wherein at least one tie bar is fixed to provide tension between the capping plate and the base beam and/or capping beam.

16. The system of claim 12, further including end piece and/or corner elements to cooperate with an edge of one or more of the plurality of building elements, to provide an adjoinment with an adjacent wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily appreciated when considered in connection with the following detailed description and appended drawings, wherein:

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates a general view of a building element;

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates an end view of the building element according to FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of the building element according to FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0044] FIG. 4 illustrates a side view according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates a general view of the building element according to FIG. 4;

[0046] FIG. 6 illustrates a side elevation view of building elements according to the second embodiment being assembled into a wall; and

[0047] FIG. 7 illustrates a side elevation section view of an embodiment of building constructed from building elements according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0048] Advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate various aspects and embodiments of the invention. However, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to the precise details of the embodiments, with variations apparent to a skilled person deemed also to be covered by the description of this invention.

[0049] Furthermore, terms for components and materials used herein should be given a broad interpretation that also encompasses equivalent functions and features. Descriptive terms should also be given the broadest possible interpretation; e.g., the term “comprising” as used in this specification means “consisting at least in part of” such that interpreting each statement in this specification that includes the term “comprising”, features other than that or those prefaced by the term may also be present. Related terms such as “comprise” and “comprises” are to be interpreted in the same manner. Directional terms such as “vertical”, “horizontal”, “up”, “down”, “upper” and “lower” are used for convenience of explanation and may be broadly interpreted according to a doctrine of equivalents. Furthermore, the present description refers to embodiments with particular combinations of features, however, it is envisaged that additional combinations and cross-combinations of compatible features between embodiments will be possible. Indeed, isolated features may function independently from other features and not necessarily be implemented as a complete combination.

[0050] A building element is illustrated in a basic form according to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. As shown, the element, generally denoted 10, is comprised of a core material 11 and outer surface portions 12, e.g., a pair of plates, one on each side located directly against the core material. FIG. 1 is shown as an exploded view where the core material and plate have a substantially aligned and equivalent side surface dimension.

[0051] However, the core material 11 is bonded and/or otherwise fastened, e.g., by pinning, between two outer surface panels/plates in an offset configuration as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, relative to the core block material 11, outer plates 12 leave an overhang 13 on at least one, but preferably two edges. In this way adjacent elements can be further interconnected to form a self-supporting wall structure. It will be apparent from FIG. 2 that a second like-shaped element 10 can be stacked upon the illustrated element to build a wall of the elements in a vertical direction. Said wall will be steadied in use by the interlocking nature of the overhanging lower end 13 with a protruding upper end 14, i.e., the edge of core 11 exposed from between panels 12 by virtue of the offset configuration. The bricks could be stacked with directly vertical alignment or, more preferably, by the traditional offset method used in brick laying where each subsequent layer is offset from the layer below by approximately half a length (as visible in FIG. 7).

[0052] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrates features of an embodiment of a building element according to the invention where an offset outer surface portion/panel 22 overhangs two adjoining (lower right side as viewed) edges of a core material 21. The opposite (lower left as viewed) edge 23 of plate 22 is offset from a lower exposed edge of the core material, analogous to FIG. 2, and an end (right side vertical as viewed) edge 25 of plate 22 is also visible as offset from the core material 21, analogous to FIG. 3. A protruding upper edge 24 of core material 21 is visible, as is the left side end of core material 21 protruding from behind plate 22.

[0053] The core material includes surface features 26 which take the form of a profile on the exposed upper surface 24. In effect the profile features 26 provide for interconnection with the underside of core material 11 of an adjacent element when stacked, i.e., as is apparent from FIG. 6 where the underside of core material 21 includes mating features 27 for receiving/interconnecting with the upper profile 26. The features may be a series of ridges and/or corresponding channels, longitudinally or laterally, on upper and lower surfaces thereof, such that stacked elements interconnect with each other.

[0054] Indeed, it will be apparent that a like-shaped building elements 20 can be stacked on top of each other, either in vertical alignment or, more preferably in an offset configuration as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0055] As generally shown, the building element 20 is a sandwich construction consisting of two thin walled outer plates 22, made from geopolymer concrete, bonded to a central core 21 of insulation. The plates are likely to range in thickness between 10 and 20 mm depending on the strength of the GPC and the specific requirement.

[0056] The core material, preferably formed of a block of polystyrene foam with impregnated graphite for improved insulation, may be bonded to the plates 22. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a rod/fastener/pin is shown to be driven laterally through core 21, between plates 22, and secured to provide additional fixing/bonding. Only an end 28 of a pin is visible in FIG. 5 which could include a screw thread and/or driving feature. Four fixing points are shown but any appropriate number is possible. Such a feature provides stability while bonding adhesives set to a permanent state and structural integrity in the absence or upon degradation of a core material. However, in principle either method of fixing may be employed alone.

[0057] FIG. 4 also shows a series of through holes/bores 29 in dotted detail which represent tubular voids to receive a tie bar for wall construction as will be described further below with reference to FIG. 7.

[0058] All complete units preferably comprise exactly the same components, the only difference being that of size. While the overall size may alter, the cross width of the connecting cores 21 preferably remains consistent. This aspect allows elements of a variety of sizes to be interconnected without any loss of mechanical or thermal integrity and enables simple, flexible walling design and construction. Further, specialized components may be employed such as end and/or corner units that cooperate with a plurality of assembled building elements to aid construction of a wall/building. [0059] By way of example, elements may be produced in large panel sizes e.g., 3 m high×2 m wide×0.180 m deep, or in block-type sizes of 500 mm wide×250 mm wide×180 mm deep, or smaller. The element, by having a common width, will fit together easily and quickly to provide a highly insulated single piece wall, ideal for the construction of housing. However, differing standard sizes and depth panels can also be produced for walls for other purposes such as internal walls where the panels could be, by way of example, approximately 100 mm depth.

[0060] The design of the exemplified panel/block system exhibits a number of highly desirable properties. For example: [0061] An assembled wall has exceptionally low thermal transmittance down to a U value of <0.19 with almost zero bridging. This is achieved by using the insulation core as the main connecting vehicle. Such an approach could seem surprising since an insulation like Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is understood to have little strength of significance. However, when relatively large areas of a high-density polystyrene are used for positioning purposes in combination with high-strength concrete cladding, the combination has proved through testing to be very effective. [0062] The plates have a compressive strength typically >50 MPa and are manufactured to a size tolerance of <1 mm. This exceptional manufacturing precision, by virtue of the chosen material, allows the panels (even down to small block sizes) to be built dry and held in place mainly by a vertical compressive force introduced by a tie bar system. Clamping the blocks between top and bottom plates provides for the wall to exhibit the properties of a single element wall rather than a multi-element one. This allows much lighter foundations to be employed. [0063] The insulation core is profiled which provides two benefits. Firstly, it further increases the resistance to movement of the block effectively locking them into place. Secondly, during wall construction, each block automatically falls into a very accurately placed position that is pre-determined by the design and not by the skill of the individual. As a result, anyone can build with the system to an exceptional accuracy. Wall construction according to the method/system herein is thereby completely deskilled allowing unskilled workers, or practically anyone, to build quickly and accurately using the components provided. In disaster situations, e.g., where a settlement is ruined following an extreme weather event, local people can be involved in building their own housing replacement.

[0064] As described, the insulation material 21 (the core of the sandwich panel) performs the function of both an interconnection between panels as well as a locating and locking component, e.g., a profile along at least the top and bottom surface of the core, to prevent movement. An infinite number of profiling designs can be introduced to accomplish the same outcome.

[0065] The system allows the panels to be easily interconnected one to the other, both from side to side and top to bottom whilst eliminating any form of bridging. FIGS. 4 to 6 show profiling on the top 26 and bottom 27 faces only, although profiling on all four exposed sides (i.e. those faces not attached to a plate 22) is also envisaged. Such surface features (26/27) allow each block or panel to be built both horizontally and vertically depending on design or other criteria. For example, in a wall using block size elements, more complex designs of constructions such as herringbone may be employed.

[0066] In an embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIG. 7 a plurality of building elements 20 (blocks/panels) can be assembled into a wall structure 30 and secured by use of a tie bar system 31. Particularly, building elements as described above are combined with an upper capping beam 32 and a bottom base beam 33 (referred to hereinafter with reference to FIG. 7 as ‘top plates’ and ‘bottom plates’) and a tie bar 31 is arranged to extend through the building elements, e.g., through bores 29 visible in FIG. 3. The tie bars 31 (e.g., a threaded rod or fiber reinforced plastic, etc.) are mechanically fixed into the plate(s) 32, 33, typically by screwing or another suitable fixing system. When bolted onto the top plates 33, having passed through holes 29 in the cores 21, they provide a significant compressive force on all of the block/panel elements 20 within the assembled wall 30. This then provides an effective and stable walling system.

[0067] In one form both top 32 and bottom 33 plates are made of GPC to a variety of lengths. Most structures will require the adjacent plates to be joined together and connecting plates (of steel or other materials, not shown) can be employed to ensure the continuation of integrity across multiple wall assemblies. Such a feature results in another significant advantage.

[0068] With the base plates 32 and top plates 33 connected in this way, each level effectively forms a ring beam around all walls of the level, and therefore a building structure may have two or more ring beams; the top plate (forming one ring beam with adjacent top plates at the same level) being repeated at every floor level such that a typical two-story house with this system has three ring beams, a three story building has four and so on. The combined structural system will exhibit a box-like form of exceptional strength, rigidity and resistance to ground movement or failure.

[0069] The erected building rests upon a foundation 34, but this foundation has more flexibility of design and can be particularly economical since the building itself provides its own integral support.

[0070] The illustrated system is adapted for inclusion of windows (not illustrated). For example a window opening can be formed by strategic layering of the building elements during construction. Capping plates can be arranged to surround the internal surfaces of the opening formed for receiving a window frame. Tie bars from lower and upper capping plates are then connected into the base beam and capping beam respectively so that the opening in the wall has relatively minimal effect on the overall strength.

[0071] In connection with the manufacturing process of a geopolymer concrete material suitable for use with the present invention, a Fly Ash (FA) and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) are used together with aggregates and either Potassium Silicate and Potassium Hydroxide or the Sodium alternatives. After mixing these are then cured, e.g for 24 hours in ambient temperatures and then further cured at 600 C for 24 hours. This formula provides not only a high compressive strength of >50 MPa, but also a manageable material that is able to be accurately manufactured to the desired shape and size.

[0072] The GPC production process is intended to be operated in a relatively small production facility on a continuous 24/7 basis.

[0073] The foregoing invention has been described in accordance with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the invention.