Precast Concrete Walls 3D Printers Telescopic Cranes Kerosene Lamp Burners
Precast concrete walls are made in a controlled plant environment, where weather can't interfere with the curing process. They're cast with insulation before they arrive at the construction site. All that's needed is a crane to do the heavy lifting. Precast concrete walls have a tough exterior that holds up to all kinds of weather, but making these structural wall panels is an inside job. By manufacturing them indoors, they can better prepare them for the outdoors. Production starts with a mix of crushed rock and sand. This collection is limestone-based. The mineral mix can be altered for different strengths and finishes. A conveyor delivers the collection of minerals to a huge mixer. They inject cement, water, and additives to improve the flow of the concrete, accelerate the cure, and give it a brownish hue. Beaters whip the ingredients into a thick, gritty mix. They cast some of the concrete into cylindrical shapes for testing. After a one-day cure, they crush the cylinders with a ram. The amount of force it takes to crush the cylinders is a measure of the concrete batch's strength. Before they cast the wall, a crew arranges giant foam letters to make an imprint in the mold. They position the letters in the center of the casting form and secure them with silicone. A release agent is sprayed onto the casting form and letters. High-strength steel cables are strung throughout the form. With a hydraulic device, they pull each cable to a specific tension. Then, they bend a rebar rod into a loop. The rebar loops are linked, creating long cages. They place one cage at the top of the form and one at the bottom. Then, the team inserts a sheet of welded wire mesh. It's been cut to fit the size of the form. They're now ready to pour concrete. A truck dispenses the concrete directly into the form. The concrete flows around the steel reinforcement. The steel will keep the wall strong when the concrete expands and contracts as the weather changes. The team spreads the concrete and levels it with a tool called a screed. This first layer of the wall panel is essentially one side of a sandwich. It will be the exterior part of the wall. At the center of the sandwich is this rigid foam insulation. It's studded with protrusions to secure to the concrete. More steel-reinforced concrete completes the wall sandwich. This final layer will face the inside of the building... So the crew takes extra care to ensure that there are no pits or crevices. After about 12 hours, the wall is solid enough to be handled. They take it outdoors, where a worker sandblasts a small section of the exterior side. This removes the surface cement to expose the aggregate, creating a decorative band next to the embossed lettering. After a three-day cure, the precast concrete wall is ready for the construction site. A crew guides it onto footings. They align its design to the one on the next wall. When the two walls match up perfectly, they bolt it down. The concrete continues to cure over time, so these precast walls will stand strong for many years. Would you like to print a toy, a circuit board, or a replica of a famous work of art? Thanks to the development of the 3d printer, what used to be the stuff of science fiction is now a reality. These objects were produced by 3d printers, proof that, for printing technology, the world is no longer flat. To make 3d printers, this company actually uses 3d printers. A technician starts by loading a reel of plastic filament into a printer. The printer melts the plastic into a thick goo. The 3d printer layers the plastic, following a pattern from a digital file. This particular part is the extruder body. In real time, it takes about an hour to print the extruder. Even complex patterns, like this octopus, can be made with a 3d printer. 40 different components of this 3d printer are produced using 3d printers. At this facility, 135 printers run nonstop, producing gears, brackets, and mechanism housings. This technology is truly self-replicating. Now, a worker drills a hole in the extruder body. It serves as a conduit for the plastic filament during printing. He bolts a gear to the extruder body. He screws the motor to the extruder body and installs a second, smaller gear on the drive shaft. A part called the hot end is installed next. It contains a heater for melting the plastic filament. The worker attaches the hot end to a 3d-printed plastic mount and extruder. This completes the 3d printer tool head. Another worker feeds glass to rubber rollers. The rollers gently apply adhesive-backed polyester film to the glass. The glass will serve as the printer bed, and the film will protect it from scratches during use. To build the printer's aluminum frame, the worker secures the joints with 3d-printed plastic parts. He installs two rods horizontally. They'll serve as rails for the printer tool head to move across. He clips the tool head to the rails. Then, he loops a rubber belt around the motor on the side of the frame and links it to the tool head. The belt will drive the tool head along the carriage. He confirms the tension is good and that the tool head moves freely. Next, he attaches the print bed and its sliding support structure to the base of the frame. He connects a cord to the power supply and links it to the tool head. It will power both the motor and the hot end. He clips the glass to the print bed and tightens the clips with screws. He connects the print bed to the electronics and confirms that it slides freely. In the testing department, a technician pushes the end of a plastic filament reel into a drilled channel in the tool head. He snaps a retainer around the feed point. Now, he is ready to activate the 3d printer. He prints a test pattern to confirm that the printer bed is level and the tool head prints consistently. For two-tone printing, they use two filament reels that feed into a double extruder tool head. The tool head layers the plastic, one color at a time. This process takes about an hour, but that's not too long when you consider that it's printing a 3d object. Talk about generating solid results. Tower cranes can be found at most large construction sites, but they're usually secured in a concrete slab that can take days to set up. If you need a crane for some quick maintenance work, a truck-mounted telescopic crane might be a better solution. Telescopic cranes can support loads of up to 6 tons and lift objects over 30 feet in the air. The steel cable or wire rope winds and unwinds on a hydraulic winch. The crane operator can extend or retract the boom extensions and adjust the angle of the main boom. Stowing the crane in the travel position takes just a few minutes. Assembly begins when a carbon steel sheet is loaded into a cnc laser cutter. A high-energy light beam cuts through the steel plate to make several parts of the crane assembly. A computer program maximizes the number of pieces cut out of a single sheet of steel. A welder places parts on a position fixture. Then, a cnc weld robot bonds the side plates to the winch mounting plate and base plate. The welded crane mast goes to the machining center. A machinist positions it on the horizontal mill jig. The cnc mill drills holes around the base plate with a carbide drill bit and sprays coolant to prevent the piece from overheating. Then, the machine levels the surface under the base plate with an end mill to fit it to the crane mast bearing. Another worker bends tubes with a hydraulic press brake. He makes boom segments by forming high-strength carbon steel plates into open c shapes. Grounded electrostatic paint racks carry the parts into the painting department. A worker applies a coating of anti-rust, low-friction electrostatic paint. The paint eases the movement of the crane parts. As the boom extensions come out of the paint shop, the painted mast is ready to go to the assembly department. A worker positions the mast on the base bearing assembly. He attaches the mast to the bearing with high-strength steel bolts and uses a pneumatic torque wrench to tighten the bolts. These bolts bear most of the load of the crane. A worker positions the winch on the mount plate and tightens the bolts. He rotates the mast to check its movement on the base bearing. He inserts a bushing and fits it with an arbor. He applies lubricant inside the bushing before he brings in the main cylinder. The worker positions the cylinder between the side plates and pins it to the mast. The pin allows the cylinder to move vertically when elevating the boom. Hydraulic actuators are now installed inside the mast. The actuators direct oil flow to the cylinders and motors, controlling the movement of the crane. A worker installs the boom extensions into the main boom. He pushes them all the way in before assembling the main boom to the crane base. The main boom fits right between the mast side plates. Workers insert a pin to connect the mast to the main boom. They gently tap it in place with a soft mallet and bolt it on with a pneumatic wrench. A worker threads the wire rope along the boom and around the top pulley, then pulls the cable down and runs it through the snatch block. He closes a safety pin on the snatch block and pins the eye of the cable under the top pulley. Another worker activates the winch motor to roll the cable in. The main cylinder elevates the crane into operating position. The extension cylinder extends the boom, and stabilizers support the back of the truck for safe operation of the crane. In a world lit by incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, and l.e.d.s, there are some people who still like their lighting the old-fashioned way. Nothing quite matches the warm glow of a kerosene lamp. Kerosene lamps date back centuries. They're fueled by kerosene, with a wick as the light source. To light the lamp, you remove the glass chimney, light the wick, then turn a key attached to the burner to raise or lower the wick. The height of the wick adjusts the height of the flame. This burner's components are made of brass. Many of them are stamped by a press. The press rams the lubricated brass sheet against the die, forming the metal to the required shape. The component passes through a second stamping press, this time receiving five successive strikes. This component is the midsection of the burner's gallery, the ornate support fixture that holds the glass chimney over the flame. After the component passes through the first two presses, workers mount it on a third press. This one punches ventilation holes around the perimeter, allowing air to feed the flame. Workers mount the gallery's bottom section onto another punch press. It cuts an intricate design along the perimeter. This machine cuts out the bottom so the part can fit around the burner mechanism. The next machine carves threads into it. The threads enable the gallery to screw onto the burner mechanism. Now it's time to assemble the gallery sections. It has grips to hold the bottom of the chimney. Next, they fasten the bottom section to the middle section. This method of joining parts by compressing one against the other is known as a press fit. They also stamp the brass adjustment key that raises and lowers the wick. The die stamps the manufacturer's name and cuts teeth along the perimeter, making the key easier to grip. To build the burner mechanism, they solder a notch plate, called a shutter, to a component they refer to as the candle. It's called the candle because the wick will run through it. They attach the adjustment key to a pair of gears... And solder that to the shutter. They turn the key to make sure the gears rotate freely. They place a base into an assembly tool and insert the candle containing the adjustment key assembly. Then, they solder on a wick guide. They check the gears again to make sure they rotate freely. The burner mechanism is finished. Now, they dip it into a chemical degreaser to remove any lubricant or soldering residue. Next, they submerge it in a vat of acids to brighten the brass. Then, they rinse it in water three times. Now, they assemble all of the burner parts. They insert a cotton wick into the guide at the bottom of the mechanism and turn the key to feed it up through the burner. They screw on the gallery and complete the burner by inserting a disk that will help shape the flame. To install the burner in a lamp, the insert the wick into the font and screw the burner to the font's threaded collar. The glass chimney is the finishing touch. To fill the lamp with fuel, remove the chimney, unscrew the burner, pour kerosene into the font, then screw the burner back on. This lamp is now ready to light.