The curved tower, which was created by German specialists, is designed primarily to produce an effect on the viewer with its appearance. But the experts who worked on it hope that it is not only a work of art, but also a clear confirmation of their hypothesis that the processes of wood deformation as a result of drying can be controlled.
Moisture is not the enemy
Every building materials specialist will confirm that excess moisture is bad quality. Wood, which contains a lot of water, is almost unsuitable for construction and production.
Until recently, such an opinion on this matter was the most common, because wet wood tends to bend and curl upon drying. But scientists from Germany made the assumption that this feature of the material can be subordinated to their goals. The tower shown in the photo in this article is proof of this theory.
When you look at it, it becomes clear that the drying process of timber can be very beneficial if you learn how to manage it. Having mastered this art, you can get the details of the desired shape.
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The preparatory part of all work on timber involves reducing the amount of moisture in them, which is achieved by drying.
For this purpose, the wood is placed in a special oven or electric dryer. When heated, materials deform. With such processing, specialists strictly monitor compliance with a certain temperature regime. Therefore, the parts are twisted with the necessary force and only in the right direction. This heating makes the deformed wood usable.
Researchers at the Stuttgart Institute for Scientific Design and Construction are exploring how wood can be guided as it dries. They try to "program" it to get the shapes they want.
Scientific discovery
Scientists say that for this process, you can write a program, similar to those written for robots, so that they perform certain movements.
“If you understand the processes that take place in drying wood and simulate them virtual, you can control the distortion of the material,” says research team member Dylan Wood.
“This is what we do. First, we create two layer boards. The layers should be with the opposite direction of the wood grain. Then these blanks are dried in special production ovens. When heated, they shrink. The type of wood, its thickness, grain direction and temperature changes during processing are the parameters that affect the curvature.
The members of the research team say that their so-called Urbach Tower is the first structure in the world to be created using self-formed parts.
The original timber from which the tower was made contained 22 percent moisture. Then it was dried to 12 percent.
This figure, according to Wood, is the standard for materials used in construction. When the two-layer boards are dry and bent, they are stacked on top of each other and secured to maintain their shape. Such multilayer glued wood panels were delivered by a truck to a gardening exhibition in the German city of Schorndorf.
Assembly
A team of four craftsmen assembled a magnificent 14-meter tower from these parts. To do this, they only needed one working day. For this structure, a special transparent roof was made and delivered here. A protective facade of larch was made for the tower.
The building is equipped with sensors that can be used to measure the moisture content of the wood. Research on this structure will continue over the next ten years.
Scientists want to plot the further deformation of the material. “We're just adjusting the drying process, not fighting it,” says Wood. He and his colleagues used spruce planks imported from Switzerland in the construction.
But this technology can be applied to any type of wood, since all of them can bend and swell from moisture. In addition, this method of obtaining parts of a certain shape does not require the use of expensive equipment that consumes a lot of electricity. Experts say the curved laminated wood can be used to produce homemade roof parts and wall support structures.
According to Dylan Wood, the deformation of wood as it dries can be used for more than just construction.
Future technology
»Our research team is conducting experiments combining wood self-shaping and 3D printing. This way we can get more complex details,”he says. - This material will be used, for example, for the manufacture of roofs that open automatically in warm, dry weather. The ability of wood to wrinkle and swell can also be used to produce clothes that will have ventilation holes when a person sweats.”This means that the curved tower is not only an unusual structure, but also a look into the future.
Laev Alexey