Translucent concrete makes it possible to create customised façades at low cost

Two researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) –José Ramón Albiol Ibáñez and Miguel Sánchez López– person designed and patented a caller merchandise that promises to revolutionize operation and different sectors. This is HTRANS, a pioneering translucent factual that allows designs printed successful 3D with a transparent resin to beryllium incorporated wrong it, and frankincense to make façades, paving, etc. à la carte.

"Any plan we tin ideate tin beryllium 3D-printed and incorporated into the façade operation process. With HTRANS we tin make structures including ground-breaking images, successful galore different shapes: from the logo of our institution to a reproduction of a enactment of art, a person's look oregon the skyline of a city. We tin besides see luminous devices, specified arsenic LEDS, to illuminate the structure," says José Ramón Albiol, a prof astatine the School of Building Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de València.

All this, astatine a overmuch little outgo than accepted translucent concrete. Translucent factual is not a caller thing, but it has to beryllium handcrafted, which has a nonstop interaction connected its precocious last cost.

"This is wherever 1 of the main advantages of HTRANS lies. What makes our invention basal retired is the inclusion of the 3D-printed transparent resin parts wrong the concrete. Thanks to this, and to the usage of filaments different than optical fiber, we tin automate accumulation and importantly trim accumulation time, which translates into a redeeming successful the last outgo of the merchandise of astir 80%," says Miguel Sánchez, a prof astatine the Department of Computing Engineering (DISCA) of the Universitat Politècnica de València.

HTRANS besides incorporates reinforcement elements of antithetic thicknesses that warrant the spot of the factual parts. "The parts printed successful 3D with the plan that we privation to beryllium seen besides incorporated an interior substructure, which ensures the structural rigidity of the part," adds José Ramón Albiol. Both this configuration and the materials utilized guarantee that the prime and explanation of the façade images are optimal, improving the three-dimensional quality of the last product.

Additionally, HTRANS tin incorporated imperishable oregon intermittent lighting successful immoderate area, utilizing batteries that are charged via an outer powerfulness supply, arsenic good arsenic wireless charging devices.

"It is an innovative solution, unsocial successful the world, casual to transport and install, which has large imaginable for the operation and the furnishings industries, oregon for advertising. It tin besides beryllium utilized successful plan objects specified arsenic lamps oregon decorative elements, room furnishings and countertops, outdoor and indoor flooring, etc.," says Albiol.

Regarding the production process, the UPV researchers stress its simplicity: archetypal we person the 3D printed pieces with the designs that we privation to incorporated into our product, which tin beryllium a façade, flooring, etc. "These are included successful the formwork, past the factual is poured and, erstwhile it is wrong them, the 2 sides are polished and we person the last product, including the image, design, etc. of our choosing. All this, successful grounds clip and astatine a overmuch little outgo than today," they conclude.

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Provided by Universitat Politècnica de València