5 Of The Worlds Biggest Metal Structures

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

The largest buildings in the world are not necessarily the tallest. Many of those with the largest square footage exploit the benefits of steel construction. Structural steel, according to the American Institute for Steel Construction, is not only the most cost-effective framing system, but the quickest to erect and one of the most easily recycled. Five of the world's largest buildings are prime examples of the possibilities of steel. 

Venetian Macao 

The world's sixth largest building is its most extensive casino, the 10.5 million square foot Venetian Macao built on reclaimed land in Macao. Designed as a "mega-resort," the facility is operated by the Sands, the famous Las Vegas resort. 

It's ornate murals and cornices, its arena, its pool and spa complex and even its network of canals with their gondoliers beneath a painted sky are all attached to a structural steel frame.

Dubai Terminal 3 

The second largest building on earth is now one of the international terminals of Dubai International Airport. Terminal 3's 18,440,000 square feet of floor space originally served only domestic travelers, but now handles international flights as well. 

Over 40 million passengers use the terminal every year. Completed in 2008, the building required 33,000 metric tons of structural steel. As if it were not big enough on its own, Terminal 3 is directly connected to Terminal 2 through a common transit area. 

Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer 

FloraHolland's auction facility in Aalsmeer in the Netherlands is the largest trading floor in the world at 10.6 million square feet and the fourth largest building overall. 

Originally erected in 1972, the building was expanded to its current size in 1979. Its steel roof members are plainly visible from the auction floor. 

Chrysler Headquarters 

The headquarters and main R&D facility for Chrysler LLC is a 5.3 million square foot tower in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. 

The building's curtain walls hang from a steel frame, incorporating atriums and concourses that culminate in an octagonal skylight. The facade is designed to allude to the shape of an automobile, something not possible without steel frame construction. 

Abraj al Bait 

The most extensive building in the world is Abraj al Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It includes a luxury hotel, a four level shopping mall, six residential towers for permanent residents, a conference center and two separate heliports and an intramodal transit station, as well as the world's largest clock tower.

While its exterior incorporates Islamic architectural motifs, particularly mosaics, the building's internal structure is a steel frame. 

Almost all the world's largest building's use structural steel framing. The one exception, the 6.6 million square foot reinforced-concrete Pentagon, was built during a time of steel scarcity. The contrast between its low, glowering facade and light, airy curtain wall structures is in itself an argument in favor of steel frame construction. The American Iron and Steel Institute maintains that steel offers economic and environmental advantages in addition to its "aesthetically beautiful" appearance. This makes it the medium of choice for contemporary architectural expression.

SEE ALSO: The Advantages of using Steel as a Construction Material

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*by andreascy*

The Advantages of using Steel as a Construction Material

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

Steel may not be an immediate answer when being asked about the best construction materials, but it certainly should be up there. Other than its strength there are so many advantages of steel that most wouldn't know of, take a look.

The main problem faced by any construction company is whether the materials are strong enough and durable enough to build the structure that they desire. When buildings are built using a metal frame using materials such as steel, this is not an issue, due to its strength and the strain it can be put under.

There are so many advantages of using steel as a construction material; to start with, it's extremely popular for its sturdy and unwavering properties. Steel has an immense resistance barrier and is completely protected against rust, corrosion, variations of weather and climate and other environmental dangers such as pollution; this makes steel the metal that's most suited to an exterior surface of a building.

Building using a steel structure also gives the building internal strength, meaning it will remain stable and standing for longer. Another reason that steel is such a good material for building is that it is immune to infestations of termites and other pests, so the internal structure of the building is always solid.

Building using steel is said to be the cheapest and most effective way of making a fire proof home. Steel is resistant to a number of forces including most extreme weather such as fire and wind and also against chemicals, whether they are toxic or not, they are extremely unlikely to get through steel. Steel is also great for the environment as almost all steel that is in circulation today is recycled and if it's not recycled it will be eventualy. As steel is recycled it doesn't lose any of its great properties, it's still just as strong and durable, it remains just as resistant to extremes as when it is brand new.

Steel can take an awful lot of strain; in fact it has the highest strength to weight ratio than anything else that's used in the construction industry. Steel is a relatively light metal used for building and is therefore used a lot for pre-engineered buildings. Steel is also great for buildings as it gives immaculately straight walls and square corners. 

All of these points show quite a few of the benefits of using steel in construction and overall that steel makes the safest buildings, it obeys all building rules and regulations whilst also being the strongest metal for building and having the capabilities to protect its inhabitants from all sorts of weather extremes, such as hail storms, strong winds and even - in some parts of the world - hurricanes and tornados.

SEE ALSO: 5 Of The Worlds Biggest Metal Structures

*by andreascy*

National Science Foundation (NSF) Studies Granular Materials

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Granular materials - like sand, rice, or powdered pharmaceuticals - are everywhere, yet their behavior is poorly understood. 

In some ways behaving like liquids, in other ways behaving like solids, such materials have unique properties and pose unique questions to answer. 

From clogged coal hoppers to powdered-snow avalanches, scientists and engineers are gaining new perspective on the fundamental nature of grains. In the video below, see some of the latest research into the behavior of granular materials.

Learn more on :
http://www.nsf.gov
http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~complex/research/granular.html
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~reu/99reu/final_reports/paper_knappman.pdf

*by andreascy*

M.I.T. Camera Captures Speed of Light : A Trillion-Frames-Per-Second

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Think of it as the ultimate slow - motion movie camera. Researchers at M.I.T have developed an imaging system so fast it can trace the motion of pulses of light as they travel through liquids and solids. To put it into perspective, writes John Markoff in The New York Times, “If a bullet were tracked in the same fashion moving through the same fluid, the resulting movie would last three years.”

 

The research was directed by Ramesh Raskar of the Camera Culture group at the M.I.T. Media Lab. In an abstract, the research team writes :

"We have built an imaging solution that allows us to visualize the propagation of light. The effective exposure time of each frame is two trillionths of a second and the resultant visualization depicts the movement of light at roughly half a trillion frames per second. Direct recording of reflected or scattered light at such a frame rate with sufficient brightness is nearly impossible. We use an indirect ‘stroboscopic’ method that records millions of repeated measurements by careful scanning in time and viewpoints. Then we rearrange the data to create a ‘movie’ of a nanosecond long event."

 Watch the video below by Melanie Gonick of the M.I.T. News Office.

You can learn more by visiting the project website. 

*by andreascy*