In order to decarbonize the transport sector, heavy commercial vehicles and non-road mobile work machines are increasingly coming to the fore. Vehicle and engine manufacturers, suppliers and science have therefore joined forces in the "PoWer" project to comprehensively investigate the cross-application use of hydrogen engine drive train concepts for construction and agricultural applications. The automotive supplier MAHLE is leading the project, in which the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is involved with three institutes. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection is funding PoWer for three years with around 5 million euros, and the project is supported by TÜV Rheinland.Due to their properties such as high efficiency, robustness and low raw emissions, hydrogen engines offer many advantages that make them particularly suitable for applications in construction and agricultural machinery. It is also possible to convert conventional combustion engines of, for example, excavators, combine harvesters or conveyor vehicles to hydrogen engines. In order to be able to implement the technology in the future, three KIT institutes are investigating hydrogen combustion in engines, suitable exhaust gas catalysts and the behavior of materials under hydrogen in the PoWer project.<h2>Efficient use of hydrogen in complex engines</h2>"Due to the low ignition limit and the wide flammability limits of hydrogen, unwanted self-ignition can occur. This must be avoided at all costs in order not to risk engine damage," says Dr. Uwe Wagner from the Institute for Piston Machines (IFKM) at KIT about the challenges. The researchers at the IFKM are therefore investigating how hydrogen-based fuel can be used most efficiently and safely in engines of construction and agricultural machinery - whether with intake manifold or direct injection. "In addition, the geometry of the engine and lubricating oil inputs into the combustion chamber play a decisive role in ensuring smooth combustion," says Wagner. In order to test and optimize various injection strategies and engine parameters, the researchers use a single-cylinder research unit and a multi-cylinder engine.<h2>Environmentally friendly energy source for off-road applications</h2>"In order to comply with current and future exhaust gas limits, it is necessary to provide efficient exhaust gas catalysts in addition to low-emission engine operation," explains Dr. Patrick Lott from the Institute of Technical Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP) at KIT. "The specific operating conditions of hydrogen engines are sometimes challenging for the catalysts," says Lott. The ITCP team is therefore investigating how existing catalyst systems behave in interaction with hydrogen engines. One of the aims is to improve their durability and efficiency in order to adapt them to the new operating conditions. At the same time, the researchers are developing innovative concepts for exhaust gas aftertreatment so that hydrogen can be used as an environmentally friendly energy source in off-road applications.<h2>Impact of Hydrogen on Materials</h2>"Contact with hydrogen can significantly reduce the strength and deformability of metallic materials," explains Dr. Stefan Guth from the Institute of Applied Materials - Materials Science (IAM-WK) at KIT. In the project, the scientists at the IAM-WK are therefore investigating how hydrogen affects typical materials used in combustion engine components. To do this, they are conducting mechanical material tests under the influence of hydrogen, in particular under the cyclical loads typical of engines. A central goal of the research group is to develop and establish methods for evaluating the influence of hydrogen on material strength. "Ultimately, we want to give our industrial partners recommendations for the safe and efficient use of the materials," says Guth.<h2>About the PoWer project</h2>Under the leadership of MAHLE, in addition to KIT, DEUTZ AG, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Purem GmbH, Claas KGaA mbH, the Technical University of Braunschweig, Liebherr GmbH, Nagel Maschinen- und Werkzeugfabrik GmbH, Umicore SA, NGK Europe GmbH and Castrol Limited are also involved. (ase)

Hydrogen engines for the future: In the PoWer project, researchers are developing new drive concepts for construction and agricultural applications (Photo: Magali Hauser KIT)

Vehicle and engine manufacturers, suppliers and science have joined forces in the "PoWer" project to comprehensively investigate the cross-application use of hydrogen engine drive train concepts for construction and agricultural applications.

Mobility: Hydrogen engine for off-road applications

<a href="https://www.eberhard.ch/" id="isPasted">Eberhard Unternehmungen</a> is a family-owned company with over 70 years of experience in civil engineering, railroad construction, airport construction, excavation, demolition, recycling and contaminated site remediation. With more than 650 employees, the company carries out the most complex projects with services that are both sustainable and economically viable. Based near to Zurich, Switzerland, Eberhard Unternehmungen has built an enviable reputation for first-class primary and secondary building materials, advanced technologies, and an extensive network of like-minded partners.<h2 id="isPasted">The challenge: Roadblocks with manual 3D measurement techniques</h2>For a long time, Eberhard Unternehmungen relied on manually taking 3D measurements of parts and recording the surrounding areas. Measuring components by hand was not only time-consuming but also prone to waste.Faced with production delays and extended downtimes, the company decided it was time to look for a more modern way of capturing 3D measurements. As team members scouted out technology solutions, they based their evaluations on the following criteria:<ul><li>Speed</li><li>Accuracy</li><li>Suitable for any environment</li><li>The ability to use it in any plant or on any site—with or without an external power</li><li>Easy to use and easy to rework.</li></ul>The ultimate goal was to reduce breaks in production as well as ensure smoother planning and assembly processes. This included identifying obstacles in advance for the installation and removal of parts in a sometimes highly obstructed environment.<h2>The solution: Creaform’s HandySCAN Max</h2>After its market analysis, Eberhard Unternehmungen chose <a href="https://www.creaform3d.com/en/handyscan-3d-max-series-for-large-objects">Creaform’s HandySCAN Max</a> for its ease of use, flexibility, speed, and accuracy for the reverse engineering of large parts. Creaform’s <a href="https://www.creaform3d.com/en/metrology-solutions/3d-applications-software-platforms/vxmodel-scan-cad-software-module">integrated Scan-to-CAD software module, VXmodel</a>, along with comprehensive training and support services, were also key factors in the decision.The HandySCAN Max’s user-friendly hardware and software allowed the team to adapt quickly. Although the scanning process initially had a learning curve, it soon became intuitive for operators, enabling them to capture precise 3D measurements of complex structures.Once the team was completely onboarded, they got to work on more demanding assignments. In a specific project, the team needed to replace a transfer funnel that had reached the end of its life. Without any original geometry data, they turned to the HandySCAN Max. By strategically positioning targets on the component, users were able to scan the funnel in 3D. The scan data was then processed in VXmodel, where planes and axes were generated before exporting the data into CAD for the final design. This seamless setup allowed Eberhard Unternehmungen to produce the necessary production documents for the replacement quickly and accurately. <img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1731519841820-1731519841820.png" class="fr-fic fr-dib">“Creaform’s technology has proven invaluable with its insensitivity to dust, optimal scanning range, and ability to deliver accurate 1:1 images for reverse engineering,” explained Markus Eggenberger, Project Manager of Equipment/Inventory, at the company. “HandySCAN Max and VXmodel simplified the data acquisition, saving us significant time and effort in achieving the final results.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1731519865599-Trichter-in-VXModel.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Creaform’s HandySCAN Max and VXmodel help to create the 3D model of the transfer funnel<h2 id="isPasted">The results: Creaform’s HandySCAN Max accelerates reverse engineering workflows</h2>The implementation of Creaform’s 3D measurement solutions has significantly optimized the exchange and maintenance processes at Eberhard Enterprises. The team noticed tangible improvements in terms of time savings, cost reduction, and minimized downtime. The precise measurements from the HandySCAN MAX eliminate the risk of having to remanufacture parts and ensure that replacement parts fit perfectly on the first attempt. Furthermore, the robustness of the HandySCAN MAX allowed employees to work under challenging environmental conditions, thereby reducing delays in planning and installation.What are the plans for the future? The team envisions creating 3D models of all components for all upcoming replacements and maintenance work. Another testament that shifting to newer technologies is pivotal for operational efficiency!

Using the HandySCAN Max to 3D scan the transfer funnel.

Eberhard Unternehmungen chose Creaform’s HandySCAN Max for its ease of use, flexibility, speed, and accuracy for the reverse engineering of large parts. Creaform’s integrated Scan-to-CAD software module, VXmodel, along with comprehensive training and support services

Improving Construction Processes with 3D Metrology

In the future, buildings will provide enhanced, more personalized comfort to occupants while also achieving zero carbon emissions. This will be possible thanks to advances in sensors and AI, enabling new ways of interacting with our environments while leaving ultimate control in occupants’ hands. Yet, as users, we’ll also need to make lasting changes to our habits.The construction industry – the second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter and the biggest end user of energy – is shaping a new future, driven by technological innovation and the response to climate change. Buildings have long been viewed as passive structures, but they’re in the process of becoming smart, interactive and sustainable environments. Will it be possible to effect this transition and create more comfortable homes and offices while cutting buildings’ energy use? The answer is yes, but only if we also change our habits. Engineers are studying methods for reconciling the switch to clean energy with aspirations for more comfortable buildings that also improve occupants’ well-being and adapt to their behaviors. One project in this vein is SWICE, led by EPFL and carried out by a consortium of numerous Swiss universities together with partners from the private and public sectors. The project is being funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy as part of the country’s strategy to reach net zero by 2050.<h2>Control: a key element of comfort</h2>Indoor spaces are a prominent feature of our daily lives. According to an independent study, we spend 90% of our time indoors, whether at work, at home or during leisure activities – this figure also factors in commuting time. The well-being of building occupants is, therefore, an important issue, but it’s also a subjective one. “When we talk about occupants’ comfort, we need to make a distinction between their needs and their expectations,” says Marilyne Andersen, coordinator of the SWICE project and head of EPFL’s Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID). Whereas needs refer to the minimum conditions required for us to stay in good health, expectations are shaped by the society we live in, our personal preferences, outdoor climate and cultural factors.“It’s clear that lifestyles oriented towards needs rather than expectations would be better for the environment,” says Andersen. “But ironically, there are some cases where some of the occupants’ core needs aren’t met – for instance, sufficient access to daylight – while expectations linked to technological progress, such as the ability to control indoor lighting with voice commands, would be. Assuming the primary purpose of buildings remains to satisfy their occupants, architects should ultimately strive to meet both needs and expectations, while making sure resources are used economically. Comfort is a subjective, relatively personal concept, although we’ve identified certain trends that apply to most people.”For example, a study by Andersen’s research group found that occupants’ thermal comfort can be influenced by the color of the lighting in the room, where redder colors gave occupants the perception of a slightly higher ambient temperature compared to bluer ones. “Studies have also shown that occupants report a greater sense of well-being when they have agency over their environment, like if they know they’ll be able to open a window,” says Andersen. The impact of factors such as indoor air quality, natural light and noise levels can be very important, with increasingly documented effects on occupants’ health. “Not getting enough daylight exposure, for example – which often occurs when people spend a lot of time indoors, where there’s typically around 100 times less light than outdoors – can have negative effects on concentration, productivity, mood, the immune system and even quality of sleep,” says Andersen.<h2 id="isPasted">“Strong, almost empathetic ties with their building”</h2>Modern buildings are equipped with an array of sensors for measuring temperature, smoke, air quality, occupancy (to adjust the lighting) and more. Some buildings also have devices that automatically control the lighting and the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for maximum efficiency. What’s more, these devices could soon be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to “learn” occupants’ habits and adjust ambient conditions accordingly in real time. For example, an AI-driven system could automatically lower a room’s temperature in the winter after confirming that it’s empty, leading to significant energy savings. Engineers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Integrated Comfort Engineering, headed by Dolaana Khovalyg, have developed these kinds of smart controllers and trained them with reinforcement learning. “Our devices can continuously and autonomously adjust the control settings for an indoor environment while aiming for several targets at once, such as lowering energy use and maximizing occupant comfort and safety,” says Khovalyg. Her team is now taking this one step further by developing models to predict the metabolic rate of individuals as they perform everyday indoor activities. These data will be used to develop control policies that automatically adjust heating or cooling in the immediate surroundings of a person.Recent advances in AI have made it a powerful tool for enabling personalized, efficient building control systems. But experts agree that humans must be the ones with the ultimate say on their indoor environments. If nothing else, the feeling of control psychologically improves the sense of comfort. Denis Lalanne, an expert in human-machine interaction at the University of Fribourg, explains: “With smart buildings, it’s almost as if occupants enter into a computer. They live and work inside an intelligent structure, and there needs to be strong, almost empathetic ties with it so that it can adjust ambient settings in exactly the right way for maximum comfort and minimal carbon emissions.” Human-Building Interaction (HBI) is a fast-growing field that puts the occupant back in the building as a player, not just a passive user.At EPFL, Andrew Sonta, the head of the Civil Engineering and Technology for Human-Oriented Sustainability Laboratory, is conducting important research in this area. “Indoor sensors not only collect data on ambient conditions, but also provide insight into how occupants interact with a building and how they affect the building’s performance,” he says. His research group has studied human-building interaction by mea-suring indicators such as power consumption and CO2 concentrations in different rooms. “People breathe in more oxygen as they speak, which could lead to an increase in the CO2 concentration of the air,” he says. “By mapping out these data, we can get an idea of the occupants’ social use of a building.”Innovative technology will go a long way towards reaching the twin goal of greater occupant comfort and less energy use. But as a society, we also need to adapt our expectations. Scientists in the SWICE project are thus trying out new approaches in a number of “living labs” – real-world experimentation spaces where they work directly with the occupants of residential and office buildings to see how new approaches fit in with occupants’ daily activities. “Interventions in living labs are co-created through an active collaboration with their residents and thus future users, thereby heightening awareness about these interventions,” says Andersen. “Their effects are then tested, measured and studied under real-world conditions to give us concrete data. This serves as a pilot project to design future interventions that would be relevant to more open contexts and could be conducted on a larger scale.” When it comes to human-building interaction, engineers can use different kinds of sensors to better understand occupants’ needs and improve buildings’ ability to meet them. Sensors can also enhance the way information about a building is transmitted to its occupants. “Input is required from both sides,” says Lalanne. “Machines can’t predict everything on their own, and work still needs to be done on how they can communicate their operating conditions to occupants.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1730247330188-bef03cf4.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">© 2024 EPFL - Illustration by Jeanne Guerard<h2 id="isPasted">Tomorrow’s housing will be collective and integrated into urban planning</h2>Is the clichéd house with a white picket fence on its way to extinction? According to 2022 figures from the Federal Statistical Office, single-family homes currently account for over half of Switzerland’s residences (although the size of these homes has shrunk considerably over the past 50 years owing to the high cost of land). Yet in view of the housing shortage in large Swiss cities, the push to stop land take and, especially, the goal of preserving biodiversity and cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, the trend will probably be to shift towards collective housing designed according to a new, more ecological form of urban architecture that responds to the challenges of climate change.“As part of SWICE, we’re examining how the notion of energy savings can be applied to Switzerland’s urban centers,” says Andersen. “This involves reconciling the complex factors making up an individual’s well-being with the degree of behavior change that people are willing to accept. Our approach incorporates the concept of quality of life through designs for public spaces, vegetation – including the capacity for vegetation to lower urban temperatures – the spacing of buildings, and the potential dynamics of building use. We’re also looking at the energy footprint of urban transportation systems, notably pertaining to commuting.”

In the future, buildings will provide enhanced, more personalized comfort to occupants while also achieving zero carbon emissions. This will be possible thanks to advances in sensors and AI, enabling new ways of interacting with our environments while leaving ultimate control in occupants’ hands.

Towards comfortable, interactive and zero-carbon buildings

The Challenge: Overcoming Limitations of Conventional Methods<a href="https://hoedtke.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hoedtke</a> Metall- und Lasertechnik, a company with over 85 years of experience in metal processing, faced a unique challenge. A customer required the production of safety-relevant pipe bends, which needed to be welded using an orbital welding system due to safety regulations. However, the geometry of the pipe sections made it impossible to clamp them using standard fixtures. The conventional approach would have necessitated significant modifications to the welding system, leading to increased costs and extended lead times. The Solution: Custom Fixtures through Metal 3D PrintingTo resolve this issue, Hoedtke turned to metal 3D printing, specifically using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technology. By designing and producing customized clamping jaws that perfectly matched the curvature of the pipe bends, the company was able to create fixtures that could securely hold the pipes in place during the welding process.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzI4Mzc4ODE4MjMwLUhvZWR0a2UgQ0FELnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 373px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">This approach allowed for the direct transition from CAD models to functional parts without the need for the lengthy preparation processes typical of traditional manufacturing. The entire production cycle, from design to final use, was completed in a mere few days—significantly faster than conventional methods.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzI4Mzc4OTAzMjMzLVNwYW5uYmFja2VuK1JvaHJfMS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 409px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Benefits of Metal 3D Printing in Fixture Construction <ol><li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="numbered">Significant Time Reduction: The lead time for producing the clamping jaws was reduced by 64%, thanks to the streamlined process chain. The ability to quickly transition from design to production without intermediate steps like tool creation or material procurement was a key factor in this efficiency.</li><li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="numbered">Optimized Design Flexibility: Metal 3D printing enabled the creation of fixtures with complex geometries that would have been impossible or highly impractical with traditional manufacturing methods. The resulting clamping jaws were not only functional but also highly customized to the specific requirements of the pipe bends, ensuring reliable and secure welding.</li><li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="numbered">Cost Efficiency: By eliminating the need for extensive modifications to the existing welding system and reducing the overall workload, metal 3D printing offered a cost-effective solution. The ability to quickly produce additional or modified fixtures as needed further enhanced this benefit.</li><li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="numbered">High Mechanical and Thermal Load Capacity: The clamping jaws, made from stainless steel 1.4404/316L, demonstrated high durability and resistance to the stresses of the welding process. This ensured the longevity and reliability of the fixtures, providing a robust solution for the customer’s needs.</li></ol><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1728379312871-Spannbacke+%2BRohr_2-min.jpg" style="width: 606px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> Conclusion: A Future-Ready ApproachThe case of Hoedtke Metall- und Lasertechnik demonstrates the great potential of metal 3D printing in fixture construction. By leveraging this technology, companies can achieve unparalleled design freedom, significant reductions in lead time, and cost savings, all while meeting the complex demands of modern manufacturing processes.

Metal 3D printing has emerged as a game-changing technology, also in the construction of custom fixtures. The perfect example for this is the case study on Hoedtke Metall- und Lasertechnik, which illustrates how metal additive meets the demands of complex projects and delivers significant advantages

Metal 3d printing in fixture construction

This article was discussed in our <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/b921c890-089c-4f02-b05d-59a0c9850785?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), civil engineers can inspect large-scale infrastructure more efficiently and cost-effectively, while also monitoring the progression of damage severity over time. A team of EPFL researchers has demonstrated the feasibility of an AI-driven method for crack detection, growth and monitoring, and will soon test it on the railway section between Zermatt and Brig in Valais Canton.AI can help improve railway safety by enabling automated inspections of tracks, crossties, ballasts and retaining walls. Researchers at EPFL’s Intelligent Maintenance and Operations Systems (IMOS) Laboratory have developed an AI-driven method that improves the efficiency of crack detection in concrete structures. Their research, recently published in Automation in Construction, introduces a novel method that employs explainable artificial intelligence, or a form of AI which allows users to understand the basis of AI decisions.“We trained an algorithm to differentiate between images with and without cracks in concrete walls [a binary classification task] by feeding it hundreds of image samples from both categories. Then we asked the algorithm to highlight which pixels it used to make its decision,” says Florent Forest, a scientist at the IMOS lab and the study’s lead author. The algorithm successfully identified the pixels corresponding to cracks. “With our approach, users can feed the algorithm images taken over several years of a section of railway – or of any other kind of infrastructure that’s inspected regularly – and ask it to quantify the severity of cracks in walls and crossties over time. This helps infrastructure operators plan their maintenance more effectively,” he says.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzI3NzY1MzQwMzA2LTRiZTNmODk0LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Concrete crossties must be maintained by rail network operators. © iStock PhotosEnhanced inspectionsCurrently, railway operators regularly inspect the condition of infrastructure such as retaining walls by using predefined criteria, where grades are assigned by experienced inspectors. However, this process is often prone to subjective evaluations and makes it difficult to track changes over time, especially when different inspectors assess the same section of infrastructure at different points in time.Thanks to advancements in digitalization, railway operators can monitor track conditions using a specialized monitoring coach equipped with various measuring devices and side and floor cameras for the visual inspection of rails, concrete crossties and retaining walls. By using these AI-driven systems for damage severity quantification, the inspection process can be automated, making it more objective, accurate and easier to compare over time.The EPFL research team will test its method on sections of railway between Zermatt and Brig and between Brig and Disentis. These sections include a number of retaining walls of different shapes and materials, making the task significantly challenging for the algorithm. The team has already collected drone images, along with those from the monitoring coach, and will use its AI algorithm to assist the railway operator in monitoring its infrastructure more frequently and systematically.<hr>References<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2024.105497" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florent Forest, Hugo Porta, Devis Tuia and Olga Fink, “From classification to segmentation with explainable AI: A study on crack detection and growth monitoring,” Automation in Construction, September 2024.</a>

The Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn network links the plain to Zermatt. © iStock Photos

A team of EPFL researchers has demonstrated the feasibility of an AI-driven method for crack detection, growth and monitoring, and will soon test it on the railway section between Zermatt and Brig in Valais Canton.

AI helps detect and monitor infrastructure defects

In this episode, we explore an innovative use of earth-based materials in 3D printing by ETH Zurich researchers to revolutionize the construction industry with sustainable and eco-friendly building techniques to pave the way for greener architecture and sustainable living.

Podcast: 3 Reasons Why You Should Print Your Next Home

Inspired by the architecture of human bone’s tough outer layer, engineers at Princeton have developed a cement-based material that is 5.6 times more damage-resistant than standard counterparts. The bio-inspired design allows the material to resist cracking and avoid sudden failure, unlike conventional, brittle cement-based counterparts.In a Sept. 10 <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.202313904" target="_blank">article</a> in the journal Advanced Materials, the research team led by <a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/faculty/reza-moini" target="_blank">Reza Moini</a>, an assistant professor of <a href="https://cee.princeton.edu/" target="_blank">civil and environmental engineering</a>, and Shashank Gupta, a third-year Ph.D. candidate, demonstrate that cement paste deployed with a tube-like architecture can significantly increase resistance to crack propagation and improve the ability to deform without sudden failure.“One of the challenges in engineering brittle construction materials is that they fail in an abrupt, catastrophic fashion,” Gupta said.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1726788749303-For-Web-16x9-Moini-Gupta_091124_0008-2048x1152.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The architecture resists crack propagation and toughens the material.In brittle construction materials used in building and civil infrastructure, strength ensures ability to sustain loads, while toughness supports resistance to cracking and spread of damage in the structure. The proposed technique tackles those problems by creating a material that is tougher than conventional counterparts while maintaining strength.Moini said the key to the improvement lies in the purposeful design of internal architecture, by balancing the stresses at the crack front with the overall mechanical response.“We use theoretical principles of fracture mechanics and statistical mechanics to improve materials’ fundamental properties ‘by design’,” he said.The team was inspired by human cortical bone, the dense outer shell of human femurs that provides strength and resists fracture. Cortical bone consists of elliptical tubular components known as osteons, embedded weakly in an organic matrix. This unique architecture deflects cracks around osteons. This prevents abrupt failure and increases overall resistance to crack propagation, Gupta said.The team’s bio-inspired design incorporates cylindrical and elliptical tubes within the cement paste that interact with propagating cracks.“One expects the material to become less resistant to cracking when hollow tubes are incorporated,” Moini said. “We learned that by taking advantage of the tube geometry, size, shape, and orientation, we can promote crack-tube interaction to enhance one property without sacrificing another.”The team discovered that such enhanced crack-tube interaction initiates a stepwise toughening mechanism, where the crack is first trapped by the tube and then delayed from propagation, leading to additional energy dissipation at each interaction and step.“What makes this stepwise mechanism unique is that each crack extension is controlled, preventing sudden, catastrophic failure,” said Gupta. “Instead of breaking all at once, the material withstands progressive damage, making it much tougher.”Unlike traditional methods that strengthen cement-based materials by adding fibers or plastics, the Princeton team’s approach relies on geometric design. By manipulating the structure of the material itself, they achieve significant improvements in toughness without the need for additional material.In addition to improving fracture toughness, the researchers introduced a new method to quantify the degree of disorder, an important quantity for design. Based on statistical mechanics, the team introduced parameters to quantify the degree of disorder in architected materials. This allowed the researchers to create a numerical framework reflecting the degree of disorder of the architecture.The researchers said the new framework provides a more accurate representation of the material’s arrangements, moving towards a spectrum from ordered to random, beyond the simple binary classifications of periodic and non-periodic. Moini said that the study makes a distinction with approaches that confuse irregularity and perturbation with statistical disorder such as Voronoi tessellation and perturbation methods.“This approach gives us a powerful tool to describe and design materials with a tailored degree of disorder,” Moini said. “Using advanced fabrication methods such as additive manufacturing can further promote the design of more disordered and mechanically favorable structures and allow for scaling up of these tubular designs for civil infrastructure components with concrete.”The research team has also recently&nbsp;<a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2024/08/30/special-twist-makes-cracking-easier-resist" target="_blank">developed</a> <a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2024/06/11/seashells-cement-nature-inspires-tougher-building-material" target="_blank">techniques</a> <a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2023/06/05/lasers-pave-way-better-use-cement" target="_blank">allowing</a> for a great deal of precision using robotics and additive manufacturing. By applying them to new architectures, and combinations of hard or soft materials within the tubes, they hope to expand the further the possibilities of applications in construction materials.“We’ve only begun to explore the possibilities,” Gupta said. “There are many variables to investigate, such as applying the degree of disorder to the size, shape, and orientation of the tubes in the material. These principles could be applied to other brittle materials to engineer more damage-resistant structures.”<hr>The paper, “Tough Cortical Bone-Inspired Tubular Architected Cement-Based Material with Disorder,” was published on September 10, 2024 in Advanced Materials. Funding for the project was provided by the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2238992) and the CMMI Division Grant (ECI, 2129566).

Researchers Reza Moini and Shashank Gupta create stronger and more durable building materials. Photos by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

Inspired by the architecture of human bone’s tough outer layer, engineers at Princeton have developed a cement-based material that is 5.6 times more damage-resistant than standard counterparts.

Tougher concrete, inspired by bone

In an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51640-y" target="_blank" id="isPasted">article</a> published Aug. 29 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers led by <a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/faculty/reza-moini" target="_blank">Reza Moini</a>, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton, describe how their designs increased resistance to cracking by as much as 63% compared to conventional cast concrete.The researchers were inspired by the double-helical structures that make up the scales of an ancient fish lineage called coelacanths (pronounced see-luh-kanth.) Moini said that nature often uses clever architecture to mutually increase material properties such as strength and fracture resistance.To generate these mechanical properties, the researchers proposed a design that arranges concrete into individual strands in three dimensions. The design uses robotic additive manufacturing to weakly connect each strand to its neighbor. The researchers used different design schemes to combine many stacks of strands into larger functional shapes, such as beams. The design schemes rely on slightly changing the orientation of each stack to create a double-helical arrangement (two orthogonal layers twisted across the height) in the beams that is key to improving the material’s resistance to crack propagation.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1726613316500-Highlighted-Figure.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Inspired by the ancient coelacanth fish, the researchers used a strand-by-strand, double twisting architecture to enhance the concrete’s toughness. Image by Princeton UniversityThe paper refers to the underlying resistance in crack propagation as a ‘toughening mechanism.’ The technique, detailed in the journal article, relies on a combination of mechanisms that can either shield cracks from propagating, &nbsp;interlock the fractured surfaces, or deflect cracks from a straight path once they are formed, Moini said.Shashank Gupta, a graduate student at Princeton and co-author of the work, said that creating architected concrete material with the necessary high geometric fidelity at scale in building components such as beams and columns sometimes requires the use of robots. This is because it currently can be very challenging to create purposeful internal arrangements of materials for structural applications without the automation and precision of robotic fabrication. Additive manufacturing, in which a robot adds material strand-by-strand to create structures, allows designers to explore complex architectures that are not possible with conventional casting methods. In Moini’s lab, researchers use large, industrial robots integrated with advanced real-time processing of materials that are capable of creating full-sized structural components that are also aesthetically pleasing.As part of the work, the researchers also developed a customized solution to address the tendency of fresh concrete to deform under its weight. When a robot deposits concrete to form a structure, the weight of the upper layers can cause the concrete below to deform, compromising the geometric precision of the resulting architected structure. To address this, the researchers aimed to better control the concrete’s rate of hardening to prevent distortion during fabrication. They used an advanced, two-component extrusion system implemented at the robot’s nozzle in the lab, said Gupta, who led the extrusion efforts of the study. The specialized robotic system has two inlets: one inlet for concrete and another for a chemical accelerator. These materials are mixed within the nozzle just before extrusion, allowing the accelerator to expedite the concrete curing process while ensuring precise control over the structure and minimizing deformation. By precisely calibrating the amount of accelerator, the researchers gained better control over the structure and minimized deformation in the lower levels.The article, “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51640-y" target="_blank">Tough Double-Bouligand Architected Concreteitious Material using Robotic Additive Manufacturing</a>,” was published Aug. 29 in Nature Communications.&nbsp;Besides Moini, authors include Arjun Prihar, Shashank Gupta, and Hadi Esmaeeli of Princeton. Support for the project was provided in part by the National Science Foundation CMMI Advanced Manufacturing Program.

Robots supply the precision and reliability needed to implement the design. Photo and video by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

Taking inspiration from nature, researchers from Princeton Engineering have improved crack resistance in concrete components by coupling architected designs with additive manufacturing processes and industrial robots that can precisely control materials deposition.

Double twist makes cracking easier to resist

The previous intention had been to replace it with a new UK-only conformity mark, called UKCA.<h2>What Is A Conformity Mark?</h2>CE marking is mandatory in the EU, to ensure that products traded within its sphere of influence the European Economic Area meet all the necessary health and safety regulations, environmental requirements and any specific standards applicable to the product. Products carrying the mark have been inspected and assessed by the relevant authorities, to prove that they conform with these and other applicable EU Directives. Once it passes this assessment, the product can legally be placed on the EU market.When the UK officially left the European Union on 31st January 2020, an agreement was made with the EU to redefine their trade relationships. Compliance with European regulations such as CE marking was due to be phased out under the so-called Brexit policy. Enter the&nbsp;<a title="What Is UKCA Marking?" href="https://www.rowse.co.uk/blog/post/what-is-ukca-marketing" target="_blank">UKCA</a> marking system. The new term stood for Conformity Assessed and introduced a replacement product certification system for British manufactured products.The UKCA mark is very similar in meaning and applicability to the CE mark, just limited to a smaller economic arena. The standards still cover areas including product safety, eco-friendly design and durability, in a wide range of different products. These include electrical goods, gas appliances, construction materials, toys, fireworks, radio equipment and medical devices.<h2>What's Happening To UKCA And CE Marking?</h2>The new UK marking regulations were due to take effect on Brexit day 31st December 2020 and be enforceable from 1st January 2021. However, in a government press release dated 24th August 2021, it was announced that industries could continue to use the CE mark until 1st January 2023. At this point, the government were offering manufacturers more time to make the changeover, in part due to the huge impact on businesses of the pandemic. A further statement was then released on 14th November 2022 that allowed use and recognition of CE marking to be extended until the end of December 2024. The new mark would then become mandatory from 1st January 2025.The latest decision therefore follows two previous deferrals of the policy being implemented. This is partly due to consistent opposition from UK businesses faced with a large and needless expenditure on product conformity assessment. UK manufacturers whose products are sold both nationally and in the EU would have been subjected to two separate conformity assessments for a single product. This would result in providing two different conformity assessment marks, increasing the total costs of bringing a product to market.Despite their Brexit policy climbdown, the UK government has not yet abandoned the UKCA mark. Manufacturers are still at liberty to use it, though why a manufacturer would choose a UK-limited conformity assessment instead of (or even as well as) a broadly recognised conformity assessment is puzzling. It is possible that the recent decision will lead to manufacturers cherry-picking from the UK and EU standards for their products.Also, the UKCA mark applies only to goods for sale in England, Wales and Scotland, excluding Northern Ireland because of ongoing politico-economic issues. Businesses selling electronics, consumer goods and industrial products may now use either UKCA or CE marks for products placed on the British market. In the original concept, the new mark could be used in tandem with the existing CE mark in most of the UK, but products intended for Northern Ireland or other outside markets had to continue using the CE mark.<h2>What's Included In The New Rule?</h2>The Department for Business and Trade has offered an indefinite extension of CE mark usage to manufacturers in the following 18 product categories:<ul><li>Radio equipment</li><li>Pressure equipment</li><li>Simple pressure vessels</li><li>Measuring instruments</li><li>Measuring container bottles</li><li>Non-automatic weighing instruments</li><li>Gas appliances</li><li>Machinery</li><li>Equipment for use outdoors</li><li>Recreational craft and personal watercraft</li><li>Lifts</li><li>Toys</li><li>Aerosols</li><li>Pyrotechnics</li><li>ATEX equipment</li><li>Personal protective equipment</li><li>low-voltage electrical equipment</li><li>Items subject to electromagnetic compatibility regulations</li></ul>This still leaves many other key product sectors out in the cold. Manufacturers for the construction industry, those making marine and rail products and several others are now suffering considerable uncertainty about product marking. The government has promised that it will communicate specific plans for those product sectors in due course. This follows a previous statement on 9th December 2022, when it was announced that CE marking for construction products would continue to be recognised until 30th June 2025, in order to allow businesses to prepare for the UK mark.Furthermore, its significant that there are some important exclusions to the indefinite extension policy for CE marking. It does not currently cover medical devices, which is a concern for their manufacturers. For this reason, the regulatory agency for medicines and healthcare products is consulting separately for conformity policy in the medical device field.<h2>Compliance Confusion</h2>The government is putting a&nbsp;<a title="UK To Retain EU Safety Mark In Latest Brexit Climbdown" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/aug/01/uk-eu-safety-mark-brexit-climbdown" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">positive spin</a> on the deferment decision, saying that it was for the benefit of the industry to postpone a cliff-edge cut-off point. It emphasised that businesses would now be able to cut back on unnecessary costs, which was precisely the objection to the changeover in the first place. In a slick political sleight-of-hand, it was suggested that it was the government who was taking the initiative in cutting through red tape and associated cost burdens when it was, in fact, a response to industry objections to their introduction.Many companies have already laid out considerable sums to comply with UKCA marking to meet the previous deadlines. There is, of course, no reference in the announcements to suggest that any form of reimbursement will be offered. In the long run, manufacturers have at least breathed a temporary sigh of relief, as the decision safeguards their competitiveness, increases business confidence and reinstates the UK as a viable destination for investment.

In a change of policy, the UK Government announced at the beginning of August 2023 that UK businesses may now continue indefinitely to use the CE (Conformite Europeenne, or European Conformity) mark on the majority of their goods intended for the UK market. 

UKCA & CE Marking - Whats Happening?

<section id="isPasted">Three years ago, the <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/news/news-overview/30-04-2021-first-resident-of-3d-printed-concrete-house-in-eindhoven-receives-key" target="_blank">first concrete-printed</a> house that met all the strict building requirements rolled out of the 3D printer. The house, known as Milestone, became the first 3D concrete printed house in Europe that is actually inhabited. Now the consortium - in which Eindhoven University of Technology plays a major role - announces that there will be a sequel. In the first quarter of 2025, construction will begin on four new and improved 3D-printed owner-occupied homes.</section><section tabindex="-1">The new homes will be located in the Bosrijk neighborhood in Eindhoven. After the summer vacations, the sale of the homes, which are between 110 and 125 square meters in size, will start. Realization of the homes will start in early 2025. Preparations are already in full swing. The planning says that the new residents will be able to move into the homes as early as the summer of 2025.&nbsp;The most striking feature of the four new homes is that they will be scaled up from one to two and even three floors. In addition, the lessons learned from the first home will be incorporated into the development of the next four houses.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1718671503386-csm_Milestone-01_699d7f3bc0.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Another sketch of the 3D printed houses.For example, the printed facade is now constructed separately from a load-bearing inner wall and a loose outer wall with insulation material in between, giving the concept a circular character and allowing the printed parts to be reused. In addition, this makes implementation a lot easier and allows designers to use the printed concrete separately in the future, in combination with other building materials.Another major development is guaranteeing consistent quality of the printed concrete. To this end, the researchers at TU/e have modeled all the processes in the printer and shared that knowledge with the printing factory of partner Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix. This combination of knowledge development and years of company experience makes it possible to make the step to printing four homes at the same time, with the assurance that the printed concrete meets the set quality requirements.<h2>Partnership</h2>Project Milestone is a unique partnership between the Municipality of Eindhoven, the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and industrial partners Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix, construction company Van Wijnen, Houben/Van Mierlo Architects and Witteveen+Bos. These parties have entered into the collaboration to realize a total of five concrete printed homes in Eindhoven.Professor Theo Salet leads the group at TU/e where research is being done on concrete printing and is one of the initiators behind this partnership. This innovative technique revolves around digitizing the entire construction process, from design to execution. This leads to time savings and therefore shorter construction project lead times, as well as higher productivity and associated lower construction costs.The concrete printing technique specifically adds two advantages. The technique is sustainable due to lower material consumption and allows industrial customization due to great freedom of form. "The focus is currently mainly on scaling up the technology. Only then will the technology also become widely available and the advantages can be exploited," Salet said.&nbsp;<h2>Upscaling</h2>Scaling up this innovative printing technology cannot be done alone. Concrete, printer and design must be closely aligned. This is only possible through the cooperation of all partners in a construction team. Salet is proud that the Milestone project is now getting a nice follow-up, and does not expect it to stop here. "There are still several things in development that we have not been able to apply at this point. Think of the sustainable and smart concrete compositions where the concrete measures what the condition is, but also reinforcement systems with which floors can also be printed in the future."At TU/e, for a subsequent project, work is also continuing on the development of a digital copy of reality (digital twin) with which, through artificial intelligence, the printer itself monitors the quality and adjusts where necessary.</section>

A sketch of the 3D printed homes appearing in the Bosrijk neighborhood in Eindhoven.

Construction project Milestone continues with four new and improved 3D-printed owner-occupied homes that now also go up in the air.

First 3D printed multi-story houses ready by 2025

Inspired by the material that makes up oyster and abalone shells, engineers at Princeton have created a new cement composite that is 17 times more crack-resistant than standard cement and 19 times more able to stretch and deform without breaking. The findings could eventually help increase the crack resistance of a wide range of brittle ceramic materials, from concrete to porcelain.“If we can engineer concrete to resist crack propagation, we can make it tougher, safer and more durable,” said researcher Shashank Gupta, a graduate student in <a href="https://moini.princeton.edu/" target="_blank">Reza Moini’s lab</a> in the <a href="https://cee.princeton.edu/" target="_blank">Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering</a>.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1718324542716-for-web-16X9-Moini-Gupta_052124_0027-2048x1152.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The researchers created beams with alternating layers of hexagonal cement tiles and thin polymer.In an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202313516" target="_blank">article</a> published June 10 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the research team led by <a href="https://engineering.princeton.edu/faculty/reza-moini" target="_blank">Moini</a>, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, reported that creating alternating layers of tabulated cement paste and thin polymer can significantly increase crack resistance and the ability to deform without completely breaking (ductility).Moini’s lab often looks to biology for inspiration in its work on building materials. In this case, the team developed a composite inspired by a natural material called nacre, or mother of pearl, which is found inside certain shells. Gupta said that at the microscopic level, nacre consists of hexagonal tablets of the hard mineral aragonite glued together by a soft biopolymer.The aragonite tablets contribute significantly to nacre’s strength, while the biopolymer adds flexibility and crack resistance. The toughening mechanism involves the aragonite tablets sliding under stress, which, along with other mechanisms, allows the nacre to dissipate energy. This sliding action, combined with the crack deflection and biopolymer deformation, enables nacre to endure substantial mechanical stress while maintaining its structural integrity, making it both strong and resilient.“This synergy between the hard and soft components is crucial to nacre’s remarkable mechanical properties,” Gupta said.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1718324561304-for-web-16X9-Moini-Gupta_052124_0024-2048x1152.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Reza Moini, left, and Shashank GuptaThe Princeton team has developed innovative composites inspired by nacre, utilizing conventional construction materials like Portland cement paste combined with a limited amount of polymer. They alternated layers of cement paste sheets with a highly stretchable polymer, polyvinyl siloxane. The researchers created multi-layered small beams by alternating cement paste sheets with thin layers of polymer. These beams were then subjected to a notched three-point bending test, where each beam was tested under flexure to evaluate crack resistance (or fracture toughness).In the experiment, the researchers produced three types of beams. The first type consisted of alternating layers of cement paste sheets and thin polymer. For the second type, they used a laser to engrave hexagonal grooves into the cement paste sheets. These grooved sheets were then stacked with thin polymer layers in between. The third type was similar to the third, but the researchers cut through the cement completely, creating separated hexagonal tablets connected by the polymer layer. These cement-paste tablets lay atop the polymer layer similarly to how aragonite lies on the biopolymer layer in nacre. These three types were compared against a reference solid (monolithic) cast cement paste counterpart.The experiments revealed that the failure of the reference beams was brittle — meaning that the beams broke suddenly and completely upon reaching their failure point, with no ductility. The beams with alternating layers, both grooved and non-grooved, demonstrated increased ductility and resistance to cracking.The most significant results were observed in the beams with completely separated hexagonal tablets, which are similar to nacre. These beams exhibited 19 times the ductility and 17 times the fracture toughness while retaining nearly the same strength as the solid cement paste beam.“Our bio-inspired approach is not to simply mimic nature’s microstructure but to learn from the underlying principles and use that to inform the engineering of human-made materials. One of the key mechanisms that makes a nacreous shell tough is the sliding of the tablet at the nanometer level. Here, we focus on the mechanism of tablet sliding by engineering the built-in tabulated structure of cement paste in balance with the properties of the polymer and the interface between them.” Moini said. “In other words, we intentionally engineer defects in the brittle materials as a way to make them stronger by design.“The researchers noted that the findings are based on lab conditions and that it would take additional work and research to develop the techniques for use in the field. They are working to determine whether the structures’ fracture toughness and ductility apply to other ceramic materials beyond cement paste, such as concrete.“We are only scratching the surface; there will be numerous design possibilities to explore and engineer the constitutive hard and soft material properties, the interfaces, and the geometric aspects that play into the fundamental size effects in construction materials,” Moini said.<hr>The paper, “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202313516" target="_blank">Tough and Ductile Architected Nacre-Like Cementitious Composites</a>,” was published June 10 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Besides Moini and Gupta, the article was coauthored by Hadi S. Esmaeeli, an associate research scholar at Princeton. The project was funded in part by National Science Foundation CAREER Award #2238992 through the Engineering for Civil Infrastructure program.

Inspired by nature, researchers at Princeton have created material that surpasses conventional cement paste in crack resistance and ductility. Photos by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

Inspired by the material that makes up oyster and abalone shells, engineers at Princeton have created a new cement composite that is 17 times more crack-resistant than standard cement and 19 times more able to stretch and deform without breaking.

From seashells to cement, nature inspires tougher building material

Microtunneling is a trenchless construction method using a remotely controlled, steerable tunnel-boring machine for underground pipeline installation. It minimizes surface disruption, making it ideal for urban and sensitive areas. This technique ensures precise pipeline alignment and involves simultaneous excavation and pipe installation, enhancing safety and efficiency. Widely used for utilities, microtunneling's precision and reduced environmental impact make it a preferred choice for constructing water, sewage, and other infrastructure systems in congested settings.This article highlights the progress a young engineering student team from Switzerland has made with its self-developed micro tunnel boring machine. It describes the project on its way to revolutionizing the tunneling industry with specific regard to its innovative 3D-printing-like tunneling mechanism.<h2 dir="ltr">The Journey of Swissloop Tunneling</h2><a href="https://swisslooptunneling.ch/" target="_blank">Swissloop Tunneling</a> is a student group from ETH Zurich that focuses on developing innovative tunneling technologies. This team, composed of students, works on designing and testing tunnel boring machines that incorporate advanced technologies and methods. Their efforts aim to enhance the efficiency and reduce the costs of tunneling processes, contributing to the broader goal of revolutionizing tunneling to facilitate ambitious infrastructure projects, including proposed systems like the Hyperloop transportation system.Further reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/swissloop-tunneling-revolutionizing-the-tunneling-industry" target="_blank">Swissloop Tunneling: Revolutionizing the Tunneling Industry</a>Throughout the last 3 years, over 100 Swissloop Tunneling members have made contributions to a common goal: unleashing the potential of time-, cost-, and resource-efficient tunneling. In this regard, innovation is needed to accelerate the infrastructural progress to benefit society by supporting the rapid expansion of connected underground systems. Therefore, Swissloop Tunneling aims to contribute to advancements in technology, demonstrated by its two iterations of prototypical tunnel boring machines since its founding in 2020.&nbsp;Building upon its first model named Groundhog Alpha, the team has maintained the first machine components’ strengths while further extending it with technological add-ons, designing certain subsystems from scratch, conducting tests, and optimizing for higher reliability. Those efforts have now led to the current model Groundhog Beta.<h2 dir="ltr">The Groundhog Beta</h2>The current model of the association’s (micro) tunnel boring machine named Groundhog Beta consists, among others, of these functions:<h2 dir="ltr">Erosion</h2>Extracts and processes the underground material during the boring phase. At the front of the machine, where the cutterhead is placed, a special soil-conditioning foam is used to help decompose the sticky clay ground in Bastrop (TX), where the prototype was being tested. The erosion subsystem can further handle small to medium-sized rocks by crushing them into smaller pieces. A suctioning mechanism then transports the eroded material through and out of the machine. At this point, an external sedimentation system is ensuring a constant circulation of used water and the removal of the extracted material.<grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="dnXmp"></grammarly-extension><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="dnXmp"></grammarly-extension><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEzNzExOTM0NDY1LXguanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="groundhog-beta-soil-conditioning-foam">Fig. 1: Groundhog Beta tackling clay using soil conditioning foam<h2 dir="ltr">Navigation</h2>Consists of a two-component system. The steering component allows for angled digging and enables withholding stronger vibrations. It consists of a comprehensive sensory system to achieve an accurate autonomous movement of the machine. The propulsion component gets the machine moving forward by coordinated gripper plates that push the machine forward through the tunnel wall.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEzNzEyMDA4NjA4LURTQzA1MDk5ICgxKS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="groundhog-beta-hydraulic-powered-propulsion">Fig. 2: Swissloop Tunneling's hydraulics-powered propulsion component<h2 dir="ltr">Starting platform</h2>Placed in the launching area or on the surface, the starting platform enables the machine to launch from various angles.<h2 dir="ltr">Tunnel liner</h2>One of the most innovative aspects of Groundhog Beta is its tunnel lining mechanism. The liner mechanism simultaneously builds the interior tunnel wall while continuously moving forward with the tunnel boring machine, acting like a 3D printer. As it stands right now, a mechanism of this type has not been tested in tunneling yet and provides an ecologically sustainable solution regarding the reusability of the wall material. By using a pneumatic system, a polypropylene granulate to later build the tunnel wall gets transported into the machine. It then gets extruded by melting it and steering the viscous material into the right shape, finally being cooled down to achieve its intended tunnel wall structure. This mechanism has been optimized since last year - especially in terms of reliability. Additionally, an external testing system was designed to make isolated testing of this subsystem’s functionality possible. In the end, a 15mm thick tunnel wall is produced, being able to withhold the intense forces of machine and earth pressure.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEzNzExOTc1MDE2LURTQzA2NDY1LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="groundhog-beta-tunnel-lining">Fig. 3: Polymer starting to come out of the tunnel lining component on the right<h2 dir="ltr">Achievements Over the Years</h2>In addition to refining the engineering processes, the Swissloop Tunneling team has consistently participated in every Not-a-Boring Competition an event aimed at fostering innovation in tunneling technologies. Not-a-Boring Competition is organized each year in the USA by The Boring Company, founded by Elon Musk.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OJ0tIHHXuS4??si=AofBJ4PDGhPfTxmg&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true">&nbsp;</iframe><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/osnFHy8KeYI?&amp;ab_channel=SwissloopTunneling&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The team has exhibited its excellence by winning awards for innovation and design at the first two competitions, held in Las Vegas (NV) in 2021 and Bastrop (TX) in 2023. Ahead of the 2024 competition in Bastrop, the team dedicated significant efforts to optimizing their machine and making key adaptations. These efforts paid off spectacularly at the Not-a-Boring Competition 2024, where Swissloop Tunneling triumphed by winning 1st Place Overall and the Champion Award.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEzNzEyMDY1NjgyLURTQzA2MDg4LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="swissloop-tunneling-team-picture">Fig. 4: The Swissloop Tunneling TeamWith these achievements, the team remains committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation. Swissloop Tunneling will continue to enhance and refine its machinery, further developing its capabilities to fully realize the remarkable potential of advanced tunneling technology.<h2 dir="ltr">Conclusion</h2>The advancements in tunneling technology showcased by the recent developments of the micro tunnel boring machines are reshaping the landscape of construction and infrastructure. By integrating innovative 3D-printing-like methods for tunnel lining, these machines are setting new benchmarks for efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability in tunnel construction.&nbsp;Such technological breakthroughs promise to revolutionize urban development and the future of transportation, making the once-distant dreams of projects like the Hyperloop increasingly attainable.

Innovative micro tunnel boring technologies are revolutionizing underground construction, setting new standards in efficiency and sustainability, and paving the way for future transformative infrastructure projects like the Hyperloop.

Transforming Underground Construction with Swissloop Tunneling

AMB Vapor Monitoring demonstrate how innovation and the right technology can drive efficiency, accuracy, and cost savings while ensuring a safer environment for all

A foundational challenge to construction is ensuring that the earth below a building is stable enough to support it: a challenge AMB Vapor Monitoring met by creating a custom Arduino solution – going from idea to installation in a matter of months: “And it works. It just literally works.” 

AMB Vapor Monitoring Leverages Faster, Cloud-connected Reporting

For thousands of years, humans have been building houses, roads, bridges, and markets that allowed us to live safer and more productive lives. But the tools of the trade have lacked the capability to let us do so as effectively as possible. &nbsp;Now, belatedly but perhaps inevitably, smart connectivity is helping to lay the foundations for improved productivity and worker safety in the all-important architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To that end, technology companies are introducing a wide range of innovative products to power connected construction. &nbsp;<h2>The&nbsp;critical role of the&nbsp;building&nbsp;sector&nbsp;</h2>From humble beginnings, construction has culminated in giant cities where 55 percent of the world’s population resides, a figure, according to the UN, that’s set to rise to 68 percent by 2050.&nbsp; Today, the AEC sector is the largest in the global economy, responsible for employing around seven percent of the world’s working population, and about 13 percent of world’s GDP ($10 trillion) according to analyst McKinsey. And because around 50 percent of a construction project’s total cost relates to labor, &nbsp;skilled workers are the key to a project’s success.&nbsp;<h2>Tech&nbsp;provides a&nbsp;solution&nbsp;to productivity challenges&nbsp;</h2>Yet despite its importance, the construction industry has earned a reputation for being slow to innovate. As a result, the sector has often suffered from severe productivity challenges.&nbsp;Technology offers a solution for raising the game. The signs are promising; digital adoption is accelerating on the back of strong demand for more infrastructure, a shortage of skilled labor, and increased expectations for data transparency and integration. An estimated $50 billion was invested in AEC tech between 2020 and 2022—85 percent higher than the previous three years—according to the latest McKinsey research.&nbsp;Growth is being driven by increased uptake of the IoT, big data analytics, and AI, as well as a greater emphasis on sustainability. That’s allowing companies to take advantage of real time field reporting by connecting and tracking materials, equipment, and workers at the construction site.&nbsp;<h2>Enhanced productivity&nbsp;boosts the bottom line&nbsp;</h2>A construction project manager can now access a management platform with real-time project data and task alerts. This information enables fast decisions and speeds up workflows from the back office to the field, and onwards to the extended project team. And it removes the project silos that limit collaboration. These practices will also lead to improved margins.&nbsp;&nbsp;Connected construction offers several other advantages over manual operations. For one, it can improve communication and transparency on the worksite; for example, consider a worker reporting back to a supervisor via a smart device, or sensors and tags embedded in equipment providing key updates such as the location and status of a concrete mixer. Or connected vehicles like dump trucks, backhoe loaders, excavators, and mobile cranes, could enable location detection and monitoring of usage via embedded cellular and GNSS technology.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Monitoring essential construction materials&nbsp;</h2>A critical requirement for the construction industry is monitoring essential construction materials like concrete for quality control. This requirement led German company ConcR to develop a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Nordic-news/2023/11/The-ConcR-Box-employs-Nordic-Semiconductors-nRF9160-SiP" target="_blank">material monitoring solution</a>&nbsp;that analyzes the characteristics of concrete as it cures, to check when it’s safe to proceed with the next stage of construction. The ConcR Sensors are attached to a rebar (a reinforcing steel bar used to strengthen concrete slabs) before the concrete is poured. The sensors provide key insights into the strength and durability of the cement or concrete by monitoring temperature, relative humidity, residual moisture, pH, and chloride levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Nordic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF9160" target="_blank">nRF9160 SiP</a>-powered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Wireless/Low-power-cellular-IoT" target="_blank">cellular IoT</a>&nbsp;solution provides data across the lifecycle of concrete and screed—a levelled layer of material applied to a floor or other surface—starting from construction until 25 years in operation. With this information, planners, engineers, contractors, and owner-operators gain data-informed insights about the condition of construction materials throughout their life.&nbsp;<h2>Putting worker safety&nbsp;first and foremost&nbsp;</h2>Beyond productivity gains, technology is essential to the safety of skilled construction workers on hazardous worksites.&nbsp;&nbsp;For example, by using sensors integrated into existing personal safety equipment such as hard hats, WakeCap Technologies’ solution connect workers across entire job sites.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Nordic-news/2021/01/Wirepas-Mesh-hard-hat-sensor-locates-wearer-across-large-sites-and-reports-activity-incidents" target="_blank">WakeCap</a>&nbsp;is a wearable product designed to overcome the challenge of “digitizing the construction sector’s field logistics and workforce”, according to the company. In operation, the hard hat-worn sensors track the wearer’s location and record knocks to the hard hat. In addition, WakeCap’s analytics compare the on-site work crew timing with staffing and project management plans, highlighting any unexpected problems early - helping avoid delays and extra costs.&nbsp;Thanks to wireless tech, construction equipment, vehicles, devices, personnel, and locations will communicate and work together using emerging connectivity platforms. Connected construction is here and the world is better for it.&nbsp;

Smart connectivity is helping to lay the foundations for improved productivity and worker safety in the all-important architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To that end, technology companies are introducing a wide range of innovative products to power connected construction.  

Construction sector building on wireless tech foundation

<h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">FREE REPORT:&nbsp;Reducing Human Driver Error and Setting Realistic Expectations with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems</h2>Thousands die or are injured each year in automobile crashes. Bringing automated driving systems technologies into the advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and connected vehicle space will help humans drive more safely and better prepare us for automated vehicles (AVs).Learn more about ADAS and ADS implementation with the goal of reaching zero deaths and serious injuries by downloading this FREE report from SAE International (valued at $50).&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAxMTc1NjkyODg5LWh1bWFuIGVycm9yLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><iframe width="540" height="740" src="https://c8056756.sibforms.com/serve/MUIFAIm7QnvQQ9ZyzkX--H5jNS-TSb9GWr5SQBXi_SUjRPpt67CBveq_yevZYMSeiJ-O1dwYw05f2kl-Q7sfNDRem1Y-03GXYZV4qkTbJeR_K_VpJzgMk_8Ry8fjyfgJ7fAMrCmcRHc1KXsSTuhIU5p5pBa3F1-TGDgOdQgcF-pU8cSTrl8JF2j2b9gl6-5e66Ro-rltcIrGxsRG" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" allowfullscreen="" style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;max-width: 100%;" class="fr-draggable" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11="true" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> <h2 dir="ltr">Electric vehicles in the construction industry</h2>The success of electric vehicles in the construction industry will largely be determined by battery prices being low enough that the total cost of ownership is cheaper than diesel alternatives. IDTechEx’s new report, “Electric Vehicles in Construction 2023-2043,” shows that there is a battery price tipping point, under which it will be cheaper over the vehicle lifetime to operate an EV. Selecting the right chemistry will be imperative for getting a low enough vehicle price. So why is a clear dichotomy seen between the batteries being deployed in China compared to Europe?Electric vehicles in construction are an emerging market. IDTechEx has built a database of more than 100 example makes and models across seven different construction-vehicle categories: mini excavators, excavators (&gt;6 tonnes), compact loaders, backhoe loaders, wheel loaders, telehandlers, and mobile cranes. However, with lots of vehicles yet to be released, only 49 database entries have confirmed chemistry information.Europe and China have more established markets for electric construction vehicles, which makes it possible to draw some conclusions about battery-chemistry trends from OEMs in these regions. What is obvious at this early stage is that Europe heavily favors NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) lithium-ion batteries, while China has chiefly chosen LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAxMTc1Nzg4MTQ4LXNhZSAxLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Six of the top 10 largest construction companies have either a prototype or concept electric mini-excavator available in 2023. Image credit: IDTechEX.Battery requirements in construction vehicles So, why would one select NMC, LFP or even lead acid? A battery that electrifies construction equipment needs to have huge capacity and low cost. Some of these machines are extremely large and usually require concrete counterbalances to handle the massive loads they encounter. What this means for electrification is that battery weight isn’t much of an issue.Power density also is not a priority. Unlike electric cars, construction vehicles do not tend to have large power-demand spikes and are more likely to operate at a steady rate for a long time. As an example, some early Tesla Model S EVs had a 60kWh battery and a 210kW motor power, meaning its battery must be able to deliver a peak of 3.5C (power divided by capacity), typical for road cars and why they tend to favor power-dense chemistries like NMC.By contrast, the Volvo L25 electric compact loader has a battery capacity of 40kWh and a maximum motor power of 36kW, so the battery is only required to discharge at a maximum of 0.9C, well below road-car expectations.The same is true when considering the larger machines. The XCMG XE270E is a 27-tonne excavator with a battery capacity of 525kWh, but its motor is a paltry 140kW (~0.27C). In fact, research in the IDTechEx report shows that the vast majority of electric construction vehicles have a peak discharge requirement of less than 1C, with one-quarter of vehicles requiring less than 0.25C peak discharge.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAxMTc1OTU1MjM4LWJhdHRlciBzYWUgMi5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Battery requirements vary depending on vehicle sizing and applications. Image credit: IDTechEXA low peak discharge requirement can be fulfilled by lead-acid batteries, which is likely why it was explored in the early days of construction electrification. The European examples that used lead acid were mainly from the mid-2010s, when lithium-ion technologies were still scaling and were much more expensive than lead acid. However, these vehicles were seriously limited, with low endurance and slow recharge times. Lead acid was replaced with lithium-ion once the newer technology became more financially viable.Both NMC and LFP offer the required performance for construction, coping with the peak discharge requirements and having high enough volumetric and gravimetric densities to fit in the machines. Speaking broadly, NMC tends to be a higher-performance battery than LFP, with better energy and power densities but coming at a premium. It would make sense then for the industry to select LFP. It offers all the needed performance while helping minimize the cost premium of building an electric vehicle – the number one priority for electric construction vehicles. So why does the European market mostly use NMC?<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JGhYizlJung?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-gtm-yt-inspected-8="true" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11="true" id="221148372" title="EC230 Electric customer pilot, the first electrified larger Volvo excavator"></iframe> Choosing between NMC and LFP The best explanation for why NMC dominates in Europe while LFP has taken off in China is a case of availability. Thus far, most of the construction-EV development in Europe has used battery-pack suppliers such as Northvolt, Forsee and Volta, and most of their products use NMC.IDTechEx’s research finds that more than 75% of the offerings from European and North American pack manufacturers use NMC. These companies have been supplying a range of industries, including heavy-duty road vehicles such as buses and trucks. These vehicles require high peak power to deal with acceleration events, hills, etc. and are better suited to NMC. But with battery pricing being a key factor in the success of electric construction vehicles, increased LFP uptake is likely in the future.Meanwhile, China already has a good supply of LFP solutions. As the country’s vehicle fleet has shifted to more electric vehicles, the domestic auto industry needed a more affordable solution that offered acceptable energy density (for an acceptable vehicle range). China’s electric construction industry has been able to build large batteries relatively quickly and deploy some huge machines, such as the already-referenced XCMG XE270E. By contrast, European and North American EV markets have focused on maximizing vehicle range, normally opting for the more expensive NMC chemistry, anticipating that their consumers will be more comfortable with the additional cost.Unfortunately, there is not much data concerning which battery chemistries North American or APAC-based OEMs favor. This is mostly because OEMs in these regions are not as far along in their electrification journeys. North America is a prime example. Caterpillar and John Deere have made a recent push with electric construction vehicles showcased at Bauma 2022, CES 2023 and CONEXPO 2023. However, these machines are still some years away from production, and battery chemistries are yet to be confirmed. An educated guess, however, would suggest that Caterpillar likely will use NMC for reasons similar to those driving decisions at European OEMs.<h3>Is sodium-ion a future candidate?</h3>Another possible contender for the construction industry is sodium-ion, an emerging chemistry that does not have an established market yet. The key thing to know is that sodium-based solutions can be produced at lower costs than lithium ones, but they will not offer the same performance capabilities. In this respect, the batteries have the same trade-offs as LFP batteries.The issue is that sodium-ion is not yet a scaled solution, so it is more expensive than both LFP and NMC while having worse performance. Sodium, therefore, does not make sense in the construction industry for the time being. However, if it can be scaled and then deliver the promised price reduction, sodium-ion could be a prime match for the needs of this nuanced market.The construction EV industry is still nascent, with few vehicles in series production. However, if recent activity and announcements are to be believed, the number of machines available in the next few years is going to explode. In IDTechEx’s report, a 10-year CAGR of 37% is forecasted, with the electric construction machine industry growing to a value of US$150 billion in 2043. All this growth will give rise to significant battery demand. Whether the solution ends up being NMC, LFP or perhaps even Na-ion, the evolution of this industry is underway and accelerating fast.Dr. James Jeffs, senior technology analyst at IDTechEx, wrote this research summary submitted to SAE Media. The "Electric Vehicles in Construction 2023-2043” report, including downloadable sample pages, can be accessed at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.idtechex.com/EVConstruction" target="_blank">www.IDTechEx.com/EVConstruction</a>.

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