Carbon Fiber Ropes Could Save a Building From an Earthquakes
Securing a building and keeping it safe from earthquakes takes a lot of work and seismic retrofitting is the way to do it. The problem that does need to be addressed is the risk of permanent damage to the building – and this relates to the way that it looks.
Securing a building and keeping it safe from earthquakes takes a lot of work and seismic retrofitting is the way to do it. The problem that does need to be addressed is the risk of permanent damage to the building – and this relates to the way that it looks. Carbon fibre could be the answer according to a company in Japan.
Called CABKOMA Strand Rod, the reinforcement material is classed as super-light and is produced by the Komatsu Seiten Fabric Laboratory. This item is so light that a garden hose weighs more than a 520- foot piece of this thermoplastic resin.
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By using this carbon fibre, shockwaves will be absorbed, and bulk will not be added. This is 90% lighter than steel and yet just as strong. It also is incredibly flexible and therefore there is not drilling needed in order to install it. All that is required here is adhesive and some screws. Rather than connecting the foundations and walls of the building together, it is the roof that is attached to the ground, so everything moves once the shockwaves hit it.
Kengo Kuma is the architect recruited to work on the HQ of Komatsu Seiten and here the strands replicate the strings of a harp as the drop to the ground. There are not as yet plans for all Japanese buildings to be wrapped this way, although fragile important constructions will be protected and yet will not be spoiled by the addition.
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Rachel Kowalski
Rachel Kowalski is the Cybersecurity Analyst at TrendinTech, where she covers vulnerabilities, ransomware, supply chain attacks, nation-state operations and the security rules shaping organizations in the United States and Europe. Before moving into journalism she worked as a threat intelligence analyst at a security vendor and later reported for CyberScoop and the security desk at Wired, covering the SolarWinds compromise and the ransomware wave that hit hospitals and pipelines. Rachel holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the Georgia Institute of Technology and attends Black Hat and DEF CON in Las Vegas each year, where she follows research from the security community. She writes to make risks and countermeasures understandable to people who are not specialists.
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