A METHOD TO CONSTRUCT LIGHTWEIGHT SLABS AND PRE-FAB SLABS WITH SPHERES AND UNFOLD-ABLE THREE DIMENSIONAL SET

摘要

A METHOD TO CONSTRUCT LIGHTWEIGHT SLABS AND PRE-FAB SLABS WITH SPHERES AND UNFOLD-ABLE THREE DIMENSIONAL SETAN ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTIONThe need of prefabrication of concrete slab has existed for many decades and the cost for fabricating, transporting, storing and assembling those concrete slabs remains a huge part of any construction projects and a challenge to those in the construction industry.This simple yet highly efficient invention is an effective way of solving the abovementioned challenges without compromising the strength of the concrete structure and industrial standards. Through the use of unfold-able meshes combined with plastic spheres (balls), this invention is an alternative to reduce cost, materials, and construction time. It aims at providing both an environmentally friendly as well as a cost-effective alternative to existing construction methods.The following are a brief of the features of this innovative invention: 1) It is environmentally friendly:The non structural portion of the concrete slab is replaced by inflated plastic balls (recycled) without compromising required strength of concrete slabs, this invention effectively reduces the use of raw materials by one-third of the conventional concrete slab.2) It is cost-effective:Not only does the reduction in raw materials result in lower costs, this invention allows the slabs to be fabricated on-site thus eliminating: a) the need to transport heavy pre-fabricated slabs from the factory to the building area b) the need for large storage spaces for storage of pre-fabricated slabs, and c) the need for large size cranes usually employed by existing methods to assemble pre-fabricated slabs.3) Construction time effective:A considerable reduction in man-hours required for the assembly of the pre-fabricated slabs can be achieved by reducing the formwork, which is one of the mayor construction costs.Figure accompanying the Abstract is Fig. No. 2 on page 10 of this document.