Steel, a commonly used material in construction practices currently is being challenged by some scientist in Japan. More in specific they claim that this carbon fiber like material is light and if not stronger than traditional steel. Japan is an area that has experienced earthquakes in the past and the ability of possibly preventing this would be huge in terms of being innovative. Furthermore, given the norm of “green-building” that is in practice currently, they claim the materials that go into the process are eco-friendly. Kengo Kuma the creator of this says, “world’s first seismic reinforcement that uses the CABKOMA Strand Rod, a thermoplastic carbon fiber composite, as the seismic reinforcing material” (komatsumatere.co.jp). This could possibly used in so many applications that were just not achievable with steel which is very interesting to me. Another aspect of the material this is interesting is the amount in weight difference. Which could be beneficial for many reasons such as relieving stress on buildings or even shipping the actual material to the site which can get costly at full scale buildings. These are the processes that many miss to take into consideration and can benefit us both economically and ecologically. For example, Kuma says, “The use of textiles as building materials was also proposed — including the “greenbiz” ultrafine porous spongy ceramic base, which is an eco-friendly building material” (komatsumatere.co.jp). This was mentioned once earlier but is very important in my opinion. This seems to be a common trend across the board while researching ‘innovative materials’. And this in my opinion again, should be the case given the footprints that are now becoming more apparent than ever to society. To the point this technology should get more attention so it can possibly be further developed.
Source + Image
https://www.komatsumatere.co.jp/cabkoma/en/
Material Transformations-UMN 