Adjustable Mold for Precast Concrete Barrier Panels
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular earth retaining walls require multiple molds to produce traffic barrier panels with varying geometries, which is costly and inefficient, and often necessitates field modifications to achieve a contiguous and aesthetically pleasing barrier.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable mold system that uses interchangeable doors with adjustable forming panels to produce precast concrete traffic barrier panels with varying geometries, allowing for precise design of two-dimensional surfaces for contiguous panel installation and alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple precast molds are created to accommodate different geometries of traffic barrier panels, then the ability to produce varied panel geometries is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The mold assembly is designed as a universal system that can produce multiple different geometries of traffic barrier panels through interchangeable components. The door assembly with adjustable forming panels and the floor assembly with replaceable forming panels allow a single mold body to accommodate various panel configurations, eliminating the need for multiple dedicated molds for each geometry type.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold is divided into separable components: a fixed mold body, interchangeable door assemblies, and replaceable floor assemblies. This segmentation allows the forming panels to be independently adjusted or replaced to create different geometries while reusing the main mold body structure, reducing overall manufacturing cost.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional linear squared panels are used, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but field modifications are required to achieve contiguous installation and aesthetic appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The mold assembly incorporates adjustable forming panels that can be configured before casting to create the precise geometries needed for contiguous panel installation. By pre-configuring the mold to produce panels with specific angles and shapes, the need for field modifications is eliminated, and panels are cast ready for direct installation.
3Ease of manufacture
If a single geometry mold is used, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the ability to accommodate changing grade at the top of the retaining wall is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The mold assembly incorporates dynamic, adjustable components including forming panels that can be repositioned and reconfigured. This allows the same mold to adapt to different geometric requirements for accommodating changing grades at the retaining wall top, providing versatility without requiring multiple fixed-geometry molds.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of an adjustable mold and method for making precast concrete traffic barrier panels with different geometries are disclosed. The panels are used for creating a continuous traffic barrier by placing the panels in a contiguous side-by-side arrangement adjacent a roadway atop a modular earth retaining wall. Each traffic barrier panel has a body with at least front, back, top, bottom, left, and right sides. The mold body has a plurality of walls that define an interior chamber, a door opening to the interior chamber, and a concrete inlet to the interior chamber. The door is designed to be installed on and to be uninstalled from the mold body to respectively close and open the door opening. The door has left side and right side forming panels that are designed to define respectively a left side two-dimensional geometry and a right side two-dimensional geometry of the left and right sides respectively of a traffic barrier panel to be made. The left side and right side two-dimensional geometries are changeable by interchanging the door with differently oriented forming panels or by adjusting two-dimensional orientations of each of the left side and right side forming panels on the existing door. The interior chamber of the mold body in combination with an interior side of the door define an outer surface geometry of the front, back, top, bottom, left, and right sides of the traffic barrier panel to be made.