Prefabricated Wall Sealing with Flexible Membranes and Liquid Fill
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for assembling walls from prefabricated parts often result in gaps that are difficult to seal, especially at high locations, leading to water leakage and potential electrical hazards, and the heavy concrete parts make it challenging to achieve a watertight and aesthetic seal.
Innovation Solution
The method involves attaching flexible sealing members with lips to the prefabricated wall parts before assembly, which extend along the edge surfaces to form a cavity, allowing for efficient sealing against environmental influences and accommodating irregularities, and filling this cavity with a solidifying liquid that adheres to the parts, providing a watertight seal and structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sealing members are applied after wall assembly, then the sealing can be adjusted on site, but the assembly process becomes time-consuming and difficult to access gaps are hard to seal
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing members are attached to the wall parts before assembly in the factory, allowing the sealing function to be prepared in advance. This preliminary action eliminates the need for time-consuming on-site sealing application and avoids the difficulties of accessing gaps at great heights, while still allowing for adjustments during assembly through the flexible material properties of the sealing members.
2Reliability
If mortar is used to fill gaps, then the gaps can be closed, but the process is time-consuming and mortar may leak creating holes and cavities
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing members are made of flexible material that can be attached to wall parts and will curl to follow the contour of guide portions. This flexible membrane approach provides reliable sealing without the leakage problems of mortar, as the flexible material conformally seals the gap without running or creating cavities, while also being faster to apply.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing members are pre-attached to wall parts in the factory before assembly, eliminating the time-consuming on-site mortar application process. The sealing function is prepared in advance, and the flexible material ensures reliable sealing without the risk of leakage that plagues mortar application.
3Ease of manufacture
If heavy concrete wall parts are manipulated to great heights, then the wall can be constructed, but the gaps between parts become irregular and difficult to seal
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing members are made of flexible material that can accommodate irregular gaps caused by manipulation of heavy concrete parts. The flexible sealing members will curl and conform to the actual gap geometry, including irregular shapes, ensuring effective sealing even when precise gap uniformity cannot be achieved due to the weight and handling requirements of the concrete parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing members are made of flexible material whose physical properties allow them to adapt to varying gap dimensions and shapes. This flexibility in the sealing material's physical state enables it to maintain effective sealing across a range of gap irregularities that result from the necessary manipulation of heavy concrete wall parts during assembly.
4Strength
If sealing members are made rigid, then they provide structural support, but they cannot accommodate expansion and temperature fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing members are made of flexible material that provides both the necessary structural support and the ability to accommodate expansion and temperature fluctuations. The flexible material maintains sealing effectiveness while adapting to dimensional changes in the concrete parts, eliminating the need to choose between rigidity and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing members are made of flexible material whose physical properties allow them to adapt to varying conditions including temperature fluctuations and expansion. This flexibility in the sealing material's physical state enables it to maintain effective sealing while accommodating the dynamic changes that occur in concrete structures, providing both strength and adaptability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for quicker assembly, reduces the risk of water leakage, and ensures a durable, watertight seal that can withstand pressure and temperature fluctuations, while also providing flexibility to accommodate misalignments and foreign objects.
Implementation Method 1
Since the lips comprise or are made of a flexible material they are better able to curl and/or follow the contour of the guide portion
Implementation Method 2
filling the cavity with a solidifying liquid that adheres to the parts
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of assembling a wall from prefabricated wall parts, wherein -edge surfaces of two wall parts are placed against each other leaving a gap there between, and wherein -first and second sealing members are included in the gap to each act between said edge surfaces of the wall parts, which sealing members extend in a longitudinal direction of said edge surfaces and are spaced apart in a transverse direction of said edge surfaces to define a cavity there between, and wherein -said cavity is filled with a solidifying liquid, such that the solidifying liquid acts on a cavity facing surface of each sealing member and presses the sealing member into engagement with at least one of the edge surfaces.