Nanotech and Wireless Guard Against Earthquakes

Roland Piquepaille writes "Two separate efforts using technology to protect people from earthquakes have recently been in the news. At the University of Leeds, UK, researchers will use nanotechnology and RFID tags to build a 'self-healing' house in Greece. The house's walls will contain nanoparticles that turn into a liquid when squeezed under pressure, flow into cracks, and then harden to form a solid material. The walls will also host a network of wireless sensors and RFID tags that can alert the residents to an imminent earthquake. Meanwhile, another team at the Washington University in St. Louis is using a wireless sensor network to limit earthquake damages."

Comments

Not sure this is such a great idea

[Reverse Gear]

I remain skeptical of the idea of the self healing house, I think that it might work in just the opposite direction of what is intended if not very careful, kind of like if the dampers in the other article linked to gets out of sync with the waves of the quake (or maybe rather into sync) creating resonance instead of weakening the resonance.

First thing I don't like about this idea of nano-particles turning into liquid is this. Imagine a solid structure being put under pressure, as the pressure increased a tiny fraction of the material is turned into liquid, my immediate idea is that this would weaken the structure increasing the risk of a collapse. Sure it might be nice if the liquid later filled out the tiny cracks in the structure, but if the entire thing has collapsed by then, what good will it do?
The second thing I don't like is that these cracks that will be filled out in structure represent unevenness in the entire structure. I can't help but think that it would resemble using uneven bricks for a house. I can see that this could give extra strength to the building if they are used very carefully, but if you just put one uneven block into an entire building it will make it more unstable.
Maybe if the blocks are to uneven they will liquefy and turn into the right structure for creating the most possible strength, I guess it depends on how much pressure would be put on a given unevenness.
Also wouldn't this leave the building a lot more vulnerable to the next earthquake?
All this is said knowing very little about the detail of this idea, it is just my immediate thoughts being confronted with this.

The idea to have the building itself alert the inhabitants is nice, it would especially be nice if the building would warn if there had been a minor quake that is not noticeable for humans but still might be the warning that a bigger quake will soon happen.

Re:Not sure this is such a great idea

[Max Littlemore]

Imagine a solid structure being put under pressure, as the pressure increased a tiny fraction of the material is turned into liquid, my immediate idea is that this would weaken the structure increasing the risk of a collapse.

I was wondering about this as well. For as long as the liquid is, well, liquid, surely it wouldn't have any structural strength, so this would effectively make a building more likely to fall apart under stress. Or if the liquid solidifies quickly, what happens when a gap gets filled under temporary expansion and is then suddenly compressed? I'd put money on rubble.

In my opinion, a much more sensible idea for housing in earthquake prone areas can be found here (warning: contains video). It's designed to stay up and not crush people while an earthquake is happening. After the earthquake it can be safely demolished and rebuilt for a fraction of the cost of automagichanical fluidic nanobeads or fancy electrological shock absorber doodads.

But then low tech and simple solutions that just work are never as cool as nano electronic opto whatsits. Certainly not as profitable.

Re:Not sure this is such a great idea

[Halo1]

Imagine a solid structure being put under pressure, as the pressure increased a tiny fraction of the material is turned into liquid, my immediate idea is that this would weaken the structure increasing the risk of a collapse.

I'm not sure. If nothing can liquify, then the high pressure will make everything crumble. A pile of sand, so to speak, doesn't have much structural integrity. Conversely, if part of the pressurised solids convert to liquid and thereby keep the rest of the solid material whole, I would think overall integrity would be stronger since the pressure which caused the liquifying in the first place also keeps everything pressed together. And once the pressure stops the liquids solidify again, thereby reinforcing the building's own structural integrity again in the absence of external pressure.

So, after an earthquake in Greece...

[Anonymous Coward]

People will have houses of strange bulging shapes with upper floor overhangs which are now glued into position and cannot be altered?

I welcome our new earthquake reigion overlords dwelling in surreal melting houses!

or:

1) build house
2) have earthquake
3) charge people $1.50 to view strange 'Leaning House of Athens'
4) ??
5) Profit!

Sigh...

[cy_a253]

This is not "nanotech" just because you have nanoparticles. This is applied chemistry and materials science.

Try holding-up a piece of aluminum foil to a lighter flame. The black residue created contains good amounts of C60 buckyballs and other broken bits of nanotubes. These things have always been around. Nanotech means ATOMIC CONTROL, not just nanoparticles. Like this:

http://www.nanoengineer-1.com/mambo/index.php?opti on=com_content&task=view&id=60&Itemid=57

application in space?

[ushering05401]

i grew up in southern california and went through many earthquakes. paying attention to things like securing brick facades, anchoring furniture to walls, and buying adhesive pads for the bases of vases etc combined with improved building codes has nearly eradicated earthquake related deaths in that area.

my question is... could this whole gap filling technology be used to upgrade security for space vehicles..

i can't find links but read something about micro-meteorite protection systems already (i think) in place.

can anyone with better knowledge chip in here?

The only somewhat earthquake proof building

[edwardpickman]

Geodesic domes are unaffected by earthquakes and tend to ride them out with little or no damage. The downside is people still want their ranch houses. Unless you build to the environment it's doubtful science can completely protect you. You can make them more resistent but so long as asthetics come first the resistence will be limited. Ever drive around the mountains in LA? There are sedimentary rocks with lines going straight up. Large building sized rocks that are part of the San Andreas fault have bounced tens of miles. In reality nothing is earthquake proof but if you're in a geodesic dome odds are you'll have the last house standing.

Ancient mortars are already self-healing

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Many old mortars such as lime absorb CO2 and get harder with time. If lime mortar cracks while young, it will absorb CO2 and fill up those cracks.