CEB Prototype 2 Design
Posted March 25th, 2009 by openfarmtech
We are starting a design forum for Prototype 2 of the CEB press:
•Large hopper version of The Liberator CEB press
•Automatic control via Arduino and hydraulic solenoid valves
•Soil pulverizer mounted in front of tooth bar bucket on LifeTrac
•MicroTrac provides independent power for the CEB press itself, as LifeTrac does soil loading
We are presently using Blender for initial 3D images, and then using LinuxCAE to do analysis and fabrication drawings. Join the team.
Marcin
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Liberator 2.blend | 243.03 KB |
Comments
Here's CAE Linux: http://www.caelinux.com/
You need a DVD burner drive, a blank DVD to burn the image onto, and some unpartitioned space on a hard drive.
Download and burn the image to the DVD, then restart the computer and install CAE Linux on the unpartitioned space.
Go to the lower right icon to open the menu, like the windows start button, and find Salome the CAD program.
Salome looks like a pretty good CAD program, and it can export to the other installed FEA programs.
There's a folder on the desktop with tutorials and examples for everything about CAE Linux.
Here are some videos of CAE Linux: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=cae%20linux%20salome&oe=utf-8&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=caelinux&hl=en&emb=0
Jeremy, So is there a CAD program built into CAELinux, or do you have to export your files in it to do analysis?
On CEB 2.0 I have a couple of fundamental design questions to ask.
1. Interlock or No Interlocking: As i posted on the latest blog there are plenty of these machines out there, and intitially the idea looks very attractive.
Pros:
1.Limited amount of skill needed to build straight attractive buildings.
2.Faster building process.
Cons:
1. Stabilizer is needed in blocks, making it potentially more resource intensive.
2 .Structurally more vulnerable?? This one is a bit unknown for me but this manufacturer argues that since the ability for individual blocks to slide the wall is structurally more vulnerable. http://www.adobemachine.com/interlock.htm This makes sense is there any proof of it?
2. How do we address consistency of the block height? This seemed to be the big difficulty in making nice straight walls as it required compensation for variances with extra mortar. Adobe machines makes a horizontaly loaded machine so that the variance is shifted to block length not width. If we wanted to stay vertical could we make the modl so that it is loaded and compressed along the length of the brick? Would this reduce chamber loading time too much?
"Salome" is a CAD program built into CAELinux. It's included in the install and is ready to use out of the box. The tutorials make it easy to get into doing CAD. You can make a CAD model in "Salome" and then use it in the CAE programs that are also included in CAE Linux. CAE Linux has pretty much everything needed to make and test CAD models.
Interlocking would be nice, and having different inserts to make differently shaped bricks would be great too. I don't know what Marcin thinks of adding these features into CEB 2 though. We could focus on making a machine that works, and then worry about extending it later.
We are looking at using an arduino to control the CEB, which might address the height variation problem by having the sensors press the brick to the same height every time.
Very interesting, i like this website.
On #1, for your interior wall (assuming you have double-wall construction this is not necessary.
#2 - Consistency of block height, yes press from one of the sides, if you're building double walls you'd want to press along the side that will hang in the void between the walls. From my little bit of research it appears most CEB presses will press from the sides.
Maybe we could change the dimensions of the compression chamber for
CEB 2, so that it presses vertically, but the part being compressed is
the side. That would be a lot easier to work with, but it would still
need mortar.
And what about interlocking designs? It would need to press the brick from top and bottom for the indentations to stick out.
We're thinking of pressing the bricks from the side, with indentations sticking out of the compression chamber walls which will create indentations in the bricks which can interlock, and the bricks will be pressed from the side so the heights will all be the same and the sides will be variable.
jeremy
I attached the basic blender model of the CEB design to the post.
I found a good cylinder: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_52209...
Hey Jeremy, would you mind posting a pdf or pic of your blend file. I would be interested to see. Thanks
Here's the blender file, you should get blender, it's multiplatform so it should have a version for whatever OS you have, and it is the OSE industry standard for sketching stuff for now.
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=File:Liberator_2_Design_1.blend
pic in a bit
Jeremy
I can view the file now, before I thought you had to have linux, thanks
Hmm, looking at your hydraulic cylinder and doing some ruff calculations I came to the conclusion that it would produce about a ton of pressure, about the same as a cheap garage jack?
I would really like to try just to make a few of these bricks for promotional and educational purposes.
I read alot about these "simple, cheap, third-world types of CEB presses" everywhere, but where do I actually buy one?
I was otherwise thinking of a quick-and-dirty $10 garage jack hack and some soil that I dig up in my yard, just to get the feel for this material. Also it would be a great help in testing different kinds of soil, thus learning about what the soil should look like to perform well.
There might be plans for manual ones somewhere, but I don't have the links, sorry.
Jeremy
We're going to be getting several things from Nothern Tool soon:
pressing cylinder: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_23518...
Pump: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?R=2...
Filter: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_12006...
Can we attach files to comments or to the main forum?
Apparently only new forum topics, so post a new topic in the CEB forum to upload, then link there in another thread.
Files can be attached to comments now.
We need to source these still:
*5" cylinder
*14" cylinder
*Slow speed motor for hopper auger - 2 RPM or such,
That Prince cylinder from Northern
should be a good cylinder. If you'd like to check prices I know you
all have purchase some things for Surplus center before. They have
these Lion cylinders for really good prices
https://www.surpluscenter.com/pages/043.pdf
but I'm not sure if they have chrome plated rods, the people there
should be able to tell you what the rods are made of or if your
application needs a chrome plated rod since it will be outside a good
bit. Also you may want to check with an industrial distributor like
Applied Industrial just to see what they can do for you, they should
have a location in Kansas city, or St. Joseph. Applied should even
be able to suggest a good gear motor for you.
For the agitator/auger, if you are going electric, you might consider surplus
center part #5-1624. A little faster
than what you’re looking for, but for $33 if it doesn’t work you could just go
from there. 48in-lbs of torque is pretty
strong (for an electric motor), I’m just not sure if that would be enough to move
through the dirt.
Hi,
I am new to this site so forgive me if this is not exactly the place to put the request below.
This OSE project is exactly what I have been looking around for a while. I have an engineering background. I want to reproduce the CEB press prototype and test it in my environment (The Democratic Republic of Congo). I have searched a little bit but cannot find any plans to download and follow. I am by no means aiming commercial production. Can anyone point me to plans? Thanks
The plans are mostly in the Blender file attached to this post at the moment, and as Lawrence noted, the videos Marcin posted showing how he put it together. Of course, better step-by-step documentation is needed for easy replication. Feel free to edit the wiki and help.
eh, well thats one of the problems right now. Marcin hasn't put them together. Your best bet is to go over the videos step by step to reproduce them. If you have problems you can email Marcin and ask him questions directly about how to reproduce the design. I believe that the plans are all going to be under some sort of creative commons, GPL style license so in theory if you make any changes or improvements you'll have to release those changes as well. Although since your in another country I have no idea how that would actually be enforced.
Thanks a lot for your reply. What is Marcin's email address?
You can reach him through OpenSourceEcology@gmail.com