Talk:Multi-layered vault settlement

Layers to the dome are added as the population grows. Surely there is a limit to the size of the dome? How big would that be? T.Neo 12:42, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, there is a limit. It depends on the material and on the structural construction. On Earth we are able to build houses from concrete with a height of 1000 m. On Mars it should at least be double, for the gravity is lower. The Olympus Mons, for example, is 27 km high. But the height is not a crucial point. At the moment I am thinking about ways to create universal bricks for both automated production and automated laying walls and doms. And all this without grout. -- Rfc 20:06, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Grout would be tricky on Mars. What about making the bricks interlock in some way, in a manner similar to LEGO? T.Neo 07:19, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

That's exactly, what I have in mind. How about my drawing? -- Rfc 20:36, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I was thinking about a more conventional rectangular/cube brick, with a raised ridge on the top and a depression at the bottom. Then again, these bricks wouldn't be very good for dome building. An alternative to the layered dome would be a cube-shaped habitat, made from universal bricks and using regolith for radiation shielding. If the settlement grew, another cube shaped habitat would be built alongside the previous one, and they would share sheidling, water an life support. T.Neo 08:41, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

How would you make the roof of this cube building, I mean from the static point of view? -- Rfc 20:32, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

You raise a good point. The roof would be made out of rectangular steel/iron slabs. It might pay off to place additional bricks on top as radiation shielding. All the components would only loosly interlock, so liquid plastic or polyurethane foam would have to be sprayed inside for insulation and to make the building airtight. T.Neo 08:18, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

There is still a drawback: a cubic building can not grow unlimited, because the inner (old) rooms have to support part of the weight of the outer (new) rooms. In a multi-layered dome building every layer supports itself. Moreover, it is safe against a local failure. -- Rfc 18:40, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

No. I suggest building new cubes outward of the first, so that they surround it. Nothing is built on top, so when the colony grows large, it ends up growing outwards and covering a wider area. The result: A big flat roof on top of the settlement. A perfect place to put solar collectors and wind turbines. I am still concerned about the curved dome shape of your settlement. Maybe other shapes could be consedered, which are flat. How about a pyramid or some other geodesic shape? As an aside, what software do you use for the drawings? T.Neo 07:58, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Pyramids required much more material than domes, because they are not stable if made with a thin wall. Domes achieve an optimal ratio of material and strength. I draw the pictures with no special software, just a simple paint program. But I am thinking about using a ray tracer. -- Rfc 19:04, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

I see. I suppose then that any other polygonal design would be just as inadequate. T.Neo 21:00, 12 October 2008 (UTC)