48" oven about to start, need advice about buttressing

[dmun]

John, that's a great looking dome. And that "C" ring looks solid as a rock. Is your soldier course laid right up against that, or is there an expansion space?

I couldn't access your matweb data sheet, but I didn't try very hard. You apparently need to register.

[johnrbek]

dmun,

Actually, it's the c-ring (or buttress) that is laid up against the soldier course... the soldier course first, then the "angle setting" first row, then the rebar reinforced buttress (c-ring) was poured.. after that was solid, I continued with the chains in the dome.

There is no expansion space between the buttress pour and the soldier course... You don't want one... You want that thing solid... I did have two hairline cracks along 11 & 2 o'clock in the buttress, so that's pretty much how the expansion thing played out. No biggy.

The matweb link was just one I found via a google search to get you some data points.. Just google "kaolite 200 data sheet" and you'll get a lot of hits..

Hope all this helps. Take care guys.

JB

[Kulas]

Sorry guys, I've been busy so I wasn't able to reply to your posts.

Dmun,

Thanks very much for the nice posts.

The picture I posted was maybe not exactly what I had in mind, but it had the buttressing you were describing right at the very bottom of the structure.

The link you posted from Vaults, arches, and domes is of great help. And it is very easy to understand in terms of its basic principles. I may need to take this direction.

The buttressing with six sides including the door columns is also a very feasible alternative but I am not sure I can do this. I can do this alright, but I do not understand the very basic principles of this type of buttressing, thus, working in this direction will be like treading unchartered territory for me. And the probability of me making a mistake is higher than using a solid type of buttressing around the dome wall.

However, I do not discourage those more adventurous ones to try out buttressing the wall with separate columns around the walls instead of a solid single piece of mass around the whole wall.



best regards,
Kulas

[Kulas]

Bricks and insulation are coming next week. Will start at the end of the month with the hearth stand.

John,

I ordered calsium silicate insulating cement. It did not say "castable" but I think this is it. It's a ready mix and I just have to add only water. The supplier said it will set 'like' cement. I'm going to make a 4 inch thick layer of this insulation (with rebar and tie wire inside) around the dome wall and check if the heat still goes through, if it does, I will pour some loose perlite around it.

Thanks.

-Kulas