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re: pvc domes anyone?
20 mar 1998
william carlyle wrote:
>does anyone know of a dome made of pvc pipe?
yes. there's one on my lawn, about 17' in diameter x 14' tall, made
with 25 10' pieces of 2" pvc pipe. each end of each pipe is attached
with a 5/16" bolt to a steel tab made from 6" of stiff galvanized
strapping material with holes in it, and the hubs are made by putting
another 11 bolts through the free ends of the tabs. the lower 5 hubs
are bolted through the treads of 5 used "foundation" tires filled with
gravel. this structure will be covered with bayer "dureflex" urethane
plastic film, which is fairly clear, costs about 35 cents/ft^2, comes
in rolls up to 15' wide x 0.006" thick, and has a 10 year guarantee.
(greenhouse polyethylene films are chemically incompatible with pvc.)
the film will be attached to the pipes with some 2" electrical conduit
cut lengthwise in thirds. the film on the walls will extend about 2'
outwards from the dome, laying flat on the ground, and that film will
be covered with some gravel to make a fairly airtight seal.
the dome might be made larger by cutting each pipe in half and slipping
the ends inside a slightly larger pipe, with a few sheet metal screws
to keep the pipes from sliding.
nick
nicholson l. pine system design and consulting
pine associates, ltd. (610) 489-0545
821 collegeville road fax: (610) 489-7057
collegeville, pa 19426 email: nick@ece.vill.eedeeyou
computer simulation and modeling. high performance, low cost, solar heating and
cogeneration system design. bsee, msee. senior member, ieee. registered us
patent agent. hi/dvc board member. web site: http://www.ece.vill.edu/~nick
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