Oldcastle Auto-Stud Team
ME415W.1  Fall 2004

Faculty Advisor: Dr. John Lamancusa

Overview This project was sponsored by Oldcastle Precast as part of their Building Systems Division.  Recently, Oldcastle has been developing an exterior concrete wall panel to be used in construction of affordable-style housing.  While there are many advantages to this design, there were challenges to overcome.

Objective
Develop a process to apply wooden studs to the rear of the concrete panels.  While the reinforced concrete provides all structural support for the panels, studs are required for the installation of wiring, plumbing, drywall and other fixtures.  Process is to be low in cost, easily implemented and be least labor intensive.  A suitable design also had to adhere to the following criteria:

• Studs were to be applied while concrete is still in its plastic state (with the use of a fastener)   

• Studs were to be applied horizontally and had to be centered on 16” intervals

• Studs were to be parallel with respect to the exterior face of the wall

Design and Prototyping
Many ideas were considered in the design four stages were developed to simplify the process.  Each stage was heavily dependent on the others, so each one was analyzed for not only it’s best solution, but how it would affect other stages.

•  Layout of Studs, Fixtures and/or Fasteners

• Assembly of Studs and Components

• Securing and Transport of Stud Wall

• Locating and Holding of Stud Wall in Concrete

A wall section was fabricated as a prototype to test ideas and get a working feel of how panels might best be constructed.

Process Recommendations
Weighing the pros and cons of each consideration, a plan was developed for an optimal process.  It would use the following strategy:

1. A grooved table with CAD-driven laser system for the placement of studs and hardware

2. Truss plates for stud attachment and 3" ring nails as a fastener

3. A hydraulic press to compress stud wall together

4. A system of grippers to secure stud wall and transport it to concrete form

5. Allow the gripper system to rest on predetermined stops until concrete is sufficiently cured