project04:Material Study
Material Studies
Introduction
This project revolves around the growing of architecture by application of mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of fungi. This biological tissue/ material is composed from tube-like fibers. These fibers are called hypha and are approximately 1 lm in diameter. Hypha grow by elogation of the apical tip. Which means that the fibers grow faster in the tips than in its branches. On occasion these fibers branch out and merge with other hyphae. As a consequence a random fibernetwork structure is formed; The mycelium. (Lull et al., 2005)
Biological Properties
Lifecycle of fungi
Since fungi is a living organism the species goes through the cycle of life. In order to produce and reproduce mycelium knowledge of it's cycle is required. The image below portaits the lifecycle of the fungi.
This image is based on a image from (Lull et al., 2005)
Bakker, L. (2019). Fungi Lifecycle. Own Image
Species
The taxonomical kingdom of fungi is vast. Within the this kingdom you can find species that act as food, produce medicine or in case of this research as building material. The species that are most often used within this field are the Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus, "Oesterzwam" (NL)), the Split Gill (Schizophyllum commune, "Waaiertje" (NL)) and the Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor, "Gewoon elfenbankje" (NL)). The choices for these fungi are chosen due to their benifitial properties towards growth, strenght and ability to consume nutritions for example (Jones et al., 2018).
Nutrition
Fungi live on organic materials, some tend to eat plastic, some clean soil.
Structural Properties
Structural properties
The usage of mycelium as a building component is relatively new. Therefor there is not much research available involving this subject. Besides that mycelium is a biocomposite with many different possibilities for substrate, that fact makes it even more harder to determine average structural properties. In the table below structural properties are shown of mycelium in comparrision to EPS and concrete. EPS is shown since the characteristics of mycelium and EPS are very similiar as are their usages within product development. While concrete is shown as it is a widely used within the build environment.
As seen the structural properties are very similair when it comes down to their compressive strengths. While the young's modulus shows that mycelium is more flexible than EPS. With the mycelium flexibility it is also able to better deal with flexural forces than EPS. But the best the reason why mycelium is better for usages than EPS is its low energy consumption for production and it's biodegradable properties.
| Mycelium Composite | EPS | Concrete (C53/65) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density [Kg/m3] | 122 | 20 | 2500 |
| Compressive strength 10% [MPa] | 0,12 | 0,10 | 65 |
| Tensile strength [MPa] | - | 0,15 | 2,13 |
| Flexural strength [MPa] | 0,23 | 0,15 | 4,30 |
| Young's modulus [MPa] | 1,14 | 6,00 | 37300 |
This table is based on information from (Cement&BetonCentrum, n.d.) and (Tazelaar, 2017)
Composites Enhancement
Structural Enhancement
Joining of materials
In order to join mycelium you can let it grow on other living mycelium parts
Environmental Properties
Waterproof
Windproof
Fire Safety
Acoustics
Insulation
Resistance to Toxins
Biodegradation
Effect on the ecosystem
Comperision to concrete, styrofoam. Usage of waste streams.
Waste production.
In order to produce mycelium based products.
Applicational Properties
Aesthetics
Patterns
Machine Alterations
Biovoltaics
Product lifecycle
Pure mycellium and composite mycelium
