Abstract: A 3D printing system for 3D printing of concrete buildings or other concrete structures. A set of cable support masts are temporarily installed at corners of a two-dimensional footprint area of any given level of a multi-level building to enable 3D printing of wall sections or other structural components of that given level of the building using a cable-guided concrete dispensing nozzle suspended from said cable support masts by a set of movable, motor-driven positioning cables. The building is built in stage-wise fashion, level-by-level, with the set of support masts being moved up level-by-level as the levels of the building are completed. The construction of the building is not dependent on a set of ground-level towers distributed around the ground-level footprint of the building, thus notably reducing equipment requirements for the 3D printed construction of tall, multi-storey buildings.

Abstract: An apparatus for attenuating shock loads includes a flexible, non-rigid outer impervious envelope. The envelope is formed from a high strain resistance material. An inner, pervious baffle extends across the envelope between the first and second sides. The inner baffle is also a flexible, non-rigid material of high strain resistance. The envelope is inflated with gas at a superatmospheric pressure. An impact on one side of the structure will compress that side, increasing the pressure of the gas between that side and the baffle. The gas will then flow through the pervious baffle to the other side, dissipating energy, spreading the load over the second side of the envelope and causing a time delay in the build-up of pressure on the second side. In preferred embodiments of the invention, there are plural, parallel baffles in the envelope to provide a multi-stage energy dissipation.

Abstract: An apparatus for attenuating shock loads includes a flexible, non-rigid outer impervious envelope. The envelope is formed from a high strain resistance material. An inner, pervious baffle extends across the envelope between the first and second sides. The inner baffle is also a flexible, non-rigid material of high strain resistance. The envelope is inflated with gas at a superatmospheric pressure. An impact on one side of the structure will compress that side, increasing the pressure of the gas between that side and the baffle. The gas will then flow through the pervious baffle to the other side, dissipating energy, spreading the load over the second side of the envelope and causing a time delay in the build-up of pressure on the second side. In preferred embodiments of the invention, there are plural, parallel baffles in the envelope to provide a multi-stage energy dissipation.