Understanding and Recreation of a 4500 Year Old Reconstituted Limestone

吉萨大金字塔是如何建成的一直是个谜。八十年代中期，一位法国科学家提出，金字塔的石块是用石灰石骨料和一种类似水泥的粘合剂浇筑的。2006年，Barsoum等人发表了一篇论文，提出了一些金字塔块是铸造的证据。在这项资助中，Barsoum教授？研究小组将对更多的金字塔样本进行检验，以进一步获得它们是铸造的证据，包括使用碳年代测定等技术。随后对逆向工程技术进行了一些讨论和工作，并探索了其今天的潜力？美国的世界将开始。这项工作对社会的影响确实是多方面的和普遍的。首先，它有可能改写历史书，对埃及学家、考古学家和修复用这种技术制作的古埃及文物具有根本的重要性。它可以把混凝土的发明日期往后推。从长远来看，建造在美学上与天然石灰石没有区别的经济实惠且耐用的房屋和庇护所是可能的。与波特兰水泥基混凝土相比，这种再生石灰石释放的二氧化碳大约少80- 90%。技术细节一些金字塔石灰石的微观结构将被研究，以了解它们是如何形成的。此外，他们将对这些材料进行碳测定(1)来验证一些关键金字塔结构是天然合成的假设，(2)为金字塔的建造提供一个独立的日期。该项目的第二个方面是根据通过合作从特征中了解到的信息对石灰石进行逆向工程。长期目标是开发一种低技术，低能源，因此低二氧化碳的建筑材料，为第三世界国家，也可能是发达国家。在推广和教育方面，德雷塞尔大学的学生将建造一个按比例缩小的金字塔（约10米乘10米），并记录在案。人们相信金字塔是如何建造的三维动画将被制作出来，并通过多种方式广泛传播，包括网络（如u型管）。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONHow the Great Pyramids of Giza were built has remained an enduring mystery. In the mid-Eighties a French scientist proposed that blocks of the pyramids were cast in place using limestone aggregate and a cement-like binder. In 2006, Barsoum et al. published a paper presenting evidence that some pyramid blocks were cast. In this grant, Prof. Barsoum?s group will examine more pyramid samples to obtain further evidence that they were cast, including using techniques such as C-dating. Subsequently some discussions and work on reverse-engineering the technology and exploring its potential for today?s world will begin. The impact of this work on society is truly multifaceted and universal. For one it may be possible to rewrite the history books and be of fundamental importance to Egyptologists, archeologists and to the restoration of ancient Egyptian antiquities made with that technology. It could push the date of the invention of concrete back. In the long run, it may be possible to build affordable and durable homes and shelters that are esthetically indistinguishable from natural limestone. Reconstituted limestone such as this would release roughly 80-90 % less CO2 than Portland cement-based concrete. TECHNICAL DETAILSThe microstructure of some pyramid limestones will be studied in order to understand how they were formed. Furthermore, they will carbon date these materials (i) to test the hypothesis that some of the key pyramidal structures are synthetic in nature, and (ii) to supply an independent date for the building of the pyramids. A second aspect of the project is to reverse-engineer this limestone based on what is learned from the characterization through collaborations. The long-term goal is to develop a low technology, low energy and thus low CO2, building material for the third world and possibly the developed world. In terms of outreach and education, a scaled down pyramid (with ~10 m by ~10 m base) is to be built by students at Drexel University and documented. Three-dimensional animations of how the pyramids are believed to have been built will be generated and widely disseminated via several means, including the web (e.g., U-tube).