The Cheesegrater is abeautiful glass wedge of a buildingthat rises over 700 foot into the London skyline . It unfortunately has some rubber problems . This hebdomad , its owner expose that a third bolt of high - metier sword snapped because of “ hydrogen embrittlement”—an obscure term , but one that “ causes fear among engineer . ”
The Leadenhall Building , as the Cheesegrater is officially recognize , was fill in just last yr — one of the many skyscrapers crop up to transubstantiate London ’s skyline . In November , two arm - sized bolt made of high - strength steel break off , and the debris fell to the ground . Some 3000 of these bolt hold the Cheesegrater together , and theGuardian reportsdozens of them are now being exchange . Not fast enough plain , because now there ’s been a third ; three in as many months . This time , at least , it was caught by tethering before it crashed into the footing .
How did they get into this muss ? Bolts made gamy - military strength blade can paradoxically end up weak than those made of the low - strength smorgasbord , thanks to that hydrogen embrittlement process . The Global Construction Review has agreat account :
[ T]here is a consensus on the basic mechanism , which is that single mote of hydrogen enter the steel , migrate through the crystal lattice , and are pull in to the sphere of highest stress . Here they induce tiny fractures to propagate and , in a sorry - case scenario , a cascading effect can take place , as the stress increase and attract more free hydrogen , leading to a sudden ruinous failure – such as the shearing of a dash .
So instead of slowly deforming over time — a problem that ’s possible to find with occasional review — these gamey - military capability bolts look wholly fine until they just snap . And now the construction ’s owners are in the tough location of inspect bolts already in place for tiny crack are by nature difficult to find . gamy - strength bolt of lightning surely do make for silklike beautiful buildings , but I think we ’d all opt a one that does n’t rain bolts down onto the ground . [ Global Construction Review ]
pic credit entry : Oli Scarff / Getty Images
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