NRS brakes technology enables quick-assembly of ICU wards to fight COVID-19

The same technology used in NRS brake pads to bind brake friction to backing plates could be used to build temporary healthcare facilities in a fraction of the time and with significant cost savings.

Canadian-based Nucap Industries – parent company of NRS Brakes – is working with Farrow Partners to put its specially developed construction blocks that can be snapped in place like Lego blocks to work during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The team’s Grip Timber Cross Laminate Blocks (GTCLB) are lightweight and as strong as cement, thanks to the ‘grip metal’ that binds small pieces of wood in place. The blocks can be rapidly assembled into any configuration, for a faster, cheaper and healthier alternative to traditional building processes.

Grip Metal is Nucap’s patented mechanical bonding system used in the production of NRS brake pads. The Velcro-like metal, with hooks that serve as an alternative to glue, has shown remarkable success in automotive braking. Nucap has produced or licenced more than a billion brake pads with zero failures, despite exposure to extreme operating conditions and temperatures.

In the Grip CLT blocks, the small wood elements are bonded with strips of Grip Metal, then processed in a pressure stamping press which applies 200 tonnes of pressure on each wood block. The process takes three seconds of pressure, allowing the Nucap facility to fabricate a thousand blocks an hour.

The team is at the ready to apply the technology to create temporary healthcare facilities.

Read more about the technology HERE.