Invention no pipe dream for Willow physicist

Frontiersman

WILLOW — Daniel Russell calls himself the country physicist, and if what he’s invented gets noticed by someone with the ability to mass produce it, he could help revolutionize the building industry.

Russell, a German immigrant living in Willow, holds three U.S. patents and has two pending. Two of those patents could impact the building world by providing a process and product to construct super-strong, nearly indestructible buildings without killing a single tree.

Russell is a soft-spoken man who explains his invention slowly so those without a grasp of advanced physics can keep up. He holds the patent on fractal tubes, which are hollow fibers formed into tubes that are then formed into hollow cylinders that eventually are used to construct the walls of hollow columns.

Sound complicated?

It really isn’t, Russell said while displaying a prototype of his invention. The process simply requires increasing the strength-to-weight ratio of the material by minimizing the mass and atomic dimensions while maintaining order in line with the atomic compressibility law, he said.

OK, so to him it’s not complicated.

Russell holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and physics and a master’s degree in physics. Born in Munich, Germany, Russell came to the United States in the late 1950s. After graduating from the University of South Florida, he landed a job with the U.S. Navy, first working with radiological controls, then going on to work in the Navy’s patents office.

The job was his first taste of the process one must go through to get an invention patented.

“In those days it took 18 months to get a patent,” Russell said. “These days it takes around three and a half years.”

Russell’s love of physics grew from a desire to understand life better, he said.

“I got more and more into physics and started applying the laws of physics to everyday problems,” he said.

Wanting a change of pace, Russell came to Alaska in 2000 looking to escape the heat of Florida and see a different side of the country. Now, after more than three years of waiting for a decision from the patent office, his fractal tubes stand to become a boon to the building industry because of what Russell calls their tough construction and tree-saving material composition.

To the naked eye, Russell’s fractal tubes look like clustered cylinders bonded together in a circle, creating a hollow space in the middle. Group enough of them together, while using the right material, and the fractal tubes form a building column strong enough for use in homes and buildings.

The process is based largely from quantum nuclear physics, Russell said. He likens his fractal tubes to an atom, which, he said, is one of the strongest substances known but is also 99 percent empty space.

The same principle applies to the fractal structures, a series of hollow, thin-walled tubes, fiber reinforced and bonded with cement or any other bonding agent.

While looking thin and almost flimsy, they are, in fact, very strong. A cylinder made from carbon nanofiber, for example, is 600 times stronger than steel, yet light because it doesn’t have unnecessary mass to increase its bulk, Russell said.

The benefit to building comes from the ability of fractal tubes to withstand rust and decay, Russell said, adding they are also not damaged by water, do not burn and don’t need maintenance.

Since the fractal tubes can be made to look like real logs, with a coat of paint or some sort of facade covering, “log” houses in Alaska could be constructed without cutting down a single tree, Russell said, which might make the green building crowd happy.

Russell said the complex arrangement of fibers in his fractal tubes would also stop the progression of cracks during an earthquake.

Homeowners can benefit from all this by having a house that, in terms of building material quality, is strong and lasts forever. Russell now needs someone to realize his invention and what he says it could mean for builders. Now that his fractal tubes are patented, Russell will get a royalty from any sale of his invention and credit as the product’s creator.

How much it would cost a manufacturer to make fractal tubes varies depending on the kind of material used, Russell said. Using open mesh fiberglass would be the cheapest option, while materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar would raise the costs significantly.

The viability of fractal tubes on the building market may hinge on how builders react to the product, Russell said.

“I think anything is possible depending on what is the manufacturing process and how really good does it look,” said Robin Braaten, an owner of Expedition Log Homes, who had not seen or heard of fractal tubes before.

Jeff Clements, owner of Great Northern Homes and Construction, said he typically likes to see a product proven in the field before using it.

That doesn’t mean he and other builders aren’t up for looking into something new, he added. Usually, builders attend trade shows that introduce new products or processes from manufacturers. If a company is interested, the deals will go from there.

Still, being proven in practice helps a new product’s reputation, Clements said.

“If I use a brand-new product and that product fails, I have some sort of liability to my customer,” he said.

Trade shows may be in the future for Russell, but before that there’s still some engineering tests to complete. Then, finding a partner or interested company to help with the production of fractal tubes is on the agenda.

For Russell, this is just the beginning. Now that he has the patents he can move forward to educate the building world about his fractal tubes.

Until then, he’ll be in Willow, refining and creating inventions with an eye for innovation and mind for science.

“I am the country physicist,” Russell said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiers- man.com or 352-2252.