How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure
10/24/18
“How will transportation infrastructure be harmed by more extreme heat waves?”
With the ascent of more extreme temperatures, heatwaves will more frequent and more deadly. This will affect all sectors of critical infrastructure systems, transportation being one of them. With these new temperatures, railroads will buckle, cement will be deformed, and transit schedules will be vastly transformed. This is How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure.
Why We Need to Expand Coastal Barriers for Climate Change Resilience
10/21/18
“Why should we expand coastal barriers to withstand against climate change?”
As the global average temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, the world will need to adapt in response. Part of this will include expanding coastal barriers to prevent against widespread destruction as seen in New Orleans and Houston.
“How can we have an extra secure flood control system?”
With the ever-increasing proliferation of climate-change-induced natural disasters, humanity needs to focus on making it’s built infrastructure more resilient. And since floods are becoming more powerful on average with each passing day, our floodgate designs must become stronger in proportion. Fusegates are an illustration of this commitment. Fusegates are formed by placing an inlet well behind ballast in an angled bucket on top of a concrete sill. When water floods into the well, the exceptionally strong stability of the system will be able to counteract the pressure. If an overflow occurs, then the inlet well will be able to stabilize the flow of water. If an exceptionally strong flood occurs, then some of the water will be able to be leaked into the basement and through the inlet for further control.
Floodgates need to be adapted to their local environments. And sometimes, this means we will have to design our gates to move in the most interesting of ways. Ones that use rotation are called Radial Floodgates. This design allows the bearings to be placed outside of water.
“How can we make a floodgate that works by rotation?”
Floods happen in all types of environments with different conditions. Therefore, humanity will need to build different types of Floodgates that can adapt to these conditions. One of these types may need to work in colder, urban environments, where trash and ice may easily accumulate. By using a rotating gate, which can quickly dispose of any possible residue. These Hinged Crest Gates have been employed all over the world in frigid environments.
“What type of solar conduits do we use when we need extra strong support?”
Solar Conduits are vital for keeping solar infrastructure alive. However, sometimes we need to have extra support. That’s where Rigid Solar Conduits come in. Although they are better for longer or runs, their extra strength makes it more difficult to integrate with bends and turns.
“How can we make bolts resilient to stronger loads?”
Bolts are used to keep to keep objects together using compressive forces. However, in order to work, they need to have some initial force applied to them. This Preload is usually a compressive force that allows the bolt to withstand a tensile force equal to the same magnitude. The higher the compressive load, the higher the tensile resilience. However, if the bolt preload is too much, then it can weaken the Proof Strength. Therefore, when making a Bolt Preload, we must take into account both factors.
“What is the maximum load a bolt can handle without plastic deformation?”
Plastic Deformation in bolts is the bane of every Mechanical Engineer. Standard theory suggests that this takes place at an object’s yield strength, but research has shown that this actually occurs earlier at a point known as Proof Strength.
“How can we build products so that they work as a general function?”
In the past, most products were built to a user’s specifications. However, many are now built with general guidelines and then sold to a company. These are known as turnkey projects and are prominent in the solar industry.
