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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
John Brown University Disaster Shelter Competition, Julia Anderson, Katie Bipes, Antonio Gonzalez, Danny O’Malley, Colin Skaggs, La’Akea Warren
John Brown University Disaster Shelter Competition, Julia Anderson, Katie Bipes, Antonio Gonzalez, Danny O’Malley, Colin Skaggs, La’Akea Warren
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
John Brown University hosted the 6th annual Disaster Shelter Relief Competition in April 2017 for which the team built a prototype shelter and proposed a camp plan. Both the shelter and the camp plan were designed to house refugees coming into Greece from the Middle East. The shelter would accommodate a family of four and the camp plan was designed to hold 1250 shelters, or 5000 people. The shelter was built on site at John Brown University and was required to take less than two hours to fully construct. This report summarizes the work the team did for the competition, …
Material Effects On Strawbale Wall Seismic Capacity, Margaret Ackerson, Mckenna Williams
Material Effects On Strawbale Wall Seismic Capacity, Margaret Ackerson, Mckenna Williams
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
Strawbale construction is a sustainable, viable alternative to conventional building practices. As a newly introduced appendix to the International Residential Code (IRC), the strawbale construction requirements may benefit from further evaluation and possible refinement. Such evaluation and refinement may lead towards code change proposals that will improve the provisions and make strawbale construction safer and more accessible to the general public. This seismic test series addressed the effect of mesh wire type on ductility and the validity of the existing wall slenderness limits. The tests focused on slender walls dominated by flexural deformations. Welded wire mesh wall performed better than …
Design Of A Single Family Home And Rooftop Rainwater Catchment System In Nepal Using Earthbag Technology, Makena Wong, Olivia Carreon, Nabila Farah Franco
Design Of A Single Family Home And Rooftop Rainwater Catchment System In Nepal Using Earthbag Technology, Makena Wong, Olivia Carreon, Nabila Farah Franco
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
After the devastating April 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, entire villages were destroyed and remain unbuilt. In addition, rural subsistence farmers in the village of Takure, Nepal are struggling to provide for their families due to a long seasonal dry season from October to May.8 In order to address this crisis, this team designed and implemented a simple earthbag house with a rooftop rainwater catchment system for homeless villagers in Takure. This single-family house design aimed to address Takure’s most urgent needs by being seismically-resistant, locally sourced, economically feasible, and sustainable. The project also created valuable benefits for the Takure …
Garbage Beam, Paula Back, Mariela Murillo
Garbage Beam, Paula Back, Mariela Murillo
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
Located in a hot desert climate area prone to strong winds, Egypt is made up of many homes with little to no roofing leaving civilians exposed to the harsh elements. The overarching goal of this project is to provide these homes with efficient and affordable roofing using concrete with common garbage materials as reinforcement. Through preliminary testing and tensile testing it was possible to narrow the focus down to two reinforcement materials: fish netting and plastic grocery bags. From there final beam testing and pull out testing successfully demonstrated the promise of these materials. With this, however, it is still …
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Plant In Bangalore, India, Cameron Akhavan, Simon Barbe, Alejandro Fernandez Fernandez
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Plant In Bangalore, India, Cameron Akhavan, Simon Barbe, Alejandro Fernandez Fernandez
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
The Vrishabawathi River in Bangalore, India, has high levels of pollution due to untreated wastewater discharges from the city. The city requires significant expansion of its wastewater treatment infrastructure. Smaller-capacity plants spread throughout the city, known as decentralized treatment plants, provide an alternative to centralized treatment plants that can meet these demands. This project involved the design of one decentralized plant. This plant is located in the Kengeri district of the city, a mostly residential area in the outskirts of Bangalore. The designed treatment facility includes two primary clarifiers, two biotowers, and two secondary clarifiers. Plants like these can help …
Vrishabhavathi Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant System Upgrade, Vijay Chellaram, Christian Miller
Vrishabhavathi Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant System Upgrade, Vijay Chellaram, Christian Miller
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
Sixteen activated sludge tanks, eight secondary clarifiers, and four return pump stations were designed for the Vrishabhavathi Wastewater Treatment plant in Bangalore India. The design included tank dimensions, mechanical equipment associated with each component, pipe sizes for the piping system, and a cost estimate with a construction schedule. The activate sludge tanks were designed to be made of reinforced concrete with a mechanical air diffuser system installed for oxidation purposes. The secondary clarifiers were designed using reinforced concrete and a mechanical sweeping mechanism to scrape up the sludge as it settles to the bottom of the tank. Return pump stations …
Sustainable Recharge Of Flint Lake, Melene Agakanian, Cathy Cantoni
Sustainable Recharge Of Flint Lake, Melene Agakanian, Cathy Cantoni
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
At the retreat center in San Juan Bautista, run by the Franciscan brothers, there is a dry pond that at one time was full of water. Over time, however, the pond has lost water due to the effects of the California drought. In order to bring back the aesthetics of the St. Francis Retreat Center and restore the habitat, this project allows for the design of a pump and piping system that will bring water from a well and recharge the pond, working in tandem with another senior design group for the water purification of the well. The proposed solution …
Porous Concrete Design, Jonathan Ang, Erik Lihndal
Porous Concrete Design, Jonathan Ang, Erik Lihndal
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
Porous concrete is a special kind of concrete that has high porosity. The only difference between porous concrete and normal concrete is that a porous concrete mix does not consist of sand or other small particles. The lack of sand and small particles creates voids in the concrete. The voids that area created are the reason why water is able to pass through a porous concrete mix. Porous concrete is used for low traffic areas such as parking lots and pavements. The main purpose of porous concrete is to reduce or even eliminate storm water runoff which has a number …
Woodchip Denitrification Bioreactor For Reducing Nitrate In Contaminated Well Water For St. Francis Retreat Center, Andrew Highlander, Patrick Johnson
Woodchip Denitrification Bioreactor For Reducing Nitrate In Contaminated Well Water For St. Francis Retreat Center, Andrew Highlander, Patrick Johnson
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
The St. Francis Retreat Center, which serves over 7000 people each year, has had issues with the health of Flint Lake, located on their property, during the drought season. By utilizing a nearby water well, the retreat center looks to recharge the lake and sustain its water levels, essentially restoring its natural ecosystem. The issue is that the well water is contaminated with high amounts of nitrates, which is not only an issue for the lake’s health, but also is very unsafe for human consumption. In order to design a water treatment system that is ecofriendly, sustainable, and cost-efficient, the …