Paddy Engineering Consultant

Settlement of foundation can be defined as its permanent downward displacement. There are two basic causes of foundation settlement: Settlement Due Directly to the Weight of the Structure The first type of settlement is directly caused by the weight of the structure. For example, the weight of a building may cause compression of an underlying sand deposit or consolidation of an underlying clay layer. Often the settlement analysis is based on the actual dead load of the structure. The dead load is defined as the structural weight due to beams, columns, floors, roofs, and other fixed members. The dead load does not include nonstructural items. Live loads are defined as the weight of nonstructural members, such as furniture, occupants, inventory, and snow. Live loads can also result in settlement of the structure.

Regular cleaning and maintenance will save you money and extend the life of your heat pump or HVAC unit. INTRODUCTION Keep your air-conditioner (AC) maintained and you’ll not only save money on energy, but you’ll also extend its lifespan, saving money on costly early replacement. Dave Moody, HVAC pro from Service Experts, says, “An AC needs regular attention to be sure it’s operating at the highest efficiency.” The best time to use these tips is just before each cooling season begins. Your Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning system (HVAC) will consist of either a furnace and AC or a heat pump, which both heats and cools. Both types will have an interior unit (evaporator and blower) and an exterior unit (condenser coil and compressor). These instructions apply to a whole-home air-conditioning or heat pump unit.

The air that we breathe today is full of toxic and hazardous pollutants. Pollution in the environment could leave mother Earth sapped of its beauty and biodiversity. Each year millions of people die all around the world due to different pollution related problems. The key to live a healthy life is to identify the sources of air pollution and implement practical ways so that you can help stop air pollution. If you have been looking to get in on the whole environmental movement, then you’ve likely been trying to look at the various options that you have when it comes to preventing pollution problems from becoming a bigger issue. In this article, we’re going to give you 41 different ideas that you can try out for yourself so that you can contribute to stopping air pollution in your area and in the world around you. All of us face a variety of risks to our health as we go about our day-to-day lives…. Indoor air pollution is one risk that you can do something about.

‎Portland residents can now generate green electricity simply by turning on their water taps and flushing their toilets.  Fast Company reports that the Oregon city is using a state-of-the art system to capture energy from water flowing through the city’s pipelines. Small turbines installed inside the pipelines are turned by the flowing water, sending energy into a generator and off into the power grid.

Energy cannot be created nor be destroyed but it can be converted from one form to another. Nearly all the mass of the atom is concentrated in a tiny nucleus in the center. The nucleus is composed principally of two sorts of particles: the proton which carries the positive charge and the neutron which is electrically neutral and has a mass slightly bigger than that of proton. Nuclear energy is the energy released from the nucleus of an atom. When nuclear reaction occurs weather fission or fusion, it produces large amount of energy.

A nuclear reactor produces electricity in much the same way other power plants do.  Some form of energy creates heat, which turns water into steam. The pressure of the steam turns a generator, which produces electricity. The difference is in how the heat is created. Power plants that run on fossil fuels burn coal, oil or natural gas to generate heat.  In a nuclear energy facility, heat is produced from splitting atoms – a process called nuclear fission.

‎So just how do we get electricity from water? Actually, hydroelectric and coal-fired power plants produce electricity in a similar way. In both cases a power source is used to turn a propeller-like piece called a turbine, which then turns a metal shaft in an electric generator, which is the motor that produces electricity. A coal-fired power plant uses steam to turn the turbine blades; whereas a hydroelectric plant uses falling water to turn the turbine. The results are the same.

How Does a Foundation Go In? ‎ The same steps are used to install the three types of foundation. The only difference is that with a basement foundation you often use concrete block to create the stem wall that supports the home. Concrete block come in more than 30 sizes and forms. As for which one is right for your basement, local building codes usually stipulate the type required. There are seven steps involved in installing a foundation:

‎Are you tired of paying for that expensive water heating bill? And do you want to find an alternative that would bust off those high bills? Why not make your own water heating attachment on your wood stove? This is one of the best ways for you to consider if you want to at least save those money on something else. The idea is  energy efficient and a resourceful way to get that hot water especially when you have a large wood stove at home.  

SOURCES OF DEFECTS IN BRICK MASONRY There are 4 primary reasons that cause defects in brick masonry work. These are as follows. Sulphate Attack Crystallization of Salts from Bricks Corrosion of Embedded Iron or Steel Shrinkage on Drying 1. SULPHATE ATTACK The common forms of defects due to sulphate attack are Chipping and spalling of bricks and Formation of cracks in joints and rendering These types of defects happens when sulphate salts present in brick work react with alumina of cement in case of cement mortar or react with hydraulic lime in case of lime mortar This reaction causes increase in the volume of mortar and consequently leads to cracks, chipping and spalling of brick work. ‎These defects are commonly found in following situation; exposed boundary wall parapet wall manhole and retaining walls (where they come in contact with moisture) This type of defects can be prevented by adopting suitable construction detail and good quality materials that pro...

‎ Concrete blocks having core void area larger than 25% of the gross area is termed as hollow concrete blocks. These blocks are manufactured in different shapes and sizes as shown in the following figure. Different forms of hollow concrete blocks Some of the standard sizes of hollow concrete blocks are as follow. Standard size hollow concrete block – 39 cm * 19 cm * 30 cm Hollow building tiles – 39 cm * 19 cm * 20 cm Hollow concrete blocks for partitions – 39 cm * 19 cm * 10 cm Face thickness of these blocks are normally kept 5 cm or more. ADVANTAGES OF HOLLOW CONCRETE BLOCK MASONRY Rapid Execution of Work Hollow concrete block are of uniform and regular size and it has less weight. This facilitates rapid execution of work. Increase in Floor Area It is possible to construct thin walls using hollow blocks. Therefore it helps to save space and increase floor area. Reduces Construction Cost Hollow block helps in saving construction materials and therefore use of ...

Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world. Modern technology can harness this energy for a variety of uses, including generating electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for domestic, commercial, or industrial use. The U.S. solar market faces both challenges and opportunities; the industry is working to scale up the production of solar technology, and drive down manufacturing and installation costs. There are several ways to harness solar energy: photovoltaics (also called solar electric), solar heating & cooling, concentrating solar power (typically built at utility-scale), and passive solar. The first three are active solar systems, which use mechanical or electrical devices that convert the sun's heat or light to another form of usa...

Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary field of engineering that includes a combination of systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering.[1][2] Astechnology advances the subfields of engineeringmultiply and adapt. Mechatronics' aim is a design process that unifies these subfields. Originally, mechatronics just included the combination of mechanics and electronics, hence the word is a combination of mechanics and electronics; however, as technical systems have become more and more complex the word has been broadened to include more technical areas. The word "mechatronics" originated in Japanese-English and was created by Tetsuro Mori, an engineer of Yaskawa Electric Corporation. The word "mechatronics" was registered as trademark by the company in Japan with the registration number of "46-32714" in 1971. However, afterward the company released the right o...

‎Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering which deals with the ability of a structure to support a designed load (weight, force, etc...) without breaking, tearing apart, or collapsing, and includes the study of breakage that has previously occurred in order to prevent failures in future designs. Structural integrity is the term used for the performance characteristic applied to a component, a single structure, or a structure consisting of different components. Structural integrity is the ability of an item to hold together under a load, including its own weight, resisting breakage or bending. It assures that the construction will perform its designed function, during reasonable use, for as long as the designed life of the structure. Items are constructed with structural integrity to ensure that catastrophic failure does not occur, which can result in injuries, severe damage, death, or monetary losses. Structural failure refers to the loss of structural integrity,...

A distribution board (also known as panelboard or breaker panel) is a component of an electricity supply system which divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits, while providing a protective fuse or circuit breaker for each circuit in a common enclosure. Tripping problems and Power Failures MAIN SWITCH TRIPPING Main Switch Tripping often occurs in 3 Phase Installations often found to be caused by  balancing problems Main Switch Tripping is an out of balance problem can have a negative effect on your Electricity Bill Main Switch Tripping is often caused by faulty switches People tend to make a mistake by Installing Higher Amperage Circuit Breakers when Main Switch Tripping occurs without proper investigation into the cause of the Tripping Main Switch Tripping creates a very dangerous situation and can often cause fires _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ TRIPPING PROBLEMS AND POWER FAILURES Tri...

The primary purpose of cables is to provide a conduit for power transmission from the source to the end user. Over the years, engineers and scientists have worked tirelessly to get the best materials for functionality and project feasibility. The following article highlights the common conducting materials used for electrical cables. Copper Copper, has been in use since the 1820s for power generation, distribution and transmission purposes. Copper conductivity is only second to silver, but the former is more extensively used due to economic viability and ease of acquisition. For regular LV and MV use, a highly refined electrolytic-tough pitch copper (copper with a small percentage of oxygen) is used to present the following properties: Low resistivity: makes it a good conductor of electricity. It has the highest conductivity amongst all non-precious metals with a resistivity of 16.8nΩ∙m Low comparable cost due to ease of accessibility, and general acceptance by manufacturers ...

The concept of self-healing concrete doesn't sound too exciting, until you think about all the pavement cracks and road potholes that we have to put up with on a daily basis. Maintaining the infrastructure of a modern, developed nation costs a huge amount of time and money, and having bridges and buildings take care of their own repairs would free up resources to use elsewhere. Now trials are underway in Wales to see if self-healing concrete is a viable option for the country's network of roads, towns, and cities. Three different technologies are being tested as part of the Materials For Life (M4L) project, and it's hoped that they might eventually be combined into one super-tough mixture. The materials involved would be embedded into the concrete as it was made, and they'd be able to detect and fix problems autonomously. Representatives from industry experts, Costain, are working alongside academics from several UK universities as the study gets underway. Six co...