Mech 226 Exercise 3

A: Construction & Green Roofs

1. One panel of the exterior concrete at the southwest corner of level 01/02
lacks eyebrow protection. As a result, this section will be subject to increased
runoff, causing the silicone elastomeric coating to stain heavily.
2. We recommend that Johnson Engineering provide project specific shop
drawings that specify the parts installation sequence at the interfaces and
penetrations. Additionally, the fastener type, corrosion resistance and spacing
for attachment of the base plate should also be specified.
A: Wind Farms
1. A wind farm may be a single machine, or a composition of many machines. It
could even possibly consist of hundreds of wind turbines. Regardless of the
wind farms size and composition, the construction and design methods do not
change.
2. People tend to think of a wind farm as a power station, but there are
important differences between these two types of power generation. A
conventional power station is one large machine and will not generate power
until construction is completed. Additionally, it will often need a substantial and
complicated civil structure. In designing such a structure, construction risk will
be an important part of the project assessment.
3. The construction of a wind farm is more like the purchasing of a fleet of
trucks than the construction of a power station. Similar to the modular
approach one takes with a fleet of trucks, the purchasing price of turbines and
delivery schedule are both set in advance. Due to this approach, wind farms are
seldom finished late or over budget.
B: Conductive Concrete
1. Concrete has been used for many years as a composite material due to its
excellent mechanical properties. For instance, it provides excellent durability
for construction. However, concrete is a poor electrical conductor, especially
under dry climatic conditions. If ever a concrete existed with good electrical
conductivity and mechanical properties, it would have important applications.
For example, it might be used for de-icing roads from snow.
2. The principle behind an electrically conductive concrete is the use of cement
to bind together conductive materials. Such materials include carbon fibre,
graphite and coke breeze, which is an inexpensive byproduct of steel
production. The materials then form a continuous network of conducting
pathways in the concrete.

3. This conductive concrete can be fabricated by two methods. The first method
of conventional mixing is done by adding conductive particles and fibers to
conventional aggregate and cement paste. Conductive concrete produced this
way has relatively higher electrical resistivity and compressive strength. The
second method of slurry infiltration can increase compressive and flexural
strengths. Additionally, lower resistivity can be obtained.
C: SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)
1. There are systems called supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
systems. SCADA systems are usually centralized to monitor and control entire
sites. They can also be complexes of systems, if the monitoring and control
multiple sites is required. An example of an application of SCADA systems is in
tar sands processing facilities which are spread across the country.
Additionally, they could also control a series of power generation and
distribution systems throughout a province.
2. Most control actions are performed automatically by remote terminal units
(RTU) or programmable logic controllers (PLC). For example, at a potato chip
processing plant, PLCs may control as little as the flow of inputs, or as much as
all the processes. Additionally, operator functions are usually limited to basic
over-riding or supervisory actions. The SCADA system may allow operators to
change the set points for the flow, or the alarm conditions. For example, at the
chip processing plant, they may change the alarm condition for an oil
temperature.