Creative Engineering
The objective of this project was to research a world problem, and try to come up with a solution for it. Our group went back and forth with ideas or topics that we were interested in researching. At first we were thinking of a way to try and save the polar bears. After doing research we realized that this would be nearly impossible not to mention very costly. Our second idea was finding a new material for water pipes. The reason for this is because many pipes break during earthquakes, resulting in people without fresh water.
We first started by researching earthquakes, and the damage they had on pipes in urban areas. We decided to focus on the Bay Area since we live there and it is right on The San Andreas Fault. We researched the Loma Prieta earthquake. We found that it cost thousands and even millions of dollars to fix all of the pipes that broke during the earthquake.
Next we looked up what water pipes are currently made of. We discovered that many pipes are made of concrete, clay, cast iron, PVC pipe, and steel. The main problem with these materials is that they are not flexible, so they are unable to move with the earthquakes. We then researched flexible materials that could be used as pipes. Some materials we came up with were annealed steel, carbon nanotube, nano cellulose, and flexible gooseneck. We researched each material and made a list of pros and cons for each one. We finally decided to use flexible gooseneck. We decided on this material after seeing how high the cost of carbon nanotube was, and how rare many of the other materials were. A major pro of the flexible gooseneck is that it is extremely bendable, but does not kink.
We first started by researching earthquakes, and the damage they had on pipes in urban areas. We decided to focus on the Bay Area since we live there and it is right on The San Andreas Fault. We researched the Loma Prieta earthquake. We found that it cost thousands and even millions of dollars to fix all of the pipes that broke during the earthquake.
Next we looked up what water pipes are currently made of. We discovered that many pipes are made of concrete, clay, cast iron, PVC pipe, and steel. The main problem with these materials is that they are not flexible, so they are unable to move with the earthquakes. We then researched flexible materials that could be used as pipes. Some materials we came up with were annealed steel, carbon nanotube, nano cellulose, and flexible gooseneck. We researched each material and made a list of pros and cons for each one. We finally decided to use flexible gooseneck. We decided on this material after seeing how high the cost of carbon nanotube was, and how rare many of the other materials were. A major pro of the flexible gooseneck is that it is extremely bendable, but does not kink.
Engineer design cycle
1. Identify the need.
2. Research the problem.
3. Develop possible solutions.
4. Select the best solution.
5. Construct a prototype.
6. Test and evaluate the solutions.
7. Communicate the results.
8. Redesign.
2. Research the problem.
3. Develop possible solutions.
4. Select the best solution.
5. Construct a prototype.
6. Test and evaluate the solutions.
7. Communicate the results.
8. Redesign.
As you can see in the picture, PVC pipe easily cracks and breaks into small pieces, whereas flexible gooseneck bends and does not break at all.
Reflection
This project definitely had its ups and down. I loved my group, and we got along really well most of the time. One thing I found interesting was researching something that can have a major impact on our area. Another interesting thing was seeing other peoples' ideas on how to solve world problems. One thing our group did really well was communicating with each other. It made the whole project a lot less stressful. Another thing we did well was creating our power point. We made sure to only list the main ideas on each slide and elaborate on them by talking in the presentation. One thing I think our group could have done better is have a more interesting representation of the different types of pipes. One other thing our group could have improved on would be doing more research. I wish we could have been able to incorporate more facts or statistics in our presentation. Overall this was a fun project, but it was hard to get started since there were so many world problems that we could choose to research.