To an engineer, the world is full of opportunities for progress. In the various buildings and structures seen every day, as well as the largely unseen infrastructure that supports them, lie engineering problems to ponder. It is the efforts of engineers all over the world that lead to both revolutionary breakthroughs and (more commonly) modest design improvements in order to improve the quality of life for us all.
Materials science is an area of abiding interest to engineers. After all, the stuff that other stuff (that is, building materials) is made of is a key component in formulating accurate calculations and planning. When new materials are developed, engineers try to use them to improve upon existing techniques. And the same goes for when older materials are reworked or repurposed. Sometimes it does not take much of a difference to get a substantial increase in desirable traits.
For example, concrete is one of the oldest building materials in use in the modern construction industry. Although it was widely used to build structures for the Roman Empire, the technology was lost for centuries. Although it has a fairly simple recipe - aggregate (sand or stones) for strength, cement as a binding agent, and water as a catalyst - variations in the specific formula are always being tried.
But it is not always the materials themselves that drive the improvements; sometimes, the process is just as open to receiving an enhancement. For example, "precasting" concrete - creating products in controlled conditions with reusable forms - makes a tremendous difference in some cases. The elimination of weather, worker (in)experience, and other possibly weakening factors means construction sites receive uniform pieces at their peak strength, custom poured to their specifications.
Precast concrete leads to savings in terms of both money (because the molds can be reused, and volume savings are possible) and time (because finished products arrive at the site, ready for installation - there is no delay for curing). For example, rather than building a mold for a set of stairs leading into a building, pouring the concrete, waiting for it to cure, and then finishing it, a builder can simply receive the slabs for a set of Precast Steps and install them.
For larger pieces, like the enormous gravity-fed storm sewer pipes used in city Drainage Solutions, precast concrete is a tremendous time saver and budget minder. Removing the variables surrounding creating concrete forms on site clarifies schedules and produces more durable results, which should save on repairs in the future.
When an engineer looks at the world, he or she sees both problems and solutions. This can lead to innovations that make things easier for all of us.
Materials science is an area of abiding interest to engineers. After all, the stuff that other stuff (that is, building materials) is made of is a key component in formulating accurate calculations and planning. When new materials are developed, engineers try to use them to improve upon existing techniques. And the same goes for when older materials are reworked or repurposed. Sometimes it does not take much of a difference to get a substantial increase in desirable traits.
For example, concrete is one of the oldest building materials in use in the modern construction industry. Although it was widely used to build structures for the Roman Empire, the technology was lost for centuries. Although it has a fairly simple recipe - aggregate (sand or stones) for strength, cement as a binding agent, and water as a catalyst - variations in the specific formula are always being tried.
But it is not always the materials themselves that drive the improvements; sometimes, the process is just as open to receiving an enhancement. For example, "precasting" concrete - creating products in controlled conditions with reusable forms - makes a tremendous difference in some cases. The elimination of weather, worker (in)experience, and other possibly weakening factors means construction sites receive uniform pieces at their peak strength, custom poured to their specifications.
Precast concrete leads to savings in terms of both money (because the molds can be reused, and volume savings are possible) and time (because finished products arrive at the site, ready for installation - there is no delay for curing). For example, rather than building a mold for a set of stairs leading into a building, pouring the concrete, waiting for it to cure, and then finishing it, a builder can simply receive the slabs for a set of Precast Steps and install them.
For larger pieces, like the enormous gravity-fed storm sewer pipes used in city Drainage Solutions, precast concrete is a tremendous time saver and budget minder. Removing the variables surrounding creating concrete forms on site clarifies schedules and produces more durable results, which should save on repairs in the future.
When an engineer looks at the world, he or she sees both problems and solutions. This can lead to innovations that make things easier for all of us.
About the Author:
Joan Jaynes is a freelance online writer who specializes in the construction industry and related issues. She has a particular interest in the large-scale projects, such as Drainage Solutions, as well as more standard products such as Precast Steps.
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