Nanditha's Individual Contribution Page
Fall 2010 Contributions
This semester I am working with Andrew Sargent on the Drain Channel. We are working on writing a code in MathCAD so the design can be automated as part of the Design Tool. Thus far we have gathered information and feedback from Monroe and the engineers in Honduras about what the basic geometry of the channel should be, where it is positioned and how water flows in and out of it. We also determined what assumptions can be made to help us determined the size of the cross-section and depth of the channel, and how to code it, and calculated the equations to be used. We are working on the iterative function that will determine the headloss based on the flow rate out of the drain valves, which in term will determine all other dimensions. Once this is finished, we can begin coding the actual channel into the proper location.
The first approach we took to coding the channel was drawing a channel with a wedge below, unioning the two objects, subtracting out the inside to make it a hollow channel, then rotating the object down so it was sloped and build up the walls. This method turned out to have a number of problems and was extremely complicated. May helped us create a Loft function in MathCAD and we revised our approach to define two 10-point cross-sections of either end of the channel. Then these two cross sections are lofted together to form the channel. The channel is now completely drawn and ready for testing. It is drawn with a conservative approach so that the rectangular portion is drawn to the calculated values of headloss with the triangular wedge shaped portion adding extra depth for an over-design. This can be something future teams can work on.
Spring 2010 Contributions
This semester, I have been working with Massielle Begazo focusing on different aspects of the launder. First, we had to fix the coupling in the wall separating the sedimentation tank and the exit channel. Last semester it was incorrectly drawn so that there was no socket on one of the ends. These changes were made in the coupling script. Then, we had to add the coupling script into the sedlaunder script in the Sed Tank with Pieces file so that it would draw in the correct part of the plant. I had some trouble with this due to the way the launder was drawn and rotated, but we were able to figure it out.
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The biggest task we worked on for the past couple weeks was updating the coupling script. Previously, the script would just draw the coupling wherever the user placed it, usually into a section of wall. However, then the user would have to manually subtract out the wall that the coupling overlapped with. We redesigned the script in a new file called "couplingsubtract" so it will automatically remove the appropriate pieces of the wall. The coupling function now requires several more inputs, including the layer of the wall, the layer of the coupling, and a point on the wall to subtract to allow this.
Fall 2009 Contributions
This semester, I am continuing as a member of the Design Team. The project I have been working on this semester is designing control pieces to shut off flow from the inlet chimneys into the sedimentation tank. I added information about this to the Inlet Channel Design Program.
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Summer 2009 Contributions
I am a member of the Automated Design Tool Team. As a new member of AguaClara, I have spent the past few weeks learning a lot about the plant, what it looks like, it's different components, and getting a basic idea of how it works. I have also learned how to use MathCAD to do calculations and coding with different variables.
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Overall, this summer was a great learning experience for me. Working on the Materials List allowed me to learn about the geometry and functions of the majority of the components of the plant, and I feel like I have a greater understanding of the AguaClara project as a whole.
Pages Created/Updated
Launder Channel Design Program
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