Fabrication

Overview

The Fabrication team is developing fabrication methods that are most practical at AguaClara construction sites, while being feasible and economical. We have already accomplished the research on more than half of our projects and are starting the experimentation and design portion for several objectives. While we are attempting to stick to our task deadline, we are waiting for more information before we can start several of the objectives. Hopefully, by the end of the semester we will have a much better understanding of the AguaClara project as well as valuable contributions to implement in future construction sites.

Introduction and Objectives

The Fabrication Team was created in the Spring 2011 semester to solve some of the problems of constructing plant parts on-site in Honduras. One goal of AguaClara is to empower Hondurans to be able to build the plant, and the Fabrication team works to make that easier. We work on better methods for drilling, cutting, and fitting parts, as well as improving designs to make fabrication simpler. We also work on several entrance tank problems, such as deigning a trash rack for large debris and an overflow weir so that water can bypass the plant without turning off the transmission line. Our approach to these tasks has been to brainstorm and come up with many possible solutions, then evaluate which ideas are feasible for the Hondurans. Then we plan to build prototypes to test our solutions and make recommendations for future plants.