| Title: |
Soil Coring Apparatus |
| Category: |
Industry |
| Intellectual Property: |
Student team assigns intellectual property control to company |
| Year: |
2009 |
| Semester: |
Fall |
| Sponsor Name: |
QuakeWrap, Inc. |
| Sponsoring advisors: |
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| Sponsor URL: |
http://www.QuakeWrap.com and www.PileMedic.com |
| Sponsor Information: |
QuakeWrap, Inc. specializes in repair and strengthening of structures with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) products.
We have recently developed a technology to construct FRP super laminates. These laminates offer solutions to several unsolved problems. Please read the pdf file attached to this project description.
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| ITAR Restriction: |
No |
| Scope of work: |
One of the applications of super laminates is to strengthen deteriorated bridge columns that may be embedded in water or soil. These projects require that we repair several feet of the damaged section below and above grade or waterline. For a pile in water, as shown on www.PileMedic.com, we van make the solid FRP shell around the pile and slide it into water. For a circular column embedded in soil, however, the challenge is how to get the jacket into the soil. Keep in mind that the FRP jacket or shell, being less than 1/16 inch thick, is very strong in tension but it is not that good for bearing. So, we cannot force drive an FRP shell into soil.
Of course, one can dig a big ditch around the column but that would be expensive and requires major equipment. What we really need, is only a 1-2 inch wide ring excavated around the column. Your task is to design a system that would be placed around an existing column and would be able to excavate a narrow gap around the column for a depth of 10 feet. The soil resulting from the excavation should be removed either as the excavation goes on or afterward.
Another use of this equipment with a slight variation is for cleaning the surface of an underwater pile as shown here:
http://www.pilecapinc.com/cleaningSystem.htm
However, in our case, instead of high pressure water jets shown in the above web site, our equipment will use its cutting edge to remove any barnacles attached to the pile.
Please note that you must build a working prototype of this equipment as a part of this project; drawings alone are not sufficient. |
| Project summary: |
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| Disciplines: |
Mechanical Engineering (3)
Electrical Engineering (2) |
| Skills: |
Rotoray Machinary Design
Electrical or Pneumatic Power
Materials Used in Blades |
| Additional resources: |
We have a warehouse behind our office (2055 E. 17th St.) that can be made available to you if you need additional space.
In addition, our engineers are available at all times to answer any questions you might have about the requirements of the system. |
| Key Contact Name: |
Prof. M. Ehsani |
| Key Contact Email: |
Mo@QuakeWrap.com |
| Key Contact Phone: |
791-7000 x 122 |
| Project URL: |
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| Mentor Name: |
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| Mentor Email: |
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| Mentor Phone: |
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