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Optimization of pipeline reducer using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling
No full textWater mains are part of a drainage network that generally supplies fresh water to the households within council (municipal) limits. Most councils set a benchmark minimum water pressure (kPa) and a flow rate (l/min) that must be delivered to households. A typical drainage network may consist of straight pipe with different bends, reducers, expansions and several fittings, all of which contribute to loss of pressure in the fluid system. The main objective of this paper is to compare different gradients of reducers using Applied Computational Modelling techniques. This comparison is performed in terms of pressure drop across the section, the total pressure on the reducing face and regular forces on the inner face of each reducer on two types of reducers, i.e. Concentric and Eccentric. Methods: In this paper, computational analyses using CFD tools are applied to a pipe from a typical water mains line consisting of a concentric reducer that generally holds a certain amount of pressure. Comparison between different gradients of reducing face of both concentric and eccentric reducers has been performed in terms of pressure drop across the section, the total pressure on the reducing face and normal forces on the inner face of each reducer. Polyethylene (PE) stub flanges and galvanized backing rings are attached to the pipe. The material properties for the pipe and the reducer are set to high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and they are butt-welded together. The simulation and analysis are performed using SOLIDWORKS-CFD/FE software. Findings: The simulation results show the predicted flow trajectories of the fluid flowing through both reducers depicting difference in flow trajectories and their consequent effect on fluid system and the system’s structure in terms of Pressure drop, water force etc. when the reduction is changed from concentric to eccentric. Applications: The quantified flow simulation is used to optimize the section design according to the dynamic pressure head required. The results show that the optimized reducer serves better than conventional reducers
Ethnic solidarity in combating the COVID-19 threat in New Zealand
Get PDFIn early 2020, when COVID-19 was tearing through China, it was hard to imagine that it would develop into a global pandemic so rapidly and reach New Zealand, a country geographically isolated from most of the world. After the first confirmed case on February 28, 2020, the spread of COVID-19 escalated rapidly with confirmed cases surpassing 1,000 in five weeks, most of them related to international travel. Nevertheless, with a progressive government response, the country took less than one-and-half months to halt COVID-19’s spread. On May 11, a seven-week nationwide lockdown was lifted following two consecutive days of zero new cases. To date, most domestic economic activities have resumed.
As of May 25, 2020, statistics suggest that New Zealand’s response to the pandemic is largely successful, as shown by the low confirmed and probable case numbers (1,504) and deaths (21), and the high rate of recovery (1,456) and testing (261,315).1 However, this positive result did not come easily. At the outset, the government’s response to this emerging public health crisis was relaxed and reluctant. This situation started to change during March as evidenced by the enforcement of much tougher border control measures and domestic orders. The specific turning point was 14 March, when the compulsory self-isolation policy for all international arrivals began to be enforced. Since then, New Zealand has been leading the COVID-19 response in Oceania. “Unite against COVID-19” was adopted as a widely used official slogan to combat the pandemic. The slogan implies the determination to unite people across the nation, including ethnic minorities, to eliminate the virus (Cousins, 2020). This essay discusses the driving force behind the changing discourse of the government’s response to the pandemic and the factors that led to its success
Living with diversity: Negotiating difference in Northcote
Get PDFThis document is part of a series of four project briefs (CaDDANZ briefs 8-11) which collate distinct but interrelated sets of key findings from a research project that examined how older adults of 65 years and above create and maintain a sense of home and community in the Auckland neighbourhood of Northcote. This study forms part of a wider suite of projects within the MBIE-funded CaDDANZ research programme which collectively investigate facets of population change and diversity in a range of different contexts. Overall, CaDDANZ aims to develop greater understanding of how diversity affects society and how, in turn, institutions can better respond to diversity. This neighbourhood-based study sits within a growing body of social science scholarship that has recognised the importance of ‘the local’ because this is where diversity is lived and negotiated in everyday interactions. While much of the academic literature and policy discourses home in on ethnicity and culture, we would like to stress that diversity is complex and multiply determined by a broad range of factors, including gender, age, ability and socio-economic status
Ageing and wellbeing in Northcote
Get PDFThis document is part of a series of four project briefs (CaDDANZ briefs 8-11) which collate distinct but interrelated sets of key findings from a research project that examined how older adults of 65 years and above create and maintain a sense of home and community in the Auckland neighbourhood of Northcote. This study forms part of a wider suite of projects within the MBIE-funded CaDDANZ research programme which collectively investigate facets of population change and diversity in a range of different contexts. Overall, CaDDANZ aims to develop greater understanding of how diversity affects society and how, in turn, institutions can better respond to diversity. This neighbourhood-based study sits within a growing body of social science scholarship that has recognised the importance of ‘the local’ because this is where diversity is lived and negotiated in everyday interactions. While much of the academic literature and policy discourses home in on ethnicity and culture, we would like to stress that diversity is complex and multiply determined by a broad range of factors, including gender, age, ability and socio-economic status
Critical thinking, EAP and supplementary resources
Get PDFThe development of critical thinking skills in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students is a major area
of interest for teachers in the sector.
While teaching on a sessional EAP course at a university in New Zealand, I used a range of supplementary materials
to develop a three-stage framework to assist students in developing their critical thinking (CT) ability. As it was not possible to cover very many aspects of developing this crucial CT skill in the time allocated for critical thinking in the course, this framework seemed like a
viable option to cover the core content.
The three stages included critically evaluating their self-assumptions, critically evaluating academic articles on a macro-level and critically evaluating academic articles on a micro-level in terms of the language used. Ultimately, I hoped that this could lead to students
developing the ability to critically evaluate their own writing once they developed the ability to be more critical of what they were reading
One-Way fluid structure interaction of a go-kart spoiler using CFD analysis
Get PDFThe spoiler on a go-kart is required to prevent the vehicle becoming airborne at speeds of 80 km/h or more. An optimal spoiler design balances this safety aspect with speed and fuel economy. This paper reports the results of a project to improve the aerodynamic aspects of a go-kart spoiler design using CFD Analysis. We investigated the design of a rear spoiler with three proposed angles (θ1 = 9.5°, θ2 = 19.5°, θ3 = 29.5°). The drag force produced by each of the three designs is compared. Different computational results are discussed such as the air flow velocity, pressure and the applied forces in terms of CFD analysis using one-way fluid structure interaction (one-way FSI) to determine the spoiler stress, strain and drag coefficient. The findings of this paper have implications for the leisure and tourism industries, and may be applicable to other recreational vehicles’ spoilers
"In Transition": International, curated exhibition
Get PDFFictional Landscapes is a series that explores ideas about
the representation of landscape as both physical and multisensory, and encoded with layers of cultural meaning and values. Landscape is often considered symbolic, acting as a construct of the real world and as an artefact to cultural ideologies about place and time. In times of transition and instability, these multiple-exposure images intend to activate the perceptual space where a place can be defined by our own vision and knowing, and interpreted by our mind and senses.
About the exhibition:
In Transition harnesses the uncertainty that encapsulates the time period we are living in today: (a) transition from Lockdown to whatever our new reality holds, (b) a transition from in person viewing of art to to some new reality that hopefully is the best of both worlds, and (c) a transition from four years of oppression and animosity to progressive ideas to a more open world that better supports creatives
Developing metrics for nursing quality of care for low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review linked to stakeholder engagement
Get PDFBackground: The use of appropriate and relevant nurse-sensitive indicators provides an opportunity to
demonstrate the unique contributions of nurses to patient outcomes. The aim of this work was to develop relevant
metrics to assess the quality of nursing care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they are scarce.
Main body: We conducted a scoping review using EMBASE, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases of studies published
in English focused on quality nursing care and with identified measurement methods. Indicators identified were
reviewed by a diverse panel of nursing stakeholders in Kenya to develop a contextually appropriate set of nursesensitive indicators for Kenyan hospitals specific to the five major inpatient disciplines. We extracted data on study
characteristics, nursing indicators reported, location and the tools used. A total of 23 articles quantifying the quality of nursing care services met the inclusion criteria. All studies identified were from high-income countries. Pooled together, 159 indicators were reported in the reviewed studies with 25 identified as the most commonly reported.
Through the stakeholder consultative process, 52 nurse-sensitive indicators were recommended for Kenyan
hospitals.
Conclusions: Although nurse-sensitive indicators are increasingly used in high-income countries to improve quality of care, there is a wide heterogeneity in the way indicators are defined and interpreted. Whilst some indicators were regarded as useful by a Kenyan expert panel, contextual differences prompted them to recommend
additional new indicators to improve the evaluations of nursing care provision in Kenyan hospitals and potentially
similar LMIC settings. Taken forward through implementation, refinement and adaptation, the proposed indicators
could be more standardised and may provide a common base to establish national or regional professional learning networks with the common goal of achieving high-quality care through quality improvement and learning
Post-exercise hot-water immersion does not further enhance heat adaptation or performance in endurance athletes training in hot environment
Get PDFINTRODUCTION:
Hot-water immersion (HWI) after training in temperate conditions has been shown to induce thermophysiological adaptations and improve endurance performance in the heat, however, the potential additive effects of HWI and training in hot outdoor conditions remain unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of repeated post-exercise HWI in athletes training in a hot environment.
METHODS:
Thirteen (9 female) elite/pre-elite partially heat acclimatized racewalkers completed a 15-day training program in outdoor heat (mean afternoon high temperature=34.6°C). Athletes were divided into two groups matched for VO2max and 10,000 m walking performance time that completed either HWI (40°C for 30-40 min) or seated rest in 21°C (CON), following 8 training sessions. Pre-post testing included a 30-min fixed-intensity walk in heat, laboratory incremental walk to exhaustion and 10,000 m outdoor time-trial.
RESULTS:
Training frequency and volume was similar between groups (P=0.54). Core temperature was significantly higher during immersion in HWI (38.5 ± 0.3) than CON (37.8 ± 0.2°C; P0.05). There were significant (P<0.05) pre-post differences for both groups in submaximal exercising heart rate (~11 bpm) sweat rate (0.34-0.55 L.h-1) and thermal comfort (1.2–1.5 arbitrary units), and 10,000 m racewalking performance time (~3 min).
CONCLUSION:
After a 15-day heat training intervention, we observed significantly improved submaximal exercising heart rate, sweat rate, and thermal comfort, as well as improved 10,000 m racewalking performance in both groups. However, the addition of HWI did not further enhance heat adaptation or performance in partially heat-acclimatized athletes. Physiological adaptation appeared to be optimized from training in hot conditions alone
Tau ruru: Te ruru light festival Claudelands pop-up 2020
No full textArtist Statement: "2020 has been a turbulent year for many. This watchful guardian stands for hope as it calls into the darkness signalling good times ahead. Recycled milk bottles collected during the COVID-19 lockdown were used to construct the ruru and moths."
The project was an exploration of how light installations could be developed during a national lock-down. The project explored the use of milk bottles as a sculptural material as, at the time, curbside recycling was not in operation.
The work also explored te ao Māori themes of safety and warnings associated with the different calls of ruru (morepork owl).
The name of the work alludes to a whakataukī (Māori proverb) that speaks of preserving in hard time. "E rua tau ruru; e rua tau wehe; e rua tau mutu; e rua tau kai." These words seem relevant during the uncertainty of this global pandemic