Soiled: An Environmental Podcast is a six episode series where common environmental topics are discussed and misconceptions surrounding these topics are debunked.
The environment today is facing concerns over accumulation of plastics in landfills as well as excessive CO2 emissions. Containers and packaging take up approximately 15 million tons each year, and accumulations such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are entering the oceans. Work has been done to alter and treat polyethylene plastic to be added to cement mixtures. This is done to increase bearing capacity and ductility of concrete in addition to decreasing carbon emissions and plastic waste.
This thesis investigates the feasibility of using recycled ceramics as the aggregate in concrete, as an alternative to natural rock aggregates. The study evaluates the mechanical properties of concrete made with recycled ceramics and compares them with those of traditional concrete. The research involved laboratory experiments to determine compressive strength and displacement. The results show that the concrete made with recycled ceramics exhibited higher compressive strength and lower maximum displacement than traditional concrete, which means it acted more brittle. However, when the recycled ceramics were used to replace only 50% of the rock aggregate, the compressive strength decreased while the maximum displacement stayed the same, though the study concludes that a larger sample size is needed for more reliable results. Based on the findings, the thesis concludes that while the use of recycled ceramics in concrete may not be suitable for structural concrete, it could still have potential as a sustainable building material in non-structural applications.
Innovative teaching methods must be studied and implemented to optimize student learning and prepare future generations for complex challenges. Dr. Keith Hjelmstad, a professor at Arizona State University, developed such an approach, “The Mechanics Project,” and has implemented it in foundational engineering mechanics courses. Although course instructors have used traditional “lecture and read” approaches for generations, the world is changing, requiring a modified policy. In this thesis, I research, discuss, and analyze the positive effects of The Mechanics Project for civil engineering students based on its fundamental principles.
Startups in the paper manufacturing are few & rare between. Agrix Paper takes a step towards innovating the traditional mass-scale paper making process & introduce non-wood fiber sourcing into the papermaking space. Using a hemp fiber-base, Agrix Paper hopes to develop a new paper manufacturing process that derives high-quality paper sourced from hemp & agricultural waste. Agrix Paper will reinvent the papermaking process for a more sustainable industry future.
Effects of Aggregate Packing Density on the Mechanical Properties of Ultra-High Performance Concrete
In this study, aggregate material evaluation and testing was conducted for use in the mix design of the UHPC mixes that were carried out and tested. Each mix employed the same general UHPC mixture design with the only difference being the aggregate proportions of #4, #8, and #10 nominal size aggregates. The purpose of using a UHPC mix design that was independent of aggregate proportioning was to evaluate the effects of varying aggregate particle packing densities. Increased particle packing density of UHPC provide improved mechanical performance by decreasing the distance between particle within cured UHPC, thereby producing significant increases in compressive strength, tensile strength, durability, and service life of UHPC when compared to standard concrete. For this study, particle packing densities of 0.509, 0.521, 0.540, and 0.552 were employed and evaluated on the basis of compressive strength and tensile strength to determine the optimum UHPC mix design.
