Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Brass


Brasses have excellent resistance to corrosion that makes them a natural, economic first choice for many applications.

  • Atmospheric exposure of the brasses results in the formation of a thin protective green "patina", a visually attractive feature in buildings.

  • Brass will remain essentially unaffected for an unlimited period of time, i.e. it will not rust away like iron and steel.

  • Seawater can be handled successfully providing the correct alloy is chosen, and there is a long history of the use of brass tube and tube fittings, valves, etc. in domestic plumbing, central heating, seawater lines, steam condensers and desalination plant.

  • High tensile brasses containing manganese have particularly excellent resistance to atmospheric corrosion, continual exposure resulting in a gradual darkening of the bronze colour.

Copper

The density of copper is 8.92 g/cm³.
It is a redish brown colour.
Copper is second only to silver in its ability to conduct electricity.
Copper is also very ductile.

Week 7 Term 1

The first lesson of the week we were on holiday (Easter Tuesday). For homework over the weekend we researched non-corroding materials. On Wednesday we updated the blog and calendar. And if we had time started our final designs on solid works. On Friday we will have two hours of practical to start our solar light circuits.

Solidworks Boat Wiring Diagram


Freehand Boat Wiring Diagram


Solidworks Circuit


Component artwork


Monday, March 24, 2008

Brief

My client is Doctor Tony House. He needs a garden light to light up some poacita in his Coromandel home. I have made myself the stakeholder. The light must be self-powered and be able to charge all day and then automatically turn on at night. Because it is in the Coromandel it needs to be rustproof so materials such as stainless steel, plastic, aluminium, brass and copper might be good. The light must also be weatherproof / waterproof. It must be controlled by a switch as well so that it can be turned off at night if wanted. The cost must not exceed $60 and the light can be no taller than 500mm.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Week 6 Term 1

This week we spent lots of our time finishing off 7509. On the double period on Friday we are going on a field trip. We are goimg to the Corillion, the skate park and Civic Square to look at lights (which blend into their surroundings). We also are beginning to look at researching light designs.

Week 5 Term 1

This week I did the NCEA level 2 standard 7509 (worth 4 credits). This was designing a wiring circuit for a boat. We drew it on paper then onto Macromedia Freehand then transfrered it to solidworks. My wiring was pink.

Week 4 Term 1

This week we started the unit standard 7509. We were given two briefs (for Dr House and Mr Hall). The Dr House brief was to design an outdoor solar light. The Mr Hall brief was to design a lighting circuit for his boat. We made lots of circuit drawings and did some of them on Circuit Wizard. Then we designed some of our own circuits.

Weeks 1-3 Term 1

So far we have done a whole lot of research. We researched different solar panels, lamp designs & LED lights. Also tried making some circuits from the kit.