Questions tagged [building-physics]
The physics of buildings, specifically thermal conduction, convection, & radiation; heating and cooling; ventilation; transmission and management of water vapour & pollutants
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What is the purpose of these diversions in a natural gas line?
The campus where I work has a long covered walkway (~.5 mile) which has several labeled pipes running under the roof (chilled water, fuel oil, air...). All of the pipes run dead straight except for ...
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What is the most efficient means of warming a building with a high ceiling?
Consider a large auditorium, a church, or some other very large, essentially one roomed building with a high ceiling. Suppose that the building has many entrances which enable cold air in/hot air out ...
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How does a church built from stones survive 70 years under water?
Following the recent news about the Sau reservoir in Spain, the draught revealed an 11-century stone church which has been under water for 70 years since 1962 when the reservoir was built.
How is it ...
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How would you move a sail boat with no wind or paddles
If I stood on a sailing ship and had a very strong pair of lungs (possibly motorized) then if I blew the sail would I be able to move the ship forwards?
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Where to insulate Underfloor air distribution system in a temperate climate
I have a proposed underfloor air distribution system (UFAD) for a one level office in a temperate climate. Typically the demand for heating and cooling in this climate is about even for offices. ...
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Is a single large impact better than several small impacts for breaking ice
I'm designing a device that uses impact to remove ice from sidewalks. I have a question about how to best design the impact mechanism.
I can design it to deliver several light impacts or fewer harder ...
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How to build apartment floors/ceilings to not transfer sound?
How do new apartment buildings build their floors/ceilings to prevent the transfer of sound between people living above/below each other?
Note: I'm not asking about how to soundproof an existing ...
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Recoil of hydraulic lift/elevator
I noticed that when a group of people enter in an hydraulic lift/elevator often when the last person steps in the lift/elevator has a small but noticeable recoil: the lift goes down a few mm then it ...
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What approaches are there for demolishing a structure and how is an approach chosen?
From my office on the 21st floor of a building in Vancouver, BC two parking garages in the process of being demolished are visible. A third is just out of view a few more blocks away.
One of these ...
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Cooling tower for nuclear power plants
Cooling towers for nuclear power plants often have the shape of a hyperboloid. At first glance, I thought that an obvious reason for this would be the smaller sectional area, meaning the tower would ...
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Tower crane with a cabin on ground level
Pardon me for kind of a stupid question, but I keep wondering. Traditionally, tower cranes' cabins are located at the top of the tower. I can understand why it have been necessary up to ~1990s, when ...
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Recreating Focaults Pendulum
I am having issues building a recreation of Focaults Pendulum (basic, inexpensive, undergrad project). At this point, I am going to purchase aircraft cable or suspension cable unless someone can ...
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Where to start when studying Architectural Engineering by myself? [closed]
I have this idea of creating my own curriculum for studying Architectural Engineering. I aim at talking with actual architectural engineers in my surroundings and ask them for advice on the topics I ...
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Modeling rigid body dynamics: Trouble with equations, encountering nonsense answers
Hi, I am working on modeling a simple rigid body dynamic system through a certain range of motion. Here is the picture of the system.
I am trying to solve the system for the variables $x_1'', y_1'', ...
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What is the minimum height of a chimney needed in a camper?
Like a lot of people nowadays, I'm fitting a log fire into the back of a camper van but can't find the minimum height above the roof for the chimney. Ideally, it should be as low as possible for ...
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