Strategies for the Adaptive Re-use of Degraded Urban Heritage Fabric: The Design of an Artist Colony in Central, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Weiss, Sarah
- Date: 2021-01
- Subjects: Artist colonies -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59172 , vital:60270
- Description: The old city centre of Port Elizabeth, South Africa has undergone numerous changes throughout its lifespan and the recent changes have sought to reinvigorate and reinvent this old suburb to the bustling urban environment of yesteryear but unfortunately the state of central has continued to decline with the city continuing to expand towards the western periphery. Central has thus becomes a harbour for forgotten artefacts settled amongst what few activities remain as it sits as the foundation of the city. This document sees the exploration of a personal intrigue with what is considered forgotten and to this end the treatise is an investigation into heritage, and more specifically, the main writings and thoughts on memory and the physical environment and the core notions that contribute to its character. This treatise looks at identifying a set of lost and forgotten artefacts in the old city centre and a pragmatic response to solve the issue of single use buildings is put forward to develop strategies for the adaptive re-use within degraded urban heritage fabric to allow for the production of a catalytic precinct. The aim of this treatise is therefore to propose a building that is suitable for and responsive to its historical context, that meets the required developmental needs of the present but is ensured to meet the possible needs of future generations. This treatise aims to propose a relevant and appropriate artist colony in Central, Port Elizabeth. These aims are achieved through literature reviews, heritage practitioner comparative analyses, contextual analyses, and precedent studies in order to find an appropriate strategy for the design proposal. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-01
- Authors: Weiss, Sarah
- Date: 2021-01
- Subjects: Artist colonies -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59172 , vital:60270
- Description: The old city centre of Port Elizabeth, South Africa has undergone numerous changes throughout its lifespan and the recent changes have sought to reinvigorate and reinvent this old suburb to the bustling urban environment of yesteryear but unfortunately the state of central has continued to decline with the city continuing to expand towards the western periphery. Central has thus becomes a harbour for forgotten artefacts settled amongst what few activities remain as it sits as the foundation of the city. This document sees the exploration of a personal intrigue with what is considered forgotten and to this end the treatise is an investigation into heritage, and more specifically, the main writings and thoughts on memory and the physical environment and the core notions that contribute to its character. This treatise looks at identifying a set of lost and forgotten artefacts in the old city centre and a pragmatic response to solve the issue of single use buildings is put forward to develop strategies for the adaptive re-use within degraded urban heritage fabric to allow for the production of a catalytic precinct. The aim of this treatise is therefore to propose a building that is suitable for and responsive to its historical context, that meets the required developmental needs of the present but is ensured to meet the possible needs of future generations. This treatise aims to propose a relevant and appropriate artist colony in Central, Port Elizabeth. These aims are achieved through literature reviews, heritage practitioner comparative analyses, contextual analyses, and precedent studies in order to find an appropriate strategy for the design proposal. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-01
Provision of sustainable sanitation services in an informal settlement in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole
- Authors: Nyila, Zoliswa
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: informal settlement , Sanitation
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58429 , vital:59211
- Description: The aim of the study is to investigate the underlying issues informing the provision of sustainable sanitation within an informal settlement within the NMBM. The analysis in this research is based on the premise that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM), alongside other municipalities, might face the challenge of having to ensure that sustainable sanitation is provided in its own informal settlements. The research followed the assumption that municipalities of this country could deliver proper sanitation to informal settlements without difficulty if most informal settlements were not built on undesirable and unsuitable land for housing development. The study also assumed that proper sanitation could be delivered by municipalities if the budget allocation to implement, operate and maintain basic sanitation facilities was sufficient, and there were effective public participation processes and socio-economic and environmental assessments in place. The research demanded a concise literature analysis of the sustainable sanitation service required for informal settlements under the current local authority growth mandate. The quantitative survey and analysis approach that was applied in the research process with an explanation of the distribution and administering of the research questionnaire and observations used to collect field information, are presented. The results of the evidential study are statistically analysed, assessed, and reported. Most of the results on the reasons for the lack of sanitation reflect, among other things, a lack of public participation and meaningful relations between the community and municipal officials, unfamiliarity with the required standard of services, not being educated about the services and how to use the rolled-out services, and not being able to afford basic services. Recommendations include strengthening public participation procedures, creating awareness and training initiatives for the residents on the proper utilisation of public services, being visible to the community, and implementing infrastructure projects that will create job opportunities. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Nyila, Zoliswa
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: informal settlement , Sanitation
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58429 , vital:59211
- Description: The aim of the study is to investigate the underlying issues informing the provision of sustainable sanitation within an informal settlement within the NMBM. The analysis in this research is based on the premise that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM), alongside other municipalities, might face the challenge of having to ensure that sustainable sanitation is provided in its own informal settlements. The research followed the assumption that municipalities of this country could deliver proper sanitation to informal settlements without difficulty if most informal settlements were not built on undesirable and unsuitable land for housing development. The study also assumed that proper sanitation could be delivered by municipalities if the budget allocation to implement, operate and maintain basic sanitation facilities was sufficient, and there were effective public participation processes and socio-economic and environmental assessments in place. The research demanded a concise literature analysis of the sustainable sanitation service required for informal settlements under the current local authority growth mandate. The quantitative survey and analysis approach that was applied in the research process with an explanation of the distribution and administering of the research questionnaire and observations used to collect field information, are presented. The results of the evidential study are statistically analysed, assessed, and reported. Most of the results on the reasons for the lack of sanitation reflect, among other things, a lack of public participation and meaningful relations between the community and municipal officials, unfamiliarity with the required standard of services, not being educated about the services and how to use the rolled-out services, and not being able to afford basic services. Recommendations include strengthening public participation procedures, creating awareness and training initiatives for the residents on the proper utilisation of public services, being visible to the community, and implementing infrastructure projects that will create job opportunities. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Induction Heating as an alternative Localised Post Weld Heat Treatment for Friction Taper Hydro-Pillar Welds on thick-walled steam pipes
- Authors: De Klerk, Julien Vincent
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Welding , Friction welding
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58329 , vital:58984
- Description: Welding procedures regularly require a Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) after the completion of a weld. This PWHT process is principally to mitigate unwanted effects of the welding process which may negatively influence the functional performance of the welded structure. Amongst the unwanted effects that may arise due to welding is the development of unintended metallurgical and mechanical properties. This includes the creation of an un-tempered martensitic structure due to the rapid cooling of the weld region from temperatures above the material’s critical temperature. This typically results in weld regions with high tensile strength and high hardness, but also characterised by low ductility and reduced toughness. In order to improve ductility and toughness a PWHT cycle is often completed on the welded structure. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: De Klerk, Julien Vincent
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Welding , Friction welding
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58329 , vital:58984
- Description: Welding procedures regularly require a Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) after the completion of a weld. This PWHT process is principally to mitigate unwanted effects of the welding process which may negatively influence the functional performance of the welded structure. Amongst the unwanted effects that may arise due to welding is the development of unintended metallurgical and mechanical properties. This includes the creation of an un-tempered martensitic structure due to the rapid cooling of the weld region from temperatures above the material’s critical temperature. This typically results in weld regions with high tensile strength and high hardness, but also characterised by low ductility and reduced toughness. In order to improve ductility and toughness a PWHT cycle is often completed on the welded structure. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Beneath the shadow of a fig tree: Exploring the Intersections of Memory, Architecture and Narrative through the Design of a Memoryscape for South End, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Patsalos, Daniella
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Architecture, Domestic -- Designs and plans , Architecture -- South End, Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59116 , vital:60265
- Description: Operating within the fluctuating boundaries shared between memory, architecture and narrative, the following treatise explores the possibilities of magical realism as an architectural mode for the expression of hybrid realities, hidden narratives and imaginative worlds. Magical realism, in its essence, creates space for the interactions of diversity and the disruption or transgression of accepted categorical boundaries. As such, it facilitates the fusion or familial co-existence of possible worlds, spaces, systems or ideas that would be, in some contexts, incongruous, making it a useful medium for the voice of postcolonial cultures. Magical realism is subversive in nature, adopting an in-betweenness and all-at-onceness that resists, or rather inverts, conventional perceptions of what is ‘magic’ and what is ‘real’. In testing the potentialities of an architectural interpretation of magical realism, the project assumes a collective form as a magical realist memoryscape, representative of the tangible and intangible narratives that constitute the selected site of South End, Port Elizabeth. More than just the merging of the ideas of memory and landscape, a memoryscape is expressive of the interdependent, entangling manifestations of place and remembrance while also portraying an unravelling of the stories, mythic narratives, materialities and metaphysical phenomena of space. A memoryscape is therefore the point of homogenisation at which the concepts of memory, culture, emotion, narrative and landscape converge. South End was once a spirited and multicultural community faced with the involuntary trauma of displacement and loss as a result of the Group Areas Act of 1950 and the destructive ideologies of the Apartheid regime. Thus, drawing upon the themes of dreams, nightmares, memories and consciousness, the memoryscape is composed of a series of four metaphorical ‘cities’ that translate the chronologies, traces, ruins, embodied experiences and subjective iconographies into architectural realities that reflect a true cartography of the South End narrative. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Patsalos, Daniella
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Architecture, Domestic -- Designs and plans , Architecture -- South End, Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59116 , vital:60265
- Description: Operating within the fluctuating boundaries shared between memory, architecture and narrative, the following treatise explores the possibilities of magical realism as an architectural mode for the expression of hybrid realities, hidden narratives and imaginative worlds. Magical realism, in its essence, creates space for the interactions of diversity and the disruption or transgression of accepted categorical boundaries. As such, it facilitates the fusion or familial co-existence of possible worlds, spaces, systems or ideas that would be, in some contexts, incongruous, making it a useful medium for the voice of postcolonial cultures. Magical realism is subversive in nature, adopting an in-betweenness and all-at-onceness that resists, or rather inverts, conventional perceptions of what is ‘magic’ and what is ‘real’. In testing the potentialities of an architectural interpretation of magical realism, the project assumes a collective form as a magical realist memoryscape, representative of the tangible and intangible narratives that constitute the selected site of South End, Port Elizabeth. More than just the merging of the ideas of memory and landscape, a memoryscape is expressive of the interdependent, entangling manifestations of place and remembrance while also portraying an unravelling of the stories, mythic narratives, materialities and metaphysical phenomena of space. A memoryscape is therefore the point of homogenisation at which the concepts of memory, culture, emotion, narrative and landscape converge. South End was once a spirited and multicultural community faced with the involuntary trauma of displacement and loss as a result of the Group Areas Act of 1950 and the destructive ideologies of the Apartheid regime. Thus, drawing upon the themes of dreams, nightmares, memories and consciousness, the memoryscape is composed of a series of four metaphorical ‘cities’ that translate the chronologies, traces, ruins, embodied experiences and subjective iconographies into architectural realities that reflect a true cartography of the South End narrative. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Towards a Risk Assessment Matrix for Information Security Workarounds Associated with Acceptable Use Policies
- Authors: Slabbert, Eugene
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Information technology -- Security measures
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58473 , vital:59519
- Description: Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) are used to influence employees’ information security behaviour. Some employees feel that the AUPs and related procedures interfere with their ability to work efficiently and may, therefore, choose not to comply by utilising information security workarounds associated with the AUP. An AUP workaround is a form of information security non-compliance that may result in unnecessary information security risk exposure for an organisation. Some AUP workarounds may be useful as they identify more efficient ways to complete tasks that may not impact the information security of an organisation. However, these efficiencies should only be considered for incorporation into standard procedures when the information security risk exposure of an AUP workaround is known. This leads to the problem statement. Many organisations do not have a formal way in which to assess the information security risks posed by workarounds associated with their Acceptable Use Policies, and related procedures. This study provides a solution to the identified problem through the primary objective, to develop a Risk Assessment Matrix for Information Security Workarounds associated with Acceptable Use Policies, and related procedures. Four secondary research objectives were proposed to achieve the primary research objective. The first secondary objective determines the role of information security risk management and how it relates to information security governance through the utilisation of a literature review. The second secondary objective firstly utilises a literature review to determine the role that the AUP and its related procedures play within an organisation, followed by a content analysis which identifies the key content that should be considered in a comprehensive AUP. The third secondary objective determines the factors that influence the use of AUP workarounds within an organisation through the utilisation of a literature review. Lastly, the fourth secondary objective utilises a literature review to determine the key components required for the development of the risk assessment matrix for information security workarounds. In addition, critical reasoning is used to create the risk assessment matrix for information security workarounds. The solution to this study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a risk assessment matrix to assess the information security risk exposure of AUP workarounds and find possible efficiency gains while keeping information security risk exposure to a minimum. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Slabbert, Eugene
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Information technology -- Security measures
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58473 , vital:59519
- Description: Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) are used to influence employees’ information security behaviour. Some employees feel that the AUPs and related procedures interfere with their ability to work efficiently and may, therefore, choose not to comply by utilising information security workarounds associated with the AUP. An AUP workaround is a form of information security non-compliance that may result in unnecessary information security risk exposure for an organisation. Some AUP workarounds may be useful as they identify more efficient ways to complete tasks that may not impact the information security of an organisation. However, these efficiencies should only be considered for incorporation into standard procedures when the information security risk exposure of an AUP workaround is known. This leads to the problem statement. Many organisations do not have a formal way in which to assess the information security risks posed by workarounds associated with their Acceptable Use Policies, and related procedures. This study provides a solution to the identified problem through the primary objective, to develop a Risk Assessment Matrix for Information Security Workarounds associated with Acceptable Use Policies, and related procedures. Four secondary research objectives were proposed to achieve the primary research objective. The first secondary objective determines the role of information security risk management and how it relates to information security governance through the utilisation of a literature review. The second secondary objective firstly utilises a literature review to determine the role that the AUP and its related procedures play within an organisation, followed by a content analysis which identifies the key content that should be considered in a comprehensive AUP. The third secondary objective determines the factors that influence the use of AUP workarounds within an organisation through the utilisation of a literature review. Lastly, the fourth secondary objective utilises a literature review to determine the key components required for the development of the risk assessment matrix for information security workarounds. In addition, critical reasoning is used to create the risk assessment matrix for information security workarounds. The solution to this study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a risk assessment matrix to assess the information security risk exposure of AUP workarounds and find possible efficiency gains while keeping information security risk exposure to a minimum. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Expressions of “Local” and “Global” Identity: The Design of an International Convention Centre for Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Pretorius, Hanri
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Convention facilities -- Port Elizabeth , Architecture -- Designs and plans
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59128 , vital:60266
- Description: Convention centres are highly flexible business and leisure gathering spaces where memorable experiences happen indoors. These centres are usually surrounded by perfectly manicured landscaping, strategically placed hotels in the immediate area, and an abundance of fashionable restaurants aimed at creating a lifestyle experience that will ensure that clients return. This convention centre experience can be found in almost every city that has a convention centre. These centres’ designs have become universal and their focus is aimed at outdoing one another to create a more iconic building to attract more people and host more events. This design treatise will focus on how to localise convention centre design to create a place for not only indoor experiences but outdoor experiences as well, to create a multifaceted design that will cater for convention centre activities as well as for its surrounding community, thus ensuring the creation of an urban catalyst that promotes the creation of a vibrant public gathering space. The research and process to achieve this is thus documented. The document consists of two distinct parts. The first part provides insight into the theoretical position taken which provides a lens through which all other research is viewed. The second comprises the design process rooted within the theoretical position that was established in Part 1. Together, the research as well as the design process will lead to a refined design outcome presented as a set of architectural drawings and a computerised model. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Pretorius, Hanri
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Convention facilities -- Port Elizabeth , Architecture -- Designs and plans
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59128 , vital:60266
- Description: Convention centres are highly flexible business and leisure gathering spaces where memorable experiences happen indoors. These centres are usually surrounded by perfectly manicured landscaping, strategically placed hotels in the immediate area, and an abundance of fashionable restaurants aimed at creating a lifestyle experience that will ensure that clients return. This convention centre experience can be found in almost every city that has a convention centre. These centres’ designs have become universal and their focus is aimed at outdoing one another to create a more iconic building to attract more people and host more events. This design treatise will focus on how to localise convention centre design to create a place for not only indoor experiences but outdoor experiences as well, to create a multifaceted design that will cater for convention centre activities as well as for its surrounding community, thus ensuring the creation of an urban catalyst that promotes the creation of a vibrant public gathering space. The research and process to achieve this is thus documented. The document consists of two distinct parts. The first part provides insight into the theoretical position taken which provides a lens through which all other research is viewed. The second comprises the design process rooted within the theoretical position that was established in Part 1. Together, the research as well as the design process will lead to a refined design outcome presented as a set of architectural drawings and a computerised model. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Factors contributing to unsafe practices in Eskom power division projects
- Authors: Dingilizwe, Nondumiso
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Power-plants
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59226 , vital:60314
- Description: Health and safety is accepted as an integral element of the built environment. As construction within the electricity and power supply industry is inevitable, alongside other regulatory systems aimed at ensuring sustainable power supply, health and safety measures, policies, training, management, and incidences become important indicators for the delivery of power supply. This research study explores the health and safety management challenges that are experienced by the construction division of Eskom, South Africa’s national power utility with its head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research explores and identifies factors that affect workers’ on-site behaviour regarding the compliance and adherence to health and safety statutory practices. Using a qualitative research method, and thematic data analysis, the research findings draw on salient emerging themes that allude to the inadequate and insufficient documentation of Eskom procedures, and the failure to make use of recorded past incidents in establishing improved pro-active health and safety management practice and management thereof, are but some of the illuminated factors that emerge from the study findings. For a power utility of its scale and the volume of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, the compliance to internationally recognised health and safety standards within an appropriate legal framework, are factors that may hinder the successful implementation of its core function. Notwithstanding the fact that the electricity sector of industry, in terms of overall current health, safety and performance, is generally considered to be a lower risk than other industries within the South African economy. Yet this study, in taking cognisance of all four sectors of the energy and power value chain (generation, transmission, distribution and retail), attempts to address the unanswered questions if why and how Eskom, despite its health and safety policies and general compliance to statutory workplace health and safety framework, continues to experience a high level of workplace fatalities in the delivery of its projects. Against a backdrop of reported and documented incidences of time, this research found that the usage of reports to benchmark and re-calibrate policy and preventative procedure is carried out periodically, but in an unstructured manner. The risk this presents is evident in the potential failure to identify proper risk analysis, appropriate health and safety vi performance indicators, and a slow migration to the new ISO 45001 quality standard. Study findings also suggest a lack of training programmes for contractors and employees within Eskom construction projects, as a primary contributing hindrance factor to attaining an improved health and safety management system. Finally, the study also considered new hazards and risks that have, and may still, arise from the uptake and expansion of new technologies, cleaner energy, as well as future trends that would collectively influence health and safety standards along the electricity value chain. The research findings suggest for a more focused goal-setting and the building of competencies to recognise and mitigate risks, especially new risks, and to engage more participatory approaches to setting standards that can be effectively managed and which can contribute to injury reduction through behavioural change. What remains to be explored, will be the changing nature of doing business as the year 2020 witnesses a new confounding pandemic, the Coronavirus (covid-19). Its impact on health and safety in the workplace, and on the entire construction value chain, cost of construction, project management and timeframes, is yet to be determined and factored into the business processes of a large scale public entity such as Eskom. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
- Authors: Dingilizwe, Nondumiso
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Power-plants
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59226 , vital:60314
- Description: Health and safety is accepted as an integral element of the built environment. As construction within the electricity and power supply industry is inevitable, alongside other regulatory systems aimed at ensuring sustainable power supply, health and safety measures, policies, training, management, and incidences become important indicators for the delivery of power supply. This research study explores the health and safety management challenges that are experienced by the construction division of Eskom, South Africa’s national power utility with its head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research explores and identifies factors that affect workers’ on-site behaviour regarding the compliance and adherence to health and safety statutory practices. Using a qualitative research method, and thematic data analysis, the research findings draw on salient emerging themes that allude to the inadequate and insufficient documentation of Eskom procedures, and the failure to make use of recorded past incidents in establishing improved pro-active health and safety management practice and management thereof, are but some of the illuminated factors that emerge from the study findings. For a power utility of its scale and the volume of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, the compliance to internationally recognised health and safety standards within an appropriate legal framework, are factors that may hinder the successful implementation of its core function. Notwithstanding the fact that the electricity sector of industry, in terms of overall current health, safety and performance, is generally considered to be a lower risk than other industries within the South African economy. Yet this study, in taking cognisance of all four sectors of the energy and power value chain (generation, transmission, distribution and retail), attempts to address the unanswered questions if why and how Eskom, despite its health and safety policies and general compliance to statutory workplace health and safety framework, continues to experience a high level of workplace fatalities in the delivery of its projects. Against a backdrop of reported and documented incidences of time, this research found that the usage of reports to benchmark and re-calibrate policy and preventative procedure is carried out periodically, but in an unstructured manner. The risk this presents is evident in the potential failure to identify proper risk analysis, appropriate health and safety vi performance indicators, and a slow migration to the new ISO 45001 quality standard. Study findings also suggest a lack of training programmes for contractors and employees within Eskom construction projects, as a primary contributing hindrance factor to attaining an improved health and safety management system. Finally, the study also considered new hazards and risks that have, and may still, arise from the uptake and expansion of new technologies, cleaner energy, as well as future trends that would collectively influence health and safety standards along the electricity value chain. The research findings suggest for a more focused goal-setting and the building of competencies to recognise and mitigate risks, especially new risks, and to engage more participatory approaches to setting standards that can be effectively managed and which can contribute to injury reduction through behavioural change. What remains to be explored, will be the changing nature of doing business as the year 2020 witnesses a new confounding pandemic, the Coronavirus (covid-19). Its impact on health and safety in the workplace, and on the entire construction value chain, cost of construction, project management and timeframes, is yet to be determined and factored into the business processes of a large scale public entity such as Eskom. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
Exploring the Methodologies Used by Construction Project Managers in South Africa
- Authors: Ferreira, Ruan
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Construction -- South Africa , Project Management
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59381 , vital:62076
- Description: This study aimed to determine the prevalent project management methodologies (PMMs) are adopted within the South African construction industry. The insight obtained from this study will enhance awareness of the type of methodologies adopted by construction project managers. Moreover, through implementation of these methodologies, control can be enhanced, and the unknown managed. The predominant project management methodology used by construction project managers in South Africa is unknown. A quantitative research approach was used, and an online questionnaire was sent to the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP). The questionnaire was then administered and sent to the entire population of registered construction project managers (CPMs). The data from 103 respondents were captured onto a database and then statistically analysed to determine the predominant PMMs adopted by CPMs as well as their effect on project success. The study revealed that lean methodology is most widely adopted by CPMs, followed by the critical path method and Waterfall methodology. CPMs strive to reduce waste throughout the building process and organise that materials are only on site when required. Furthermore, a high level of PMM is adopted during the project life cycle phases. As a result, it can favourably impact projects and lead to project success. Adopting PMMs will result in improved control of project goals and scope, a shorter time of project execution, improved and efficient decision making, a higher degree of client satisfaction, and improved knowledge management and information exchange. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-12
- Authors: Ferreira, Ruan
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Construction -- South Africa , Project Management
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59381 , vital:62076
- Description: This study aimed to determine the prevalent project management methodologies (PMMs) are adopted within the South African construction industry. The insight obtained from this study will enhance awareness of the type of methodologies adopted by construction project managers. Moreover, through implementation of these methodologies, control can be enhanced, and the unknown managed. The predominant project management methodology used by construction project managers in South Africa is unknown. A quantitative research approach was used, and an online questionnaire was sent to the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP). The questionnaire was then administered and sent to the entire population of registered construction project managers (CPMs). The data from 103 respondents were captured onto a database and then statistically analysed to determine the predominant PMMs adopted by CPMs as well as their effect on project success. The study revealed that lean methodology is most widely adopted by CPMs, followed by the critical path method and Waterfall methodology. CPMs strive to reduce waste throughout the building process and organise that materials are only on site when required. Furthermore, a high level of PMM is adopted during the project life cycle phases. As a result, it can favourably impact projects and lead to project success. Adopting PMMs will result in improved control of project goals and scope, a shorter time of project execution, improved and efficient decision making, a higher degree of client satisfaction, and improved knowledge management and information exchange. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-12
Investigating the Buddhist Monastery as Type through The Design of a Vihara in Pinelands, Cape Town
- Authors: Van Zyl, Adam
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Buddhist monasteries -- Pinelands -- Cape Town , Buddhist architecture -- Pinelands -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59160 , vital:60269
- Description: This treatise begins with an interest in the architectural typology of the Vihara - the Buddhist monastery. Through an investigation of the monastery type, an appropriate theoretical lens is identified. The core architectural function of the monastery is the creation of sacred space. Four constituent elements of sacred space are identified and are taken throughout the treatise as a set of values through which investigation is directed and design decisions are made. Through investigation of the typical monastery context, it becomes possible to identify an appropriate site. An urban farmland in Cape Town, in the heart of the South African Buddhist community is identified. Design drivers emerge through researching mapping and visiting the site. It is through a synthesis of all the information learned, that a single, core gesture is developed. The aim is to design a building to serve the local monastic Buddhist community. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Van Zyl, Adam
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Buddhist monasteries -- Pinelands -- Cape Town , Buddhist architecture -- Pinelands -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59160 , vital:60269
- Description: This treatise begins with an interest in the architectural typology of the Vihara - the Buddhist monastery. Through an investigation of the monastery type, an appropriate theoretical lens is identified. The core architectural function of the monastery is the creation of sacred space. Four constituent elements of sacred space are identified and are taken throughout the treatise as a set of values through which investigation is directed and design decisions are made. Through investigation of the typical monastery context, it becomes possible to identify an appropriate site. An urban farmland in Cape Town, in the heart of the South African Buddhist community is identified. Design drivers emerge through researching mapping and visiting the site. It is through a synthesis of all the information learned, that a single, core gesture is developed. The aim is to design a building to serve the local monastic Buddhist community. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Exploring "DIGITAL ECOLOGY" as a tool for environmental conservation through : The design of a virtual eco-pack for Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Edmayr, Alexandra Charlotte
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Conservation of natural resources -- Port Elizabeth , Human ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59018 , vital:60256
- Description: This treatise deals with the design of a new Virtual Eco-Park and humankind's relationship to the natural world. The cultural institution of captivity has been positive and negative for the study and conservative approaches of fauna and flora. While this has had benefits, it has resulted in a dominated mindset over the 'other'. This treatise looks at the zoo and aquarium as an outdated educational platform and proposes a new perspective. This treatise explores 'digital ecology' as a tool of theoretical application. The intention is to provide environmental conservation. The design will use the virtual medium for a new immersive experience instead of the 'live exhibit'. The 'digital ecology' is also seen as spatial stacking of layers. Using Timothy Lukes theories on the three natures, this thesis applies this theory in a post-anthropocentric way by its role in generating the Virtual Eco-Park. The layers are terrestrial as an ecosystem, the territorial as the built environment and the digital as the immersive experience. These components form the skeleton of the application to the site. The Port Elizabeth manganese ore and tank farm and the surrounding area has been a dump and polluted landscape for forty years. This treatise, in its entirety, has set up an urban framework that promotes a reconnection to the ecological systems in Port Elizabeth. The 'digital ecology' and the Virtual Eco Park as a 'building' intends to regenerate/ reestablish an old industrial landscape into a new park. The building is designed to become a component of the landscape and not an object on the landscape. The result of this research will result in a final design that hosts immersive experience—bringing the 'true wild' into the urban landscape by replacing the 'tamed natural'—thereby solving the Anthropocene of the Zoo building type by reframing it as the virtual eco-park of nature. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Edmayr, Alexandra Charlotte
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Conservation of natural resources -- Port Elizabeth , Human ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59018 , vital:60256
- Description: This treatise deals with the design of a new Virtual Eco-Park and humankind's relationship to the natural world. The cultural institution of captivity has been positive and negative for the study and conservative approaches of fauna and flora. While this has had benefits, it has resulted in a dominated mindset over the 'other'. This treatise looks at the zoo and aquarium as an outdated educational platform and proposes a new perspective. This treatise explores 'digital ecology' as a tool of theoretical application. The intention is to provide environmental conservation. The design will use the virtual medium for a new immersive experience instead of the 'live exhibit'. The 'digital ecology' is also seen as spatial stacking of layers. Using Timothy Lukes theories on the three natures, this thesis applies this theory in a post-anthropocentric way by its role in generating the Virtual Eco-Park. The layers are terrestrial as an ecosystem, the territorial as the built environment and the digital as the immersive experience. These components form the skeleton of the application to the site. The Port Elizabeth manganese ore and tank farm and the surrounding area has been a dump and polluted landscape for forty years. This treatise, in its entirety, has set up an urban framework that promotes a reconnection to the ecological systems in Port Elizabeth. The 'digital ecology' and the Virtual Eco Park as a 'building' intends to regenerate/ reestablish an old industrial landscape into a new park. The building is designed to become a component of the landscape and not an object on the landscape. The result of this research will result in a final design that hosts immersive experience—bringing the 'true wild' into the urban landscape by replacing the 'tamed natural'—thereby solving the Anthropocene of the Zoo building type by reframing it as the virtual eco-park of nature. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Reconciling the “Natural” and the “Artificial” in the making of Regenerative Ecosystems: The Design of a Port Operations Facility for the Buffalo River Harbour, East London
- Authors: Nel, Joslin
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: built environment -- East London , Biotic communities -- Buffalo River Harbour -- East London
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59106 , vital:60264
- Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate a reconciliation between natural systems and the artificial construction of our built environment within the scope of regenerative ecosystems through architectural intervention. The monolithic harbour front, sited specifically within the Buffalo River Harbour of East London, is examined as the ultimate artificial and immovable landscape which sets the challenge of creating a more dynamic architecture. This is due to the fact that the banks of the Buffalo river harbour have long been transformed by marine industry and urban influence, having a retardation effect on its ecological functioning. Through the programmatic response of a Port Operations Facility, marine infrastructural institutions such as Transnet are given a new role in terms of environmental custodianship. The notion of a “self-regulating system” is therefore central to the design strategy. This occurs through a scale-linking approach, where the design plays a crucial role in urban runoff and stormwater management within the greater infrastructural context of the city, in an effort to rectify present ecological imbalances. Environmental receptivity is also explored through architectural devices that are sensitive to the cyclical fluctuations of intertidal landscapes, as well as advocating decentralised waste and energy management. Through the creation of a “novel ecosystem”, an ecological counterpoint to the monofunctional infrastructural domain of our cities is proposed. This challenges conventional engineering and design processes and ideologies in favour of a more complex relationship between landscape and architecture. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Nel, Joslin
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: built environment -- East London , Biotic communities -- Buffalo River Harbour -- East London
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59106 , vital:60264
- Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate a reconciliation between natural systems and the artificial construction of our built environment within the scope of regenerative ecosystems through architectural intervention. The monolithic harbour front, sited specifically within the Buffalo River Harbour of East London, is examined as the ultimate artificial and immovable landscape which sets the challenge of creating a more dynamic architecture. This is due to the fact that the banks of the Buffalo river harbour have long been transformed by marine industry and urban influence, having a retardation effect on its ecological functioning. Through the programmatic response of a Port Operations Facility, marine infrastructural institutions such as Transnet are given a new role in terms of environmental custodianship. The notion of a “self-regulating system” is therefore central to the design strategy. This occurs through a scale-linking approach, where the design plays a crucial role in urban runoff and stormwater management within the greater infrastructural context of the city, in an effort to rectify present ecological imbalances. Environmental receptivity is also explored through architectural devices that are sensitive to the cyclical fluctuations of intertidal landscapes, as well as advocating decentralised waste and energy management. Through the creation of a “novel ecosystem”, an ecological counterpoint to the monofunctional infrastructural domain of our cities is proposed. This challenges conventional engineering and design processes and ideologies in favour of a more complex relationship between landscape and architecture. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Legitimizing repressed knowledge systems in the post- colonial city through the design of an indigenous afro- pharmacy in central, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Mlenzana, Mihle
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Traditional ecological knowledge -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59095 , vital:60263
- Description: This thesis explores the possibility of marrying repressed African indigenous knowledge systems with the abrasive, post- colonial environment that is Central, such that an African identity is represented in a built environment that was shaped and formed by European influences. This is aligned with the African renaissance paradigm. Set in the backdrop of Central, Port Elizabeth’s disparaged CBD, the study culminates in a successful and appropriate architectural design for an Afro- indigenous pharmacy and a vernacular architecture for Port Elizabeth. The design process will take cues from the social, economic, political, physical and urban CBD context of the chosen site, such that the final proposal is practical and usable by the public for which it is intended, while simultaneously being environmentally sensitive. Furthermore, the research aims to shed light upon the importance of urban regeneration through the repurposing of an abandoned Brownfield site into a productive landscape and a sustainable enterprise. The qualitative methodological approach is followed to gather primary data, which is obtained by visiting existing herbalist practices and conventional pharmacies in Port Elizabeth, and will be used as case studies from which interpretations and information will be drawn. Secondary data in the way of precedence studies of urban growing facilities that make use of hydroponic systems, along with precedence studies of commercial pharmacies, is also gathered and used as reference material on how they respond to the urban hubs in which they exist. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Mlenzana, Mihle
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Traditional ecological knowledge -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59095 , vital:60263
- Description: This thesis explores the possibility of marrying repressed African indigenous knowledge systems with the abrasive, post- colonial environment that is Central, such that an African identity is represented in a built environment that was shaped and formed by European influences. This is aligned with the African renaissance paradigm. Set in the backdrop of Central, Port Elizabeth’s disparaged CBD, the study culminates in a successful and appropriate architectural design for an Afro- indigenous pharmacy and a vernacular architecture for Port Elizabeth. The design process will take cues from the social, economic, political, physical and urban CBD context of the chosen site, such that the final proposal is practical and usable by the public for which it is intended, while simultaneously being environmentally sensitive. Furthermore, the research aims to shed light upon the importance of urban regeneration through the repurposing of an abandoned Brownfield site into a productive landscape and a sustainable enterprise. The qualitative methodological approach is followed to gather primary data, which is obtained by visiting existing herbalist practices and conventional pharmacies in Port Elizabeth, and will be used as case studies from which interpretations and information will be drawn. Secondary data in the way of precedence studies of urban growing facilities that make use of hydroponic systems, along with precedence studies of commercial pharmacies, is also gathered and used as reference material on how they respond to the urban hubs in which they exist. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Factors that impact the use of digital learning in higher education
- Authors: Mtshabe Mxolisi
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Education, Higher , Blended learning , Communication of technical information
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59576 , vital:62174
- Description: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have significantly changed the way they execute their pedagogical processes. This is so, mainly because of the innovations and developments in the ICT sector. HEIs have always succeeded in the implementation of ICT tools for the facilitation of the process of teaching and learning; however, they have faced many challenges related to the utilisation of these tools. Digital learning is among the ICT tools considered by the majority of HEIs to be relevant at this age of digitisation. ICT has introduced a variety of tools, not only for teaching and learning environments, but also for socialisation. These tools include social media tools that are used to achieve different activities in response to the demands of society. In making a comparison between social media and pedagogical tools, there is a huge gap in the level of usage of the two. Social media is much more being used than digital learning and this brings major concerns because users seem to be more interested in social media tools to perform academic activities, than in digital learning. This study has explored the factors that could play a role in digital learning and social media usage in HEIs. The study employed quantitative research methods and a survey was developed and distributed to former university students. The purpose of the study was to formulate a checklist that will inform the factors that impact the use of digital learning in HEIs. At the conclusion of the study, the checklist was formulated and recommendations were made. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-12
- Authors: Mtshabe Mxolisi
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Education, Higher , Blended learning , Communication of technical information
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59576 , vital:62174
- Description: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have significantly changed the way they execute their pedagogical processes. This is so, mainly because of the innovations and developments in the ICT sector. HEIs have always succeeded in the implementation of ICT tools for the facilitation of the process of teaching and learning; however, they have faced many challenges related to the utilisation of these tools. Digital learning is among the ICT tools considered by the majority of HEIs to be relevant at this age of digitisation. ICT has introduced a variety of tools, not only for teaching and learning environments, but also for socialisation. These tools include social media tools that are used to achieve different activities in response to the demands of society. In making a comparison between social media and pedagogical tools, there is a huge gap in the level of usage of the two. Social media is much more being used than digital learning and this brings major concerns because users seem to be more interested in social media tools to perform academic activities, than in digital learning. This study has explored the factors that could play a role in digital learning and social media usage in HEIs. The study employed quantitative research methods and a survey was developed and distributed to former university students. The purpose of the study was to formulate a checklist that will inform the factors that impact the use of digital learning in HEIs. At the conclusion of the study, the checklist was formulated and recommendations were made. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-12
Strategies for the Regeneration of Degraded Rural Landscapes: The Design of a “Padstal” on the Crossing of Route 62 and the Seweweekspoort Pass, Klein Karoo
- Authors: Conradie, Inge
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Historic rural landscapes -- Klein Karoo , Landscape architecture
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58994 , vital:60254
- Description: The livelihood of subsistence farmers of the Little Karoo sister towns, Zoar and Amalienstein, face many challenges such as the lack of economic opportunity, unemployment and drought that ultimately leads to poverty. This dissertation investigates the potential of a collective tourism and agricultural cooperative programme, which regenerates the rural landscape into a productive one through an architectural intervention. By developing a productive landscape that ignites rural livelihoods, the challenges can be transformed into opportunities for these impoverished communities. Research into agave-based agroforestry as a driver to combat global warming will aim to establish staple household security. It will be a means of inserting informal farm production into the tourism market through the built environment. The productive landscape, driven from an agave-based agroforestry and livestock feeding model, utilises the living and natural systems existing on the site. Together with regenerative architecture, it will structure the “building blocks” of the Agave-‘padstal’. The strategic position of this ‘padstal’, on the crossing of the Cape Route 62 and the SeweweekspoortPass, would create a node of destination. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
- Authors: Conradie, Inge
- Date: 2020-09
- Subjects: Historic rural landscapes -- Klein Karoo , Landscape architecture
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58994 , vital:60254
- Description: The livelihood of subsistence farmers of the Little Karoo sister towns, Zoar and Amalienstein, face many challenges such as the lack of economic opportunity, unemployment and drought that ultimately leads to poverty. This dissertation investigates the potential of a collective tourism and agricultural cooperative programme, which regenerates the rural landscape into a productive one through an architectural intervention. By developing a productive landscape that ignites rural livelihoods, the challenges can be transformed into opportunities for these impoverished communities. Research into agave-based agroforestry as a driver to combat global warming will aim to establish staple household security. It will be a means of inserting informal farm production into the tourism market through the built environment. The productive landscape, driven from an agave-based agroforestry and livestock feeding model, utilises the living and natural systems existing on the site. Together with regenerative architecture, it will structure the “building blocks” of the Agave-‘padstal’. The strategic position of this ‘padstal’, on the crossing of the Cape Route 62 and the SeweweekspoortPass, would create a node of destination. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-09
Enhancement of domestic solar photovoltaic unit productivity through the use of a cost effective tracking system
- Authors: Cawood, John Henry
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Photovoltaic power systems , Tracking (Engineering)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59215 , vital:60313
- Description: The majority of new and existing small photovoltaic (PV) installations in South Africa are fixed-panel systems, largely due to the cost of photovoltaic panel components having reduced steadily in recent years where an increased requirement is met with a larger number of panels, whilst tracking system costs remain prohibitively expensive. Fixed installations realise only a part of their energy potential as they are truly effective for only short periods of the day. The aim of this study is to investigate and build on the current technology of PV tracking systems with the aim of specifying a simple control and actuation system which performs the tracking function. The eventual purpose of this thesis is to reliably produce more energy from solar photovoltaic installations than similar installations using fixed panels. This would be achieved by the use of an effective and affordable tracking system which yields acceptable accuracy and reliability and opens the potential for the system to be further developed for other purposes. These alternative uses could be the control of sunlight into green buildings, control of dampers for building ventilation and cooling and Trombe wall air control. This study has investigated the potential of several passive and active methods to actuate a sun tracking system. A useful closed loop system, which uses low pressure hydraulics, was developed and tested. The prototype is detailed in the drawings, Appendix D. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Cawood, John Henry
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Photovoltaic power systems , Tracking (Engineering)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59215 , vital:60313
- Description: The majority of new and existing small photovoltaic (PV) installations in South Africa are fixed-panel systems, largely due to the cost of photovoltaic panel components having reduced steadily in recent years where an increased requirement is met with a larger number of panels, whilst tracking system costs remain prohibitively expensive. Fixed installations realise only a part of their energy potential as they are truly effective for only short periods of the day. The aim of this study is to investigate and build on the current technology of PV tracking systems with the aim of specifying a simple control and actuation system which performs the tracking function. The eventual purpose of this thesis is to reliably produce more energy from solar photovoltaic installations than similar installations using fixed panels. This would be achieved by the use of an effective and affordable tracking system which yields acceptable accuracy and reliability and opens the potential for the system to be further developed for other purposes. These alternative uses could be the control of sunlight into green buildings, control of dampers for building ventilation and cooling and Trombe wall air control. This study has investigated the potential of several passive and active methods to actuate a sun tracking system. A useful closed loop system, which uses low pressure hydraulics, was developed and tested. The prototype is detailed in the drawings, Appendix D. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Combined Additive Manufacturing and Machining for Large-Scale Prototyping for Minimising Material Wastage
- Authors: Taylor, Kyle Joshua
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Prototypes, Engineering
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58484 , vital:59645
- Description: This research project aimed to develop a combined additive and subtractive manufacturing platform capable of rapidly producing large-scale prototypes for minimising material wastage. A design conceptualisation process led to the design and development of a system to deposit the additive material. The developed system was mounted to a large-scale CNC milling machine. This combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing into a single system integrated the separate benefits of the two independent technologies. Mastercam was selected as the preferred CAD/CAM software package to generate toolpaths for the additive and subtractive processes. The Beckhoff HMI provided a user-friendly interface to interpret the generated G-code files, set the Work Coordinate System, and control user-defined parameters such as the feed rate. An in-depth statistical analysis of the developed platform's dimensional accuracy, repeatability, stability, and material wastage was performed. In addition, the effects of the independent adjustment of the subtractive manufacturing process parameters such as the spindle speed, feed rate, depth of cut and stepover distance were considered. Finally, a cycle time comparison was performed in producing a working prototype between the developed HM system and a commercially available 3D printer. This research provided a platform for further investigation into the ever-expanding applications and benefits of rapid prototyping. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Taylor, Kyle Joshua
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Prototypes, Engineering
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58484 , vital:59645
- Description: This research project aimed to develop a combined additive and subtractive manufacturing platform capable of rapidly producing large-scale prototypes for minimising material wastage. A design conceptualisation process led to the design and development of a system to deposit the additive material. The developed system was mounted to a large-scale CNC milling machine. This combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing into a single system integrated the separate benefits of the two independent technologies. Mastercam was selected as the preferred CAD/CAM software package to generate toolpaths for the additive and subtractive processes. The Beckhoff HMI provided a user-friendly interface to interpret the generated G-code files, set the Work Coordinate System, and control user-defined parameters such as the feed rate. An in-depth statistical analysis of the developed platform's dimensional accuracy, repeatability, stability, and material wastage was performed. In addition, the effects of the independent adjustment of the subtractive manufacturing process parameters such as the spindle speed, feed rate, depth of cut and stepover distance were considered. Finally, a cycle time comparison was performed in producing a working prototype between the developed HM system and a commercially available 3D printer. This research provided a platform for further investigation into the ever-expanding applications and benefits of rapid prototyping. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04