A regular enquiry received by HERA has been the application of fatigue design in steel bridges. On one hand, some designers have had trouble interpreting the current design rules; whilst on the other, many fabricators have expressed concerns on more expensive butt welds being specified for fatigue details where this might not be entirely necessary.…
During the last month, HERA asked members to endorse or reject a draft policy statement that “all critical building work independent of building material should be required to have reliable third party verification enforced by the MBIE-driven regulatory framework”. With the support of SCNZ, HERA described a pathway for a joint journey to get to…
Resolving industrial problems through our heat transfer research. May302016 Three dimensional image of heat exchanger to be used with the model of a single tube from the heat exchanger, and the fin tube heat exchanger assembly (left) and ANSYS CFD model of a single finned heat transfer tube (right). Our AGGAT heat transfer research addresses…
Quite simply put – yes we can! Low enthalpy-based power generation has recently seen a number of new entrants into its research and development sphere – strongly reaffirming its untapped potential. Couple this with growing climate concerns – it seems the time has never been better to serve a growing energy need worldwide. At HERA, we’ve…
HERA has significantly progressed the ongoing research work on this project initially reported in October 2015. This two-year research project is BRANZ Levy-funded and HERA is working in partnership with the National Association of Steel Framed Housing Inc., (NASH) on the project. HERA/NASH would like to gratefully acknowledge the material contribution of Frametek Ltd, Howick Ltd,…
The new Workplace Health and Safety legislation has been in force for a month and a good level of discussion has been happening within business circles. Certainly directors, owners and managers are far more ‘tuned into’ the requirements of this business critical function than previously as they become more familiar with new accountabilities. This is…
The Steel Fabricator Certification (SFC) scheme continues to go from strength to strength with the latest group of five structural steel fabricators to achieve certification recognised at our recent SCNZ 10th anniversary event in Queenstown. A total of 21 New Zealand fabricators have now achieved SFC certification ensuring that 70% of the local industry output…
In response to recent media coverage involving allegations that some building products are unfit for purpose or non-compliant with the Building Code, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has established a dedicated email address to collect product complaints for analysis and investigation. Even though a number of concerns have been raised in the…
We work in an industry based on well-established and traditional materials. Metals have been fabricated for millennia. Applications have historically ranged from warfare, tooling, building and construction and are now evolving into emerging applications such as geothermal energy extraction and biomedical technologies. Metals, such as steel, are known for their high strength, ductility, and formability.…
SCI has recently released an online based calculator for floor dynamic response prediction. Compared with the manual method proposed in SCI P354, the calculator investigates the floor vibration using finite element analysis of regular grids. For irregular floor grids, existing tools such as the Oasys design software should still be used. The online tool covers…
HERA will be attending the 10th Annual Conference hosted by the Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association that begins in Wellington, New Zealand this Thursday. This conference brings together professionals and researchers worldwide to exchange ideas and present recent experiences, innovation and best practices in harnessing marine energy. HERA staff will be attending the event representing…
Uber is familiar to most of us and is representative of the new economy where information transforms industries, but it hasn’t been an overnight success. In fact, it was actually founded in 2009, which makes it seven years old and has spawned a whole range of allied and similar services. Emerging technologies all require a…