Surface roughness is a measure of the texture of a surface. It is quantified by the vertical deviations of a real surface from its ideal form. If these deviations are great, the surface is rough, if they are small, the surface is smooth. The roughness of a surface has most commonly been measured by an…
The Tiwa Point aluminium smelter operates if they can buy energy they need cheaply enough. That’s what it comes down to in a world of global competition and it’s the same here in New Zealand as elsewhere. Industry operates where it gets the best deal and the price of energy is often part of the…
This month we describe some of the economic aspects of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in metals and make the case for competitive solutions compared with more traditional methods. It is often mentioned that AM or 3D printing technologies are only suitable for prototyping parts that will eventually be manufactured by more traditional means. This is not…
HERA successfully provided SGD$180k savings to their client’s Singaporean 40-storey building Numerical simulations (i.e. advanced finite element analyses) have been performed for an overseas Client by HERA’s Structural Systems division in order to estimate the fire performance of a composite slab with a re-entrant profiled steel sheet used in a prestigious 40-storey building in Singapore.…
New consumer protection regulations for building work costing $30,000 and over are expected to take effect from 1 January 2015. Acting Chief Executive of Standards New Zealand Michelle Wessing said the New Zealand standard 3902 Housing, alterations and small buildings contract will help meet the new regulations and makes the building process smoother and easier…
At the New Zealand Geothermal Workshop held in November 2014, a number of well written papers were presented on various topics related to geothermal research. Among these, some of the best papers were selected based on the value of contributions made to their field of study. Among the prizes awarded was a HERA award for…
This month the 2011 edition of our most widely-used welding standard AS/NZS 1554.1 was superseded by the published 2014 edition. The expectation is that the new edition of the standard will now be implemented by all users. Standards are periodically reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date with developments in technology, to take account of changes…
Last week we held afternoon seminars which took place in Auckland and in Christchurch on 18 and 20 November. It was presented by Richard Fowles, Senior Product Manager, BOC Limited, Australia, and Patrick Fenemor, Welding Specialist, BOC Limited, NZ. For all structural steel welding in New Zealand, welding fabrication shall comply with AS/NZS 1554. One…
Except for a few little details, the new improved HERA House is done! Our thanks go out to our members and industry partners for their contributions to the project. Nov172014
Nov102014 Participants at the WTIA 4th IIW research and collaboration colloquium. From 5th to 7th November, as part of its National Welding Capability Project, WTIA hosted the 4th International Institute of Welding (IIW) Welding research and collaboration colloquium. With over 85 speakers and delegates from 12 different countries, the Colloquium was a unique and outstanding…
Through his membership of IABSE Working Commission 2 (responsible for Steel, Timber and Composite Structures), our General Manager Structural Systems Dr Stephen Hicks has been selected as the Facilitator for Professional Session on “International Design Challenge: Complexity of Design Rules”. Participants wishing to make a contribution in accordance with the global themes of the conference…
Auckland University of Technology School of Engineering This year, Auckland University of Technology’s School of Engineering students displayed their final year projects. HERA has traditionally given a prize for the best project involving metals. This year’s HERA prize winners was Mr Karl Waters, BE (Mechanical) with his project entitled Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Trade Studies. The…