Composite Floor System Having Shear Force Transfer Member

There are many things that we take for granted every single day. The floor we walk on is one of those things. How many times have you thought about the floor underneath you? Probably not even once! But the use of flooring in buildings is not a simple task. An engineer must account for potential energy absorption, load carrying capacity, durability and stabilizing agents when designing a specific floor plan for any specific building. This job has gotten a lot easier thanks to Cheng-Tzu Thomas Hsu, Sun Punarai, and Pedro R. Munoz from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Their patent, “Composite Floor System Having Shear Force Transfer Member” aids engineers when they lay down flooring in multifamily housing, commercial buildings, and even hospitals.

The late Dr. Cheng-Tzu Thomas Hsu, Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, alongside his former Ph.D. students Dr. Sun Punarari and Dr. Pedro R. Munoz, were granted this patent in August of 2010. This patent would later be similar to other patents, such as the ones originating from Nucor Corporation (US Patent # US8636456B2) and patents by Urbantech Consulting Engineering (US Patent # US9518401B2), that deal with the shear strength of flooring projects.

The common denominator amongst those three building types aforementioned is that they need tough flooring in order to withstand the day-to-day activities. Take a hospital for example; the flooring must be sturdy enough to withstand the weight heavy machinery, like an MRI machine PET and CT scanners, that are needed to make patients well. A “composite floor system” refers to a system that encompasses the use of multiple materials in the construction process of a floor system. In this specific patent, the composite floor system comprises of a slab, a deck material that is custom sized and shaped to support the slab, a support member attached to the deck material and a transfer member attached to both the slab and the deck. As you can see from the image, the slab and the deck are not simply placed on top of one another as most “non-composite” floor systems do. In this composite system, there is space in between the metal deck material and the actual flooring. This space, once embraced, will enable for an increase in the tensile strength which grants the floor the ability to carry much more weight.

Cheng-Tzu Thomas Hsu, Sun Punarai, Pedro R. Munoz, US Patent 7779590B2

This invention allows for more than just the ability of the floor to carry more weight. It grants engineers the capability of using lightweight materials that can easily be fabricated. These materials are incredibly easy to handle and transport, saving time and money all throughout a specific construction project. Moreover, this invention can minimize the need for expensive and sophisticated quality control measures that are needed to test a specific floor. Since this composite system can be put together off-site and then transported to the construction site, the floor system is capable of achieving the desired load capacity before even placed in the flooring of the building and thus saving massive amounts of time and money for construction workers.

“Composite Floor System Having Shear Force Transfer Member” has the capabilities of remodeling the process of construction across the spectrum. An increase in the desired weight carrying capacity of a floor can enable new types of architectural designs to lavish city streets. Most buildings today all look the same because they mainly follow the same concepts of building technologies. But with composite technology the potential of building marvelous architectural structures is a reality. If the central ideas behind a composite floor are implemented in walls and ceilings – which is currently in development and filed in the USPTO to be patented technology (see: US20140144091A1, “Composite wall panel, wall system and components thereof, and a method of construction thereof”) – structures will no longer have to be rectangular and a copy of the building next to it. Buildings can now be circular, triangular, hexagonal, etc. without giving up durability and stability.

The innovation of changing architectural designs is the fundamental contribution brought to society by this patent. Moreover, even though this particular patent is related to just the flooring system of construction, the focal point of the patent has the ability to flourish into something much larger than just flooring systems. A composite designed flooring system, with its light weight and durable characteristics can be used on transportation technologies such as airplanes and trains. Or used in elevators and moving walkways for the elderly. The potential uses of this technology could be seen in just about every imaginable structure in today’s society.

By Michael Tadros

Treating non-naturally occurring subsurface soil contaminants with pneumatic injection of dry media

John R. Schuring, Thomas M. Boland, and Trevor C. King were issued a patent that allowed for the treatment of subsurface soil from contaminants. “Treating non-naturally occurring subsurface soil contaminants with pneumatic injection of dry media” was granted to the inventors out of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in January of 2000. This patented technology, awarded to Professor Schuring and his fellow researchers in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department of the University, deals with the removal of contamination from bodies of soil structure in instances where the contamination is inaccessible, or in other words, not located on the surface of the contaminated soil. Although this patent takes environmental concerns as its center – inherited from the department that the inventors were associated with and their personal background in the field – the technology can be implemented to be used in further aspects of day-to-day life such as the installation of underground wires, tunnels, or pipelines.

It is important to note the context of this patent. Filed in the late 1990s in a time when environmentalism was in full force and cleaning the environment was prevalent in the university setting. This is evident by other environmentally friendly patents granted to the same university in the same time period as this particular one. Filed in February of 1996, this patent called for the ability to create a separation space in between certain layers of subsurface ground. This was done by fracturing the soil pneumatically, or with the use of gas or compressed air. (As seen in Fig. 1) The compressed air would be something like a “bubble”. This bubble would allow for the space in between the layers of the soil to be worked on wither it be the application of wires and tubes or the clean-up process of the soil.

Moreover, this bubble can be used to create space to allow agriculture enthusiasts to inject the soil with fertilizer or other chemical agents for the purpose of managing the plant life. Not only can this patented technology aid in the nutrient value of the plants, but it can also be used to remove weeds from large acres of crop fields. By removing the weeds from the root upwards, the weed plant can be eradicated completely from the field allowing the crop to grow undisturbed and successful. This eradication of weeds and hurtful plants can aid in the growing of crops and in the proper management of recreational parks, forests, golf courses, soccer and football fields and any large estates and resorts where greenery is essential to its service.

Away from recreational utilities for this patent, the environmental impact which this patent was centered was to be instrumental in the cleanup processes spread around the nation. Although it took three years for this patent to be granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, after it was filed, the science behind it—Pneumatic Fracturing—has inspired numerous other patents and commercial environmental clean-up efforts.[i] Schuring, himself, holds five patents related to this technology.

One year after this patent was awarded (and  it just so happens that it was one year after this patent was filed), Westinghouse Savannah River Company was awarded a patent that had the same thought process of cleaning up pockets of soil not easily accessible. (US patent #6280625B1) Later on, other patents cite this particular patent in its method of injecting a hidden pocket of soil – most notably patents by James Imbrie that deal with a “Method of Remediating a Contaminated Site” (US patent #7585132B2) and patents by the Baker Hughes Inc. that deal with a method to pump optical fiber underground. (US patent #7570858B2) This is one example of how this patent can be appreciated; by noting that this patent does not stand alone in the technology related environmental cleanup field but rather that it gave birth to other innovations.

By Michael Tadros

[i] “John R Schuring,” NJIT Experts Guide, 8/4/09, http://www6.njit.edu/news/experts/schuring.php

Apparatus and Method for in Situ Removal of Contaminants Using Sonic Energy

We have all seen images of bodies of water contaminated with an oil spill. Cleaning these spills is of the utmost importance as this contamination harms the welfare of the general public. Many different types of harmful contaminants can be leaked into the ground water, the bay, or even farming soil, and this can in turn affect public health. Removing the contaminants from the impacted body can be a very tricky process that raises many secondary questions – such as the proper method of removing the containments and who should be responsible for the cleanup. Thanks to the patented technology of Deran Hanesian, Angelo Perna, John Schuring, and Hugo Fernandez from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, there is a method of removing contamination from a polluted body without hard physical labor.

“Apparatus and method for in situ removal of contaminants using sonic energy”—granted to Deran Hanesian and Angelo Perna, professors out of the Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering department, to John Schuring, professor out of the Civil Engineering department, and to Hugo Fernandez, a graduate of the Chemical and Environmental Science department—tackles the environmental concern raised by contaminated substances leaking into the environment. This technology uses sound wave vibrational energy to remove pollution from the targeted body by separating the contamination from the specific material of the sample.

A sense of environmental awareness arose during the late 20th century due to many reasons. The growth of environmental science, the rise of consumer consciousness, and the willingness of individuals to stand up for their surroundings all created an atmosphere and a sense of “preserving the environment.”[i] Hanesian, et al were no different in that they sought a way to contribute to the environmental consciousness cause. Prior to this patented technology, removing contamination from a body of water or soil was not a process that was environmentally efficient nor did it have the environment at the center of its focus. Rather than focusing on the environment, clean-up efforts were predominantly an economic concern. These researchers decided to collectively use their skills to create an environmentally centered patented technology to deal with contamination.

Filed in 1997, this process went on to aid in the removal of contamination from bodies of water or even sedimentary soil that were left contaminated by various oil spills and various chemical plants closing down. As seen in Fig. 11, the compressed gas supply flows through a pressure regulation system. This system is responsible for distributing the pressured gas down a tunnel to a distributer. This distributer then pushes the gas into the surrounding contaminated ground creating a separated bubble, as illustrated in the circled portion labeled Fig. 13 in Fig. 11. The creation of the bubble allows for the extraction of the contamination from that part of the soil. This process can be replicated over several different parts of a contaminated field until the entire contaminated field is cleaned.

By Michael Tadros

[i] Adam Rome, The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation (New York: Hill and Wang, 2013).

Improved Compressive Strength of Concrete and Mortar Containing Fly Ash

“Improved Compressive Strength of Concrete and Mortar Containing Fly Ash” is a relatively easy innovation with great implications on construction across the globe. As the name implies, the patent deals with improving the overall strength of concrete and mortar used in construction projects. What is unique about this invention is that it gives a method of a mixture that includes fly ash and cement. This new method of combining fly ash and cement together results in achieving greater compressive strength than other materials that contain only concrete. Moreover, it gives engineers the ability to predict the strength of the concrete containing fly ash before it hardens. This is utterly important in planning for any project but especially large scale buildings. Thanks to the formula provided by John Liskowitz, Methi Wecharantana, Chai Jaturapitakkul, and Anthony E. Cerkanowicz, the compressive strength of concrete containing fly ash can now be predicted before the mixture hardens.

This method can significantly reduce construction costs that accompany major construction projects. The masterminds behind this patent were able to produce concrete with about 15% to 25% fly ash as a replacement to expensive cement. Not only did they save about a quarter of the production cost by doing so but also they still met the design specifications required for buildings and even highway construction. Cheaper production with maintained quality is the formula for success in construction, and these inventors out of NJIT have found the successful formula.

Under government supported research, the inventors – the majority of whom were affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology – were tasked with building a concrete that is sturdy and sufficient enough to be used in buildings and transportation projects, but also affordable. The inventors went a step further and came up with a formula that is cheap, highly durable, and environmentally friendly. The use of fly ash as a substitute in concrete mixtures has the ability to reduce the carbon footprint on the environment. First, the use of fly ash, also known as “pulverized fuel ash”, in concrete mixtures cuts down the use of cement – and that in itself can cut cement and carbon waste by 25%. Secondly, the production of fly ash used to be an environmentally messy procedure. Fly ash is created when coal is burned. The ash is then removed and used to be just thrown away into the air. Thanks to environmental protection laws in the US, fly ash now must be stored either in coal plants or landfills. But storing massive amounts of ash can be difficult and takes up a lot of space. For example, in 1988 the U.S produced about 50 million tons of fly ash that had to be stored. Thanks to this invention, about 43% of those stored ash heaps can become useful again in concrete.

However, there are some downsides to using this method. For starters this fly ash method requires a lot of time in order for it to be successful. To be exact it requires 90 days for the fly ash to become inert and to increase the compressive strength in most cement mixtures. Although, 90 days isn’t that long when it comes to most construction projects, it is a significantly undue burden when trying to pave a road. A second downside to substituting fly ash in cement mixtures is that not all fly ash is made the same way or composed of the same quality. As previously mentioned, fly ash comes from all different sources, and there is no set standard quality that is used in composing fly ash. This uncertainty in the composure of fly ash can lead to different outcomes in cement, and that is a risk that can’t be taken all the time in building projects.

Although this method has some flaws, “Improved Compressive Strength of Concrete and Mortar Containing Fly Ash” has great implications that can benefit the construction community. With more pressure on construction projects to find cheaper alternatives for accomplishing the same task, substituting fly ash can be incredibly helpful. Since its publication date in 1998, there have been 46 other patents that built upon the same general idea initiated by this patent. The most recent was in 2011. These patents range from other methods to save money in cement mixtures and methods in shortening the wait time needed to accomplish this feat. These 46 other patents would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the work done by these four inventors out of the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

By Michael Tadros