In this episode, Maithili Ghadge, podcast host talks with Sugandha Singh, Assistant Professor at Jaypee University of Information and Technology. She was the Guest Faculty at the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra and a Graduate Research Assistant at North Carolina University, working on the research titled “Seismic Response of Electrical Equipment in Nuclear Power Plant.” She was also the Project Engineer at Shapoorji Pallonji Group, coordinating all workers between site and head office, vendor billing, and certification, reviewing daily progress reports, project scheduling and, material management.
Sugandha talks about earthquakes and how earthquakes affect structures, why she focused on studying electrical equipment response in Nuclear Power Plants, and the research’s findings and results. She also shares some insights on how structures behave when subjected to earthquakes and other areas the search can be applicable apart from Nuclear Power Plants. Tune in to learn more about the effects of earthquakes on buildings and how we can reduce them.
Timestamps
[00:44] Earthquakes and how they affect structures
[01:42] Why Sugandha focused on studying electrical equipment response Nuclear Power Plants
[04:39] Sugandha’s findings and results after studying
[04:49] How structures behave when subjected to earthquakes
[09:36] Other areas apart from Nuclear Power Plants where this research is applicable
[15:43] Sugandha’s recommendations after conducting the research
Quotes
● If an earthquake exceeds the designed earthquake for a nuclear power plant, the electrical equipment will automatically shut it down and maintain a safe operation.
● When we analyze a building cabinet and equipment system for an earthquake, we ignore the effect of an impact within the cabinet which happens when it moves under the earthquake with the building.
● Many people don’t focus on what they should do to keep a building safe.
● The supreme objective of the nuclear power plant industry is not to let it fail. They have to keep an eye on every little part of the plant.
● We need to model our buildings and non-structure components such as cabinets more carefully to understand their actual behaviour.
Resource links
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-1/Newton-s-First-Law
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2009/06/nist-processes-help-build-next-generation-nuclear-power-plants