Understand Fiberglass Boat Delamination

Understand Fiberglass Boat Delamination In the early days of fiberglass boat construction the durability and strength of the material was underestimated. Builders formed thick hulls with integrated tubular ribs and stringers. Since this was the time before computer aided design tools, builders in the North Western United States built using the old default method of more is better. In 1956, when the first fiberglass boat was built, the material was very new but already found acceptance in aviation and automotive industries. The only way to build at that time used layers of fiberglass impregnated with acrylic resin that hardened when cured. Large molds allowed entire hulls to be made as one piece with no seams. Some wooden structure was added inside the hull for rigidity and it was bonded in with more fiberglass material. No precautions were taken to compress the curing hull or eliminate air bubbles in the structure as is done today. We know this method as solid core construction. Fiberglass materials remained expensive, and as demand for these new boats increased, manufactures began cutting costs to compete in the marketplace. Soon a layer of wood was added to lighten and strengthen the hulls and decks. The fiberglass and wood sandwich was a great combination until one of the outer surfaces of the fiberglass was breached. This is called wood core construction. It didn’t take a crash on the rocks to let water into the wood layer. Small cracks allowed the wood to become soaked and it swelled, and then rotted. Soon the inner and outer fiberglass layers couldn’t do their job and broke down from repeated flexing. This was the first type of fiberglass delamination and the failures damaged the boat building industry badly since many manufacturers had transitioned to all fiberglass construction, leaving more traditional materials behind. Fiberglass construction was quickly becoming known as poor quality because of delamination issues. Two Types of Delamination   The first type of delamination, where a wood core either separates or disintegrates, is very difficult to repair. One of the fiberglass surfaces needs to be removed to access the core. It’s usually the inner skin that’s removed because it’s less visible so finish quality is not as important.   The process is expensive and requires skilled labor; many boats were scrapped because of the cost of repair. Even with today’s modern materials and processes this kind of repair is difficult. Another type of delamination is similar but without the wooden layer. In these cases tiny flaws in the fiberglass itself allow air to be trapped. If the hull is cared for badly, water can enter through microscopic channels and enter these voids filled with air. Expansion and contraction of these tiny bits of water will make the voids grow horizontally along the layers of fiberglass cloth and resin binder. Temperature fluctuation causes the expansion and contraction of the water and if freezing and thawing are encountered the voids will grow quickly. Small bumps soon become visible in the smooth finish. These bumps are called blisters and it’s a serious condition. Blister Repair The only way to repair this damage is to remove the outer gel coat and underlying fiberglass material to access the damage. It is then filled with new resin and the gel coat is patched. It sounds easy, but unless you have considerable experience working with composites it’s easy to make the situation worse. If the boat is going to get a new coat of paint the problem of color matching isn’t an issue. Blending a patch into existing paint is an art form and lighter colors are much easier to match than bright or dark paints. Mechanical bonding is the larger issue since the new patch is only connected to the hull through adhesive properties. The same vibrations that formed tiny cracks will cause the boundary of the patch to loosen. Some blister repair involves drilling a few very small holes and injecting an epoxy compound. The blister is then compressed while the epoxy cures. This allows the patch to become a more integrated part of the hull. Causes of Blisters Marine growth can penetrate the gel coat and allow water into the structural area. Keeping a clean bottom and using an anti-fouling paint is the most important step. Abuse is another way tiny cracks form and allow the entry of water. Some boats are exposed to these conditions as a normal course of wear. Other boats are needlessly used in a careless way and this causes hull problems. Never allow someone to load heavy objects on the cabin top or jump onto the deck from the dock. Not only is it dangerous, but it can lead to delamination in these areas which will grow with further vibration from normal use. Poor storage practices like leaving water in the bilge can lead to severe delamination. Even in tropical climates the expansion and contraction of water trapped between layers of fiberglass can raise blisters. In climates which freeze and thaw often it’s possible a small blister can turn into a â€Å"pop† where the outer surface is torn away by the pressure of internal ice. Pops can be fixed with the same processes as a blister but the extent of the damage is unknown and the hull is permanently compromised. Sonic survey can reveal some of the damage but prevention is far easier.

Mortons neuroma Essays - Foot Diseases, Neurological Disorders

Mortons neuroma Essays - Foot Diseases, Neurological Disorders Mortons neuroma Abstract Mortons neuroma is a condition that affects one of the nerves that run between the third and fourth toes that may at first appear gradually, but becomes more significant and persistent over time. The exact cause is not certain, as there are a number of things that are thought to contribute to this condition. Symptoms can range from pain that starts in the ball of the foot and shoot into the affected toes, to a burning or tingling sensation of the toes. The treatment of this condition varies widely and includes conservative and surgical treatments, depending on the physician. This paper will examine the different causes and symptoms of a neuroma, as well as the different treatment options and recovery period. Mortons Neuroma What is Mortons Neuroma? A neuroma is an enlargement of nerve tissue that occurs at the base of the third and fourth toes that causes pain and numbness in the affected area. The tissue or ligament around the nerve swells up, which causes a pinching of the nerve and results in a sharp burning sensation in the toes. It is sometimes referred to as an intermetatarsal neuroma, which describes its location, and occurs in the ball of the foot between the metatarsal bones (the bones extending from the toes to the midfoot). It is sometimes referred to as a benign growth, or tumor, of nerve tissue that leads to the thickening of the toes, and a sharp burning pain in the ball of the foot. The irritation of the nerve could eventually lead to permanent nerve damage that may require patients to take painkillers, have steroid injections, or eventually surgery to either remove the nerve or release the ligament around it. This condition was first described by T.G. Morton in 1876. He used a more vague terminology of metatarsa lgia which described it as a painful condition in the ball of the foot (Bennett). What are the causes of Mortons neuroma? Doctors are not sure what exactly causes Mortons neuroma, but it seems to develop as a result of an irritation, pressure or an injury to one of the nerves that lead to the toes. One of the most common offenders is wearing shoes that are too narrow or tapered around the toes, or high heeled shoes that force the toes into the narrow part of the shoe. Because the anatomy of the bones in the feet is narrow between the metatarsals, the nerves that run between these are more likely to be compressed or irritated from wearing these types of shoes. People that have certain deformities in their feet, such as bunions or hammertoes which cause the bones to pinch the nerves, are at a higher risk for developing a neuroma. Other potential causes are activities that involve a repeated irritation to the foot, such as running, court type sports, or stress from long periods of standing on the feet. Also, inflammation in the joints or ligaments in the foot next to the nerves can cause irritation that le ad to a neuroma. Improper footwear can cause the toes to be squeezed together that can be problematic. What are the symptoms of Mortons neuroma? The symptoms of Mortons neuroma can occur unexpectedly and get progressively worse over time. You may have one or more of these symptoms: ?XTingling, numbness, or burning sensation in the toes or foot ?XPain in the ball of the foot when weight is placed on it ?XA feeling that something is inside the ball of the foot ?XSwelling between the toes At first the symptoms begin gradually, and then may go away temporarily by removing the shoe and massaging the foot. When wearing narrow-toed shoes or by performing activities that aggravate the foot, the symptoms become more intense as the neuroma enlarges and the damage to the nerve becomes permanent (American). Over time the symptoms progressively worsen and may persist for several days or weeks. How physicians diagnose a Mortons neuroma? To diagnose a neuroma, a podiatrist (foot specialist doctor) will obtain a thorough history of your symptoms, and will examine the foot and try to locate the affected nerve. This can be done by manipulating the foot and toes in trying to reproduce the symptoms. X-rays are also taken of the foot to make sure the

Mastering Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mastering Management - Essay Example tem to machine design as well as production, managing the shift from functional communication lines and responsibility to a plant-level dimension and handling unsatisfied employees at the plant based on their new task assignments and hence mitigate the chances of worker unionization. The selection of a plant manager can be challenging, especially in a situation facing Heritage Appliance Company’s River Woods plant. Consequently, the selection committee must take into consideration certain desirable aspect in order to find the right person for the crucial management position. As the selection committee, the suitable candidate must have expert, referent and reward power, which will successfully interplay with legitimate power accorded by the virtue of being the plant manager to steer the project to success. The candidate must generally have good interpersonal skills, critical problem-solving skills and be proactive. An internal candidate would be more desirable for the position because he/she is already familiar with the culture of the organization and what it intends to achieve. Besides, He already knows the strengths and weaknesses of the staff and can easily help them upgrade to match the new tasks facing

Write an evaluation of a published macroeconomic forecast Essay

Write an evaluation of a published macroeconomic forecast - Essay Example This means that there is continuous growth in future, which is brought by the banks’ new advances made on the credits extended to customers. In the next quarter the economy is expected to perform even much better. Another contributor to the economic growth is the housing for the last more than 5 months, sales of real estates hasbeen evident. This is backed by the new modern homes that have been constructed and some which are still under construction. For example, CoreLogic Home Price Index rose by 1.1% in a year. This is according to chapter three of the (economic forecast publication r April 2014). In comparison, the housing construction and sales vary by 9%, construction rate being higher than the sales. This is a growth indicator. Manufacturing and processing sectors have added wonderful growth indicators to the economic growth. The May returns of this year are anticipated to be the highest for the last three years. This follows last years 5% growth, which is highest for the last three years now. Key assumptions here are that: the government does not take care of the borrowers where the cost of loans is very high. The government assumes that there is general growth. They don’t take care of the private sectors and individuals who bear the high cost of economic growth through coast of loans. The second assumption is the policy of selling the homes. It is more beneficial to hold investments than sales, especially real estates. This is in regard to the principle of the investment multiplier concept. The audience of this information is the potential investors, shareholders and the government agencies. Some areas have been exaggerated. Firstly, the sales of assets are lower in long term growth in GDP. Anothe r one is the high cost of loans shifted to borrowers. The borrowers are economically affected. Labor market shows a negative image compared to developments as said earlier in the US economic

Analysis of Abortion Theme in Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Abortion Theme in Literature - Essay Example For instance, there are a lot of disputes with pro and con arguments concerning the legalization of marihuana, the animal deaths for the sake of scientific experiments, the problem of corruption or possible methods to reduce alcohol dependence and others. Within entire variety of such ‘everlasting’ matters there is also one that causes considerable interest from the point of view of morality, ethics, social aspect and medicine simultaneously. Its level of development is able to affect demography and living standards of any country dramatically. This pressing issue manages to bring sometimes undesirable changes to people’s lives. And finally, present query deals with human health condition, which can be damaged irreparably if required preventive measures are not used in time. The problem which the present paper is dedicated to is the matter of abortions in modern society. Statistical data The world statistics shows that the biggest percentage of women who are prone to obtain abortions goes to the group of girls under twenty five years old. Over 60% of all medical procedures are done on women who have never been married (Henshaw and Kost 11). Moreover, only 7% of abortions happen due to rape or health problems, meanwhile about 93% of all abortions are committed because of social reasons, when a woman deliberately and consciously desires to get rid of unwanted baby. Today the question about whether abortion is ethically right or wrong action still quite controversial issue. Hence, in some states of the USA authorities provide financial assistance to insolvent women for enabling them to obtain mentioned medical procedure. However, in some countries, such as Brazil, Peru, Bangladesh, Colombia and Mexico, abortion has official status of illegal deed. Philosophic and religious attitude The matter of abortions from the view of ethics has been always a disputable notion among numerous philosophers. Jane English differentiates own visions concerning m entioned issue due to the stages of pregnancy. Hence, she believes that in the early months of pregnancy a baby in a womb should not be considered as a person, this means that a fetus has no any rights and moral status yet and abortion may take place. However, if there are late months of pregnancy then abortion should occur only if labor may cause damage to woman’s health condition (qtd. in Hillar and Prahl 133). By contrast with English, Mary Ann Warren concludes that no matter what period of pregnancy is a fetus should be considered as an inseparable part of woman’s body, therefore she has a full right to make a decision. It should be mentioned that different religions also have own visions to the problem of interrupted pregnancy. For example, the Orthodox Church objects to abortions, while Jewish faith claims that â€Å"a fetus is hot considered a full human being and has no juridical personality of its own† (Zwerin and Shapiro 31). Reasons of abortion It is well known that a decision to give a birth to a baby is a serious and essential step that requires prolong and weighted reflections. There is no harder and more crucial issue for a woman than to make up own mind concerning the possibility of her potential child’s future life. Feeling a burden of huge responsibility, a lot of women are prone to find courage for interrupting pregnancy artificially. This happens because of several reasons, the major of which are the following: childbirth may damage

Are Universities Cartels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Are Universities Cartels - Essay Example The entry of universities which are responsive to societal needs has a profound effect on American education market (Dodgson et al 2009). In the oligopoly, learning institutions are driven by profit maximization. The United States market entry and exit barriers are flexible. A telling example is the Stanford’s free online Robotics and artificial intelligence courses. In the previous years, the largest barriers to the education US market entry have been economies of scale and strategic actions by the incumbent universities. Access to complex technology and government regulations in the US education market have relatively small impact on the market forces. The courses have attracted tens of thousands students. This has caused a shift from the traditional approach in education market. Virtual subgroups between lecturers and students have affected the learning costs (Tschang & Della 2001). The market trends have been altered as new ways of meeting the demand become introduced. The se trends have indicated that the market position of the state universities is under severe threat. A telling example is the cooperation between AT & T and university of Phoenix on employee training. The culture of education cartels is losing ground as innovative ways of meeting education demands continue to gain ground (Tschang & Della 2001). ... Perfect competition and oligopoly in the American education market is demand products to be defined. A product is defined as a good or service produced by universities in an education market. Products and units of production affect the demand and supply forces in the education market. The availability of products in the education market is directly correlated to pricing. Defining products and units of output is directly related to pricing. Market forces in the education market are overcoming the significance of collusion theory and competition is rising. Pricing is an important aspect in the education market in the United States. In the study of education market in US, definition of productions and units of output affects competitiveness and brand equity profoundly (Dodgson et al 2009). Cartels within the traditional university systems face direct challenges from virtual universities (Kreps 2004). The education market is increasingly becoming competitive leading to reduced prices in traditional degree programs as new programs take the center stage (Newman et al 2004). Programs and units are packaged in affordable and convenient methods e g the decrease in the cost of traditional courses and demand in virtual courses grows. (Dodgson et al 2009). Careful decisions are focusing on the nature of courses offered and the place of offering them. The universities are getting involved in corporate social responsibility. Technology has overcome geographical barriers through electronic learning (Tschang & Della 2001). The modern US universities are developing other responsive measures of raising revenues and quality of services in an increasingly competitive education market. In conclusion, the American education market is experiencing

Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategic Management - Assignment Example A third advantage of SWOT is that the tool can be used for strategic management purposes. A fourth advantage of using SWOT to evaluate a business is its simplicity and versatility. Despite the benefits of using SWOT, the tool also has its cons and limitations. One of the inherent weaknesses of the tool is that different people might evaluate companies using subjective factors. For instance, a manager that is biased might perform a SWOT analysis using favorable data that might be misleading. The success of SWOT is dependent on methodologies utilized by the business analyst and the eagerness of the management team to implement the recommendations identified by the analysis. Another weakness of SWOT is that the analysis can be simplistic and not actionable (Britt, 2012). Sometimes people that used SWOT focus too much on gathering information instead of interpreting the information and finding solutions to the challenges the company