Properties of Materials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Properties of Materials - Essay ExampleAccording to a keep abreast that was carried out by our firm, we realized that many instances windows were severely damaged. Upon keenly studying the damages, it was realized that it was partly delinquent to environmental factors and partly due to poor maintenance. The damages on the widows ca employ variations in geometric configuration, composition, porosity and shackle of corrosion products. They also cause environmental pollution and humidity and temperature variations. 2.0 BACKGOUND TO THE STUDY Timber has commonly been used in making window signifiers, because of its accessibility and ease of processing. It has the lowest thermal conductivity compared to other frame cloths. Among the commonly used wood species for window frames are redwood, pine and cedar. Wood can be negatively changed by moisture, which can cause its warping or twisting. This fact makes it a mandatory practice to keystone timber windows after a specified duration o f time like five years. Another material that has been recently used for window frames is a synthetic material called Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It is made up of a range of mountains of repeating units of vinyl chloride. PVC comprises of chlorine, carbon, and hydrogen. The PVC exhibit varying characteristics that try to incorporate different additives get winded unspoilt for the window frames. In order to reduce brittleness, plasticizers may be added as additives in order to alter the processing. This helps to protect against were and tear coursed by natural agents as solar radiation. PVC windows incorporate reinforcement that assist in increasing rigidity. In turn the reinforcement increases the windows thermal conductivity. These windows are suitable and withstand the gravelly environment presented by polluted air and saline conditions their property of high thermal conductivity plays an chief(prenominal) role in these hash environments. However, ultraviolet (UV) radiation o n PVC breaks its molecular bonds, resulting in change magnitude brittleness (Taylor, 2000). 2.1 The likely causes of the damages observed Since every material has its own degradation parameters, the environmental factors affect the materials, and the intensity of these degradation factors, differ from material to material. For example, timber and PVC can undergo biological attacks exactly aluminum has no such threats. Some of the likely causes of the damages are structural movement or stump subsidence in the main frame, expansion of the joints between elements and shrinkage or loose assignment in grooves which causes a problem of rattling windows, moisture penetration, weathering or decay, the normal wear and tear, loose hinges and screws and throw and algae caused by airborne spores, which settle on the surface. It also causes any exterior plastic products to go grey over time. 2.2 Remedial remedies Some of the remedial remedies could be where the timber has deteriorated and h as decayed, the repair could require re-fitting segments of the frame(s) development mortise and tenon joints. Complete replacement of the damaged sash should also be considered, cracked, split or gloomy frames in the window sometimes may be repairable using wood adhesives and clamps, rusted and/or unable screws on fittings could be replaced, in some cases, by slightly larger diameter screws, by reduplicate thread metal tread or by longer screws which are non-corroding, one could also consider removing the damaged/rusted area of wood round the