KNOW WHY THIS FLAG LIKE STRUCTURE IS USED IN AIRPORTS !!

You might have seen these flag-like objects on airports and wondered what are these used for. This cone-like object plays a vital role in the aviation industry. In this article, we are going to discuss the importance and purpose of this object.

These objects are known as industrial windsocks or “wind cones” or sometimes “air cones”. It is a kind of kite tube manufactured from synthetic cloth, nylon or rubber in the shape of an ice cream cone that is open at one end by a stiff metal ring.

The main purpose of safety aviation windsocks installed on airfields, international airports, helipads, and heliports is to give the pilot a quick reference about wind direction and the approximate wind speed. Pilots need to calculate wind velocity during take-off and landing to ensure it is safe for the aircraft. The wind direction and speed can directly impact the distance a plane needs to travel on the ground before taking off or coming to a stop on the runway. Before accelerating before take-off, pilots take a quick glance at it and give the necessary input while strolling down the runway.

Although most airports also provide more accurate weather information for pilots, from automated weather observation systems but sometimes the windsock is the only indication of wind speed and direction.

Working of windsock:

Windsocks may be solid orange, yellow, or white and should not have any lettering or logos. The ones that are the best indicators of wind speed, however, have alternating colors—such as orange and white—or have stripes at key points.

The wind direction is the opposite of the direction in which the windsock is pointing. This means if the wind blowing from the West the windsock would point towards the East.

Windsock is made to orient against the wind when the wind speed reaches three knots (3.5 mph). At that wind speed, only the first segment of the windsock will extend. The second segment of the sock extends when the wind speed has reached six knots; the third segment, nine knots; and the fourth segment, 12 knots. At a wind speed of 15 knots (17 mph) or more, the windsock will fully extend and point away from the direction from which the wind originates.

Windsock data is used in every aspect of aviation, not just at airports large and small. In addition to being applied at military airstrips and private airfields, and at commercial or domestic helipads, windsocks are also used in areas where people take paragliding or parachute flights. You may even spot a windsock at a hot air balloon launch and landing site, to assist in safe flying.

KNOW WHY POLICE LIGHTS ARE RED AND BLUE INSTEAD OF JUST RED!

You might have seen police vehicles installed with red and blue light. Have you ever wondered why this combination is chosen? Can’t be there any other colour? Let us find out the answer in this article.

The aim of the police vehicle is to generate a sense of alertness among the people. These lights have a call to action which is to indicate people either slow down or stop. In nature, red is a warning color. We’re all programmed to respond when we see red colors— that’s why stop signs are red, for example. Red is a color of alertness, awareness, paying attention, and being cautious which are exactly the things police cars want people to do when they see a police light.

But, we see many colours on the road like white light of the headlamp of vehicle, yellow light of fog lamp and red light of the tail light. But we hardly see any blue light. So, in order to prevent the mixing of the red light of police vehicles with the tail light of other vehicles, additional light is added to make it stand out. As blue light is hardly present on roads, this light is chosen as an additional color.

Thus, a sense of urgency is created by red light, and to make it stand out, blue light is added. Also, it has been theorized that red lights are easier to see during the day, while blue lights are more likely to be visible at night. According to this theory, blue and red flashing lights are therefore adaptable and will be able to warn road users and pedestrians of a police vehicle’s presence regardless of the time of day. 

Finally, some experts believe using both red and blue lights eliminate problems associated with people who are colorblind. People who have trouble seeing red often have no trouble seeing blue. Using both red and blue lights thus helps to alert everyone, even those with colorblindness 

Although, the exact color of police lights varies by state, for the most part, red and blue are the norm. As mentioned above, red and blue flashing lights, when used with a police siren have a number of benefits that help to alert other road users of the presence of a police vehicle, which in turn makes the roads safer for everyone else to use. 

KNOW WHY BRICKS ARE SOAKED IN WATER BEFORE USING !!

You might have seen builders or constructors or daily labors soak the bricks in water before it is used in construction. Have you ever wondered why bricks are soaked in water? In this article, we will understand the reason for soaking the bricks in water before using them.

Bricks are one of the most important building materials used in construction. It is available in rectangular shapes and has standard dimensions. Brick masonry is a great art of construction in which bricks are laid systematically with respect to bonding, jointing, and finishing. In brick masonry, bricks are bonded together with the help of mortar (Cement + Sand+Water). The strength of brick masonry majorly depends upon the quality of brick and type of mortar. 

The process of completely immersing the brick into water is known as soaking. Bricks are porous in nature and have a tendency to absorb moisture. When the brick to be used for construction are soaked in water, the air is released and it absorbs water. Now when the soaked brick is used, it will not absorb any water from the wet mortar. If the brick absorbs water from the mortar and this will reduce the strength of the mortar to a great extent. Thus, it will fail to make a strong bond between bricks and mortar. Ultimately, it will make the bonding of masonry wall weak.

Also, the dirt and soluble salts present on the bricks get removed by soaking them in water.

Bricks should be soaked in water before use for a period so that the water penetrates the entire depth of the bricks. Normally it is suggested to soak bricks for atleast 12 hours. Soaking of bricks should be continued till air bubbling ends.

So, these are the reasons for soaking the brick in water before using. Hope you might have got a clear picture of this topic. Thank you for reading the article.

KNOW WHY CRUISER BIKES HAVE LONGER WHEELBASE !!

If you look at the motorbikes around you, you will notice the overall length of every motorbike is different. For example, Bajaj Avenger is having more overall length as compared to Yamaha R15. Other motorbikes like Bajaj Avenger for example Royal Enfield Meteor, Honda Revel, etc are also having a higher overall length. These bikes are made for longer route touring and are called cruisers. In this article, we will understand the reason behind the higher overall length of cruiser motorbikes.

One factor which decides the overall length of the motorbikes is the wheelbase. The wheelbase is the center to center distance between the front and rear wheels. Wheelbase plays an important role in the handling of a motorbike. When the wheelbase on the motorbike is long, the motorbike has better stability on the road. Which simply means the motorbike will keep going in a straight line very easily and changing direction easily is a bit tricky. The same is inverse in the case of motorbikes with a shorter wheelbase; the motorbike can be easily maneuvered, but it loses out on the stability of staying on the road. There are chances of the motorbike to wobble easily under extreme speeds which do not happen in the case of longer wheelbases.

Cruiser motorbikes are designed to run straight on highways covering long distances with ease that is why they have a longer wheelbase. Also, a long wheelbase makes a bike less wheelie-prone, and because the rider sits farther from each wheel, he gets a smoother ride. On the other hand, sports motorbike like Yamaha R15, Honda CBR, etc tend to have shorter wheelbase as it makes them compact and light and also makes them very easy to move around and corner at higher speeds. Also, shorter wheelbases tend to be more responsive to steering input.

In short, the longer the wheelbase, the more the stability and less the maneuverability; the smaller the wheelbase, the less the stability and more the maneuverability. We hope you might have got an idea of how wheelbase affects the handling of a motorbike. Thank you for reading this article.

KNOW THE MEANING OF VARIOUS COLOUR CODING USED IN FLOOR MARKING !

You might have seen industrial floors marked with various colored strips. Some of the strips are colored yellow and black, red and white, and so on. In this article, we will discuss the meaning of various colored strips that are used for floor marking. 

Floor marking is the process of using visual indicators such as lines, shapes, and signs on floors to make a space easier for people to navigate. These indicators divide spaces, highlight hazards, outline workstations, and storage locations, direct traffic, and convey important safety or instructional information. These markings are done as per OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards.

 

These markings are done for Organizational Improvement, Finding First Aid Equipment, Personal Protection Equipment, Navigation Assistance, Placement of Objects, Traffic Direction, etc. In short, these markings are done to keep the working environment safe and organized.

 

Different color coding is used to convey different messages. However, the industry can define its own color-coding. Following are the most commonly used color coding used.

Yellow Floor Tape

Yellow tape (or paint) should be used for all normal foot traffic going through a passage (both indoor and outdoor) as well as vehicle traffic.

White Floor Tape

White tape should be used for anything related to facility equipment, fixtures, racks, carts, and things of this nature. This helps people to alert people about their availability and lets people know where to put them when they're done using them.

Blue, green and/or black

Materials and components, including raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods.

Orange Floor Tape

Materials in inspection

Red Floor Tape

Locations where defective products, scrap materials, or items in the facility that need to be reworked are stored.

Red & White Floor Tape

Any area that must be kept clear for safety or compliance. Areas around fire extinguishers, emergency eyewash stations, electrical panels, or fire lanes.

Black & White Floor Tape

Areas that need to be kept clear for general operations. Not to be used for emergency areas.

Black & Yellow Floor Tape

Areas that may expose employees to special physical or health hazards.


Floor markings have been proven to improve visual communication within facilities, while also benefiting overall facility safety. So, now you know the meaning of various color coding tapes used in the industry.

Thank you for reading this article.

KNOW WHAT IS SENSEX AND NIFTY !

We daily hear words like "Sensex" and "Nifty" when we watch the news. These words are also related to the market but have you ever imagined what is the meaning of Sensex and Nifty? In this article we will understand the meaning of these two words with respect to the economy. 

There are thousands of listed companies in the stock exchange (Stock exchanges allow investors to buy and sell shares of a company among each other in a regulated and legitimate space.) in India. And, it is not at all easy to track every single stock. Therefore, a smaller sample is calculated which acts as a representative of the whole market. This small sample is called Index (in other words, indicator) and it helps in the measurement of the value of a section of the stock market. The index is computed from the prices of selected stocks. 

Sensex and Nifty are the two important indicators that are used to measure the behavior of the market. These market indices are known as a standard for portfolio performance. SENSEX (Sensitive Index) and NIFTY (Net Index of Fifty) are the benchmark index of India.

SENSEX:

Sensex, also called BSE 30, is the market index consisting of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).BSE can revise this list of 30 with respect to time. So, if Sensex fluctuates, it reflects on the economy as well. For example, if Sensex goes up people become more interested in buying stocks because they think that economy is going to grow. But, if Sensex goes down, people tend to stop investing in the economy.

Let us understand it with an example, it is like trying to determine the ‘intelligence’ of a class of 500 students across various courses by taking the average marks of Top 30 students. The average result might be good but this may not necessarily be so. For better results we need to compare the averages across a period of time, or across classes as it is more helpful rather than looking at the average as a stand-alone factor.

NIFTY:

Nifty, also called NIFTY 50, is the market index consisting of 50 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). Nifty Index constitutes of 50 companies that are considered to be the nation's economy movers and shakers. Each of the 50 companies contributes some weightage to the Nifty Index and its fall and rise indicate the condition of our economy.

It is just like the fuel indicator of your vehicle. When the fuel Indicator is in the Red zone, you understand that your fuel tank is about to be empty and you need to refill it or else your vehicle will stop running. In the same way, when you are filling up your tank and the Indicator turns full in Green zone, you understand your tank is full and you should stop filling it or else it will spill out of the tank.

WHY DO WE NEED THESE INDICATORS?

The rise and fall of an index would reflect the composite performance of all these companies, and in turn it is the representative of the whole market. It is the barometer of the economy. Indices can be constructed to track the performance of stocks, bonds, currencies, volatility, prices amongst many other things.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSEX AND NIFTY:

Thank you for reading the article.

KNOW HOW TO DECODE GRADE OF GRINDING WHEEL !

Grinding is an abrasive machining process that uses a grinding wheel as the cutting tool. A grinding wheel is a precision tool with thousands of cutting points on its surface - abrasive grains that are held in place by a bond matrix (hence these are known as bonded abrasives) and separated by pores. When the wheel is in use, the abrasive grains cut into the material that is being ground, removing the unwanted surface material in small chips.

There are various grades of grinding wheels available in the market and every grinding wheel has its grade written on it. But have we ever thought what these grades mean? We will decode the grade of the grinding wheel in this article.

When selecting the perfect wheel for your project, it is important to know the grade of that grinding wheel. Every grinding wheel is marked by the manufacturer with a stencil or a small tag. The manufacturers have worked out a standard system of markings as shown in the figure below. For example use a wheel marked A36-L5-V23. The A refers to the abrasive which is aluminum oxide. The 36 represents the grain size. The L shows the grade or degree of hardness, which is medium. The 5 refers to the structure of the wheel and the V refers to the bond type.

ABRASIVE TYPE:

There are 4 main types of abrasive grains available for grinding wheels, these are Ceramic Aluminium Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Zirconia Alumina, Aluminium Oxide.

ABRASIVE GRAIN SIZE:

Abrasive grains are selected according to the mesh of a sieve through which they are sorted. For example, grain number 40 indicates that the abrasive grain passes through a sieve having approximately 40 meshes to the linear inch. A grinding wheel is designated coarse, medium, or fine according to the size of the individual abrasive grains making up the wheel.

GRADES OF HARDNESS:

The grade of a grinding wheel designates the hardness of the bonded material. Listed below are examples of those grades:
A soft wheel is one on which the cutting particles break away rapidly while a hard wheel is one on which the bond successfully opposes this breaking away of the abrasive grain.

STRUCTURE:

Bond strength of a grinding wheel is not wholly dependent upon the grade of hardness but depends equally on the structure of the wheel, that is, the spacing of the grain or its density. The structure or spacing is measured in number of grains per cubic inch of wheel volume.

BOND TYPE:

This means how the wheel holds the abrasives; affects finish, coolant, and minimum/maximum wheel speed.

So, now you know how to read the grade of grinding wheel. Thank you for reading this article.