Properties
These fibres are noted for thermal stability at high temperatures, high strength and modulus, low creep, and good chemical stability. They are moisture resistant and are generally stable in hostile environments. They have gold color. They are often used in combination with some polyester as a coating around Vectran core; polyurethane coating can improve abrasion resistance and act as a water barrier. As it has high resistance to ultraviolet radiation, it can be used outside for long term, if inspected regularly.
Usage
They are used as reinforcing (matrix) fibres for ropes, cables, and advanced composite materials, professional bike tires, and in electronics applications. Perhaps most notably, Vectran is used as one of the five layers in NASA's current space suit design, and was the fabric used for the airbags on the Mars Pathfinder and twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity missions, which allowed those craft to "soft land" on Mars in 1997 and 2004, respectively. The material is expected to be used again on NASA's 2011 Mars Science Laboratory in the bridle cables. It is also used in theinflatablespacecraft developed by Bigelow Aerospace, the first of which (Genesis I) has been in space since July 12, 2006.
Production
Kuraray Co., Ltd. owns 100% of the worldwide Vectran production since 2005 as they acquired the Vectran business from Celanese Advanced Materials Inc. (CAMI), based in South Carolina, U.S.
In 2007 the total capacity of Vectran is about 600 tons/yr, but expanded to 1000 tons/yr in 2008.1
Awater slideis a type of slide or tube designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use, typically with water pumped to its top and allowed to flow down its surface, although some may simply be wet. A person is able to sit directly on the slide, or on a raft or tube designed to be used with the slide, and slide to the bottom via gravity. The water reduces friction so sliders travel down the slide very quickly. Water slides typically run into a swimming pool (often called a plunge pool) at the end. Some, however, have long, flat, straight sections at the bottom with a few inches of standing water, frictional material, or rollers attached to the slide designed to slow the slider and allow them to safely exit the slide.
Water slides are popular at water parks and may form alternatives to those who don't like such intense rides at other amusement parks If these empty into a pool, the pool is usually designed only to catch sliders who must exit the pool immediately after coming to a stop, to prevent sliders entering the pool at high speed from striking other swimmers. These Plunge pools are usually quickly cleared by other swimmers to avoid injury. Smaller water slides may be found at actual swimming pools in water parks, private locations and community recreation centers where larger "thrill" slides are absent.
In some countries, they are more commonly referred to as flumes, water chutes, or hydro slides.
Types of water slides
Slides may be straight or curvy, with a steep or gentle gradient. Large slides in thrill parks may be otherwise designed to maximize g-forces experienced by the rider and the "fear factor" involved with such amusement type rides. Sometimes, to add to the overall excitement of a water slide, names are used which are intended to increase the "fear factor", such as the "Kamikaze slide", although in fact the slides are quite safe for normal users. Like any amusement ride, slides may be built to include other features, such as interactive laser light shows or mist inside a tube, to add to the user's desire/satisfaction complex.
Extreme slides
Extreme slides or speed slides are straight, with a near vertical drop in the middle designed to give the rider the most possible speed. These are called "plunge" or "plummet" slides, and are one of the most fearsome slides due to their height. They can accelerate people up to an average of 55 miles per hour. The tallest plummet slide in the world is Insano at 135 feet, which can bring riders up to 65,24 mph, located at Porto das Dunas Beach, a part of the Beach Park Resort in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Body slides
Other slides wind down a very curvy path which is not as steep, although some slides allow significant speeds to be obtained. The sharpest curves are usually completely enclosed or have high walls on the outside of the curve to prevent users from leaving the slide; thus these slides can be a long tube or alternate between an open chute and closed tube. G-forces experienced in these slides can range from gentle and family-friendly to surprisingly intense. Most riders will be required to lie flat on their backs, and cross their arms over their chest to prevent injury on these types of slides.
Tube/raft slides
Some slides are designed to be ridden with a tube or raft. These are commonly family slides, and some tubes allow up to 8 riders at one time. These are normally slow and include many twists and turns, and sometimes have pools along their length to simulate whitewater rafting.
Uphill slides
A small percentage of slides are hydro coasters. They shoot riders up and down with water or a conveyor belt. This is normally a "high intensity" water slide. A company called pro slide has recently developed a hydro magnetic water coaster. It uses LIMs to push the inner tube up the incline. The City of North Richland Hills, Texas operates a community owned water park that claims to have the worlds largest uphillwater slidecalled The Green Extreme according to their advertising.
InflatableWater Slides
Inflatable water slides are designed for the home user. They are typically made of a tough plastic material and attach to garden hoses in order to generate their supply of water. Some slides are totally horizontal, encouraging the user to slide 'along' them, rather than 'down' them.
In anatomy
- Rib, a bone attached to the spine, in vertebrate animals
- Ribs (food), the cooked meat and rib bones of a food animal
- Rib or costa, the leading edge of an insect wing (See glossary of Lepidopteran terms)
In construction
- Rib (aircraft), a portion of an aircraft wing
- Rib, a member attached to the keel in boat building
- Rib, any slender molded masonry arch projecting from a surface, particularly as part of an architectural vault
- Rib vault, a type of architectural vault in which the ribs are built first
Others
- Rib, to tease or joke with someone, as in symbolically nudging them in the ribs
- Rib (professional wrestling), a practical joke
- The sides of a violin
- The sides of a tunnel
- A stitch pattern in knitting
- A tool used for shaping or smoothing pottery
Motorola Programming Interface for Radio's - Info and background needed
Acronyms
- Rigid-hulledinflatable boat
- Razed in Black, an industrial music group
- Reign in Blood, an album by thrash metal band, Slayer
- Remote insight board, an out-of-band network management interface on HP servers
- A file format used by RenderMan
- Romanian International Bank
- Routing Information Base
- Roman Inscriptions of Britain, a reference book important to archaeologists etc
- Retirement Insurance Benefits, old age insurance provided by the Social Security Administration
- Rest in Bed, a nursing/medical order for a patient to stay in bed for a particular length of time
