Shipowner Liability Under Section 905(b) of the Longshoremen\u27s and Harbor Workers\u27 Compensation Act: A Proposed Standard of Care

The 1972 Amendments to the Longshoremen\u27s and Harbor Workers\u27 Compensation Act (LWHCA) greatly increased the maximum benefits to be paid to an injured longshoreman by the shipowner and, nullifying two Supreme Court decisions, permitted an injured longshoreman to maintain an action against a shipowner premised upon the unseaworthiness of the shipowner\u27s vessel. A finding of unseaworthiness would render the shipowner fully liable for any injuries that occurred. As a result of the 1972 Amendments, section 905(b) of the LHWCA provides that an injured longshoreman can recover damages against a shipowner only upon a showing of negligence. This article identifies and explores the many differing opinions of what constitutes shipowner negligence; analyzes efforts to create a uniform standard of care for shipowners; and finally proposes a standard of care for shipowners

3D microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics from X-ray tomography: new insights into the reaction mechanisms

Magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics are chemically bonded ceramics employed as biomaterials, in nuclear waste encapsulation and for concrete repair. The microstructure dictates material performance and depends on the raw mix composition. Synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography was employed to describe the 3D microstructure and its time evolution during hardening and gain insights into the reaction mechanisms. Any excess water with respect to the stoichiometry of the reaction brought about an increase in porosity, but, notably, a reduction in the average pore size. Crystals filled the water ‘pockets’ in the ceramic volume by growing larger, although less densely packed, increasing the complexity of the pore shape. Platelet over elongated crystal habit was favoured. Such a change in shape is likely related to a change in reaction mechanism, as crystallization from a gel-like amorphous precursor is hindered and progressively substituted by a through-solution mechanism. It is proposed that the time evolution of the microstructure is dictated by the balance between crystallization from amorphous precursor, prevailing in relatively ‘dense’ systems (with stoichiometric water or in low excess), and water segregation, prevailing at higher water contents. The former mechanism was shown to produce an increase in porosity with time, because of the density mismatch between the amorphous and the crystalline phase

3D microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics from X-ray tomography: new insights into the reaction mechanisms

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Synergistic effect of acetic acid and NOXfor objects made of lead and its alloys; Indoor corrosive environments in museums and depositories

Complex corrosion simulation to evaluate synergistic effect have to cover large number of factors. To do so, environmental and corrosion datasets collected by monitoring sites of interest have been used to tailor complex artificial ageing of lead and lead alloys, using lead, tin and tin-lead coupons. Material composition was based on objects of interest which are tin-lead alloy based although naming lead objects is used widespread for vast of them. To evaluate results corrosion rate based on weight loss, phase composition of corrosion product and colour change of the coupon surface were utilized. For thin corrosion layers formed micro Raman and FTIR did not provide suitable results, and GIXRD have been used. Although limited number of conditions were used for the simulations, synergistic effect was observed for lead under specific conditions. Synergistic effect do occur on lead when exposed to NOX and acetic acid fumes of relatively low concentrations (18 μg·m-3 and 500 ppb respectively). In addition, there is grouping of colourimetric data collected according to test regimes-phase composition of corrosion product respectively. This information albeit preliminary suggests that colourimetric spectroscopy may be suitable as fast and easy corrosion monitoring

Determination of thermal response of Carrara and Sneznikovsky marble used as building material

Physical weathering of marble, widely used as a cladding material on buildings, is one of the most common damaging mechanism caused by anisotropic thermal expansion of calcite grains. The extent of marble deterioration depends mainly on stone fabric and texture. Dry cuboids of Carrara marble and marble from Dolni Morava quarry were subjected to microscopic analysis and thermal cycling, to determine the thermal expansion related to stone fabric and predominant lattice orientation of grains (i.e. texture)