Service quality and customer satisfaction are important to marketers Essay Example

Service quality and customer satisfaction are important to marketers Essay 1. Introduction It is the job of a marketer to realise, understand and effectively make use of how a customer can best provide the business with the profit that it strives for. As marketing in the 21st century has moved away form traditional offensive strategies and moving towards defensive strategies where pull factors become vital when attracting and maintaining customers. A customer will purchase a product or service for a number of reasons, all however, are to satisfy the customers need or want at that moment in time. If we can understand what motivates the customer to purchase we can start to understand how and why the customer becomes one of the businesses biggest asset as it is the customer who affects the bottom line measures of success, namely profits. We will write a custom essay sample on Service quality and customer satisfaction are important to marketers specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Service quality and customer satisfaction are important to marketers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Service quality and customer satisfaction are important to marketers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In order to analyse the title statement and ascertain outcomes and conclusions this paper will examine both classical and modern day literature making reference to how the areas of service quality, satisfaction and customer retention have been focused upon in academia. This paper shall endeavor to highlight any relevance links between these areas of business whilst answering the question of the statements validity in modern-day business. Breaking down the title quote will allow us to compare and contrast past literature on the subject and how they relate to each other. 2. Service Quality Berry et al (1988) defines service quality: Service quality can often make the difference between a businesss success and failure and Quality is conformance to customer specifications; it is the customers definition of quality, not managements that counts. These quotes put in context the importance of service quality and how important it is to focus on the customer when aiming to create this quality in service. Berry et al (1988) describe service quality as being a major differentiator for businesses as well as being a powerful competitive weapon. There has been overwhelming literature on the subject of service quality on the past two decades. Gronroos (1984) explains a customers perception of service quality: it is reasonable to state that the perceived quality of a given service will be the outcome of an evaluation process, where the consumer compares his expectations with the service he perceives he has received, i.e. he puts the perceive service against the expected service. The result if this process will be perceived quality of the service. If a customer enters the market place with low expectations of the service he or she is about to experience it is likely that if the service is better than expected the perceived level of quality of service will be high. Similarly, if expectations are high it is going to be harder for the supplier to meet the customers expectations. The service quality cannot simply be determined by the organization, it must come from the customer. If the supplier can realize what the customer wants, and more importantly, what the customer expects, it can use this information when attempting to serve the customer. Gronroos (1984) goes on to describe Technical and Functional quality, see The Service Quality Model figure 1 below: The technical quality is the outcome of the transactional. This is what the customer attempts to find when entering the market place and seeks to satisfy the original want or need. The functional quality is how well the service does its job and is what contributes to the quality of the service. Once the technical and functional qualities are added to the image of the service the customer can start to evaluate its service quality. The image of the organization and the image of service itself can dramatically affect the way in which the customer perceives the overall service quality. Gronroos (1984) also explains that: image may be a quality dimension. If a consumer believes that he goes to a good restaurant and the meal, for instance is not perfect, or the behaviour of the waiter is irritating, he may still find the perceived service satisfactory. Zeithaml and Bitner (p.92, 2003) explain how consumers judge service quality: Over the years service researchers have suggested that consumers judge the quality of services based on their perceptions of the technical outcome provided, the process by which that outcome was delivered, and the quality of the physical surroundings where the service is delivered. The Interactions Qualities are the qualities that the organization attempts to serve the customer with, such response times and the ability to communicate clearly with the customer. Any combination of the five factors above contribute to how the customer perceives the service quality he or she receives during the interaction between them and the organization. The Physical Surroundings that the customer is aware of is another quality that contributes to service quality. This can be as simple as a comfortable chair for the customer to sit on whilst he or she is dealing with the organization the perception of a customers surroundings can influence a customers overall perception of service quality. An example of this would be Nike Town where the whole where the customer is encouraged to fully engage in the shopping experience as it becomes a day out offering customers to perceive excellent quality service. The Outcome Qualities are what gets the customers attention and what the customer wants to get out of the interaction with the organization. For example, if a customer wanted a jacket to be dry-cleaned the clean jacket would be the outcome quality. Again, the five factors listed above make up an overall perception for the customer on the outcome quality. Parasuraman, et al (1985) describe how understanding customer expectations through market research and open communication with employees contributes to the five service quality dimensions. If an organization can gain information about the market it can more effectively create superior service dimensions for the customer by identifying what the customer wants and how these wants fit into the market as a whole. Open communication with employees also allows the organization to gain first hand data on customer responses as employees often received on-the-spot feedback from customers. Parasuraman, et al (1985) also describes how management commitment to service and employee performance impact on how the service dimensions are perceived. Zeithaml Bitner (1996) describe the zone of tolerance and the two levels of service expectation, see figure 3. Figure 3 The zone of tolerance lies between a perceived adequate level of service and the desired level of service. Due to the nature of services variation can often arise from serving one customer to another. One customer may even experience different levels of service, or a lack or consistency, from one transaction to another. The zone of tolerance allows for an amount of variation where the customer still finds the service to be acceptable if the perceived level of service drops below the acceptable level the customer will become frustrated and dissatisfied. The zone of tolerance can increase or decrease for individual customers depending on factors including competition, price or importance of specific service attributes (Lovelock et al, p.127, 1999) For example, if a customer was given a complimentary holiday from a travel company they are likely to have a larger zone of tolerance than if they had paid full price. The level of service they receive may drop to below what they would usually accept but because the holiday was free they may not be dissatisfied. Just three years later Burrell and Gale (1987) show us the PIMS Principle (figure 4) and the relationship between Relative Quality and Relative Market share. This is a useful model to understand as it brings in the Return on Investment (ROI) which most models do not include. The equations are: High Market Share + High Quality = High ROI Low Market Share + Low Quality = Low ROI We must remember that service quality is rarely described as a cheap or short-term implemented part of business. Berry et al makes it clear that service quality is long term if it is to work. There are no ways to change the attitudes, habits, knowledge, and skills of human beings quickly. Service quality can add a valued differentiator to the products offered where goods in todays environment are largely undifferentiated. However, this will inevitably have an instant effect on bottom line success in that it will costing will increase. 3. Customer Satisfaction We can define customer satisfaction: Satisfaction is the consumers fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment. Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) quote R. L. Oliver. Satisfaction happens when the customer perceives the product or service to at least meet their expectations. The customer may experience fulfillment, contentment, pleasure, delight or relief. If the customers needs or wants are not met he or she will become dissatisfied. Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) go on to compare customer satisfaction: Although they have certain things in common, satisfaction is generally viewed as a broader concept, whereas service quality assessment focuses specifically on dimensions of service. Based on this view, perceived service quality is a component of customer satisfaction. We can see how the Customer Perceptions of Quality Customer Satisfaction model (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003) is completed in figure 5. Figure 5 We can see that price is introduced as a contributing factor to customer satisfaction, whereas as price does not contribute to service quality. Most importantly, we can see that situational and personal factors influence customer satisfaction. These factors are beyond the control of the organization and are part of individual customers and what they bring with them to the market place. Customers emotions can also affect their perceptions of satisfaction, Positive emotions such as happiness, pleasure, elation and a sense of warm-heartednesss enhanced customers satisfaction (Zeithaml Bitner, 2003) Zeithaml are offering the notion of emotional transactions with the service delivery and if organizations factor this into the delivery it is likely to enduce a positive outcome of customer satisfaction, hence customer satisfaction is in itself an emotional state. This is important to marketers, as a customer with already positive emotions is likely to respond to the service quality with an already positive outlook when dealing with the supplier. Negative emotions will, however, have the opposite affect. negative emotions such as sadness, sorrow, regret and anger led to diminished customer satisfaction. (Zeithaml Bitner, 2003) Cronin Taylor (1992) describes the results from their study on Service Quality that they link to satisfaction and the relationship the results are as follows: (1) a performance-based measure of service quality may be an improved means of measuring the service quality construct, (2) service quality is an antecedent of consumer satisfaction, (3) consumer satisfaction has a significant effect on purchase intentions, (4) service quality has less effect on purchase intentions than does consumer satisfaction. 4. Defections Management Realising and effectively managing how and why customers decide to leave, or defect, from your company can have a positive impact on bottom line success. Companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. (Reichheld Sasser, p.105, 1990) Reichheld Sasser (1990) explain the cost of losing a customer in relation to the initial spend made by companies to gain the customer in the first place. An example of a credit card is used to demonstrate how attracting one customer can cost as much as $50 but this outlay is not recouped until year two. They explain that operating costs decrease the longer the customer stays with the company, and revenues increase year on year as the customer becomes more confident in using the service. Costs are likely to decrease as a more confident customer is expected to spend less time asking questions and more time making use of the service i.e. spending. Defections Management can also result in increased profits from referrals and price premiums. 5. Repeat Purchasing and Retention Customer repurchase intention is influenced by seven important factors service quality, equity and value, customer satisfaction, past loyalty, expected switching cost and brand preference. (Hellier et al, 2003) Past loyalty to the product is likely to influence the customer making another purchase simply due to the loyalty the customer feels towards the business. If a customer has been loyal in the past it may feel perfectly natural to carry on with a system that has worked in the past. Large organizations, for example, will often order supplies such as stationary from the same supplier because they have systems in place to make those orders due to past loyalties with the supplier. The expected switching cost can be a major contributing factor to repurchases in industries where joining fees or get-out clauses exist. Jones Sasser (1995) compare satisfaction with retention at Rank Xerox in the early 1990s (Figure 6). High levels of retention are not met until the customer is very satisfied. Just not dissatisfying the customer or even satisfying the customer is not enough to gain 50% or higher levels of retention. Rust et al (1995), however, say that scores of 5 will result in 97%, a score of 3s and 4s will result in 95% retention. We can see from this that satisfaction to retention varies from one organization to another, as well as from industry to industry. Figure 7 (Jones Sasser, 1995) displays how this relationship changes dependant on industry. A service such a telephone service provider (or most utility providers) often serve their customers because there is none or very little alternatives available. Contracts and notice to leave also result in customers staying with their service provider because it is more convenient, even if they are not especially satisfied. A motorcar supplier is shown to have the opposite affect as there is much choice in the market and customers are free to purchase how and when they like. Technological advances may also influence if and when a customer defects from one company to another, as they may desire new technology from a competitor. Robert Weisman, Boston Globe (2004) supports this notion: Some customers may feel trapped theyll continue doing business with their vendors because they have to, not because they want to. We can also explore the notion that loyal customers have a direct postive affect on bottom line business success. Much literature on loyal agrees that loyal customers will be more familiar with a companys transactional processes and therefore should find it cheaper to serve them (Reinartz et al, 2002) Reinartz et al (2002 ) do not agree fully that loyal customers have a direct positive affect on profits: Specifically, we discover little or no evidence to suggest that customers who purchase steadily from a company over time are necessarily cheaper to serve, less price sensitive, or particularly effective in bringing in new business.

Global Warming Business Ethics Essay Essay Example

Global Warming Business Ethics Essay Essay Example Global Warming Business Ethics Essay Paper Global Warming Business Ethics Essay Paper I believe that people across all continents of the world regardless of their stance on lobar warming should agree that we all have a moral responsibility for our actions and to ensure that we are causing no harm for that which the planet cannot bear. Certainly, we as people understand that there are consequences, or rather re-actions, to our every action. Sir Isaac Newton proclaimed that for every action that there is an equal and opposite reaction. While his hypothesis was related to his first laws of motion it carries similar meaning in other respects as well. The Minnesota Department of Health published an article providing ample studies from the science community that wows certain chemicals and manufacturing processes are bad for the environment (MED, 2004). Where we can improve our manufacturing process or there exist more safe alternative means to production and use of products that have less impact on the environment then both business and consumers should choose the product with less impact. In this case we are discussing what would have the least possible? impact on perpetuation global warming. The reason that personally believe there is more hype than fact to global warming is that for all the improvements we have made in reducing our impact to the environment over the last 40 years of my life, have seen neither increase nor reduction in the warming effects across North America where travel extensively for business. I realize that this is just one small part of the planet but I read of others similar observations as well. One comment that is substantiated by many prominent scientist that rationalize with is The lack of warming for more than a decade-?indeed, the smaller-than- predicted warming over the 22 years since the U. : N. s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (EPIC) began issuing projections-?suggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional ICC can cause (WAS, 2/21/2012). The earth has been evolving for millions of years. It has at least once before come out of an ice-age through a global- warming transformation of that time without man-made ICC emissions. Regardless of where their intentions were, I believe there have been many businesses that have capitalized and fed on the fear of the public related to global warming to promote their products.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Summary and Response Research Paper

Culturally Responsive Teaching Summary and Response - Research Paper Example The process of learning is enhanced and all children are learning together. In most situations, children learn more about the global world through the process of learning about different cultures. This is very important because we live in a global world that provides for many cultures who come to the United States to learn and to grow. Many students come to the United States, stay, and make a living. As they enter classrooms at the K-12 and college levels, they are being trained for work; which can require more global knowledge. The aspects of this paper will provide a synopsis of three articles that are research or theory pertaining to CRT. The articles have been chosen from the university library through various academic journals. Summary of Journal Articles Kozleski (2010) begins this discussion in the article that provides information about why CRT is important. Kozleski makes the point that teachers have a responsibility to set aside their biases about certain cultures and provide opportunities for students to interact with one another. These actions, according to Kozleski, will help students stay engaged in their learning. Another important feature of a cultural classroom is that it helps children become engaged in citizenry. For teachers, this means that they begin to negotiate and facilitate instead of lecture and provide orders of what students must do. Teachers who engage in this type of classroom will take into consideration the culture that the children grow up in and will provide them with activities that promote their culture (Kozlewski, 2010). CRT classrooms allow students and teachers to engage in a variety of perspectives that promote activities from many different lenses. As an example, students may study slavery from th e point of the slavers and abolitionists, and then study it from the viewpoint of slave narratives. This action would promote an important piece of the puzzle and create bridges between children and with the teacher. Kozlewski (2010) also promotes the idea of working in communities with children. She states that this takes planning and â€Å"explicit teaching around social interactions† (p. 2) which ultimately creates an environment where all students feel comfortable learning. Another important aspect of

Public speaking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Public speaking - Assignment Example This paper analyzes the TV, online and print advertising strategies of the Trojan brand using an argumentative approach divided into the categories of ethos, pathos and logos as aspects of persuasive advertising (John 2004, 107). Print advertising Print advertising refers to advertisements printed on some form of paper handled by the potential customer and includes offers posted in newspapers and sent via mail. A print advertisement can only be said to be a success when people see it and act upon it as it aims to attract people to products as they are reading or probing through publications. People have a tendency to be receptive to new information and observation of matters of interest when looking through publications (Fujishin 2012, 102-105). This strategy of advertising was the first to be utilized by the Trojan brand on a pharmacist magazine that would then stock their drugstores with the product as it continued to gain popularity. In print advertising, the Aristotle principle o f logos means the process of persuading the consumer by use of reasoning. Providing reasons is the foundation of any argumentation enabling the readers to draw a conclusion about the message being put across. Logos refers to the internal clarity of the claim, perception of its reasons and the value of its supporting indication.The argument in logos is to provide the explicit reasons that the writer provides to support his claim (Armstrong 2010, 226).For example, the Trojan brand would be advocating for the practice of safe sex by the sexually active component of the population. The first approach to analyze the supporting reasons provided in an argument is by considering all the premises the author seems to provide. For example, unsafe sex could lead to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STI). This is a process of judgment in itself. The second step is to question which of the premises identified as objects of agreement, the author consider as given. Objects of value in this case are either facts or values of the author about the product that may not be parallel to the reader’s facts and assumed values.For example, Trojan is a trust brand to provide maximum protection against STI’s and pregnancy. Basically, every print advertisement argument should arrive to certain objects of agreement shared between the author and audience.The use of inductive logic is whereby the advertisement designer provides the readers with several similar examples and allowing then to draw a general conclusion. Deductive logic on the other hand provides the readers with general propositions and then allowing the readers to draw a conclusion from a specific truth. The society has generally favored the use of inductive method of logical appeal following an already established truth as opposed to the deductive approach that allows for every individual to believe in their own opinion which may or may not be true. The influence of an operational print ad i s distant from being extinct although there are more options available following technological advancements. It is clear that while conducting an inventory, the marketing team of the Trojan condom company have to be more creative so that their prints don’t fall behind. Online advertising Online advertisement uses the World Wide Web and internet to promote marketing messages to attract customer.Since the strategy began in 1994, Trojan condoms revenue in the United States increased significantly

Gerontological Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gerontological Project - Research Paper Example Tertiary prevention goal involves creating realistic short and long-term goals for healthy weight loss with the active participation from the patient. For this patient, pain is an issue that will prevent her from engaging in any exercise regimen and thus it has to be dealt with first. Chronic pain occurs in 25 to 86% of the elderly population and leads to â€Å"falls, deconditioning, malnutrition, gait disturbances, and overall slow rehabilitation† (Herr, 2002). Managing pain is a multi-dimensional process that involves pharmacological and non-pharmacological management (Herr, 2002). According to Messier et. al (2004), a combination of exercise and weight loss resulted in improved physical activity and reduced pain in overweight elderly with knee osteoarthritis. The exercise program that this patient can safely participate in could involve exercise three days per week, which consists of â€Å"an aerobic phase (15 minutes), a resistance-training phase (15 minutes), a second ae robic phase (15 minutes), and a cool-down phase (15 minutes)† (Messier et. al, 2004). Motivation and a desire to change are key components in the initiation of and continuity in an exercise program.

Impact of VoIP on the Future of Telephony

Impact of VoIP on the Future of Telephony With the dawning of a new age of pervasive computing, there is a greater requirement for the exchange of data to be made possible between computing assets that are connected to a network. Interactions require an exchange of various multimedia formats as well as the provision of enhanced services including instant messaging and presence management. There is, therefore, a need for a converged network that is capable of carrying both voice and multimedia in digitised form. Single network that is capable of carrying both voice and multimedia is preferable to having more than one networks because such a network is vastly more economical. Packet networks that use the internet protocol have emerged as a solution for this requirement. These networks are capable of carrying all forms of data as well as voice over the internet protocol in real time. The networks use the internet protocol to provide a universal connectivity that was not previously possible. Despite the earlier problems involving latency, quality of service and reliability in the establishment of connections, VoIP or Voiceover the Internet Protocol has come to be accepted as a matured technology. The proliferation of this technology is steadily increasing because of the economic considerations associated with its use as well as the futuristic services that are capable of being provided on I networks. It has been estimated that by the year 2015, VoIP will have captured about 50% of the global market share for telephony. VoIP has, therefore, proven to be a killer application for switched telephone networks and its advent has unleashed an unprecedented level of competition at all levels in the telecommunications industry. This dissertation takes a look at the impact of the VoIP technology on the future of telephony. 1.1 Introduction Switched telephony networks have been responsible for carrying most of the world’s voice communications over the past decades, but with the advent of the relatively new communication technologies, there is likely to be a change towards a greater use of the telecommunications networks that carry voice as well as other information. The switched telephone networks and equipment were designed as fixed communications channels for bi-directional speech. In the old public switched network, a call that is initiated by a user establishes a connection between two users and once the connection has been established, no one else could use the connection. Terminating the call frees the line for other users who can then initiate another call. With the evolution of computers, modems were used to modulate data streams over the voice telephony channels and over time, better modulation schemes were developed that resulted in higher data transmission rates. Developments in computing and multimedia have created a demand for new kinds of services and the telecommunications infrastructure that is in use is expected to satisfy this demand. The development of internet and computer data networks along with the evolution of the Internet Protocol or the IP meant that it is now possible to send packets of data over the network. Voice can now be digitized after the speech signal is acquired from a microphone, encapsulated into packets and sent over the networks using the internet protocol. On the receiving side, these packets are de-encapsulated, processed and played over the speaker to present the information to the listener. This method of transporting voice over the internet protocols called the voice over internet protocol or VoIP. It is also possible to send video and data from other shared applications to destinations using the internet protocol. A codec is used to encode and decode speech, audio and video over the IP network and there is no need to reserve a connection between parties to the call. Signalling is, however, required to create and manage calls. Personal mobility, desire to communicate and availability can make the task of the required network signalling a complex one. There are several standards which have been developed for signalling over the new IP networks. The Session Initiation Protocol or the SIP which was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force or the IETF manages the creation of a call as distinct from the ringers and switches in a switched network. For a more generalised exchange of data including video conferencing over the IP, the H.323 standard has been developed by the International Telecommunication Union, ITU for the management of network connections and the associated tasks of bandwidth allocation etc. There has been growing acceptance of VoIP all over the world and a growing number of users including businesses, especially call centres, as well as network service providers have started to use this technology. A lower cost forth user is associated with the use of VoIP and this is the major factor in presenting a business case for the use of VoIP, along with the ability to send multimedia over a telecommunications link. IP makes more efficient use of the bandwidth that is available and inflated cross border tariffs are avoided. Tariffs and regulations associated with VoIP telephony are, however, in a flux and it is difficult to predict how VoIP will be affected as a result of a possible implementation of new internet access charges. Adding a new media type on IP requires no change to the network infrastructure and the initiation of multiparty calls is only slightly different from a two-party call. IP also makes it possible to develop novel telecommunication devices and it is now possible for the world to progress beyond the simple voice telephone to the IP’s more exciting applications. It is possible to use the public telephone network PSTN /IP Gateway Interoperability standard to feed IP encoded voice messages over the telephone network. This protocol coupled with the Resource Reservation Protocol, RSVP, makes it possible for an application to have a certain amount of bandwidth allocated with a maximum delay which assists in the implementation of a VoIP connection. Developments in new multimedia technologies has meant that there are two types of telecommunications networks which are in existence today, the old switched PSTN network with its reliability and quality along with the new packet based networks with cost efficiencies and an ability to provide the new types of services. Although VoIP technology is developing and gaining a much wider acceptance, it is has not been without its problems. Because it is not possible to guarantee the arrival time of the data packets which have been sent over a packet network, there were problems with the voice quality when using VoIP. These problems could, however, be solved by using private networks and more internet bandwidth. Although VoIP does not use a large chunk of the internet bandwidth that is available, other applications that are running may result in a deterioration of the voice quality. Hence, it was important to carefully consider how the internet connection was to be utilized and what bandwidth was required to be purchased. The security of VoIP communications was also considered to be a problem and it was thought that there was a need to compress voice and enhance security by using commercially available encryption products. The added latency or delay in voice communications was, however, considered to be unacceptable. The best and the latest encryption devices are restricted items and their export is prohibited under United States Export regulations. There were, therefore, problems associated with implementing VoIP using either hardware or software and better quality of service or Qi’s was only possible with dedicated hardware. Although VoIP can hide costs associated with communications from the consumers, these costs could be returned in the form of service fees. There was a need for call service capability to be brought to packet switching and the Qi’s had to be controlled to fall within acceptable limits. One of the important challenges of VoIP waste construct a converged VoIP and PSTN network that will permit VoIP and PSTN connectivity, with calls originating from one network and terminating into the other network. The SIP protocol which establishes the call in VoIP uses multiple messages with multiple parameters to initiate a call session and this protocol could fail because messages were not transmitted in the proper order with proper parameters and configuration. A miss-configured user proxy address for the user can result in host unreachable messages being presented to the client. The Internet Control Message Protocol and the INVITE messages which are a part of the SIP protocol could be dropped when attempting to conduct a session using VoIP due to traffic, resulting in there being no connection to the remote system. SIP did not work well when tried from behind firewalls. Hence, with VoIP, call traffic becomes data traffic and this traffic is exposed to threats related to confidentiality, availability and integrity. Hence, care needed to be taken when implementing VoIP in organisations, to provide for good design to prevent cost overruns, misalignment with strategic objectives and inadequate benefit realisation. IP networks must be able to meet strict performance criteria and perform for real time traffic. Packets travelling on a network will pass through a heterogeneous network with varying quality of service and bandwidth, but a reasonably good end-to-end quality of service is expected for voice communications. Signalling or the passing of messages for correct call setup, progress and termination is also important on the network. Hence, the implementation of VoIP was associated with the solution of important technical problems. Despite the above problems that have been improved upon, VoIP today can match the features that were available in the legacy PBX systems and infect provide an enhanced set of features. The Internet today is an essential business tool and Internet connections are considered to be essential fixtures for any business premises. VoIP telephony systems have been designed to utilise the advantages of IP telephony in order to present a flexible communications infrastructure which businesses can use in order to simplify the business process and enhance productivity. Many manufacturers of legacy telephony products have also accepted that IP telephony is the future and that the technology provides better communications equipment with enhanced features. VoIP has been showing a far greater level of proliferation in business organisations than ever before. Market reports have indicated that there is an increasing trend towards the full deployment of VoIP rather than its mere implementation. Because there is an increased level of satisfaction and familiarity with VoIP technology, converged networks that blend VoIP and other technologies are considered to be more strategic in nature rather than the traditional voice and data networks. Security at the network infrastructure level is considered tube more important than voice security, with the level of satisfaction associated with the technology remaining about the same. The new networks, which have new equipment that is in demand in the market includes IP PBXs or IP enabled traditional PBXs, Voice Enabled Routers,IP Phones, IP Centrex’s and Soft Phones etc. The new technology has changed the network components and the nature of the equipment that has been associated with telephony. IP PBXs indicated a 15% growth rate while IP Centrex indicated a 54% growth rate in usage from previous years according to market reports. A Centrex is essentially a scaled down PBX with features that are supported by the service provider. Adoption of IP telephony presents advantages related to an enhanced and converged business process as well as advantages related to costs of adoption or changes. It is easier to deploy new integrated applications which may benefit the enterprise. Costs of calls within an organisation, between different sites are substantially reduced and enhanced features become available. Other advantages that result from the adoption of IP telephony include reduced staff costs, lowered costs associated with wiring, lower international call charges as well as reduced costs associated with the upgrading and maintenance of telephony equipment, including the PBX. Because VoIP is a more complex and sophisticated technology as compared to the legacy telephony networks, instrumentation systems that are required for troubleshooting and managing VoIP have been cited as a barrier to its implementation. It has also been claimed that there is a shortage of trained people forth design and maintenance of VoIP networks. Because VoIP networks are so very different from the legacy telephone networks, substantial investments can be required to implement large projects, even though financial instruments are available to sustain a growth in the adoption of VoIP. Sophisticated upgrade of the legacy networks involving the purchase of new network equipment, servers, IP phones, management software and diagnostic tools may be involved to acquire a network with acceptable levels of latency, jitter and the number of lost packets. VoIP Architecture An obvious question that arises with regard to VoIP telephony is how it’s different from the legacy telephone networks? In the legacy telephony networks, voice communications had been handled by the proprietary PBX platforms providing circuit connection and circuit switched calling features such as call transfer and hold along with voice applications such as call accounting, voice mail and automated call distribution. The PBX ensured that savings were made by avoiding having to provide a line to each telephony user for connection to the organisation’s central office. The PBX acted like a small central office with switching being made possible to users as required over a number of shared external telephone lines. The number of external telephone lines that were needed depended on the number of users that had to be connected to the PBX and the expected telephone traffic into the connection in elands. The PBX which could be considered to have the telephony switching intelligence was connected to the dumb telephone terminals or the telephones which merely passed digital keystrokes to the PBX for switching and voice application related decisions to be made. PBX systems in switched telephony can be networked together, but such efforts are likely to be expensive. It was most likely that key telephone systems could not network with other key telephone systems and peripheral devices such as a Centrex could not interconnect with a PBX or another system. Hence, the legacy telephone systems were plagued with connectivity problems along with being expensive. The IP telephone system changed all this by adopting the router instead of the PBX as the distributor of traffic on the all data packet network. The routers connect not just one network together, but hundreds of thousands of networks, with the essential function of arouser being the diversion of packet data traffic to the appropriate devices on the network, with the correct IP addresses. Hence, while thebe in the legacy system used to divert voice traffic to telephone numbers, the router diverts data packets of various kinds including voice, multimedia or video etc. to the data network equivalent of telephone number or an IP address. Interconnection problems are minimised because there is a standard IP protocol which is used to transport packets over the IP network and all IP protocol compatible devices may be interfaced with each other. The IP protocol is able to connect equipment manufactured by many different vendors over different types of media such as the twisted pair, coaxial or other data links such as the Ethernet or Token Ring and even the wireless connections. The packets are transported in a reliable manner with the IP protocol running on devices ranging from PCs to mainframes. IP is everywhere and it carries packet traffic faithfully from anyone sending this traffic to anyone who is required to receive it. There is, therefore, a global standard that is understood anywhere in the world and unprecedented connectivity is made possible for all kinds of devices. Amongst the other advantages of VoIP include provision of directory services over the telephone by which it is possible for ordinary telephones to be enhanced in order to act as internet access devices, availability offender office trunks for inter office communications, ability to access the office from a remote area such as the home and the ability to interact with the large number of customers who may want to make enquiries after having visited the corporate web site through IP based call centres. Fax over IP is also made available through the VoIP connection and it is possible to send fax data that has been converted into packets over long distances without having to deal with problems related to analogue signal quality and machine compatibility. In the present scheme of things, the Integrated Services Digital Network or the ISDN represents the all-digital network that uses single wire to carry both voice and digital network services. ISDN tools an improvement on the old switched telecommunications network and this network too has been improved upon over the years to include new features. The ISDN uses the existing switched network with digital signalling and media transmission being used, which makes it possible for the subscriber to access a number of services through a single access point. A number of different ISDN connections are available, but the most widely and commonly used connection is the basic rate interface or the BRI which consists of two 64 kbps media channels and single signalling or â€Å"delta† channel. Signalling channels are used to establish calls and perform call related signalling which permits theist network to be connected to networks with standard SS signalling. ISDN is the subject of an International Telecommunications Union or ITU specification, the ITU-T recommendation which results in standardisation. However, this network is not as versatile as the packet switched network that has an all-digital approach with no analogue signalling whatsoever and which also has universal connectivity. Switched – circuit networks rely on a fixed routing over the network to establish a connection. However, VoIP networks do not need to follow a fixed routing path and there is an adaptive routing algorithm that is employed to establish the best possible route under varying conditions of traffic. There is, therefore, a decentralized environment and the network is flexible enough to accept the deployment of new applications. Intelligence is important and this can be stored anywhere on the new IP networks. VoIP does not provide a guaranteed quality of service or Qi’s when compared to the PSTN. However, PSTN uses expensive components and resources, whereas VoIP is able to provide connectivity at a reduced cost. It is the VoIP gateway which is responsible for connecting or interfacing the IP network to the rest of the telephony network. Forth gateway, converting the media signal to the required format is only matter of transforming an input signal to an output signal. However, signalling and control translation requires conversion of semantics as well as syntax and there is a requirement for conveying the meaning of signals and control information from one network to the other. Hence, the evolution of VoIP telephony has made it necessary to provide an interface between various telecommunications networks and newer VoIP networks are connected to the older networks by means of interfacing equipment such as the gateways. It can, therefore, be concluded that the emergence of IP telephony and VoIP have significantly changed telephony and it is very likely that the enhanced pace of VoIP adoption that has been witnessed in the business sector will continue to accelerate because of the convenience and cost savings that are offered by the relatively new technology. It’s, therefore, worth investigating how VoIP technology will evolve and how this technology will change the future of telephony. The growth of VoIP has been phenomenal and Gartner estimates that the sale of consumer products for VoIP will grow by more than 40% in the United States in the year 2007. The advantages, disadvantages and the impact of VoIP on telephony are discussed below. 2.1 Products, Services and Issues Related to VoIP In this section, it will be appropriate to discuss how VoIP technology has changed networks and network components and also how telephony services that are available have evolved as a result of the availability of VoIP technology. Products that use the VoIP technology are also discussed. Network devices have evolved and changed as a result of the development of VoIP technology. The telephony switches, ringers and colour coded cables are likely to be replaced by the data network components. The heart of a VoIP phone system is the call processing server which is also known as the IP PBX into which all VoIP control connections are terminated. Call processing servers do not handle the actual VoIP payload, however, conferencing functionality, routing of voice traffic to another call processing server and music on hold features are provided by the call processing servers. The VoIP payload traffic flows in a peer-to-peer fashion from one VoIP terminal to every VoIP terminal. VoIP control traffic, however, flows in a client –server model with VoIP terminals being the clients that communicate with the call processing servers. Call processing servers are usually software based but they may also be implemented as a dedicated appliance or be a part of a router platform and there may be a single server, a cluster of servers or a server farm. This server caters forth signalling mechanism that is required for a VoIP call establishment. Gateways are devices which act as the link between telephone signals and the IP endpoint. The functions that are performed by gateways include the search function, connection function, digitizing function and the demodulation function. The gateway contains directory of the telephone numbers which have an associated Padres and a search is performed by the gateway to convert a dialled telephone number into an IP address upon a call being received to establish a connection. A connection is established between the calling party and a destination gateway through an exchange of information that is related to call setup, option negotiation, compatibility as well as a security handshake. The gatekeeper also digitizes any analogue signals that are received from the incoming trunk into a form that is useful for the gateway. The incoming analogue signals are usually digitized into a 64 Kbps data stream which is pulse code modulated orca. The gateway is, therefore, required to be able to interface to a number of telephone signalling conventions so that the VoIP network can be interfaced to another network when required. Sophisticated gateways can accept both voice and fax signals and the fax signal is usually demodulated into a 2.4 – 14.4 Kbps digital format that is transmitted in the form of IP packets on the VoIP or IP network. A remote gateway-modulates any fax related data into the fax format and this is relayed to the remote fax machine. Gateways on the IP network are connected to gatekeepers, which are LAN endpoints and these gatekeepers perform a discovery on being switched on to find out what IP addresses are connected to the LAN. This discovery information is then passed onto the gateway and the gatekeeper synchronises with the gateways to exchange data traffic if required. A collection of a gatekeeper and its registered endpoints are called a zone. A gatekeeper performs the function of bandwidth management upon receiving a request for bandwidth allocation, translates alias addresses into transport addresses and performs the admission control function to the LAN, based on admission requests and confirms or rejects messages including ARQ / ARC and Arà ªte. The gatekeeper, therefore, acts as a zone manager by performing variety of functions for its zone and the associated gateways as well as other devices in the zone. IP telephones have replaced the conventional telephony sets and the IP phones provide enhanced services suited to VoIP, while retaining the features that were available with the conventional instruments in order to keep the users who were used to the conventional phones comfortable. Soft phones are software packages that may be installed on a PC and the user may use the Platform with an attached microphone for communications on the VoIP channel. The VoIP network may be classified as a logical switch that Isa packet network and it is different from the circuit– switched infrastructure of the legacy networks. Voice and data traffic have to be treated differently and if both types of traffic is to flow on the same network, then there has to be a capability for prioritisation. VoIP networks, unlike the circuit switched networks, can be considered in terms of statistical availability in which priority is given to packets of a specific application with a certain class of service or Qi’s. VoIP traffic is, therefore, given priority over other traffic flowing on the networks in order to ensure that the real time applications related to speech communications are met. Regardless of what type of equipment is being used to receive VoIP packets, there can be a substantial packet loss over the network and this can degrade the quality of speech that is played out on the speaker. To improve the situation a â€Å"jitter buffer† is employed. This jitter buffer is a stack area in memory in which packets are stored prior to being played on the phone’s speaker. The jitter buffer adds to the overall delay that is involved in the VoIP speech transport but it’s necessary to allow for lost packets and to implement error correction schemes. Forward error correction schemes or FEC schemes are employed to check for corrupted packets. In the intra-packet error correction scheme, additional bits of data are added to the packet in order to make it possible for the receiving end to determine if packet has become corrupted. Uncorrupted packets are played out while corrupted packets are rejected. Another scheme that is utilised to cater for packet loss is the extra packet FEC in which additional information is added to each of the packets which makes it possible forth receiving end to extrapolate voice if a packet is lost or becomes corrupted. Hence, unlike the analogue telephony equipment in which only filtering and amplification of the received analogue signals was performed, there is a substantial amount of digital signal processing using microprocessors that is conducted in the VoIP packet based equipment. The error correction and detecting codes can be quite powerful, depending on the computing power that is available and hence the quality of the received voice can be improved. Delay is, however, introduced due to the digital processing of the packets and this can become an annoyance. For delays in excess of 600 Ms, voice communications is impossible while delays of 250 Ms disturb the communication considerably. Delays of 100 Ms do not show up as delays in the conversation and hence there is an upper limit that has to be observed when processing the packets on the VoIP networks. High voice quality on the VoIP channel is bandwidth intensive and atoll telephone quality voice connection can require 64 Kbps data streamer call. However, it is not possible to conduct a call of this quality on the VoIP networks because of the bandwidth limitations. Speech compression is, therefore, used using different compression ended-compression codec’s in order to bring the required data rates to what can be sustained on the VoIP networks. Using codec techniques such as the G. 729 and silence suppression in which the areas of speech in which nothing is said are not converted into packets reduce the bandwidth substantially to about 5 – 6 Kbps for a voice conversation tube possible on the VoIP channel. This is a remarkable achievement of digital signal processing considering that the overheads that are required by the routers on the network can run into about 7 Kbps. Silence suppression techniques can make the listener uncomfortable and to add to the natural flow of conversation, the ambient noise is periodically sampled and regenerated at the receiving end in between the pauses in the active speech so that the listener can feel more comfortable. All the digital signal processing, handshaking and coordination that is going on behind the scenes is transparent to the user of the VoIP channel and the user should be able to use the VoIP instrument naturally as a phone was used. The management interface forth equipment that is in use is able to deal with telephony protocols, dialling plans, compression algorithms, access controls, PSTN fullback features, port interactions and management of the configuration for the instrument that is being used on the VoIP channel. Telephone numbers and IP address need to be handled transparently to the user and personal computers making voice calls will require telephone numbers to make the calls possible. The packets that are sent over the VoIP network are encoded for the UDP/IP protocol instead of the TCP/I protocol so that retransmission of packets is not possible. TCP/IP is, however, a better choice for fax messages so that if packets are lost while attempting to transmit a page, the fax can be terminated. Retransmission of packets is hidden from the fax machine if TCP/I encoding is used for fax messages. The widespread use of the TCP/IP protocol has resulted in a move towards what are known as converged networks. Convergence may be defined as one structure or one network architecture that will end up supporting all kinds of information media on all available network technologies. This means that it should be somehow possible to bring together all kinds of telecommunications technologies and interface them to each other in order to provide universal connectivity and inability to send and receive just about almost anything which may be required to be sent or received. Such universal connectivity has been made possible as a result of the widespread adoption of the IP protocol and this is the glue which binds all networks and applications. Apart from VoIP, the other building blocks of convergence include unified messaging which attempts to integrate all forms of messages, computer and telephony integration which makes it possible to intelligently identify and route calls as well as automatically present information related to the caller, XML which provides a standardised format for data storage and interchange, Voice XML which makes it possible for an application to hear key tones that are encoded in DTMF. SALT, which stands for Speech Application Language Tags make it possible for existing mark-up languages such as XML to access telephony related applications. SIP or the Session Initiation Protocol makes it possible to provide signalling for voice applications on IP as well as making it possible to initiate a voice call from an instant messaging application. Convergence promises to make it possible to interact with computers and other computing devices with intelligence and individuals can interact with others in ways that were never dreamt of before. Mere telephony will cease to exist in the future and will be replaced with capabilities for multimodal integration involving speech, text, pictures and web interactions that can take place through instruments that will replace the simple telephone of the days gone by. It will be possible for organisations and call centres to interact at a much superior level, with those who interact with them and such interactions can involve quick access to

The Change of Baseball Over the Years Essay -- Baseball Sports Athleti

From the sandlot to stadiums seating over fifty thousand people, the game of baseball has provided people of all ages with a common foundation; a sport we can all call our national pastime. Though its concept sounds simple, a game using a ball and a bat, millions of people all over the world have sought involvement in it by either playing at some level, or just sitting back and watching a game. With professional baseball attracting more and more fans each season, no one knows what limits this sport can reach. For the time being though, it has been a real "home run." Like any other sport, baseball developed over an extended period of time spanning way back to the 1600’s. The first evidence of the sport was a game called rounders, which was played in England (Lewine 27). Players hit a ball with a bat, which is parallel to today’s game, but the method’s to how the defense put the runners out was the big difference. Similar to dodge ball, an infielder or outfielder had to throw the ball at the runners. If the ball hit a runner who was off base, he was out. This formula was called plugging and soon after, its popularity ceased as did the game’s (29). Soon after, a transition occurred and the name rounders changed to town ball and then to Massachusetts’s game, and finally the name baseball, developed by American colonists, stuck. Rules did change over the period of them the names did, such as the number of players, distance between bases and etc. Around 1840, the Americans solidified the rules and rounders had become baseball. Even with evidence that baseball developed from rounders, it is believed that a United States Army general named Abner Doubleday invented the sport in Cooperstown, New York, current home of the Hall of Fame (30). After many disputes, Albert Spalding, a sporting-goods manufacturer and player of baseball, decided to have a commission decide who originated the game. In 1908, the commission credited Doubleday with creating the game and it was based on a letter from Abner Graves, a friend of Doubleday’s. In this document, Graves stated that he had been present as Doubleday conceptualized the game in 1839 (30). As a result of this decision, historians research concluded that Doubleday had little to do with the discovery of baseball and his friend Graves described plugging in the letter, that being a major fundamental in rou... ...ood as a record for 38 years until these two men belted 70 and 66 home runs respectively. Can this major record-breaking predict what professional baseball players have to offer us in the future? Well, we can safely assume that baseball into the new millenium can only bring us the same excitement that it has for the past hundred or so years. After all, it is still designated as our national pastime. For centuries, baseball has changed drastically whether it be the players, teams, records, and all the like. While all things change though, and as it is stated "the only thing that is constant is change," one thing has remained the same throughout its duration as one of the major sports (McCarver 209). It has united people in times of good and bad, and for that reason was coined our national pastime. You can find thousands of kids each Saturday during the spring at little league games. You can see a stickball game proceeding at a local park. You can even sit in an air-conditioned room in front of the television watching the "Game of the Week." With the millions of people involved in baseball in some way or another, there is no wonder why it is called our national pastime.

Strain Controlled Triaxial Test- Geotechnical Engineering

1. INTRODUCTION From civil engineering view, Soil is the medium through which the structural loads are transferred safely and efficiently. Soil should be consistent enough to satisfy the requirements even under inevitable circumstances like earthquake, bomb reactions etc. It is necessary to incorporate the seismic effects into the soil properties. Like concrete or steel, engineering properties of soil cannot be found out using theory of classical dynamics and vibrations. It can be found only field and lab tests. To quench the above requirement, various techniques are employed nowadays. The most common methods are cyclic simple shear, cyclic triaxial shear and cyclic torsional shear tests. The dynamic triaxial test is the most effective method to arrive the static and dynamic properties of soil like cyclic deformation, damping ratio, liquefaction strength etc. Though it has some limitations, it is widely used for the analysis of soil under seismic forces. The fundamental parameters obtained from this test are cyclic shear stress and cyclic shear strain, through which the soil is defined. The tests can be done either by stress controlled (cyclic shear stress) or strain controlled (cyclic shear strain). The test setups are highly sophisticated and costly. It needs highly skilled labour. The measuring devices used in the system needs to be calibrated and sealed properly as it is more sensitive to disturbances. The results obtained reflect the site seismic condition to the maximum level provided the strain level is kept minimum. Fig 1. 1 Triaxial Cell Fig 1. 2. A typical Cyclic triaxial apparatus 1. 1WHY DYNAMIC TRIAXIAL The Dynamic forces are time dependent and are usually cyclic in nature i. e. they involve several cycles of loading, unloading and reloading. Earthquake is three dimensional in nature. Hence the shear waves and body waves produced by the earthquake tend to deform the soil in all the directions (for the horizontal level ground). Dynamic Triaxial tests actually reflect the soil condition (in all round stresses) in the site. During earthquakes, the seismic waves cause the loose sand to contract and thereby increasing the pore water pressure. Under undrained loading, development of high pore pressure results in upward flow of water, thereby making the sand in liquefied condition. Pore water pressure is measured effectively in triaxial tests. Among the stress-control and strain-control condition, strain control is adopted widely. This is because; stress-control test has great sensitivity to the sample disturbance. In case of strain-control, pore pressure developed during tests is less affected by specimen fabric and density. The tests can be done on intact specimens and reconstituted specimens. While comparing the results obtained from intact and reconstituted specimens, there is much deviation in stress-control compared to strain-control. (tests done by vucetic and dobry, in 1988). Stress path control is used in the study of path dependence of soil behaviour. Stress deformation and strength characteristics depend on initial static stress field, initial void ratio, pulsating stress level and the frequency of loading. 1. 2APPLICATIONS There are variety of engineering problems which rely heavily on the behaviour of soils under dynamic conditions. These includes design and the remediation Of machine foundation, geotechnical earthquake engineering, protection against construction vibration, non-destructive characterization of the subsurface, design of offshore structures, screening of rail and traffic induced vibrations, vibration isolation etc. When it comes to dynamic triaxial test, the wide range of application is the liquefaction behaviour of soil under seismic forces. 2. HISTORY One of the first pieces of equipment designed to test cyclic triaxial loading was the pendulum loading apparatus by Casagrande and Shannon in 1949. This utilizes the energy of the a pendulum which when released from a selected height, strikes a spring connected to the piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder, this cylinder is further connected to another cylinder located above the cel. The time of loading was between 0. 05 and 0. 01 sec. Fig. 2. 1. Pendulum Loading Apparatus Casagrande and Shannon came up with an equipment called Falling Beam Apparatus as shown in Fig. 2. 2 In 1960, Sead and fead used Pneumatic System for cyclic loading. It marks the evolution of the dynamic triaxial shear apparatus. Fig. 2. 2. Falling Beam Apparatus 3. PRINCIPLE First attempt was made by Seed and Lee (1966) by consolidating a saturated sample under a confining pressure and subjected to constant amplitude cyclic axial stress under undrained conditions. This test was performed till they deformed to a certain amount of peak axial strain. Under this condition creates a stress conditions on a plane of 45 ° through the sample which is the same as those produced on the horizontal plane in the ground during earthquakes. This is the basis on which the cyclic triaxial test works. Fig. 3. 1. Simulation of geostatic and cyclic stress in triaxial test. Shear stress is taken into account as it causes deformation. To incorporate seismic effects, uniform shear stress for a given cycle is adopted for non-uniform stress time data. To achieve that a maximum shear stress is multiplied by a correction factor ?. Then the test is carried out till required deformation or failure to occur. 4. EQUIPMENT 4. 1. Parts of Dynamic triaxial apparatus suggested by ASTM D 3999 – 91(2003) APPARATUSPURPOSECONSIDERATION 1. Triaxial Pressure CellTo mount sample and conduct testTolerance for piston, top platen & low friction piston seal. Ball bearings and friction sealTo minimise frictionFriction can be,  ±2 % of the maximum single amplitude cyclic load Load rodTo facilitate loadingdia = 1/6th of specimen dia Specimen cap & BaseTo provide a sealed platform Rigid, non corrosive, impermeable, Cap weight < 0. 5% of applied axial failure load (static), Valves To regulate back pressure, cell pressure, pore water pressureLeak-proof, withstand applied pressure Top and bottom platensTo facilitate loading and provide a rigid baseProper alignment, load rod sealed with top platen with friction seal. 2. Cyclic Loading EquipmentTo induce cyclic loads Uniform sine wave @ 0. 1 to 2 Hz, simple ram or a closed loop electro hydraulic system 3. Recording EquipmentsTo record the data obtainedProperly calibrated Load MeasurementTo measure the cyclic loadsElectrical, analog or digital Axial deformation MeasurementTo measure the strain rateLVDT or dial guages Pressure ControlTo regulate cell pressureMercury or pneumatic device Pore Pressure transducerTo measure pore pressureTransducers or electronic pressure meters Volume change MeasurementTo check the volume change in the specimenCalibrated and widely used guages 3. Miscellaneous a. Rubber membrane b. Filter paper To hold the specimen To facilitate saturation Leak-proof with minimum restraint Must not cover more than 50% of the specimen. Fig. 4. 1. Schematic Diagram of a stain-controlled dynamic triaxial test 4. 2WORKING PROCEDURE The working mechanism mainly involves three phases a)Saturation phase:Initially the sand is sample saturated by applying cell and back pressure simultaneously. (cell pressure > back pressure) b)Consolidation phase: during test, void ratio should be kept constant. It is obtained in this phase. Back pressure valve is closed. )Load Phase: Actual test begins here. Strain rate is fixed using gear system. Cyclic load is applied either using hydraulic or pneumatic type. Loads and corresponding strains are recorded at loading, unloading and reloading. Test is continued until the required strain or failure occurs. 5. RESULTS From the cyclic triaxial test, we can obtain various graphs for detailed analysis, †¢Load Vs Deform ation †¢Deviatoric Stress Vs Time †¢Axial Strain (%) Vs Time †¢Excess Pore Pressure Vs Axial Strain (%) †¢Excess Pore Pressure Vs Time †¢Deviatoric Stress Vs Axial Strain (%) Fig. 5. 1. Axial load Vs. axial deformation From the hysteresis loop obtained, the dynamic Young’s modulus (Ed) can be calculated, from which shear modulus (G) can be calculated using poisson’s ratio ( µ). Damping factor (D) can also be calculated from the loop obtained. Shear Modulus, G = Ed / 2(1+ µ) Damping factor,D = Ai / 4? At Ai ? Area of Loop At ? Area of shaded portion 6. Discussions: Two series of undrained cyclic triaxial strain controlled tests were performed by Mladen Vucetic and Richardo Dobry, on two different Imperial Valley, California, silty sands which liquefied during an earthquake in 1981. Both intact and reconstituted specimens were tested. The cyclic shear strain is the fundamental parameter governing pore pressure buildup. The saturated deposit is composed of two layers: an upper, looser, sandy silt unit located between 2. 6 m and 3. 5 m depth, containing more fines (37%) (sand A), and the lower, loose to medium-dense sand unit located between 3. 5 m and 6. 8 m, containing less fines (25%) and (sand B). Selected plots of normalized cyclic shear stress, ? cy* = ? cy/? c„ and normalized residual pore pressure, u* = u/? c, versus number of uniform strain cycles, nc, up to nc = 30, are shown in Figs. 6. 1 and 4 for sands A and B, respectively, ? y above is the amplitude of cyclic shear stress acting on 45 ° planes within the specimen, with ? cy= ? dc/2 , where ? dc is the cyclic deviatoric stress amplitude, and u is the accumulated residual cychc pore pressure at the end of the pertinent strain cycle, derived from measurements at the point of the cycle at which the cyclic stress ? dc = ? cy = 0. Fig. 6. 1 Comparis on of results obtained on intact and reconstituted specimens of sand A The effect of sand fabric, that is, the difference between results obtained on reconstituted and intact specimens, is analyzed next for both sands A and B, with the help of Figs. . 1 and 6. 2. It can be readily noticed in these two figures that the residual pore pressures in cyclic triaxial strain-controlled tests are practically unaffected by the change of sand fabric (u* versus nc curves), while, on the contrary, soil stiffness is significantly affected (? cy* versus nc curves). This is especially noticeable in Fig. 6. 2. Fig. 6. 2 Comparison of results obtained on intact and reconstituted specimens of B. Fig. 6. 3 Residual pore pressure in reconstituted specimens of sands A and sand B It must also be noticed that the range of cyclic shear stresses measured at a given cyclic strain in Figs. . 1 and 6. 2, for the two sands and for the two types of specimen fabric, is quite wide, in contrast to the corresponding range of pore pressures in Fig. 6. 3, which is very narrow. This confirms once again that cyclic shear strain is the fundamental parameter governing pore pressure buildup, and that use of strain-controlled testing represents the most appropriate, as well as the most convenient, approach currently available for evaluation of seismic pore pressures and liquefaction of level ground sites. 7. FACTORS AFFECTING CYCLIC STRENGTH Effect of Confining Stress Critical void ratio is not a constant but decreases as confining pressure increases. The stress ratio decreases with increasing confining pressure. Effect of Loading Wave Form As the load data obtained from history are converted into uniform cycle by ?. The order of increasing strength was rectangular, triangular and sine Effects of Frequency on Cyclic Strength The frequency effects have only a minor (< 10 percent) effect on cyclic strength of the soils. The slower loading frequency have slightly higher strength. Effects of Relative Density At relative densities < 50%, complete liquefaction occurred almost simultaneously, and relative densities above 70% were required for safety against large strains. Effects of size & Gradation Well-graded material was somewhat weaker than uniformly graded material. This finding was attributed to a greater densification tendency in well-graded soils, as finer particles move into voids between larger particles, than occurs in uniformly graded soils. This densification tendency causes increased pore pressure. Effects of sampling on strain history Once a specimen has liquefied and reconsolidated to a denser structure, despite this densification, the specimen is much weaker to cyclic stresses reapplied. Effects of Over consolidation Ratio and Ko The maximum deviator stress required to cause a critical strain for a specified number of cycle’s increases with the Ko ratio. Also the cyclic strength increases as OCR and fines content increase. 8. VALIDATION The validation of the apparatus is done by successive tests, researcher’s experience and available equipments. Mladen vucetic and richardo dobry conducted two series (Intact and Reconstituted Specimens) of undrained cyclic triaxial tests on Imperial Valley, California, silty sands which liquefied during an earthquake in 1981. The results were compared and the experimental set up was validated. Further the tests were conducted on different types of sand and validated. 9. DEVELOPMENTS Since 1966, there has been a considerable improvements in the triaxial testing apparatus meeting results of higher accuracy and efficiency. Initially stress controlled methods were used, then strain controlled methods were adopted. To apply loads, initially hydraulic jack was used, then pneumatic system was used and then electro piezometer. Likewise there are so many advancements of triaxial tests. Some of the advancements are discussed below. Chan (1981), and Li et al (1988) Fig. 7. 1. , have developed a popular electro-pneumatic apparatus which incorporates many advancements in apparatus design and operation. Fig. 9. 1. Electro-pneumatic Apparatus Automated Cyclic Triaxial system is the next development, which is the most comonly used apparatus. It is well known for its automated input and output System, data acquisition and quick results. Fig. 9. 2. Automated Triaxial System 9. 1 RECENT ADVANCEMENTS GDS Entry level Dynamic triaxial testing system ?Technical Specifications ?Maximum Operating Frequency: 5Hz ?Minimum Operating Frequency: < 0. 001Hz ?Highly accurate dynamic, electro-mechanical actuator ?Available sample sizes (depending on cell selection): 38 x 76mm (or ? 39. 1 x 78. 2mm) to ? 150 x 300mm. Fig. 9. 3. GDS ELD ? 16-Bit dynamic data logging ?16 Bit dynamic actuator control channel ?Cell pressure range to 2MPa (dependent of cell choice) ?Small laboratory foot print No hydraulic power pack required ?Standard Triaxial cells can be used (upgraded to dynamic seals and bearings) ? Can be upgraded to perform P and S wave bender element testing. ?Can be upgraded to perform unsaturated triaxial testing with the addition of the following items: a)Unsaturated pedestal with high air entry porous stone. b)1000cc digital air Pressure/volume controller (ADVDPC) for the applicati on of pore air pressure and measurement of air volume change c)Optional HKUST double cell (available in the data sheet ‘Unsaturated Triaxial Testing of Soil (UNSAT). As well as dynamic triaxial tests, the ELDyn system can be utilised to carry out traditional triaxial tests such as UU, CU and CD as well as more advanced tests such as stress paths, K0 and Resilient Modulus tests. HS28. 610 cyclic triaxial test system is also a sophisticated apparatus available in Newdelhi (India). DYNATRIAX is another advanced cyclic triaxial equipment available at many places Los Angeles, Poland and many countries. It can operate at a maximum frequency of 10Hz. 10. CONCLUSION Many innovative systems for cyclic loading of soil have emerged in geotechnical engineering. Each system has its unique advantages and limitations. Some ways of minimizing these limitations have been pointed out. The advanced equipments are an additional tool for performing cyclic loading, in particular liquefaction testing. Extreme care must be used in preparing remoulded sand specimens, and special attention must be paid to testing techniques in order to obtain reproducible test results. In particular, the method of specimen preparation, the shape of the loading wave form, and the preciseness of density determinations greatly affect cyclic strength. Hence, development of ASTM standards for cyclic triaxial testing should include consideration of these factors in the results of this investigation. 11. REFERENCES: ASTM D 3999 Determination of Modulus and Damping Properties of Soils Using the Cyclic Triaxial Apparatus Advanced triaxial testing of soil and rock – Page 484 by Robert T. Donaghe, Ronald C. Chaney, Marshall L. Silver Chan, C. K. , 1981, â€Å"An Electropneumatic Cyclic Loading System,† Geotechnical Testing Journal, ASTM, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 183-187. Dynamic Geotechnical Testing H Ronald J. Ebelhar, Vincent P. Drnevich, and Bruce L. Kutter. STP 1213 ASTM Publication Dynamic Geotechnical Testing : a symposium by Marshall L. Silver Khosla, V. K. and Singh, R. D. , â€Å"Apparatus for Cyclic Stress Path Testing,† Geoteehnical Testing Journal, GTJODJ, Vol. 6, No. 4, Dec. 1983, pp. t65-172. Fundamental of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering By Prasad. Soil Liquefaction, a critical state approach by Mike Jefferies & Ken Been Kramer, Steven L. , Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996 Townsend, F. C, â€Å"A Review of Factors Affecting Cyclic Triaxial Teste,† Dynamic Geotechnical Testing, ASTM STP 654, American Society for Testing and Materials, 1978, pp. 356-383.

Detroit Industry by Diego M. Rivera essays

Detroit Industry by Diego M. Rivera essays Detroit industry by Diego Rivera, is a contemporary masterpiece whose elements allow one to explore the beauty of art and its different components. Its unique representation of shape and form, space and color, harmony and balance, provide a great opportunity to observe what makes art universal. One of the ways, in which harmony is revealed in this mural, is through the quasi-symmetry, which is intentionally applied through the use of curves and angles. In the first panel, harmony is achieved through the use of color. The opposing forces of light and darkness seem to meet at the center with a flourish. While the right side of the panel can seem static, the left side of the panel implies movement through the use of harmony. In the second panel, the lines present almost always end in straight angles, while the curves seem to disappear behind these angles. It is harmonious because curves disappear and angles emerge. In the left and right sides of the second panel, the angular shapes are dominant, while the curves take over at the center of the panel. In this panel, light and darkness have shifted sides in comparison with the first panel, and once again they meet at the center; this time duplicating the flourish at the center with fire. In the first panel, the shapes are inorganic. While the left side seems structured, the right side appears to be chaotic. In the second panel, organic forms, such as the workers, contrast with the geometric shapes represented by tubes, piping, rails, and rigs. While the men, as organic shapes, are not symmetrical, they also represent curves and angles in harmony. In the first panel, the harmony of contrasting values is highlighted by the rich, dark, right side and the bright and warm left side. These values contrast, yet again, first panel vs. second panel, where the warm and bright colors appear on the opposing side (as a high value), and the dark, rich colors meet diagonally (...

The Crucible Essay Essay Example

The Crucible Essay Essay Example The Crucible Essay Paper The Crucible Essay Paper Essay Topic: Literature In this essay I will trace all of the key moments in the play The Crucible that change the character of John Proctor. This essay will comment on the way that Daniel Day-Lewis plays John Proctor in Nicholas Hytners film of The Crucible. The first time we encounter John Proctor in the play is when Betty Parris is ill. John Proctor shows his power by telling Mary Warren to go home. This really shows the control that he has over her and that he has respect in the village. Now we see the first section with Abigail. It is done differently in the film to in the play as in the play they are by Betty Parriss bedroom but in the film they are outside behind a barn in the village. Johns reaction to Abigail is that he is lustful. He knows that his affair with her was wrong and that it would wreck his name in the village so he tells her that it is over. He denies the whole affair and tells her that it never existed. He does so that he knows that the affair never happened. When this scene is played in the film it is done behind a barn outside away from the other characters to give the effect that they are trying to hide something from the rest of the village. In this scene in the film Abigail kisses John and he replies for a while then when he has had time think he pushes her away from him. This shows us that he does still have feelings for her but he knows that he must hide it. John does still love his wife and he tells this to Abigail. This tells us that he was just having an affair and that he does still have feelings for his wife. John Proctor reaction to Abigail changes a lot throughout the play as at first he is lusting over her then he turns to calling her the devil. His change in opinion of Abigail is all due to the fact that she is insulting his wife and as I have said above John still loves his wife. Johns relationship with his wife Elizabeth is strange and it is easy to see the change between John and Elizabeth throughout the play. There are distinct sections in the play that highlight different attitudes between the two of them. When we first see them in this scene alone they are not very loving towards each other and do not talk as though they are interested. In the film the feeling between John and Elizabeth is shown in the way that their house is presented, it is dark and has a cold feel to it. This is exactly how John feels out Elizabeth. In the notes that Arthur Miller gives us in the play he says John gets up, goes to Elizabeth, kisses her. She receives it. With a certain disappointment, he returns to the table. This shows how John felt about Elizabeth it wasnt a passionate relationship but a very polite one they didnt really show emotion. A further time they are together, in a scene, is when Elizabeth is arrested. In this scene John shows how much he loves her. John becomes more involved in what is happening when someone that he loves is hurt. He is more irrational and is shouting and a real mess. In the film at this point Johns hair goes all over the place is shows that he is losing control of his life, his clothes are a mess and he is muddy and dirty this is a sharp contrast from the clean man earlier in the play when he first arrives to see Betty Parris. Then towards the end of the play you can really see the change in John and Elizabeths relationship it is clear to see the love between them as they share a long kiss in the film in front of everyone. They have clearly grown closer during the events that have happened this is a clear change in John from the beginning when he a Elizabeth were distant from each other they would only just share a peck on the check. There is now warmth in their relationship as appose to the cold relationship that they had before in the dark house they are now kissing in the sunshine outside. To continue on with the changes in John Proctor this essay will go on to look at how is relationship with the village and with the authority has changed through out the play. John Proctor start off in the play as very respected man in the village and surrounding area his name was good and so was his family. When we first see John Proctor in the film he is working out on his farm with his workers and his sons this gives the audience some respect towards him because he is a hard worker so you can feel what the towns people felt for him. John name went from being a respected man in the village to being accused of witchcraft. Johns opinion of the village change when he is accused of witchcraft and he losses the respect that he had before. Johns attitude to the court also changes a lot at first he respects them and honours them then when his wife is accused of witchcraft he becomes an enemy of the court. When his wife is arrested he takes Mary Warren into the court to tell them that the girls are making it up but she changes her mind half way through her confession and all the girls run outside into the lake to stop the devil getting them. John then follows and ends up in the river all by himself shouting at the other towns people he has changed and become outraged at them. The film shows John Proctor standing in the river looking very much like Jesus preaching to the people, which is strange since he is later accused of associating with the devil. One of the key changes in John Proctor is in his confession. There are two confessions that John makes. The first is about his affair with Abigail in which he tells every body in the court about it. This is a great change in John, as at the start of the play he was trying to cover it all up with Abigail and pretend that nothing happened now he is telling the court of what happened. Johns second confession is to admit to witchcraft, which he doesnt want to do, but does he gives in to what the law wants. Though he does confess to it he doesnt let them have the confession to show to town because he doesnt want his name to be wrecked. John is now in a real mess and is screaming and shouting and again he is muddy and messy in the film this is a good visual metaphor that shows his life falling apart and that he doesnt have control of it any more. When John Proctor goes to die he is a changed man. He has gone from being a good father, a good farmer, a good husband and a good towns person to being booed as he goes up to die for something that he didnt do and all because he loved his wife and not Abigail. John Proctors relationship with Abigail started off with some lust in it but that has gone and now he has seen what kind of person she is and how persistent she is get what she wants. Johns relationship with Elizabeth has got better throughout the play they have become closer as friends and closer as husband and wife. John changes a lot in his relationship with the village and the court in the village. In the end he disagrees with everyone in the court and everyone disagrees with him. The village believes that he is involved with witchcraft and he doesnt get a chance to prove them wrong. At his confession you can clearly see that he has changed a lot. It really is the final point to say that he has changed because of the fact that he is admitting to his affair with Abigail and at the begin he was trying to cover it up this proves how much of a change happened in his personality and his way of thinking.

The Unreported Facts about Building Seven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Unreported Facts about Building Seven - Essay Example In the mainstream news it was cited that this building had been burning shortly after the planes hit the Twin Towers. As such, the collapse is attributed to the structural damage from the collapsing towers coupled with the prolonged fire which affected the fuel stores for emergency generators (Glanz). In addition, the United States government published a report that aims to clarify the issue pertaining to the collapse of Building 7 despite the fact that it was not hit by hijacked airliners unlike the two ill-fated towers. According to the published report, there were no known casualties due to the collapse. Furthermore, it concurs with the mainstream news that the collapse is primarily due to the fire rather than any impact damage from the collapsing towers. However, the report admits that prior to the 9/11 tragedy, there is minimal record of fire-induced collapse of large fire-protected steel buildings. Apart from this, the report also mentions that the study conducted regarding the structural design and construction features of Building 7 needs to be confirmed by further studies and analysis (Gilsanz, DePaola, Marion & Nelson). Due to some disconcerting observations with regard to the collapse of Building 7, some have formulated

Part 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Part 3 - Essay Example The swimming exercise lengthens the lower and upper body. The stretching that one does using their arms and legs pushes the swimmer through the water. The safety in the water is high since there is no impact involved. This security reduces the risk of getting injured in the course of swimming, making it a safe and efficient exercise for joint flexibility. It is a necessary activity when one requires stretching shoulder and elbow joints in the arm and muscles and joints of the legs. The third exercise for improving flexibility in the joints of the body is stationary rowing. This exercise involves making movements with the upper body as if one is rowing a boat. This exercise is a cardiovascular one and extends and contracts all the muscles and joints of the lower and upper body. This training is necessary for improving the knee, shoulder and elbow joints. The fourth exercise is Pilates. It engages the abdominal muscles and improves the mobility of joints. The shallow and profound breaths that take place during Pilates promote flexibility and relaxation. This exercise is necessary for improving the range of motion in one’s joints (Watkins, 1988). Watkins, R., & Buhler, B. (1988). The water workout recovery program: Safe and painless exercises for treating back pain, muscle tears, tendinitis, sports injuries, and more. Chicago: Contemporary