[Rhodes22-list] Cockpit Bench Seat Reinforcement - The RestOf The Story

Lou Rosenberg lsr3 at MAIL.nyu.edu
Thu Aug 26 17:02:27 EDT 2004


  Ok,
  I always listen to GOD. In fact only a few weeks ago the voice said to me:
  "buy this boat NOW"  I did and I love the experience so far!
   I m not a betting man, Stan but I will take your advice as well as 
all others who have offered advice on my decision to add or not add 
supports.
  I will first add some epoxy via syringe under the obvious cracked 
area.  This boat has not been covered during the summer months I 
believe and it shows it.  I realize the glass should not be coming 
apart but it seems to be just in that one spot.  If that does in deed 
fix the issue I will not add the wood, and take Stan's word that this 
is the way the boat was designed.
thanks again to all!
  Lou
_______________


>you have got to learn to listen to god.  the sound is from the cockpit liner
>rubbing against the seat where the seat cantilevers past the vertical end
>(usually the bow end) of the cockpit liner. it is cured by increasing the
>clearance so when the seat deflects it still will not reach the cockpit
>liner glass.   should not be doing this for nothing - particularly for boats
>purchased elsewhere so, since I am a betting man, let' s place a bet.
>
>stan/gbi
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lou Rosenberg" <lsr3 at MAIL.nyu.edu>
>To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 12:13 PM
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Cockpit Bench Seat Reinforcement - The RestOf
>The Story
>
>
>>    Roger,
>>     I knew I should have kept studying my advanced math in college
>>  instead of  playing the tromone!
>>       I am planning to add the stiffener in form of wood, running the
>>  entire length of each seat as well as the two supports from this wood
>>  stiffener to the floor.  The entire assembly will resemble a
>>  truncated triangle . I am planning to use epoxy each support ( which
>>  will inevitably be a different size)  to  the floor to underneath .
>>  I dont discount Stan's previous post about why the creaking is Ok its
>>  just that I dont really have a creak as much as a loud CRACK when I
>>  step on my stb side seat in one location. Looking underneath i  found
>>  the glass beginning to come apart.  I could just add support to this
>>  weakened part as I feel comfortable doing that type of repair but I
>>  am NOT comfortable with the amount of  FLEX in my seats now.  The
>>  cushions I inherited are not good and will be replaced and I dont
>>  believe the seats would crack .  I just want more support and the
>>  additional wood on the floor will allow me to add a netting for
>>  storage of sailing items like PFDs and the like.  THis is not a major
>>  repair alteration for me. My next job is to take out my portlights
>>  and re seat all with new acryllic (sp?) and a re seal. thats a job.
>>
>>  MUCH THANKS FOr the physics of the seat situation I will review it
>>  later in detail with my step son who is studying at Cooper Union.
>>    peace
>>    Lou
>>
>>
>>  >Lou,
>>  >
>>  >I see the list already forwarded my cockpit seat reinforcement solution
>to
>>  >you.
>>  >
>>  >Your proposed method will also stiffen the cockpit seats somewhat.
>However,
>>  >what you are proposing to do may not sufficiently stiffen the seat to
>stop
>>  >the creaking.  I believe the creaking sound is caused when the inboard
>edge
>>  >of the seats deflects under load, thus causing certain structural
>components
>>  >to move relative to one another while pressed hard together.  For the
>>  >purposes of this discussion, let's simplify the physical situation &
>model
>>  >the cockpit seat as a simply supported beam, point loaded in the center.
>>  >This model is not perfect; but, it's good enough to illustrate my point.
>>  >>From structural mechanics, the deflection of our model beam is given by:
>>  >
>>  >d = P * (L^3) / (16 * E * I)
>>  >
>>  >Where:
>>  >d = beam deflection (inch)
>>  >P = point load in center of beam (lb)
>>  >L = unsupported beam length (inch)
>>  >E = modulus of elasticity of beam material of construction (lb/inch^2)
>  > >I = moment of inertia of beam cross sectional shape (inch^4)
>>  >
>>  >In my solution, I added two structural columns per cockpit seat, equally
>>  >spaced down the length of the cockpit.  The picture link that was
>forwarded
>>  >to you illustrated one of those four structural columns.  Adding these
>>  >support columns had the effect of reducing L in the above equation down
>to
>>  >1/3 of the original length.  All else being equal, this also reduced the
>>  >deflection down to (1 / (3^3)) = 1/27 = 0.03704, or only about 3.7% of
>the
>>  >original deflection.  i.e. no more creaking under load!  I don't know how
>>  >much the seat would have to be stiffened in order to just eliminate the
>>  >creaking.  But, for the sake of discussion, let's assume my method
>provided
>>  >just enough stiffening.
>>  >
>>  >In order to get a similar amount of stiffening by your proposed solution,
>>  >you are going to have to increase the product of (E * I) in the above
>>  >equation by a factor of 27X.  Now, E is a material property.  Here are
>some
>>  >values of E for some common materials:
>>  >
>>  >Al 7075-T6: 10,400,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >1040 Steel: 30,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Stainless Steel Alloy 316: 28,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Nylon 6,6: 400,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >High Density Polyethylene: 200,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Thermoset Polyester: 300,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Epoxy: 350,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Wood Douglas Fir parallel to grain: 1,600,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Wood Douglas Fir perpendicular to grain: 80,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >S Glass: 10,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >E Glass: 10,500,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >High Modulus Graphite: 58,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >FRP Composite Longitudinal: 6,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >Epoxy/High Modulus C-Fiber Composite Longitudinal: 32,000,000 lb/inch^2
>>  >
>>  >At the moment, the beam in your cockpit seat is made of some combination
>of
>>  >wood & FRP composite.  Since you said the wood is pretty much gone, let's
>be
>>  >generous & say your beam is all FRP composite at the moment.  With
>current
>>  >materials technology, the stiffest material you could reasonably use
>would
>>  >be Epoxy/C-Fiber composite.  This will improve the E value by (32,000,000
>/
>>  >6,000,000) = 5.33X, leaving the rest of the stiffening to be achieved by
>>  >increasing the I value by adjusting the beam's cross sectional shape &
>size.
>>  >
>>  >OK, you still need (27 / 5.33) = 5.06X more stiffness.  The actual beam
>in
>>  >the cockpit seat has a very complex cross sectional shape.  To completely
>>  >analyse the moment of inertia of this shape would require finite element
>>  >analysis using a computer.  However, for the purpose of this discusion,
>we
>>  >don't need to get so sophisticated.  Let's model the beam's cross section
>as
>>  >a rectangle of width, w = 0.5 inch and height, h = 1 inch and assume the
>>  >beam is bending about the neutral axis running down the centerline of the
>>  >beam.  From calculus, the moment of inertia of this beam is given by:
>>  >
>>  >[I]now = w * (h^3) / 12 = (0.5) inch * (1.0^3) inch^3 / 12 = 0.04167
>inch^4
>>  >
>>  >[I]reqd = 5.06 * [I]now = 5.06 * 0.04167 =  0.2108 inch^4
>>  >
>>  >Let's assume we will leave the width, w = 0.5 inch & calculate the
>required
>>  >height of the new Epoxy/C-Fiber beam:
>>  >
>>  >(h)new = [[I]reqd * 12 / w]^0.3333 = [0.2108 * 12 / 0.5]^0.3333 = 1.72
>inch
>>  >
>>  >If you wish to use a beam with a round cross section; then, the required
>>  >diameter, d, would be:
>>  >
>>  >[I]round = pi * (d^4) / 64
>>  >
>>  >(d)reqd = [[I]reqd * 64 / pi]^0.25 = [0.2108 * 64 / 3.1416]^0.25 = 1.44
>inch
>>  >
>>  >So, to get the sort of stiffening required, you would have to laminate a
>>  >rectangular cross section beam of Epoxy/C-Fiber composite of about 1/2
>inch
>>  >width X 1-3/4 inch height or a round beam of about 1-7/16 inch OD down
>the
>>  >underside for entire length of each cockpit seat.  You can't get the
>>  >required amount of stiffness using just wood for this beam.
>>  >
>>  >As you can see, cutting the unsupported length of the cockpit seats by
>>  >adding structural support columns is a much simpler solution.
>>  >
>>  >Good luck!
>>  >
>>  >Roger Pihlaja
>>  >S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>  >
>>  >----- Original Message -----
>>  >From: "Lou Rosenberg" <lsr3 at MAIL.nyu.edu>
>  > >To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>>  >Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 11:07 AM
>>  >Subject: [Rhodes22-list] cockpit bench seat reinforcement
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >>  RHODIES;
>>  >>    Seeking advice on reinforcing the cockpit seats in my R22 ( 1981) .
>>  >>  The boat is now secure on is trailer in its winter home in Bklyn
>>  >>  thanks to Rick Centalaonza, a boat hauler ( Coastal)
>>  >>    and some good boat yard folks in Pt Jeff and Bklyn.
>>  >>    My stb side cracks when I walk or sit  on it, but is not broken.
>>  >>  The glass work underneath is brittle and the wood stiffeners are
>>  >>  missing .
>>  >>    I have Casey's book on HULL & DECK repair and plan to stiffen and
>>  >>  support the entire length of both benches by epoxing a dowel in the
>>  >>  groove and then adding a triangular support made of pine ( since its
>>  >>  not going to be seen much , teak is overkill, I believe).  The
>>  >>  triangular support would need to be epoxied to the floor underneath
>>  >>  the seats. I plan to space the  2 supports on each side  equally.
>>  >>
>>  >>    Has anyone had weakening of their bench seating due to damage or
>>  >>  weathering and age of the glass?
>>  >>    I am wondering how the epoxied supports would react to the flexing
>>  >>  of the boat later on as she is under strain.  Would it make sense to
>>  >>  not epoxy the supports and just wedge them down with rubber mat under
>>  >>  the wood?
>>  >>    **
>>  >>    Any advice appreciated !
>>  >>    thanks
>>  >>    Lou
>>  >>  __________________________________________________
>>  >>  Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >__________________________________________________
>>  >Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>
>>  __________________________________________________
>>  Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list



More information about the Rhodes22-list mailing list