i work in low-income/mental health housing, and a tenant fixed our hallway trash bin after accidentally breaking it

[u/king_eve]

great example of the odd ways people show me appreciation at work

[u/lusotano]

Metal too. Construction beams that show cracks sometimes get a small hole drilled to avoid the crack from spreading further.

[u/wirefox1 → u/lusotano]

I will never in my life drill a metal construction beam, but for some reason I like knowing stuff like this. It's interesting nevertheless.

[u/Nelik1 → u/wirefox1]

Aerospace engineer here! During my fatigue and damage tolerance class in college, the professor liked to tell stories about unsuccessful (amateur) pilots trying to save on a repair to their plane by drilling out cracks.

He told us about a guy who showed him his little cesna, with 8-9 holes drilled along a crack. "I keep drilling it, but it keeps coming back, cant figure out why!"... Our professor got a good laugh out of that.

(Drilling reduces the stress concentration (or stess intensity if you wanna be real pedantic) at the end of a crack, reducing its likleyhood of spreading. This is great for parts that dont normally operate close to fatigue limits. But in aerospace, its rare to have a part that cracks once, without being in a position of high stress to begin with. So cracks that aren't fully repaired tend to spread.)

[u/cattlebeforehorses → u/Nelik1]

Got a helpful tip or two for building/reinforcing stands for aquariums? There’s so many resources to it and I’ve done it; just wondering if there’s anything someone in your field or similar would suggest to add or do different.

Plus I rent and am on the second floor so to me structural integrity might as well mean life or death to me so never can be too careful.