Purpose
Bulkheads in a ship serve several purposes:
- increase the structural rigidity of the vessel,
- divide functional areas into rooms and
- create watertight compartments that can contain water in the case of a hull breach or other leak.
- some bulkheads and decks are fire-resistance rated to achieve compartmentalisation, a passive fire protection measure; see firewall (construction).
On an aircraft, bulkheads divide the cabin into multiple areas. On passenger aircraft a common application is for physically dividing cabins used for different classes of service (e.g. economy and business.) On combination cargo/ passenger, or "combi" aircraft, bulkhead walls are inserted to divide areas intended for passenger seating and cargo storage.
Read more about this topic: Bulkhead (partition)
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind’s eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of the watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.”
—Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)
“During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national significance. Its practical purpose is well known—it was used primarily to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and continuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also sang because he liked to sing.... In this music of the range and trail is “the grayness of the prairies, the mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the gait of the cowboy’s pony.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Nowadays, if New York has a heart, it might be the Garden. Almost everyone goes there, for one purpose or another. There are dog shows, and Sonja Henie and mass meetings.”
—In New York City, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)