factor

English translation: factor of safety

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:factor
Selected answer:factor of safety
Entered by: Masoud Kakouli Varnousfaderani

05:49 Jul 26, 2016
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Science - Mathematics & Statistics
English term or phrase: factor
The European Utility Requirements (1998) provide a factor of 1.4 beyond design for checking the adequacy of the plant, while the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires a plant to demonstrate a high confidence of low probability of failure (HCLPF) of 1.67.


I know "factor" means one of the below senses, however, I think they fit the context:
One of two or more quantities that divides a given quantity without a remainder. For example, 2 and 3 are factors of 6; a and b are factors of ab.
A quantity by which a stated quantity is multiplied or divided, so as to indicate an increase or decrease in a measurement: The rate increased by a factor of ten.
Masoud Kakouli Varnousfaderani
Türkiye
Local time: 05:15
factor of safety
Explanation:
This is an abbreviation for factor of safety.

All engineering design includes a factor of safety. When the calculations are made, the calculated strength required is multiplied by this factor. In this case, the factor is 1.4 so, if the design calculations say that a beam should be able to support 10 tonnes, it is actually designed to support 14 tonnes.

Of your two definitions, the second is closest.
Selected response from:

Terry Richards
France
Local time: 03:15
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +6factor of safety
Terry Richards


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
factor of safety


Explanation:
This is an abbreviation for factor of safety.

All engineering design includes a factor of safety. When the calculations are made, the calculated strength required is multiplied by this factor. In this case, the factor is 1.4 so, if the design calculations say that a beam should be able to support 10 tonnes, it is actually designed to support 14 tonnes.

Of your two definitions, the second is closest.


Terry Richards
France
Local time: 03:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Armorel Young
2 hrs

agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
2 hrs

agree  Yvonne Gallagher
2 hrs

agree  Didier Fourcot: "1.4 beyond design": if design mandates 10, use 14
10 hrs

agree  Daryo: yes, nothing to do with prime numbers
10 hrs

agree  acetran
11 hrs
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