scholarly journals Improved Tank Car Safety Research

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tyrell ◽  
David Jeong ◽  
Karina Jacobsen ◽  
Eloy Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Hazardous Material ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Chemical Company ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Improved Design ◽  
Accident Scenarios ◽  
Company Union ◽  
The Impact

Three recent accidents involving the release of hazardous material have focused attention on the structural integrity of railroad tank cars: (1) Minot, ND, on January 18, 2002; (2) Macdona, TX, on June 28, 2004; and (3) Graniteville, SC, on January 6, 2005. Each of these accidents resulted in fatalities. Research is being conducted to develop strategies for improving railroad tank cars so they can maintain tank integrity in severe accidents. A collaborative effort called the Next Generation Rail Tank Car (NGRTC) Project intends to use these research results to help develop improved tank car designs. Dow Chemical Company, Union Pacific Railroad, and Union Tank Car Company are the industry sponsors of the NGRTC Project. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Transport Canada participate in the NGRTC project through Memoranda of Cooperation. FRA and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration intend to use these research results to support rulemaking. The approach taken in performing this research is to define the collision conditions of concern, to evaluate the behavior of current design equipment in these scenarios, and to develop alternative strategies for increasing the maximum impact speed for which tank integrity is maintained. The accident scenarios have been developed from a review of accidents and are intended to bound the range of main-line accidents that can lead to a release of hazardous material from a tank car. The accident scenarios and collision modes have been used to define car-to-car impact scenarios. These car-to-car impact scenarios define the conditions under which the commodity must be contained. The impact scenarios are being used to evaluate the integrity of current design and improved design tank cars. Full-scale impact tests are also being conducted, to help validate modeling of the baseline equipment. The models have been refined based on the test results. The models are now being applied to develop the improved equipment designs. This paper describes the overall research framework and provides an overview of the research done to date, as well as the planned efforts.

Powered Two-Wheeler with Integrated Safety Using Recurdyn Multi-Body Dynamics

2014 ◽  
Vol 591 ◽  
pp. 193-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Vijaya Ramnath ◽  
K. Venkataraman ◽  
Selvaraj Venkatram ◽  
Sohil Thomas ◽  
Muthukumarasamy Maheshwaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seat Belt ◽  
Body Dynamics ◽  
Holding Device ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Improved Design ◽  
Accident Scenarios ◽  
Safety Considerations ◽  
Two Wheeler ◽  
Multi Body ◽  
The Impact

- Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) are very sensitive to environmental conditions and advancement in two-wheeler safety has not kept pace with the advancement in two-wheelers. The objective of our research is to bring about an improved design for powered two wheelers, analyzing the changes through simulation and thereby improving the safety considerations. According to the databases referred regarding accidents in depth study, it is observed that two-wheelers top the chart in number of accidents by a big margin and these accidents causes more fatal injuries. To save the rider, this paper proposes to constraint the rider along with pillion to the vehicle using “Leg holding device“ and seat belt. Side airbags are employed to absorb the impact of accident. The present safety system saves the rider in frontal collisions, while this research also focuses on side collisions. ISO 13232 standard accident scenarios were followed. For simulation of scenarios multi body dynamics software called RecurDyn is used. The improvement in employing safety measures is compared with its absence and results are plotted.

scholarly journals Update on Ongoing Tank Car Crashworthiness Research: Predicted Performance and Fabrication Approach

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carolan ◽  
David Tyrell ◽  
Brandon Talamini
Keyword(s):  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Impact Load ◽  
The Body ◽  
Rigid Punch ◽  
Load Path ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Structural Foam ◽  
Improved Design ◽  
Energy Absorbing ◽  
The Impact

Research is currently underway to develop strategies for maintaining the structural integrity of railroad tank cars carrying hazardous materials during collisions. This research, sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), has focused on four design functions to accomplish this goal: blunting the impact load, absorbing the collision energy, strengthening the commodity tank, and controlling the load path into the tank. Previous papers have been presented outlining the weight and space restrictions for this new design, as well as the approach being taken in developing the design. The performance goals for the new car have also been outlined. A key goal for the new design is the ability to contain its lading at four times the impact energy of the baseline equipment. Presently, a preliminary design has been developed that will incorporate these four functions together. This new design features a conventional commodity tank with external reinforcements to strengthen the tank. The reinforced tank is situated on a structural foam cradle, within an external carbody. This carbody has been designed utilizing welded steel sandwich panels. The body is designed to take all of the inservice loads, removing the commodity tank from the load path during normal operations. Additionally, the carbody panels will serve as an energy-absorbing mechanism in the event of a collision. Preliminary steps for fabricating and assembling the new tank car design have been outlined. These steps were developed with the intention of paralleling existing tank car fabrication process as much as is practical. Using the commercial finite element analysis (FEA) software ABAQUS/Explicit, the improved design has been analyzed for its response to an impact by a rigid punch. Simulations of two generalized impact scenarios have been made for this rigid punch impacting the improved tank car head as well as the improved tank car shell. Results of these analyses, including the force-displacement curves for both impacts, are presented within this paper. These results show that an improved-design tank car can contain the commodity for a head impact with eight times the energy of the baseline car, and four times the energy for a shell impact.

The impact of reflective writing paper on non-English major learners’ autonomy in the context of Vietnam

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 104-128
Author(s):  
Phan Thi Tuyet Van
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Reflective Writing ◽  
Research Results ◽  
English Major ◽  
Study Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Process Journal

The article aims to investigate the impact of the reflective writing paper on non- English major learners’ learning autonomy in a Vietnamese context. The data was collected by means of questionnaire, competence tests and interviews. The participants did two reflective writing papers as an intervention during the research. The research results show the possibilities for teachers to modify their teaching methods through analysis of feedback from the subjects. The findings showed that most participants appreciated the role of the reflective writing paper and they were aware of the significance of learning autonomy in their study process. Journal of NELTA, Vol. 17 No. 1-2, December 2012, Page 104-128 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v17i1-2.8102

scholarly journals Potential and limitations of finite element modelling in assessing structural integrity of coralline algae under future global change

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 5871-5883 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Melbourne ◽  
J. Griffin ◽  
D. N. Schmidt ◽  
E. J. Rayfield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Geometric Model ◽  
Algal Growth ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Scan Data ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Coralline algae are important habitat formers found on all rocky shores. While the impact of future ocean acidification on the physiological performance of the species has been well studied, little research has focused on potential changes in structural integrity in response to climate change. A previous study using 2-D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) suggested increased vulnerability to fracture (by wave action or boring) in algae grown under high CO2 conditions. To assess how realistically 2-D simplified models represent structural performance, a series of increasingly biologically accurate 3-D FE models that represent different aspects of coralline algal growth were developed. Simplified geometric 3-D models of the genus Lithothamnion were compared to models created from computed tomography (CT) scan data of the same genus. The biologically accurate model and the simplified geometric model representing individual cells had similar average stresses and stress distributions, emphasising the importance of the cell walls in dissipating the stress throughout the structure. In contrast models without the accurate representation of the cell geometry resulted in larger stress and strain results. Our more complex 3-D model reiterated the potential of climate change to diminish the structural integrity of the organism. This suggests that under future environmental conditions the weakening of the coralline algal skeleton along with increased external pressures (wave and bioerosion) may negatively influence the ability for coralline algae to maintain a habitat able to sustain high levels of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Technology Entrepreneurship and the Performance of Enterprises in the Conditions of Covid-19 Pandemic: The Fuzzy Set Analysis of Waste to Energy Enterprises in Poland

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3891
Author(s):  
Piotr Kordel ◽  
Radosław Wolniak
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Set ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Flexible Structures ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
Technology Entrepreneurship ◽  
Research Results ◽  
The Impact

This article’s aim is to explain the impact of technology entrepreneurship phenomenon on waste management enterprise performance in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of technology entrepreneurship according to the configuration approach and the category of high-performance organization are the theoretical bases of empirical investigation. For the implementation of empirical research, Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) was adopted. The research sample included a group of producers of Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) as a central part of the waste to energy industry located in Poland. The research results showed that the waste to energy sector is highly immune to pandemic threats. While during COVID-19, the basic economic parameters (i.e., sales, profitability and employment) of the entire industry in Poland clearly decreased, the same parameters in the case of the waste to energy industry remained at the same level. The research results allow the formulation of two high-performance models of technology entrepreneurship in the waste to energy industry under COVID-19 conditions. The first model is based on traditional technologies and hierarchical organizational structures, and the second is using innovative technologies and flexible structures. Both technology entrepreneurship models are determined by their emergence as complementary to implementation strategies and the opportunity-oriented allocation of resources within business model portfolios.

scholarly journals Codon harmonization reduces amino acid misincorporation in bacterially expressed P. falciparum proteins and improves their immunogenicity

AMB Express ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraja Punde ◽  
Jennifer Kooken ◽  
Dagmar Leary ◽  
Patricia M. Legler ◽  
Evelina Angov
Keyword(s):  
Protein Structure ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Codon Usage ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Codon usage frequency influences protein structure and function. The frequency with which codons are used potentially impacts primary, secondary and tertiary protein structure. Poor expression, loss of function, insolubility, or truncation can result from species-specific differences in codon usage. “Codon harmonization” more closely aligns native codon usage frequencies with those of the expression host particularly within putative inter-domain segments where slower rates of translation may play a role in protein folding. Heterologous expression of Plasmodium falciparum genes in Escherichia coli has been a challenge due to their AT-rich codon bias and the highly repetitive DNA sequences. Here, codon harmonization was applied to the malarial antigen, CelTOS (Cell-traversal protein for ookinetes and sporozoites). CelTOS is a highly conserved P. falciparum protein involved in cellular traversal through mosquito and vertebrate host cells. It reversibly refolds after thermal denaturation making it a desirable malarial vaccine candidate. Protein expressed in E. coli from a codon harmonized sequence of P. falciparum CelTOS (CH-PfCelTOS) was compared with protein expressed from the native codon sequence (N-PfCelTOS) to assess the impact of codon usage on protein expression levels, solubility, yield, stability, structural integrity, recognition with CelTOS-specific mAbs and immunogenicity in mice. While the translated proteins were expected to be identical, the translated products produced from the codon-harmonized sequence differed in helical content and showed a smaller distribution of polypeptides in mass spectra indicating lower heterogeneity of the codon harmonized version and fewer amino acid misincorporations. Substitutions of hydrophobic-to-hydrophobic amino acid were observed more commonly than any other. CH-PfCelTOS induced significantly higher antibody levels compared with N-PfCelTOS; however, no significant differences in either IFN-γ or IL-4 cellular responses were detected between the two antigens.

scholarly journals Effect of Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) on the Inflammatory Response in Rumen Epithelial Cells (REC) and the Impact of LPS on Claw Explants

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2058
Author(s):  
Nicole Reisinger ◽  
Dominik Wendner ◽  
Nora Schauerhuber ◽  
Elisabeth Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Inflammatory Response ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Lipoteichoic Acid ◽  
Local Inflammatory Response ◽  
Tissue Integrity ◽  
Separation Force ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rumen Epithelial Cells

Endotoxins play a crucial role in ruminant health due to their deleterious effects on animal health. The study aimed to evaluate whether LPS and LTA can induce an inflammatory response in rumen epithelial cells. For this purpose, epithelial cells isolated from rumen tissue (RECs) were stimulated with LPS and LTA for 1, 2, 4, and 24 h. Thereafter, the expression of selected genes of the LPS and LTA pathway and inflammatory response were evaluated. Furthermore, it was assessed whether LPS affects inflammatory response and structural integrity of claw explants. Therefore, claw explants were incubated with LPS for 4 h to assess the expression of selected genes and for 24 h to evaluate tissue integrity via separation force. LPS strongly affected the expression of genes related to inflammation (NFkB, TNF-α, IL1B, IL6, CXCL8, MMP9) in RECs. LTA induced a delayed and weaker inflammatory response than LPS. In claw explants, LPS affected tissue integrity, as there was a concentration-dependent decrease of separation force. Incubation time had a strong effect on inflammatory genes in claw explants. Our data suggest that endotoxins can induce a local inflammatory response in the rumen epithelium. Furthermore, translocation of LPS might negatively impact claw health.

Current Design Rules for Welding of Wind Energy Structures for Arctic Conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 822 ◽  
pp. 452-458
Author(s):  
Sergey Lopaev ◽  
Pavel Layus ◽  
Paul Kah ◽  
Sergey Parshin
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Welding Parameters ◽  
Reliable Operation ◽  
Arctic Conditions ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Standards And Guidelines

An article presents a review of current standards and guidelines in the field welding fabrication requirements for wind energy structures in arctic conditions. Extreme climatic conditions, such as Arctic, have a strong influence on the requirements for wind turbines structural characteristics, materials and fabrication methods. Special attention has to be paid for selecting steels with suitable mechanical properties, processing methods and delivery conditions. Additionally, it is highly important to select proper welding process and welding parameters, so that the structural integrity and reliable operation can be achieved.

Structural Integrity for Nuclear Power Plant Against Excessive Load on Design Extension Condition

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daigo Watanabe ◽  
Kiminobu Hojo
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Safety Factors ◽  
Design Code ◽  
Acceptance Criteria ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Factor Design ◽  
Excessive Load ◽  
Load And Resistance Factor

This paper introduces an example of structural integrity evaluation for Light Water Reactor (LWR) against excessive loads on the Design Extension Condition (DEC). In order to assess the design acceptance level of DEC, three acceptance criteria which are the stress basis limit of the current design code, the strain basis limit of the current design code and the strain basis limit by using Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) method were applied. As a result the allowable stress was increased by changing the acceptance criteria from the stress basis limit to the strain basis limit. It is shown that the practical margin of the LWR’s components still keeps even on DEC by introducing an appropriate criterion for integrity assessment and safety factors.

scholarly journals Bond Between Steel and Self-Compacting Concrete in Composite Tube Columns

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-143
Author(s):  
M. Szadkowska ◽  
E. Szmigiera
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Self Compacting Concrete ◽  
Composite Tubes ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Composite Tube ◽  
Geometric Factors ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper presents research results of composite tubes filled with self-compacting concrete. The impact of the selected materials and geometric factors on resistance to the vertical shear was evaluated in this study. The resistance of the tested members was compared with recommendations given in Eurocode PN-EN 1994-1-1. From the results obtained in the tests it can be deduced that more parameters should be taken into consideration when determining resistance to the vertical shear in the interface between steel and concrete than PN-EN 1994- 1-1 recommends.

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