scholarly journals Criteria and Procedures for Assessing Occupied Volume Integrity

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carolan ◽  
A. Benjamin Perlman ◽  
David C. Tyrell
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Permanent Deformation ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Load Path ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rail Industry

With the potential for tremendous growth in the passenger rail industry, providing for the safety of the train-riding public and the crews who transport them becomes an ever-greater priority. To provide for safety while making best use of its resources and to facilitate passenger rail industry growth, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), in consultation with the rail industry, has developed alternative Criteria and Procedures for assessing the crashworthiness and occupant protection measures of rail passenger equipment. These Criteria and Procedures are intended to be applicable to a wide range of equipment designs, particularly equipment designs not complying with current U.S. standards and regulations. Because the latest technology in rail equipment crashworthiness has been used to develop the Criteria and Procedures, aspects of the resulting Criteria and Procedures are fundamentally different from their corresponding regulations. While technical results from sophisticated analyses and tests have been necessary, judgment was also needed to develop the Criteria and Procedures. This judgment was provided by the Engineering Task Force (ETF), and ultimately accepted by FRA. The ETF is a government/industry working group, organized under the auspices of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC). The Criteria and Procedures are intended to provide an engineering-based methodology for comparing the crashworthiness of alternatively-designed equipment with that of compliant designs. One particularly important aspect of passenger car crashworthiness is occupied volume integrity (OVI). It is essential that all passenger vehicles meet some base minimum level of OVI. A primary goal of crashworthiness is to maintain a volume for occupants to ride out a collision. In the U.S., this base level has been demonstrated through a vehicle’s ability to react a quasi-static load of 800,000 pounds along its line of draft without experiencing permanent deformation. This car-level requirement has existed, in some form, since the early 20th century. However, alternatively-designed vehicles may not be able to demonstrate the ability to support this load, but may still prove to be equivalently crashworthy. Based on analyses performed on conventional and alternatively-designed passenger equipment, three options have been developed to demonstrate the OVI of alternatively-designed equipment. These options consist of three load magnitudes placed along the collision load path with a corresponding pass/fail criterion for each load. OVI may be demonstrated by sustaining an 800,000 pound load with no permanent deformation, a 1,000,000 pound load with limited permanent deformation, or a 1,200,000 pound load without exceeding the crippling load of the occupied volume. This paper discusses the pass/fail criteria associated with each option, the analysis and test procedures used in applying each option, and the technical basis used in developing the Criteria and Procedures for OVI evaluation. By applying such techniques, the results of evaluations of alternatively-designed equipment can be compared with the Criteria values for compliant designs. In this manner, the crashworthiness performance of alternatively-designed equipment can be assessed relative to the performance of compliant designs. A companion paper to this one discusses the development of the train-level Criteria and Procedures.

scholarly journals Crippling Test of a Budd Pioneer Passenger Car

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carolan ◽  
Benjamin Perlman ◽  
David Tyrell
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Load Path ◽  
Passenger Car ◽  
Test Configuration ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Alternative Methodology ◽  
Displacement Transducers

This research program was sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development in support of the advancement of improved safety standards for passenger rail vehicles. FRA and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) have conducted a research program to develop alternative methods for demonstrating occupied volume integrity (OVI) of passenger rail cars using a combination of testing and analysis. Previous publications have addressed the planning and progress of a series of tests intended to examine the collision load path through the occupant volume of passenger cars equipped with crash energy management (CEM) systems. This program has included an elastic 800-kip buff strength test, two quasi-static tests that loaded a passenger car to its ultimate (crippling) capacity, and corresponding finite element (FE) analyses of each test. This paper discusses the two crippling tests and the companion FE analyses. One alternative method for evaluating OVI moves the applied loads from the line of draft to the collision load path. This alternative methodology also permits a combination of testing and analysis to be used to demonstrate the car’s OVI, in contrast to the conventional methodology (as prescribed in existing FRA regulations) which only permits testing. The alternative methodology was adopted as the recommendations developed by the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee’s (RSAC) Engineering Task Force (ETF) in its “Technical Criteria and Procedures for Evaluating the Crashworthiness and Occupant Protection Performance of Alternatively-Designed Passenger Rail Equipment for Use in Tier I Service.” The research program was undertaken to verify the efficacy of using a combination of elastic testing and plastic analysis to evaluate the OVI of a passenger car loaded along its collision load path as prescribed in the ETF report. Earlier in this research program an elastic test of a Budd Pioneer car was used to validate an FE model of the car, per the ETF’s procedures. This model was then modified to reflect the condition of the car in its crippling test configuration. The model was used to simulate the crippling behavior of the car, following the ETF’s procedures. Two Pioneer cars were then tested to crippling to provide additional data to validate the FE model and the proposed alternative OVI evaluation. Because the test cars used in this research program were equipped with CEM systems, the alternative evaluation loads were placed at the locations where the energy-absorbing components attached to the occupant volume. During both crippling tests, loads were measured at each energy-absorber support location on the live and restrained ends of the car. Additional instrumentation used in the second crippling test included strain gages on the major longitudinal structural members, displacement transducers at each load location, and vertical, lateral, and longitudinal displacement transducers on the underframe of the car. The results of the FE analysis compare favorably with the results of the crippling tests. In particular, the crippling loads are consistent between the tests and analysis: crippling loads for the first and second cars tested were 1.15 and 1.19 million pounds respectively, and the pre-test FEA estimated a crippling load of 1.19 million pounds. The research program has established a technical basis for the alternative OVI requirements and methodology.

scholarly journals Collision Scenarios for Assessing Crashworthiness of Passenger Rail Equipment

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Jacobsen ◽  
Patricia Llana ◽  
David Tyrell
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Impact Speed ◽  
Passenger Train ◽  
Alternative Design ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Railroad System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Tier I

In June 2009, at the request of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee established the Engineering Task Force (ETF). The ETF is comprised of government, railroads, suppliers, and labor organizations and their consultants. The ETF was tasked with recommending a process for assessing alternative Tier I passenger rail equipment, i.e., passenger equipment that is operated at speeds up to 125 mph on the general railroad system. The final product of the ETF is a document outlining criteria and procedures for demonstrating crashworthiness performance of passenger rail equipment built to alternative design standards and proposed for operation in the US. The results provide a means of assessing whether an alternative design compares to designs compliant with the FRA’s Tier I crashworthiness requirements. This paper focuses on the criteria and procedures developed for scenario-based requirements. The principle collision scenario describes the minimum train-level crashworthiness performance required in a train-to-train collision of an alternatively designed passenger train with a conventional locomotive-led passenger train. For cab car-led and MU locomotive-led operations, the impact speed is prescribed at 20 mph. For locomotive led operations, the impact speed is prescribed at 25 mph. Criteria for evaluating this scenario include intrusion limits for the passengers and engineer, and occupant protection measures. Other scenario-based requirements discussed in this paper include colliding equipment override, connected equipment override, and truck attachment.

Testing of Unbound Materials in the Nottingham Asphalt Tester Springbox

2005 ◽  
Vol 1913 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Edwards ◽  
Nick Thom ◽  
Paul R. Fleming ◽  
John Williams
Keyword(s):  
Permanent Deformation ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Repeated Loading ◽  
Performance Parameters ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Testing Program ◽  
Pavement Materials ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Measured Sample

The current trend in mechanistic (analytical) pavement design is to use the mechanistic properties of pavement materials to optimize design. This is compatible with the move toward performance-based specifications and away from traditional empirically based design methods and recipe specifications. Other drivers—such as the Europeanwide adoption of aggregate mixture standards, which no longer differentiate on source, but moves toward sustainable construction—mean that a wide range of recycled, secondary, and primary aggregate sources can potentially be used in highway construction. The requirement for accelerated, performance-based testing is therefore coming to the fore. The U.K. Highways Agency has funded an accelerated testing program across a range of unbound capping and subbase materials. The performance parameters assessed, over a range of moisture and soaking conditions, are resistance to permanent deformation and resilient stiffness. The apparatus used during the unbound mixture assessments is the newly developed Springbox, which uses the standard Nottingham Asphalt Tester loading frame and software. This follows a simplification of the K-mold test and facilitates repeated loading of 170-mm cubic specimens under variable confinement. Samples are compacted into stainless steel liners. If required, samples can then be soaked before placement within the Springbox apparatus for testing. The following are discussed: the aggregate mixture performance parameters being measured, sample preparation procedures, the Springbox equipment and test procedures, a testing program of unbound capping and subbase materials, and results. The performance of the Springbox apparatus is discussed, and conclusions on the relative performance of the aggregates are presented.

scholarly journals Two-Dimensional Numerical Modeling of Flow in Physical Models of Rock Vane and Bendway Weir Configurations

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 458
Author(s):  
Drew C. Baird ◽  
Benjamin Abban ◽  
S. Michael Scurlock ◽  
Steven B. Abt ◽  
Christopher I. Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Physical Model ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Hydraulic Performance ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Model Study ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Wide Range

While there are a wide range of design recommendations for using rock vanes and bendway weirs as streambank protection measures, no comprehensive, standard approach is currently available for design engineers to evaluate their hydraulic performance before construction. This study investigates using 2D numerical modeling as an option for predicting the hydraulic performance of rock vane and bendway weir structure designs for streambank protection. We used the Sedimentation and River Hydraulics (SRH)-2D depth-averaged numerical model to simulate flows around rock vane and bendway weir installations that were previously examined as part of a physical model study and that had water surface elevation and velocity observations. Overall, SRH-2D predicted the same general flow patterns as the physical model, but over- and underpredicted the flow velocity in some areas. These over- and underpredictions could be primarily attributed to the assumption of negligible vertical velocities. Nonetheless, the point differences between the predicted and observed velocities generally ranged from 15 to 25%, with some exceptions. The results showed that 2D numerical models could provide adequate insight into the hydraulic performance of rock vanes and bendway weirs. Accordingly, design guidance and implications of the study results are presented for design engineers.

Development and Validation of a New Scoring Tool to Evaluate the Clinical Evolution of Adult Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo

Dermatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
María Luisa Peralta-Pedrero ◽  
Denisse Herrera-Bringas ◽  
Karla Samantha Torres-González ◽  
Martha Alejandra Morales-Sánchez ◽  
Fermín Jurado Santa-Cruz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Surface ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Clinical Evolution ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Extreme Groups

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Vitiligo has an unpredictable course and a variable response to treatment. Furthermore, the improvement of some vitiligo lesions cannot be considered a guarantee of a similar response to the other lesions. Instruments for patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) can be an alternative to measure complex constructions such as clinical evolution. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to validate a PROM that allows to measure the clinical evolution of patients with nonsegmental vitiligo in a simple but standardized way that serves to gather information for a better understanding of the disease. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The instrument was created through expert consensus and patient participation. For the validation study, a prospective cohort design was performed. The body surface area affected was measured with the Vitiligo Extension Score (VES), the extension, the stage, and the spread by the evaluation of the Vitiligo European Task Force assessment (VETFa). Reliability was determined with test-retest, construct validity through hypothesis testing, discriminative capacity with extreme groups, and response capacity by comparing initial and final measurements. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Eighteen semi-structured interviews and 7 cognitive interviews were conducted, and 4 dermatologists were consulted. The instrument Clinical Evolution-Vitiligo (CV-6) was answered by 119 patients with a minimum of primary schooling. A wide range was observed in the affected body surface; incident and prevalent cases were included. The average time to answer the CV-6 was 3.08 ± 0.58 min. In the test-retest (<i>n</i> = 53), an intraclass correlation coefficient was obtained: 0.896 (95% CI 0.82–0.94; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). In extreme groups, the mean score was 2 (2–3) and 5 (4–6); <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001. The initial CV-6 score was different from the final one and the change was verified with VES and VETFa (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05, <i>n</i> = 92). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The CV-6 instrument allows patient collaboration, it is simple and brief, and it makes it easier for the doctor to focus attention on injuries that present changes at the time of medical consultation.

scholarly journals The case for reviewing broadcasting co-regulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1329878X2110055
Author(s):  
Karen Lee ◽  
Derek Wilding
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Commercial Television ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Communications Policy ◽  
Codes Of Practice ◽  
Holistic Review ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Commercial Radio ◽  
Rule Making

This article applies principles from the Department of Communications’ policy review of telecommunications consumer protection to broadcasting co-regulation. The Consumer Safeguards Review establishes six principles for good regulation, including that rule-making processes should ‘enable a wide range of views to be considered’. It notes that processes for developing telecommunications codes of practice are likely to lead to ‘sub-optimal’ consumer protection measures. The article draws on original empirical research to assess development of commercial television and commercial radio codes of practice, with particular emphasis on public engagement in co-regulation. It finds the broadcasting codes of practice fail to meet the principles adopted by the Department for good co-regulation. It concludes by arguing there is a pressing need for a more holistic review of communications co-regulation, as broadcasting legislation is similar to the telecommunications legislation, and there is a risk that ‘sub-optimal’ practices could be applied in attempts to regulate digital platforms.

Article Commentary: Defining New Directions for More Effective Management of Surgical Pain in the United States: Highlights of the Inaugural Surgical Pain Congress™

2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girish P. Joshi ◽  
David E. Beck ◽  
Roger Hill Emerson ◽  
Thomas M. Halaszynski ◽  
Jonathan S. Jahr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Inaugural Meeting ◽  
Surgical Pain ◽  
Wide Range

Despite advances in pharmacologic options for the management of surgical pain, there appears to have been little or no overall improvement over the last two decades in the level of pain experienced by patients. The importance of adequate and effective surgical pain management, however, is clear, because inadequate pain control 1) has a wide range of undesirable physiologic and immunologic effects; 2) is associated with poor surgical outcomes; 3) has increased probability of readmission; and 4) adversely affects the overall cost of care as well as patient satisfaction. There is a clear unmet need for a national surgical pain management consensus task force to raise awareness and develop best practice guidelines for improving surgical pain management, patient safety, patient satisfaction, rapid postsurgical recovery, and health economic outcomes. To comprehensively address this need, the multidisciplinary Surgical Pain Congress™ has been established. The inaugural meeting of this Congress (March 8 to 10, 2013, Celebration, Florida) evaluated the current surgical pain management paradigm and identified key components of best practices.

A Methodology for Assessing Fuel Cell Performance Under a Wide Range of Operational Conditions: Results for Single Cells

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Baratella ◽  
Roberto Bove ◽  
Piero Lunghi
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cell Performance ◽  
Effective Parameters ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Fuel Cell Performance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The University

Testing the performance of fuel cells is an important key for verifying technology improvements and for demonstrating their potential. However, due to the novelty of this technology, there is not a standardized procedure for testing fuel cell performance. In order to fully investigate fuel cell performance, the behavior must be known under a wide range of operational conditions. Furthermore, in order to compare results coming from different test teams, a set of procedures and parameters to evaluate single cell performance should be defined. The research group of the Fuel Cell Laboratory of the University of Perugia is conducting performance tests on single cells, focusing on defining test procedures to find effective parameters to be used to compare tests performed by different teams. This work demonstrates how the testing parameters developed by the team allow one to perform advanced control on test procedures, to understand test results, and to compare them with tests carried out under different operational conditions. The entire analysis is easily conducted by using a single parameter variation hyperspace approach. The experimental results obtained on single fuel cells are reported.

scholarly journals The faint young Sun problem revisited with a 3-D climate–carbon model – Part 1

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 697-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Le Hir ◽  
Y. Teitler ◽  
F. Fluteau ◽  
Y. Donnadieu ◽  
P. Philippot
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Concentrations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract. During the Archaean, the Sun's luminosity was 18 to 25% lower than the present day. One-dimensional radiative convective models (RCM) generally infer that high concentrations of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) are required to prevent the early Earth's surface temperature from dropping below the freezing point of liquid water and satisfying the faint young Sun paradox (FYSP, an Earth temperature at least as warm as today). Using a one-dimensional (1-D) model, it was proposed in 2010 that the association of a reduced albedo and less reflective clouds may have been responsible for the maintenance of a warm climate during the Archaean without requiring high concentrations of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2). More recently, 3-D climate simulations have been performed using atmospheric general circulation models (AGCM) and Earth system models of intermediate complexity (EMIC). These studies were able to solve the FYSP through a large range of carbon dioxide concentrations, from 0.6 bar with an EMIC to several millibars with AGCMs. To better understand this wide range in pCO2, we investigated the early Earth climate using an atmospheric GCM coupled to a slab ocean. Our simulations include the ice-albedo feedback and specific Archaean climatic factors such as a faster Earth rotation rate, high atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and/or CH4, a reduced continental surface, a saltier ocean, and different cloudiness. We estimated full glaciation thresholds for the early Archaean and quantified positive radiative forcing required to solve the FYSP. We also demonstrated why RCM and EMIC tend to overestimate greenhouse gas concentrations required to avoid full glaciations or solve the FYSP. Carbon cycle–climate interplays and conditions for sustaining pCO2 will be discussed in a companion paper.

scholarly journals Informing managers about telecommunications technologies for education and training

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rosie ◽  
Terry Charman ◽  
Roger Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Brand Names ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Management Positions ◽  
Level Information ◽  
And Training

<p>Australian educational technologists face the challenge of convincing management to invest in telecommunications for some important aspects of education and training. Despite well-proven overseas models and ample evidence to indicate the cost and learning effectiveness (Hosie, 1987, 1988; Lundin, 1988) of using telecommunications, Australia has been slow to take advantage of possibilities the technology offers. Why is this so?</p><p>As Lange (1984) accurately ventures: fear, apathy, lack of encouragement and ignorance are the main reasons why implementation of telecommunications technology for the delivery and administration of education and training has lagged behind in Australia. Not surprisingly these disincentives have resulted in a lack of effective policy developments. Without well researched and marketed policy there is unlikely to be forward motion.</p><p>One obvious deficiency is the lack of information and understanding of telecommunications technologies throughout the general community, including amongst lecturers, teachers and trainers. What understanding people have is fragmented, disjointed and often confused with commercial brand names. High-end applications such as video conferencing are the most known and sought after by educators and trainers. However, once awareness is raised and sources of information provided, considerable interest may be shown in alternative technologies of a simpler and more affordable nature. Often, facilities are available for use but knowledge of their application to education and training is limited.</p><p>Educational and training administrators and policy developers in Australia could be fairly accused of all of Lange's sins in relation to developing the uses of telecommunications technology but they cannot all be overcome instantly. Also, decision-makers in education have been elevated to their management positions before these technologies became widely used. Hence management often lacks the essential base knowledge to make informed decisions.</p><p>This article arises from one of the activities of Western Australia's Telecommunications for Education and Training (TET) Task Force. One part of its work was to provide essential base-level information, in an accessible form, for education managers involved in making decisions about implementing telecommunications technology. This article is concerned with techniques for providing this kind of information.</p>

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