An Analysis on the Performance of a Mobile Platform with Gas Sensors for Real Time Victim Localization

This work concerns the performance analysis of the sensors contained in a victim detection system. The system is a mobile platform with gas sensors utilized for real time victim localization in urban environments after a disaster has caused the entrapment of people in partially collapsed building structures. The operating principle of the platform is the sampling of air from potential survival spaces (voids) and the measurement of the sampled air’s temperature and concentration of CO2 and O2. Humans in a survival space are modelled as sources of CO2 and heat and sinks of O2. The physical openings of a survival space are modelled as sources of fresh air and sinks of the internal air. These sources and sinks dynamically affect the monitored properties of the air inside a survival space. In this paper, the effects of fresh air sources and internal air sinks are first examined in relation to local weather conditions. Then, the effect of human sources of CO2 and sinks of O2 in the space are examined. A model is formulated in order to reliably estimate the concentration of CO2 and O2 as a function of time for given reasonable entrapment scenarios. The input parameters are the local weather conditions, the openings of the survival space, and the number and type of entrapped humans. Three different tests successfully verified the presented theoretical estimations. A detection system with gas sensors of specified or measured capabilities, by utilizing this model and based on the expected concentrations, may inform the operator of the minimum required presence of humans in a survival space that can be detected after “some time”.

Endemic Population Response to Increasingly Severe Fire: A Cascade of Endangerment for the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel

Drought, past fire suppression, insect invasion, and high-severity fire represent a disturbance cascade characteristic of forests in the western United States. The result is altered forest ecosystems diminished in their function and capacity to support biodiversity. Small habitat specialists are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of disturbances because of their limited movement capacity and high site fidelity. Research suggests that small mammals suffer limited direct mortality from fire but are increasingly vulnerable to local extirpation because of secondary impacts that include habitat loss and reduced food availability, survival, and reproduction. We examine the direct and secondary impacts of increasingly severe fire events on the endangered Mt. Graham red squirrel—a model system to demonstrate how disturbances can threaten the persistence of range-limited species. We document survival, space use, and displacement prior to and following fires and discuss implications for conservation. We suggest that management plans address future threats, including disturbance-related habitat loss.

Vortex Cascade Features of Turbulent Flow in Hydro-Turbine Blade Passage with Complex Geometry

A large-eddy simulation of three-dimensional turbulent flow for a hydro-turbine in the transitional process of decreasing load from rated power to no-load has been implemented by using ANSYS-Fluent in this paper. The survival space occupied by different scale flow structures for the different guide vane opening degrees was well captured. The flow characteristics in the transitional process were obtained. Different forms of the channel vortex were studied. The features of the vortex cascade and dissipation of the turbulent energy in blade passage were analyzed. The results show that the scales of the vortex structures have a large change in the transitional process of rejecting load, and the vortex distributions in the blade passage are significantly distinguished. The survival space of the different scale eddies in the blade passage is closely related to the scales of the vortex. The survival volume ratio of the adjacent scale vortex in the runner is about 1.2–1.6. The turbulent kinetic energy and eddy viscosity increase rapidly along the blade passage with the small-scale eddies going up, which implies that a dissipating path for the energy in the blade passage is formed.

Study on the Structural Improvement Methods for Car Frontal Crash

Taking a sedan as the research object, the frontal impact simulation was done. The results showed that the corresponding results of the structure deformation of the body are in agreement with the experimental data. On account of the driving zone and driver survival space that were compressed seriously, some improvements of the front carling were taken in designing. The structural simulation analysis and dummy injury analysis were done to verify the effectiveness of the improved scheme: the peak acceleration of B-Pillar was greatly reduced, the damage value of dummy was significantly reduced, and so greatly improving the car's passive safety.

Virtual Testing for Frontal Impact of High-Top Cab of Heavy Truck

ECE R29 regulation has legally claimed that the survival space must be guaranteed for the safety for driver and front seat passenger in event of crash during design of truck cabin. In this paper, a finite element model of a high-top cabin of a heavy truck with a manikin on the driver seat was built with commercial code Hypermesh, The explicit finite element program Ls-Dyna was used to simulate the frontal pendulum impact on the high-top cab in the light of ECE R29 regulation. Deformation of the truck cabin and the survival space of the dummy were analyzed and discussed. Also, some suggestions were given to solve the contact possibility between steering column and the knees of manikin.

Numerical Testing for Roof Strength and Rear Wall Strength of High-Top Heavy Truck Cab

For design of truck cabin, the survival space must be guaranteed for the safety for driver and front seat passenger in event of crash, which is the legal requirement described in ECE-R29 regulation. In this paper, a finite element model of a high-top cabin for heavy truck was built with commercial code Hypermesh, and a manikin according to ECE-R29 was added to the driver seat. The explicit finite element program Ls-Dyna was used to verify the roof strength and rear wall strength. Analysis and discussion on the deformation of the truck cabin and the survival space of the dummy were presented. The survival space of the cab was proved to be sufficient for the safety of the driver.