THOR dummy chest deflection response in oblique and lateral far-side sled tests

Abstract

Objective: The focus of this study is side impact. Though occupant injury assessment and protection in nearside impacts has received considerable attention and safety standards have been promulgated, field studies show that a majority of far-side occupant injuries are focused on the head and thorax. The 50th percentile male Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint (THOR) has been used in oblique and lateral far-side impact sled tests, and regional body accelerations and forces and moments recorded by load cells have been previously reported. The aim of this study is to evaluate the chestband-based deflection responses from these tests.

Methods: The 3-point belt–restrained 50th percentile male THOR dummy was seated upright in a buck consisting of a rigid flat seat, simulated center console, dashboard, far-side side door structure, and armrest. It was designed to conduct pure lateral and oblique impacts. The center console, dashboard, simulated door structure, and armrest were covered with energy-absorbing materials. A center-mounted airbag was mounted to the right side of the seat. Two 59-gage chestbands were routed on the circumference of the thorax, with the upper and lower chestbands at the level of the third and sixth ribs, respectively, following the rib geometry. Oblique and pure lateral far-side impact tests with and without airbags were conducted at 8.3 m/s. Maximum chest deflections were computed by processing temporal contours using custom software and 3 methods: Procedures paralleling human cadaver studies, using the actual anchor point location and actual alignment of the InfraRed Telescoping Rods for the Assessment of Chest Compression (IR-TRACC) in the dummy on each aspect—that is, right or left,—and using the same anchor location of the internal sensor but determining the location of the peak chest deflection on the contour confined to the aspect of the sensor; these were termed the SD, ID, and TD metrics, respectively.

Results: All deformation contours at the upper and lower thorax levels and associated peak deflections are given for all tests. Briefly, the ID metrics were the lowest in magnitude for both pure lateral and oblique modes, regardless of the presence or absence of an airbag. This was followed by the TD metric, and the SD metric produced the greatest deflections.

Conclusion: The chestbands provide a unique opportunity to compute peak deflections that parallel current IR-TRACC-type deflections and allow computation of peak deflections independent of the initial point of attachment to the rib. The differing locations of the peak deflection vectors along the rib contours for different test conditions suggest that a priori attachment is less effective. Further, varying magnitudes of the differences between ID and TD metrics underscore the difficulty in extrapolating ID outputs under different conditions: Pure lateral versus oblique, airbag presence, and thoracic levels. Deflection measurements should, therefore, not be limited to an instrument that can only track from a fixed point. For improved predictions, these results suggest the need to investigate alternative techniques, such as optical methods to improve chest deflection measurements for far-side occupant injury assessment and mitigation.     

Spatial and temporal variability of metals in inter-tidal beach sediment of Mumbai, India

Nine metals were monitored in the beach sediment in Mumbai from May 2011 to March 2012 to evaluate the spatial and temporal distributions. The average heavy metal concentrations exhibited the following order: Fe > Mn > Cr > Co > Ni > Pb > Zn > Cu > Cd for the four sampling sites. The mean concentrations (± SD) of Fe, Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd were estimated to be 31.15?±?10.02 g kg^?1, 535.04?±?76.42, 151.98?±?97.90, 92.76?±?14.18, 67.52?±?11.32, 59.57?±?15.19, 54.65?±?15.01, 32.24?±?8.07 and 18.75?±?1.76 mg kg^?1, respectively. The results indicated that the sediments were polluted with Cd, Cr, Co and Pb due to high anthropogenic influences. Spatial variation of metals revealed that most of the metals were high in Dadar beach and low in Aksa beach. Cd was the highest contaminant metal studied with a mean contamination factor of 93.75. The pollution load indices of the studied beaches ranged from 1.63 (Aksa) to 1.91 (Dadar) and indicated that the beach sediments were polluted with heavy metals. The heavy metal contents increased in relation to monsoon, and most of the heavy metals showed significantly high concentrations in November during the post-monsoon. The statistical analysis revealed significant effect of study site on all the metals studied. Further, there was a significant difference on metal accumulation on bimonthly basis in relation to weather pattern in Mumbai beaches.     

Trace metals biogeochemistry of Kumaun Himalayan Lakes,Uttarakhand, India

The increasing urbanization, along with tourism, has posed a major threat to the Kumaun Himalayan Lakes, Uttarakhand, India. The total metal concentration in the water, interstitial water, and sediments along with the metal fractionation studies were carried out to understand the remobilization of the trace metals from the sediments of the lakes. The high concentration of the metals in the water column of the lakes generally decreases with depth and the metals release from the sediment is mainly due to the prevalence of anoxic condition at the sediment–water interface and sediment column. The sediment shows that metals Fe and Cr are derived from detrital source, whereas Co, Ni, and Zn are derived mainly from the organic matter dissolution. The sparse correlation of the trace metals with Ti shows most of the metals have chiefly re-precipitated from the water column. The metals speciation studies also supports that metals experience a high rate of anoxic dissolution and their precipitation onto the sediments are determined by the sediment composition and organic matter content. The high concentration of manganese in the interstitial water in the lakes indicates dissolution of organic matter. The released manganese is adsorbed/precipitated as carbonate phase (Nainital Lake) and oxide pahse (in other lakes). The study shows that the trace metals are regenerated from the sediments due to oxyhydroxide dissolution and organic matter decomposition.     

Effective utilization of mahua oil blended with optimum amount of Al2O3 and TiO2 nanoparticles for better performance in CI engine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The current research work focuses mainly on improving the performance and emission characteristics of nanoparticle-blended mahua oil-fueled diesel...     

Assessing the impact of policy-driven agricultural practices in Karnataka, India

The classical approach of assessing sustainability with respect to its three underlying pillars, ecological, economic, and social, is adopted in this paper, with an added emphasis on estimating the simultaneous effects of each pillar on the other two. The paper assesses the impact of policy-driven changes in cultivation practices in five districts in the south-western Indian state of Karnataka. A comparative statics analysis using a simultaneous equations model is developed to capture the stability of each pillar into the future and their concurrent interactive impacts and trade-offs. Ecological and economic impacts of policies favoring organic farming are estimated to be uniformly significant and positive in the study districts. However, the impact on socio-cultural criteria is subjective to the eco-regional context. Cost savings, through producing organic inputs on-farm, maximizes synchrony among the three pillars vis-à-vis sourcing these inputs from the market. With more reliance on organic inputs, better prospects are estimated for small and rain-fed farms compared to large and irrigated farms.     

Role of nano-additive blended biodiesel on emission characteristics of the research diesel engine

The current experimental study is aimed to analyze the influence of single-walled Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) on the emission characteristics of neem biodiesel-fueled (NBD-fueled) diesel engine and the results compared with conventional diesel. Experiments were conducted in a single-cylinder, 4-stroke, diesel engine with an eddy current dynamometer at a constant speed of 1500 rpm. Two samples of CNT are characterized and dispersed into 100% of the NBD in a mass fraction of 50 and 100 ppm using ultrasonicator, and the physicochemical properties were measured. Experimental results indicated that by adding CNT nanoparticles in NBD reduces its NO_x, HC, CO, and smoke emission by 9.2%, 6.7%, 5.9%, and 7.8%, respectively, at all load conditions.     

Bioavailability and risk assessment of trace metals in sediments of a high-altitude eutrophic lake,Ooty, Tamil Nadu,India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Ooty lake, in the southern part of India, has raised huge concern about the role of metals in a lake due to increasing anthropogenic activities....     

Impact of policies favouring organic inputs on small farms in Karnataka, India: a multicriteria approach

Over 56% of the population of Karnataka state in India depends on agriculture for its livelihood. A majority of these are small and marginal farmers, with land under 2?ha, responsible for nearly half the food production in the state. The increasing rate of farmers’ suicides in the state is reportedly fuelled among others, by increasing input costs, crop failure and accumulating debt. This triggered several policy measures, intended to improve the sustainability of farm livelihoods including those promoting organic practices in farming. The paper presents the results of a multicriteria analysis conducted to comprehend the effects of two different practice–policy scenarios on smallholders in Karnataka—one scenario ‘with policy’ (WP) to support organic agricultural practices and the other a ‘business as usual’ (BAU) scenario that continues to stress on market-based, synthetic inputs for cultivation. The paper integrates results from quantitative and participatory techniques to compare and project effects on ecological, economic and socio-cultural indicators. Ecological and economic indicators in WP are projected to be significantly higher than BAU in a majority of the study sites, while socio-cultural indicators show mixed outcomes, depending on regional and social characteristics. Across the study sites, small and rain-fed farms are benefitted better in WP compared to large and irrigated farms, respectively. Among small and rain-fed farms, soil fertility, water quality, agro-diversity, net income and freedom from indebtedness improve considerably, while there is slight reduction in collective activities and no perceivable change in land-based subsistence.     

Plastic litter accumulation on high-water strandline of urban beaches in Mumbai, India

Today, almost every beach on every coastline is threatened by human activities. The inadequate recycling and poor management of waste in developing countries has resulted in considerable quantities of plastic contaminating beaches. Though India has long coastline of 5,420 km along the mainland with 43 % of sandy beaches, data on litter accumulation, particularly the plastics, which are one of the most common and persistent pollutants in marine environment, are scanty. The abundance and distribution of plastic litter was quantitatively assessed in four sandy beaches in Mumbai, India, bimonthly from May 2011 to March 2012. Triplicates of 2?×?2 m (4 m²) quadrats were sampled in each beach with a total of 72 quadrats. Overall, average abundance of 11.6 items m^?2 (0.25–282.5 items m^?2) and 3.24 g m^?2 (0.27–15.53 g m^?2) plastic litter was recorded in Mumbai beaches. Plastic litter accumulation significantly varied temporally and spatially at p?=?0.05. Significantly higher plastic litter accumulation was recorded in Juhu beach. Furthermore, the highest abundance by weight was recorded in November and May numerically. More than 80 % of plastic particles were within the size range of 5–100 mm both by number and weight. Moreover, coloured plastics were predominant with 67 % by number of items and 51 % by weight. Probably, the intense use of beaches for recreation, tourism, and religious activities has increased the potential for plastic contamination in urban beaches in Mumbai.     

Microbial decolorization of synthetic dyes and reactive dyes of industrial effluents by using a novel fungus Aspergillus proliferans

A decolorizing fungal strain was isolated and identified by the morphology and genotypic characterization as Aspergillus proliferans. The effect of A. proliferans on decolorization of synthetic dyes (70 mg ml(-1)) and colored effluent was evaluated in liquid culture medium. A. proliferans expressed their effective decolorization activity in effectual decolorization of synthetic dyes and industrial effluent. Synthetic dyes were decolorized by 76 to 89% within 6 days of treatment and 73.5% of color was removed in industrial effluent within 8 days. The addition of optimum carbon and nitrogen sources were effectively stimulated the decolorization activity. The high concentration of glucose repressed the decolorization activity and supplementation of yeast extract has significantly enhanced the effluent decolorization at p < 0.05. Laccase enzyme was isolated from liquid state fermentation, which showed significant enzyme activity (10,200 Uml(-1)) at p < 0.005. The crude enzyme decolorizes the dyes aniline blue and congo red in 14 hours (40.9 to 70%) and the effluent in 14 hours (88.6%). Moreover, the culture free supernatant without the fungal biomass has also effectively decolorized the effluent and synthetic dyes. The fungi Aspergillus proliferans was used not only for decolorization but also for better bioremediation of industrial effluent.