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.     

Mercury emissions and partitioning from Indian coal-fired power plants

In India coal combustion is the single largest source of emission of mercury which is a wide-spread persistent global toxicant, travelling across international borders through air and water. As a party to the Minamata convention, India aims to monitor and reduce Hg emissions and stricter norms are introduced for mercury emissions from power plants (30 μg/Nm³for flue gas in stack).This paper presents the results obtained during the experimental studies performed on mercury emissions at four coal-fired and one lignite-fired power plants in India. The mercury concentration in the feed coal varied between 0.12–0.27 mg/Kg. In the mercury mass balance, significant proportion of feed coal mercury has been found to be associated with fly ash, whereas bottom ash contained very low mercury. 80%–90% of mercury was released to air through stack gas. However, for circulating fluidised bed boiler burning lignite, about 64.8% of feed mercury was found to get captured in the fly ash and only 32.4% was released to air. The mercury emission factor was found to lie in the range of 4.7–15.7 mg/GJ.     

Designing hydro-energy led economic growth for pollution abatement: evidence from BRICS

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Overutilized hydro-energy production through non-sustainable mode is detrimental for both the economy and the environment. Intermittent consumption of...     

Familial congenital diaphragmatic hernia: Prenatal diagnosis,management, and outcome

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a developmental defect of as yet unknown aetiology which accounts for 8 per cent of all major congenital anomalies and is associated with up to 80 per cent mortality despite optimal postnatal treatment. The risk of recurrence of CDH for future sibs after one affected infant is about 2 per cent. A multifactorial/threshold inheritance pattern with an observed high male:female sex ratio is currently favoured for the rare occurrence of familial CDH, although other modes of inheritance have also been described. We report three cases of familial CDH, two of whom were brother and sister sibs and the third was a first cousin, born within 18 months of each other. The diagnosis was by ultrasound and there were several factors predicting a poor outcome. The mortality in this group was 100 per cent. The prenatal diagnosis, treatment options, the unusual genetic aspects, outcome, and the pathology involved are discussed.     

Preparation and Properties of Biodegradable Foams

Foam extrusion of biodegradable polyester [poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT)] and its blends with maleated thermoplastic starch (MTPS) using a chemical blowing agent was performed. The effect of MTPS and percentage of chemical blowing agent on various foam properties is discussed. In general, an increased amount of PBAT in the foams improves the properties of the foams. The foam samples were characterized by measurements of density, expansion ratio, specific length, compressive strength, resiliency, moisture sorption, and imaging using digital light microscopy. Density, expansion ratio, and specific length measurements show that the best characteristics of lowest density, highest expansion ratio, and highest specific length are exhibited by the PBAT samples. The compressive strength and foam density exhibit a power-law relationship. Greater amounts of PBAT in the samples increase the resiliency and decrease the steady state weight gain during moisture sorption. All samples show regions of unfoamed material when only 3% chemical blowing agent is used, but when 5 and 7% chemical blowing agent is used, the samples exhibit cells throughout the matrix.     

Adaptation potential of ecosystem-based management to climate change in the eastern Canadian boreal forest

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) of forests is gaining acceptance for its focus on the maintenance of the long-term integrity of ecosystem processes, but climate change challenges this view because of its impacts on these very processes. We have therefore evaluated the robustness of EBM to projected climate change, considering the role of climate on forest growth and fire regime in a boreal forest of eastern Canada. A climate sensitive growth index model was calibrated for three commercial species and used to project the evolution of merchantable volume for two climate scenarios (B1 and A2) under conventional and EBM strategies. Current burn rate and burn rates under future climate scenarios were also considered. Under the most extreme projected climate scenario, the periodic timber supply could be reduced by up to 79% through direct (growth reduction) and indirect (fire) effects. However, ecological indicators show that EBM is a more robust forest management strategy than conventional one demonstrating its adaptation potential to climate change at least in the short term.     

Butyltins in the sediments of Kochi and Mumbai harbours, west coast of India

Surface sediment samples were collected from various locations in the Mumbai and Kochi harbours, west coast of India, to assess the presence of butyltin compounds. Tributyltin (TBT) and dibutyltin (DBT) varied from 16 to 16,816 ng/g dry wt. and from undetected to 469 ng/g dry wt., respectively, of the sediment in Kochi harbour. In Mumbai harbour, the values of TBT and DBT ranged between 4.5 and 1193 ng/g dry wt. and from undetected to 131 ng/g dry wt. of the sediments, respectively. The concentrations of both TBT and DBT showed strong seasonal variation probably due to the effect of tides and currents. Nevertheless, the levels of butyltin compounds were generally higher at sites influenced by shipping activities such as navigation, dry dock and ship-building activities. The presence of DBT indicates the abiotic or microbiological degradation of TBT. Compared to TBT, DBT was relatively less abundant, suggesting either fresh inputs of TBT and/or less degradation of TBT. The concentrations of TBT showed significant positive relationships with organic carbon and lipid, implying that both lipophilic and ionic interactions were probably involved in controlling the abundance of TBT at these sediments. The observed levels of butyltin compounds are much higher than those required to induce toxic effects on marine organisms, suggesting that these sediments were contaminated with butyltin compounds.     

Applications of smart grid technology in Nepal: status,challenges, and opportunities

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Energy transformation and sustainability have become a challenge, especially for developing countries, which face broad energy-related issues such as...