Experimental investigation of the effect of occupant characteristics on contemporary seat belt payout behavior in frontal impacts

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of the occupant characteristics on seat belt force vs. payout behavior based on experiment data from different configurations in frontal impacts.

Methods: The data set reviewed consists of 58 frontal sled tests using several anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) and postmortem human subjects (PMHS), restrained by different belt systems (standard belt, SB; force-limiting belt, FLB) at 2 impact severities (48 and 29 km/h). The seat belt behavior was characterized in terms of the shoulder belt force vs. belt payout behavior. A univariate linear regression was used to assess the factor significance of the occupant body mass or stature on the peak tension force and gross belt payout.

Results: With the SB, the seat belt behavior obtained by the ATDs exhibited similar force slopes regardless of the occupant size and impact severities, whereas those obtained by the PMHS were varied. Under the 48 km/h impact, the peak tension force and gross belt payout obtained by ATDs was highly correlated to the occupant stature (P =.03, P =.02) and body mass (P =.05, P =.04), though no statistical difference with the stature or body mass were noticed for the PMHS (peak force: P =.09, P =.42; gross payout: P =.40, P =.48). With the FLB under the 48 km/h impact, highly linear relationships were noticed between the occupant body mass and the peak tension force (R² = 0.9782) and between the gross payout and stature (R² = 0.9232) regardless of the occupant types.

Conclusions: The analysis indicated that the PMHS characteristics showed a significant influence on the belt response, whereas the belt response obtained with the ATDs was more reproducible. The potential cause included the occupant anthropometry, body mass distribution, and relative motion among body segments specific to the population variance. This study provided a primary data source to understand the biomechanical interaction of the occupant with the restraint system. Further research is necessary to consider these effects in the computational studies and optimized design of the restraint system in a more realistic manner.     

Science-practice interactions linked to climate adaptation in two contexts: municipal planning and forestry in Sweden

This paper examines the science-practice interface in the process of adapting to climate change in society. This paper analyses science-based stakeholder dialogues with climate scientists, municipal officers and private individual forest owners in Sweden, and examines how local experts both share scientific knowledge and experience and integrate it into their work strategies and practices. The results demonstrate how local experts jointly conceptualise climate adaptation, how scientific knowledge is domesticated among local experts in dialogue with scientific experts, the emergence of anchoring devices, and the boundary-spanning functions that are at work in the respective sectors.     

IMPACT OF THERMAL STANDARDS ON POWER PLANT WATER CONSUMPTION1

Power plant water consumption (evaporative water loss) for various river temperature standards is presented for existing and proposed power plants located along the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Rivers in the MAPP geographical area. Thermodynamic and economic models are combined to evaluate the cooling related water consumption at various river thermal standards. The existing thermal standards and a number of other hypothetical thermal regulations including the extreme cases of no thermal standards and no allowable heated discharges are examined to show the dependence on thermal standards of power production related water consumption. A critical appraisal of the cost of thermal standards in terms of water consumption is thereby possible so that subjective assessments of the standards can proceed with full knowledge of the tradeoffs involved between the “water costs” of power production and environmental enhancement.     

Revised emergency vacuum relief device sizing for atmospheric distillation systems

Conventional vacuum relief methodologies are usually protective responses; that is, they accomplish their purpose by substitution of an inert gas (usually nitrogen) for the process gases removed by an external vacuum source, or for condensable vapour collapsed by an internal process mechanism (e.g. condensation). While this approach is theoretically possible for all potential vacuum scenarios, it becomes practically impossible to implement for installations where a rapid phase change can impart near-instantaneous system pressure reductions. The procedure outlined in this paper takes a preventive approach: eliminate the source of vacuum generation before the safe lower system pressure limit is reached. For distillation and other refluxing systems, this vacuum source is usually the main overhead condenser, which is designed to collapse large volumes of condensable vapour. To eliminate the vacuum source requires elimination of the system's ability to rapidly condense vapour. This goal is accomplished by introduction of inert gas directly into the condensing system to ‘blanket’ the heat transfer surface and stop condensation. The procedure determines the rate, amount and location for introduction of inert gas. The required design data include: (i) system starting pressure, (ii) maximum allowable system vacuum, (iii) volume of the condensing system, and (iv) normal system condensing rate. By determining the rate at which the condenser removes vapour volume from the system, and designing an inert gas delivery system to meet or exceed this rate, the vacuum generation potential of the system is effectively eliminated using a much smaller quantity of inert gas than with the more traditional volume substitution methods.     

两种可靠性评估方法对总体样本中哑弹检出效率的研究

目的 运用GJB 376A—2019和GJB 8185—2015可靠性评估方法,通过样本的发火试验,对发生哑弹的故障中与火工品关联的底事件检出率进行研究,提出更合理、更科学的应用方法以及改进建议。方法 采用蒙特卡洛模拟仿真的方法,研究升降法标准差估值无偏情况下,2个标准中规定的可靠性评估方法对底事件的检出效率。结果 GJB 376A—2019规定的方法对于哑弹的检出效率远高于GJB 8185—2015规定的方法。结论 GJB 376A—2019更便于工程应用,GJB 8185—2015存在哑弹检出效率方面的局限性,建议在标准中进行的升降法试验程序中,增加对于出现的不发火样品的约束条件。     

地震序列下桥梁连梁装置的防落梁效果分析

在各类地震序列中,主-余震所占比例最大。主震震级越高其余震的震级亦越高,对结构的破坏越大。桥梁结构作为重要交通枢纽工程,其在整个地震序列发生时应确保通行,起到生命线工程的作用。选用集集地震序列对桥梁结构进行非线性时程分析,发现结构在主震作用下梁墩相对位移过大、主梁发生落座,余震作用下结构有发生落梁的可能。对结构设置防落梁装置,并进行非线性时程分析,结果显示连梁装置可有效抑制桥梁上、下部结构相对位移,提高结构抗推能力与整体性,保证了结构在整个地震序列中不发生落梁震害。在抗震分析中,应考虑到强余震对结构带来的影响,保证损伤结构在地震序列中的安全。     

Assessment of the Usefulness of Semipermeable Membrane Devices for Long-Term Watershed Monitoring in an Urban Slough System

Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed at eight sites within the Buffalo Slough, near Portland, Oregon, to (1) measure the spatial and seasonal distribution of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and organochlorine (OC) compounds in the slough, (2) assess the usefulness of SPMDs as a tool for investigating and monitoring hydrophobic compounds throughout the Columbia Slough system, and (3) evaluate the utility of SPMDs as a tool for measuring the long-term effects of watershed improvement activities. Data from the SPMDs revealed clear spatial and seasonal differences in water quality within the slough and indicate that for hydrophobic compounds, this time-integrated passive-sampling technique is a useful tool for long-term watershed monitoring. In addition, the data suggest that a spiking rate of 2–5 μg/SPMD of permeability/performance reference compounds, including at least one compound that is not susceptible to photodegradation, may be optimum for the conditions encountered here.     

Sampling of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with semipermeable membrane devices

Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) are nowadays used as passive samplers of organic pollutants. The knowledge of the sampling rate values (R_S) of each substance trapped on membranes is necessary to calculate their average concentration. Here we calculate R_S values for 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using the comparison of active sampling method results and the amounts sequestered by SPMDs at varying exposure times.Selected article from the Regional Symposium on Chemistry and Environment, Krusevac, Serbia, June 2003, organized by Dr. Branimir Jovancicevic.     

EVALUATION OF THE SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER WITHDRAWALS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1995 TO 20251

To evaluate the long term sustainability of water withdrawals in the United States, a county level analysis of the availability of renewable water resources was conducted, and the magnitudes of human withdrawals from surface water and ground water sources and the stored water requirements during the warmest months of the year were evaluated. Estimates of growth in population and electricity generation were then used to estimate the change in withdrawals assuming that the rates of water use either remain at their current levels (the business as usual scenario) or that they exhibit improvements in efficiency at the same rate as observed over 1975 to 1995 (the improved efficiency scenario). The estimates show several areas, notably the Southwest and major metropolitan areas throughout the United States, as being likely to have significant new storage requirements with the business‐as‐usual scenario, under the condition of average water availability. These new requirements could be substantially eliminated under the improved efficiency scenario, thus indicating the importance of water use efficiency in meeting future requirements. The national assessment identified regions of potential water sustainability concern; these regions can be the subject of more targeted data collection and analyses in the future.     

SPMD技术的应用与研究进展

综述了半透膜装置（SPMD）在环境科学研究中的进展状况。回顾了SPMD的产生历程，分析了SPMD富集和监测疏水有机污染物的原理。综述了SPMD在气、水、沉积物、化肥及石油等环境中疏水性有机污染物的监测、污染物的生物有效性的评价、类脂物样品中污染物的提取、有机污染物的毒理作用的测定等几方面的研究进展状况。并就SPMD在上述几个方面研究、应用中的不足以及今后发展的方向提出了一些看法。