Hot extrusion process modeling using a coupled upper bound-finite element method

A thermo-mechanical model has been developed for modeling of hot extrusion processes. Accordingly, an admissible velocity field was first proposed by means of stream function method and then, extrusion pressure as well as temperature variations within the metal and the die were predicted employing a combined upper bound and Petrov–Galerkin finite element analysis. In order to evaluate the model predictions, hot extrusion of AA6061-10%SiC_p was considered under both isothermal and non-isothermal conditions and the predicted force–displacement diagrams under various extrusion conditions were compared with the experimental ones and reasonable consistency was found between the two sets of results.     

基于TEM模型的民航不安全事件关联规则挖掘与分析*

为了预防民航不安全事件的发生,应用机组威胁与差错管理（TEM）模型分析2014—2020年民航事故/征候的航空安全报告资料,提取事件里存在于民航运行风险中潜在的情况、威胁、机组差错等因素,通过改进的关联规则方法挖掘其中的关联关系,包括挖掘与事件严重程度有关的因素,找到TEM模型中的关键因素和影响航空器结束状态的致因因素,并进行关联网络图分析。研究结果表明:手动操纵/飞行控制差错、缺少/不足的飞行培训和安全管理、飞行员之间沟通差错与程序执行错误是造成事故/征候的显著因素;关联规则能够有效利用航空安全报告信息,通过定量的方法挖掘事故/征候的特征,找到影响民航不安全事件的强关联因素,为民航安全管理人员提供决策依据。     

An imprecise Fault Tree Analysis for the estimation of the Rate of OCcurrence Of Failure (ROCOF)

The paper proposes an imprecise Fault Tree Analysis in order to characterize systems affected by the lack of reliability data. Differently from other research works, the paper introduces a classification of basic events into two categories, namely Initiators and Enablers. Actually, in real industrial systems some events refer to component failures or process parameter deviations from normal operating conditions (Initiators), whereas others refer to the functioning of safety barriers to be activated on demand (Enablers). As a consequence, the output parameter of interest is not the classical probability of occurrence of the top event, but its Rate of OCcurrence (ROCOF) over a stated period of time. In order to characterize the basic events, interval-valued information supplied by experts are properly aggregated and propagated to the top. To this purpose, the Dempster–Shafer Theory of evidence is proposed as a more appropriate mathematical framework than the classical probabilistic one. The proposed methodology, applied to a real industrial scenario, can be considered a helpful tool to support risk managers working in industrial plants.     

Experimental investigation of fast flame propagation in stratified hydrogen–air mixtures in semi-confined flat layers

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation on fast flame propagation and the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) and following detonation propagation in a semi-confined flat layer filled with stratified hydrogen–air mixtures. The experiments were performed in a transparent, rectangular channel open from below. The combustion channel has a width of 0.3 m and a length of 2.5 m. The effective layer thickness in the channel was varied by using different linear hydrogen concentration gradients. The method to create quasi-linear hydrogen concentration gradients that differ in the range and slope is also presented. The ignited mixtures were accelerated quickly to sonic flame speed in the first obstructed part of the channel. The interaction of the fast flame propagation with different obstacle set-ups was studied in the second part of the channel. The experimental results show an initiation of DDT by one additional metal grid in the obstructed semi-confined flat layer. Detonation propagation and failed detonation propagation were observed in obstructed and unobstructed parts of the channel.     

Issues of the Human Reliability Analysis in the Context of Probabilistic Safety Studies

This article addresses methodological issues of the human reliability analysis (HRA) in the context of probabilistic safety studies. Several conventional HRA techniques, more often used for the evaluation of the human error probabilities (HEPs), have been classified. A taxonomy of human actions, failure events, and related factors is outlined in order to distinguish action phases, human behavior types and incorrect outputs (errors of omission or commission), error types (slips, lapses, and mistakes), and performance-shaping factors (PSFs) influencing the human performance. A tree is proposed to facilitate the selection of a specific method for the evaluation of human reliability with regard to attributes of the situation analyzed. A software system based on the expert system technology to facilitate and document PSA and HRA is outlined. At the end of the article some research challenges in the domain are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Shift Work Schedules and Spillover in a Sample of Nurses

The aim of the present study was to estimate spillover effects between the work and the family sphere in a sample of nurses (N = 2058). Hierarchical regression analyses investigated whether shift work schedules were associated with negative or positive spillover, both from family to work and vice versa, controlling for demographic factors, job demands and decision latitude. With daytime work as a reference group, all types of shift work (day and evening shift, night shift only and rotating 3 shift) were associated with higher negative work-to-family spillover. Night work was associated with significantly less negative family-to-work spillover. None of the different shift work schedules were related to any type of positive spillover. The results indicate that working outside of daytime hours is less compatible with workers’ family lives, compared to working ordinary day shifts. On the other hand, working night shifts only was associated with reduced negative family-to-work spillover.     

民爆企业废气排放现状及治理措施研究

通过对某民爆企业废气排放现状进行分析发现,该厂废气主要来源于稀硝酸配制产生的硝烟和粉尘、硫化氢、爆炸烟气、硝烟、一甲胺的无组织排放。针对该企业废气排放现状,提出了采用新建硝烟吸收罐对稀硝酸配制过程中产生的硝烟进行吸收处理和拟采用碱液吸收系统对产生的硫化氢气体进行处理等治理措施。     

Environmental Activism in Provincial China

Environmental activism and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not limited to major cities, but have gradually taken root in provincial and local politics in China. This paper compares the development and characteristics of environmental activism in Guangdong province and Guangxi autonomous region, with the aim of shedding light on the causes of regional disparities in this field. With extensive and strong ties to peer organizations across issue areas within the province, grassroots environmental groups in Guangdong have grown as an integral part of local civil society. They have survived, through mutual-support, on a larger scale than those in Guangxi. Also, with a higher level of networking and capacity, environmental NGOs in Guangdong are more able to utilize the new opportunities offered by recent institutional reforms in social management and environmental protection in the province. The paper, thus, challenges the argument that over-emphasizes the domination of the state and points out that inter-organizational partnerships and the overall maturity of the civil society sector contribute most to the uneven development of grassroots environmental activism.     

Scapegoating in the Wild: A Burkean Analysis of Two Outdoor Adventures Gone Wrong

Aron Ralston and Christopher McCandless, two outdoor adventurers, have captured the hearts of many American environmentalists. Each has attained the status of cultural icons and inspired books and films to recount their tales. While entertainment media have romanticized both individuals, news media are not as easy on one—McCandless is vilified while Ralston is valorized. When reporting these stories, news media outlets attempted to retell each story in a way that conforms to the dominant American ideology of wilderness, where “progress” is marked by control over nature—control that both Ralston and McCandless clearly unsettled. In addition, both committed many of the same errors in being underprepared. Despite these similarities, why are they each presented so differently in the news media? This paper offers a rhetorical analysis of newspaper articles on each story, where the phenomenon of scapegoating alienates McCandless, and the phenomenon of mortification purifies Ralston, restabilizing this American environmental ideology in both stories. In conclusion, I argue that the essential difference between these two stories is that they present two opposing ideals of a human–nature relationship, with Ralston's ideology including a space for technology and industrial knowledge, and thus construed as more appropriate than McCandless' ideology.     

Achieving sustainability in manufacturing via organisational and operational learning

The contribution contained in this paper focuses on providing a possible framework or approach in respect of how manufacturing companies can economically introduce environmentally friendly practices to their production operations, whilst at the same time encouraging organisational and operational learning with the aim of eventual evolution of the firm into an eco-efficient concern. A key premise associated with the approach advocated is economical organisational and operational learning over time, thus providing a sequential movement of the company through various stages of cultural change and technological capability to eventually achieve eco-efficiency in its production activities. At each stage in the process, it is suggested that a balance must be maintained between on the one hand, a reduction in operational economics consistent with on the other hand, an improvement in the environmental sustainability of company activities. To that end, some previously suggested monitoring metrics are examined in the text for their efficacy and economic rapport via hypothetical examples of how they might be applied in practice to monitor movement towards industrial–environmental sustainability.