Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Passive safety'

This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge relating to crash compatibility (the minimisation of injury risk faced by all participants involved in a collision in traffic). The research focuses on the topic of structural interaction in collisions involving passenger vehicles, a phenomenon describing the efficiency of energy dissipation within existing deformation-zones of a passenger vehicle during a collision. A new definition for structural interaction was developed and several metrics to evaluate structural interaction and compatibility in car-to-car collisions were proposed, based on the commonly known Equivalent Energy Speed (EES) metric. The new EES metrics describe equivalent closing velocities for a given collision based on the energy dissipated within the front-ends (EESFF) and the entire structure (EESVV) of both vehicles involved in a head-on collision. These metrics form the basis of the new knowledge generated by this research. Additionally, a new method was developed to measure the amount of energy dissipated through structural deformation in a collision, based on accelerometer readings. This method was applied to several experimental and simulationbased car-to-car collisions and the validity of the method was proven. Based on the energy dissipation which occurred in the car-to-car collisions analysed, the degree of compatibility reached and the level of structural interaction which occurred in each collision was evaluated by applying the newly developed EESFF and EESVV metrics. Thie research also investigates the assessment of vehicles' structures in a standardized procedure with a view to improving structural interaction in the real-world. Several fixed barrier crash tests have been proposed in different configurations and with different assessment criteria. All assessments aim to evaluate the geometrical characteristics of the front-ends of passenger vehicles. A set of factors required from a compatilibility assessment focused on assessing vehicle geometry were identified. The proposed compatibility assessment procedures were evaluated based on their ability to predict the potential for structural interaction offered by passenger vehicles.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) present heavy burdens for the public health care system, and current pharmacovigilance activities are challenged by the under-reporting of ADRs in spontaneous reporting systems and a lack of incentive for industry to conduct rigorous post-approval research. As part of a new lifecycle approach to drug regulation, Health Canada recently announced plans to develop a new health product vigilance framework that will allocate drug safety resources using prioritization schemes focused on higher risk. These plans include the development of official policy requirements for industry to submit formal Risk Management Plans to Health Canada. This thesis argues that this approach is limited by lack of transparency and standardization, burdens on health care practitioners, and a risk of causing treatment disparities. This thesis presents alternative measures for improving post-market drug safety surveillance through initiatives for enhancing ADR data collection systems. These include the use of electronic health records for automated reporting by health care professionals, the screening of health-related social media sites for ADR reports, and the use of internet-based prescription monitoring systems to solicit ADR reports. This thesis also proposes options for improved post-approval research efforts. These include enhanced legislative authority for Health Canada to mandate post-market research commitments to drug sponsors as conditions of approval, offering extensions on data protection to sponsors in exchange for comparative effectiveness research, implementing mandatory industry-sourced funding for objective third-party research, and ensuring that the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network contains adequate patient representation. In the current context of limited health care resources, these alternatives merit further consideration, including consultation and validation with relevant stakeholders, in order determine the most value-added methods for improving drug safety surveillance.
Les manifestations indésirables dues aux médicaments représentent une lourde charge pour le la santé publique d'autant plus que les activités actuelles de pharmacovigilance sont limitées, d'une part par le fait qu'un bon nombre de rapports spontanés ne sont pas comptabilisés dans les différentes bases de données et d'autre part parce qu'il n'existe pas suffisamment d'incitatifs pour encourager l'industrie à mener des recherches systématiques après qu'un médicament ait été approuvé. Dans le cadre d'une nouvelle approche de la réglementation des médicaments basée sur le cycle de vie de ceux-ci, Santé Canada a récemment annoncé son intention de développer un nouveau cadre sur la surveillance des produits de santé qui permettra d'allouer à l'innocuité des médicaments les ressources selon des priorités établies en fonction d'un risque plus élevé. Ce projet inclut le développement d'une politique officielle pour exiger de l'industrie qu'elle soumette des plans concrets de gestion du risque à Santé Canada. Ce mémoire soutient que cette approche contient des limitations causées par un manque de transparence et d'uniformisation, qu'elle représente un fardeau additionnel pour les professionnels de la santé et qu'elle risque de causer des disparités dans le traitement des données recueillies.Ce mémoire présente des mesures alternatives visant à améliorer le suivi au sujet de l'innocuité des médicaments une fois que ces derniers sont sur le marché, en utilisant des initiatives visant à améliorer les systèmes de collection des rapports de manifestations indésirables. Ces mesures incluent l'utilisation de registres de santé informatisés pour les rapports automatisés provenant des professionnels de la santé, le criblage de sites Internet de type médias sociaux ayant un lien avec les rapports de manifestations indésirables et l'utilisation de systèmes de surveillance Internet pour solliciter les rapports de manifestations indésirables. Ce mémoire propose également diverses options pour l'amélioration des efforts de recherche une fois le médicament approuvé. Les propositions incluent une autorité législative plus grande pour Santé Canada pour inclure comme condition d'approbation des engagements fermes de la part des fabricants de médicaments d'effectuer de la recherche post-commercialisation, offrir aux compagnies des extensions pour la protection de données en échange de recherche comparative sur l'efficacité, la mise en œuvre obligatoire de sources de financement provenant de l'industrie pour des recherches indépendantes effectuées par un tiers-parti et assurer que le Réseau sur l'innocuité et l'efficacité des médicaments contient une représentation adéquate des patients. Dans le contexte actuel où les ressources allouées au système de santé sont limitées, ces alternatives méritent qu'on s'y attarde davantage, et que l'on inclue la consultation et la validation avec les parties concernées, dans le but de déterminer les méthodes à plus grande valeur ajoutée pour l'amélioration de la surveillance de l'innocuité des médicaments.

In this thesis project a concrete sandwich wall element of 250 mm insulation of Kooltherm has been resulted to have U-values and ψ-values closer to the passive housing recommendations. However, by using 180 mm thick insulation, no significant difference in the annual energy consumption is observed. Using a metal sheet in the window connection and small concrete brackets, low thermal bridge values are achieved. Low thermal bridge coefficient values were also observed with thick insulation in the foundation and the roof structure, although, it is impossible to achieve values below 0,01 W/mK in the corner connections. Airtightness of the building envelope is more important than the thickness of the wall in the energy consumption simulations. Therefore, the thermal bridging and the U-values of the wall are, in most cases, dependent on the thickness of the element. No conclusions on the structural reliability of the solutions can be extracted from this thesis project. In order to conclude the statements above, this thesis project has been focused on the evaluation and design of a concrete sandwich wall panel. The design of the wall element, including its reinforcement and connectors, while achieving values according to passive housing regulations, is the initial goal of this project. Subsequently, connections between the building components and the wall element are analyzed and designed through several simulations according to the passive housing regulations respectively. Simulation tests took place in Sweco Structures AB offices with the valuable contribution of experts. An existing building project was used and evaluated in order to present the simulation results in a more realistic manner. Several insulation materials have been tested for the thermal and moisture reliability. Using the existing building as a base for information, energy simulations generated the energy consumption results in order to compare different wall thicknesses, and thermal bridging effects. This project is inspired by the needs of building sustainability and efficiency, which has become a significant part of the worldwide effort on reducing the energy consumption on the planet. Regulations regarding building technology have been completely changed and adjusted in the passive housing design. Particular effort has been put on the commercial and multi-residential buildings, in which the energy consumption is usually higher than in small family houses. Concrete sandwich wall panels have been introduced in the building market as an alternative and more efficient way of constructing. Prefabrication has been proved to be less time consuming, although issues on the thermal behavior appear in this kind of structure. The evaluation of the thermal efficiency of the concrete sandwich wall elements has been a significant issue in the civil engineering society and research.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-123).
This work investigates whether the advanced light water reactor designs with passive safety systems are more desirable than advanced reactor designs with active safety systems from the point of view of uncertainty in the performance of safety systems as well as the economic implications of the passive safety systems. Two advanced pressurized water reactors and two advanced boiling water reactors, one representing passive reactors and the other active reactors for each type of coolant, are compared in terms of operation and responses to accidents as reported by the vendors. Considering a simplified decay heat removal system that utilizes an isolation condenser for decay heat removal, the uncertainty in the main parameters affecting the system performance upon a reactor isolation accident is characterized when the system is to rely on natural convection and when it is to rely on a pump to remove the core heat. It is found that the passive system is less certain in its performance if the pump of the active system is tested at least once every five months. In addition, a cost model is used to evaluate the economic differences and benefits between the active and passive reactors. It is found that while the passive systems could have the benefit of fewer components to inspect and maintain during operation, they do suffer from a larger uncertainty about the time that would be required for their licensing due to more limited data on the reliability of their operation. Finally, a survey among nuclear energy experts with a variety of affiliations was conducted to determine the current professional attitude towards these two competing nuclear design options. The results of the survey show that reactors with passive safety systems are more desirable among the surveyed expert groups. The perceived advantages of passive systems are an increase in plant safety with a decrease in cost.
by Ryan C. Eul.
S.M.

The key objectives in introducing passive features in thesafety systems for Light Water Reactor (LWR) are to increasetheir reliability, to simplify the design of the plants and toimprove performance and economics. Component and integralsystem tests in scaled facilities are required for optimizingthe design and for certification of these safety systems.Experimental programs are also needed for a betterunderstanding of all significant physical phenomena on thebasis of which the passive safety systems function.

In thefirst partof the thesis the results of an investigationon melt coolability with bottom coolant injection arepresented. Ex-vessel coolability of a molten pool and/or debrisis, perhaps the most vexing remaining issue, needingresolution, in the beyond the design-base safety assessment forthe current and the future light water reactor plants. Latephase of the progression of a severe accident is associatedwith corium-melt discharge from the Reactor Pressure Vessel(RPV) and its relocation on the concrete basemat in the form ofa debris bed consisting of liquid/particulate corium. The coredebris generates decay heat and attacks the concrete basematand the containment structures and continues to do so, untilthe coolability of debris bed is achieved. Failure to assurethe coolability of the debris bed is tantamount to the failureto assure the termination of the severe accident. A researchprogram named DECOBI was developed at the Nuclear Power Safetydivision of the Royal Institute of Technology to study thecoolability of melt pools with bottom coolant injection whichoccurs passively through nozzles embeddedin concrete whichopen after ablation of a predetermined depth of concretebasemat. The research objective was to explore the mechanism ofhigh heat transfer and in particular the large scale porosityformation. In the DECOBI program first a series of experimentswere performed at low temperature, by using transparent pooland coolant that allows the visualization of the flow patternduring the pool-coolant interaction. The parameters governingthe early stages of the coolant phase change and dispersion inthe pool are identified through these visual experiments.

Experiments were performed also with metallic (Pb) andbinary oxide simulants (CaO-B₂O₃, MnO-TiO₂, CaO-WO₃), such that a substantial range of parametersinfluencing coolant-melt interaction and the subsequent debrisstructure was investigated. The molten metal (Pb) has highconductivity and low viscosity, which results in a high heattransfer rate and mixing of pool and coolant. The coolingprocess occurs rapidly and the porosity, after solidificationhas a fine and quite uniform structure. On the contrary theoxide mixture CaO-B₂O₃has high temperature, low conductivity, highviscosity and glassy material structure, which resulted inlower heat transfer rate and more difficult pool-coolantmixing. In the coolant-contacted regions, directly above thenozzle locations, an interconnected branched channel typeporosity was obtained. These regions had high porosity and theyquenched due to the continuous passage of coolant, even longafter solidification. The other regions did not developporosity because the crust formed outside the quenched regions,prevented the direct contact of coolant with these regions.These regions, however, could conduct heat to the adjacent coldregions and cooled eventually. The experiments performed usingtheoxide mixtures CaO-WO₃and MnO-TiO₂(which have lower viscosity compared to that ofCaO-B₂O₃and a ceramic material structure) showed betterpool-coolant mixing and rapid quenching of the melt. Theporosity obtained was uniformly distributed throughout themelt. DECOBI program, thus, reveals that, through this schemeof coolant injection the debris arriving in the containment asa result of vessel failure can be quenched in a relativelyshort time. Analysis performed, based on the insights gainedfrom the experiments, estimates the amount of porosity that canbe obtained with a single nozzle.

Thesecond partof the thesis is focused on the issue of thelight gas effects on the efficiency of a Passive ContainmentCooling System (PCCS) for a Boiling Water Reactor. The presenceof hydrogen affects the efficiency of PCCS, sincenon-condensable gases reduce the steam condensation rate andconsequently the efficiency of the condensers. The gasdistribution not only influences the PCC performance but alsoaffects the containment pressure build-up. The data and someanalysis of a series of four system transient tests performedin the PANDA facility, show that retention of non-condensablegas in the DW could mitigate the system pressure. The PCC(Passive Cooling Condenser) operation modes are qualitativelydiscussed and the PCCS performance is analyzed for one test byquantifying the major heat sinks (PCC pools, wetwell pool, RPVwater, structural materials, etc) and comparing them during thetest period with the decay heat (heat source) generated in theRPV. The heat transfer coefficients in one PCC have beendetermined for one test at selected times before, during andafter helium injection. In this way, the effect of light gashas been quantified in term of variation of heat transferrate.

Keywords:DECOBI, nuclear severe accident, PANDA,PCCS.

This thesis is devoted to the investigation of passivesafety and inherent features of subcritical nucleartransmutation systems - accelerator-driven systems. The generalobjective of this research has been to improve the safetyperformance and avoid elevated coolant temperatures inworst-case scenarios like unprotected loss-of-ow accidents,loss-of-heat-sink accidents, and a combination of both theseaccident initiators. The specific topics covered are emergencydecay heat removal by reactor vessel auxiliary cooling systems,beam shut-off by a melt-rupture disc, safety aspects fromlocating heat-exchangers in the riser of a pool-type reactorsystem, and reduction of pressure resistance in the primarycircuit by employing bypass routes.

The initial part of the research was focused on reactorvessel auxiliary cooling systems. It was shown that an 80 MWthPb/Bi-cooled accelerator-driven system of 8 m height and 6 mdiameter vessel can be well cooled in the case of loss-of-owaccidents in which the accelerator proton beam is not switchedoff. After a loss-of-heat-sink accident the proton beam has tobe interrupted within 40 minutes in order to avoid fast creepof the vessel. If a melt-rupture disc is included in the wallof the beam pipe, which breaks at 150 K above the normal coreoutlet temperature, the grace period until the beam has to beshut off is increased to 6 hours. For the same vessel geometry,but an operating power of 250 MWth the structural materials canstill avoid fast creep in case the proton beam is shut offimmediately. If beam shut-off is delayed, additional coolingmethods are needed to increase the heat removal. Investigationswere made on the filling of the gap between the guard and thereactor vessel with liquid metal coolant and using water spraycooling on the guard vessel surface.

The second part of the thesis presents examinationsregarding an accelerator-driven system also cooled with Pb/Bibut with heat-exchangers located in the risers of the reactorvessel. For a pool type design, this approach has advantages inthe case of heat-exchanger tube failures, particularly if wateris used as the secondary uid. This is because a leakage ofwater from the secondary circuit into the Pb/Bi-cooled primarycircuit leads to upward sweeping of steam bubbles, which wouldcollect in the gas plenum. In the case of heatexchangers in thedowncomer steam bubbles may be dragged into the ADS core andadd reactivity. Bypass routes are employed to increase the owspeed in loss-of-ow events for this design. It is shown thatthe 200 MWth accelerator-driven system with heat-exchangers inthe riser copes reasonably well with both a loss-of-ow accidentwith the beam on and an unprotected loss-of-heat-sink accident.For a total-loss-of-power (station blackout) and an immediatebeam-stop the core outlet temperature peaks at 680 K. After acombined loss-of-ow and loss-of-heat-sink accident the beamshould be shut off within 4 minutes to avoid exceeding the ASMElevel D of 977 K, and within 8 minutes to avoid fast creep.Assuming the same core inlet temperature, both the reactordesign with heat-exchanger in the risers and the downcomershave similar temperature evolutions after a total-loss-ofpoweraccident.

A large accelerator-driven system of 800 MWth with a 17 mtall vessel may eventually become a standard size. For thishigher power ADS, the location of the heat-exchangers hasgreater impact on the natural convection capability. This isdue to that larger heatexchangers have more inuence on thedistance between the thermal centers during a lossof- owaccident. The design with heat-exchangers in the downcomers,the long-term vessel temperature peaks at 996 K during aloss-of-ow accident with the beam on. This does not pose athreat of creep rupture for the vessel. However, the locationof the heat-exchangers in the downcomers will probably requiresecondary coolant other than water, like for example oil (fortemperatures not higher than 673 K) or Pb/Bi coolant.

This project focuses on the design and modeling of a two degree-of-freedom dissipative passive haptic display. Haptic displays are man-machine interfaces that transmit forces to the human operator. A dissipative passive haptic display is one that may only remove energy from the system using actuators such as brakes and dampers, thus ensuring the safety of the human operator. These devices may be used to implement virtual constraints such as desired paths and obstacles. Traditional friction brakes have previously been used as dissipative and coupling elements in a two degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator, resulting in undesired effects such as vibration, stiction, and slow response times. Alternatively, the new robot is actuated by rheological brakes, which feature fast response times and smooth application of torque. This approach aims to improve upon the accuracy and feel of the previous design. A commercial magnetorheological (MR) fluid brake was selected and put through an extensive series of tests. The data was used to develop a model that characterizes MR fluid behavior in low speed braking applications. A parallel five bar linkage was designed and built that has separate configurations corresponding to 3-brake and 4-brake operation. The length of each arm was chosen by means of a geometrical optimization that weighs the size and area of the workspace and actuator effects. A simulation was then developed by incorporating the brake model into the equations of motion of the robot. Next, two forms of path following velocity control were devised and tested in simulation. Finally, the accuracy, workload, and smoothness of both controllers and both configurations were examined in preliminary tests with human operators.

Development of manipulators that interact closely with humans has been a focus of research in fields such as robot-assisted surgery and haptic interfaces for many years. Recent introduction of powered surgical-assistant devices into the operating theatre has meant that robot manipulators have been required to interact with both patients and surgeons. Most of these manipulators are modified industrial robots. However, the use of high-powered mechanisms in the operating theatre could compromise safety of the patient, surgeon, and operating room staff. As a solution to the safety problem, the use of actively restrained passive arms has been proposed. Clutches or brakes at each joint are used to restrict the motion of the end-effector to restrain it to a pre-defined region or path. However, these devices have only had limited success in following pre-defined paths under human guidance. In this research, three major limitations of existing passive devices actively restrained are addressed.

The nuclear power sector has a history of challenges with its relative competitiveness against other forms of electricity generation. The availability of low cost low natural gas, the Fukushima accident, and the cancellation of the AP1000 V.C. Summer project has caused a considerable role in ending the short lived “Nuclear Renaissance.” Historically, the nuclear industry has focused on direct cost reduction through construction, increasing installed capacity, and improving efficiencies to capacity factors in the 1990s and 2000s as ways to maintain competitiveness against other forms of energy generation. With renewables serving as an emerging low-carbon competitor, an added focus needs to be placed on indirect methods to increase the competitiveness of nuclear power. This thesis focuses on establishing pathways where nuclear power can be competitive with other forms of electricity generation given its advantages environmentally with Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), socioeconomically with legacy nuclear power plants, and through passive safety with SMRs. In Chapter 2, I estimate the life cycle GHG emissions and examine the cost of carbon abatement when nuclear is used to replace fossil fuels for the Westinghouse SMR (W-SMR) and AP1000. I created LCA models using past literature and Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the mean (and 90% confidence interval) life cycle GHG emissions of the W-SMR to be 7.4 g of CO2-eq/kwh (4.5 to 11.3 g of CO2-eq/kwh) and the AP1000 to be 7.6 g of CO2-eq/kwh (5.0 to 11.3 g of CO2-eq/kwh). Within the analysis I find that the estimated cost of carbon abatement with an AP1000 against coal and natural gas is $2/tonne of CO2-eq (-$13 to $26/tonne of CO2-eq) and $35/tonne of CO2-eq ($3 to $86/tonne of CO2-eq), respectively. In comparison, a W-SMR the cost of carbon abatement against coal and natural gas is $3/tonne of CO2- eq (-$15 to $28/tonne of CO2-eq) and $37/tonne of CO2-eq (-$1 to $90/tonne of CO2-eq), respectively. I conclude, with the exception of hydropower, the Westinghouse SMR design and the AP1000 have a smaller footprint than all other generation technologies including renewables. Assigning a cost to carbon for natural gas plant or implementing zero-emission incentives can improve the economic competitiveness of nuclear power through environmental competitiveness. The retirement of small and medium-scale coal power plants due the availability of natural gas can provide an opportunity for SMRs to replace that missing capacity. This trade-off between higher costs but lower GHG emissions demonstrates that depending on the value placed on carbon, SMR technology could be economically competitive with fossil fuel technologies Following my environmental competitiveness analysis, I shift towards investigating socioeconomic competitiveness of legacy large scale nuclear power plants compared to baseload coal and natural gas plants. In Chapter 3, I utilize ANOVA models, Tukey’s, and t-tests to explore the socioeconomic characteristics and disparities that exist within counties and communities that contain baseload power plants. My results indicate, relative to the home counties of nuclear plants, communities closer to nuclear plants have higher home values and incomes than those further away. Conversely, communities near coal and natural gas have incomes and home values that increase with distance from the plant. Communities near coal plants are typically either in less wealthy parts of the county or have a similar socioeconomic makeup as county. It can be suggested that equity issues regarding the community characteristics could be included in the discussion of converting existing power plants to use other fuel sources. Communities near power plants are not created equally and have different needs. While communities near nuclear power plants may benefit from the added tax base and absence of emissions, this is not the case for communities near coal and natural gas. With the impending retirement of large scale coal plants, the conversion of these plants to natural gas or small modular reactors presents an opportunity where negative environmental externalities can be reduced while also retaining some of the economic benefits. In Chapter 4, I present a model for estimating environmental dose exposure in a post-accident scenario to support scalable emergency planning zones (EPZs). The model includes calculating radionuclide inventory; estimating the impact decontamination factors from the AP1000, NUREG-6189, and EPRI’s Experimental Verification of Post-Accident iPWR Aerosol Behavior test will have on radioactivity within containment; and estimate dose exposure using atmospheric dispersion models. This work aims to compare historical decontamination factors with updated decontamination factors to outline the impact on containment radioactivity and dose exposure relative to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Protective Action Guide (PAG) limits. On average, I have found the AP1000, Surry, and iPWR produces 139, 153, and 104 curies/ft3 75 minutes after a LOCA. The iPWR produces less radioactivity per volume in containment than the AP1000 and Surry 84% and 96% of the time, respectively. The AP1000 produces less radioactivity per volume than Surry 68% of the time. On average, the AP1000, Surry, and iPWR produces 84,000, 106,000, and 7,000 curies/MWth 75 minutes after a LOCA. The lower bound 5 rem PAG limit is never exceeded for and does not exceeds the 1 rem lower PAG limit for whole body exposure at the 5-mile EPZ using the mean value. Considering this analysis uses a simple worst case Gaussian Plume model for atmospheric dispersion, the findings can be used to in conjunction with the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) to provide accurate and realistic estimates for exposure. I believe this analysis can help to develop a regulatory basis for technology-neutral, risk-based approach to EPZs for iPWRs. Finally, in Chapter 5 I discuss historical challenges facing the nuclear industry, policy implications, and recommendations. These policy implications and recommendations serve as pathways to frame an new nuclear renaissance. I also recommend future work where I details opportunities for improvements to nuclear competitiveness. Ultimately, this thesis can help policy and decision makers that can improve competitiveness and minimize risk as it relates to the expansion of nuclear power sector.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references.
Passive cooling systems sometimes use natural circulation, and they are not dependent on emergency AC power or offsite power, which can make designs simpler through the reduction of emergency power supplying infrastructure. The passive system approach can lead to substantial simplification of the system as well as overall economic benefits, and passive systems are believed to be less vulnerable to accidents by component failures and human errors compared to active systems. The viewpoint that passive system design is more reliable and more economical than active system design has become generally accepted. However, passive systems have characteristics of a high level of uncertainty and low driving force for purposes of heat removal phenomena. These characteristics of passive systems can result in increasing system unreliability and may raise potential remedial costs during a system's lifetime. This study presents a comprehensive comparison of reliability and cost taking into account uncertainties and introduces the concept of flexibility using the example of active and passive residual heat removal systems in a PWR. The results show that the active system can have, for this particular application, greater reliability than the passive system. Because the passive system is economically optimized, its heat removal capacity is much smaller than that of the active system. Thus, functional failure probability of the passive system has a greater impact on overall system reliability than the active system. Moreover, considering the implications of flexibility upon remedial costs, the active system may more economical than the passive system because the active system has flexible design features for purposes of increasing heat removal capacity.
by Jiyong Oh.
Ph.D.

Belt conveyor accidents are mainly attributed to negligence of safety procedures during maintenance work. Entanglement, falling from heights, & collapse of structure or loose materials are the main cause of accidents. While performing maintenance tasks such as cleaning, installation and repair, belt alignment and so on (Lucas et. al. 2007).

Current industry safety programs provide general guidelines for safety training, but do not require any specific training program structure (Shultz, 2002 and Shultz, 2003). For example MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) only requires 24 hours of training. Typically this training is broken down into four hours of training before the employee starts work, the remaining 20 hours has to be performed within the first sixty days of work (Goldbeck, 2003). The information collected through site visits showed that in addition to completing MSHA safety training requirements companies try to reinforce safety issues through daily and weekly safety meetings on job sites. Due to lack of a required safety training structure, every company is independent in terms of their training format that they follow to train their new and experienced work force. As a result, safety engineers depend heavily on in-house safety programs (e.g. audio-video presentations) to deliver the required training hours specified by MSHA for miners.

Based on a review of current training methods this research identifies four problems; existing training methods to educate miners about dangers involved in conveyor belt environments are mainly passive, safety related information in scattered in various media such as images, videos, paper manuals, etc., access to information in current format is difficult, and updating information is difficult.

This research addressed these identified problems by devising a new approach of learning to augment existing methods of training and evaluate the potential of this concept as a safety-training tool. Research has shown that individuals have their own learning style in which they can increase their retention and stimulate their cognitive learning. The proposed work addresses issues relative to passive vs. active learning and classroom-based vs. self-paced training by developing and implementing an interactive multimedia-based safety-training tool called the Digital Safety Manual (DSM). After the DSM was developed it was put through a series of usability evaluation and subjective analysis to measure the potential of the concept. The evaluation and subjective analysis involved both the novice and expert users.

The results that were yield after the evaluations and subjective analysis shows that the DSM has more learning advantages than the typical training methods and it can be used as a supplementary training method to complement the current approaches of training.
Master of Science

The need for sustainability leads to the construction of more airtight buildings to increase the energy efficiency, according to the Directive 2010/31/EU. New kinds of building like passive houses are thus developing to diminish the environmental impact. So there can be risks related to the pressure increase due to the thermal expansion of fumes in such structures in case of fire. The aim of this report is thus to examine the influence of building airtightness on fire pressure and its consequences about the safety of occupants and firefighters. Before this thesis work, five full-scale experiments were carried out: two in 2016 by Berthelot, three in 2017 by Piret-Gérard. Another experiment was performed by Caravita on 19/12/2017. All experiments were carried out with different fire loads and ventilation to study the behaviour of pressure and heat release rate during a fire. Then they were used during this thesis work to validate two software (CFAST and FDS) to provide tools to architects and engineers for projecting safer edifices. The pressures obtained by the experiments have different orders of magnitude (from 420 Pa to 2035 Pa) depending on the fire load and the ventilation. All experiments highlight some problems of overpressure in very airtight houses like passive houses in case of fire. Through many simulations of the experiments, it was demonstrated that both CFAST and FDS can be used to predict these problems of overpressure. The CFAST simulations of the compartment without mechanical ventilation differ from the experimental curves of 40% at maximum, while those with mechanical ventilation are roughly the same of the experimental ones, only 25% of difference. The difference between the simulated and the experimental curves concerning FDS (with and without ventilation) is at most equal to 25%. So, it can be affirmed thanks to this thesis work that both software can be employed by architects and engineers to study the behaviour of a fire in a passive house.

This report describes a feasibility study investigating dynamic denting of members using pyrotechnic devices to engineer favourable energy absorption characteristics into thin walled tubes. A tube of sufficiently low slenderness ratio and wall thickness, when loaded axially to failure, will collapse in the progressive buckling mode. After the ultimate buckling load has been exceeded, and as the tube continues to compress, the load oscillates between loads considerably lower than the ultimate buckling load. The object of introducing an advantageous deformation is to decrease the ultimate buckling load to a magnitude comparable with the subsequent peak loads, but at the same time avoiding a change in the buckling mode which is not advantageous. Testing was limited to thin walled square mild steel tubes. The test procedure began with a process to determine the limitations imposed on the geometric imperfections that could be achieved by the use of explosive. It was found that all the explosively induced deformations were rounded, i.e. the dents were hemi-spherical in shape. It was also found that a smooth edged round hole could be created in the centre of the dent with the use of a round, flat explosive charge. Geometric imperfections that could be induced explosively in the specimens (as well as other deformation shapes, tested for comparative purposes) were mechanically formed in the specimens. The tubes were then quasi - statically crushed to determine the energy absorption characteristics induced by the deformations. When spherical dents were induced, the deformation affected the tube beyond the immediate spherical dent and hence the distance between the plastic hinges was increased and instabilities in the crushing process were introduced. Holes (without any visible denting) decreased the distance between the plastic hinges and thus also induced instabilities. In both cases the tubes tended to skew over to one side and in extreme cases Euler buckling ensued.

This thesis is focused on the design of passive cooling system for a nuclear reactor VVER- 1000.This type of reactor is located in the Czech Republic in the location of Nuclear power plant Temelín. The thesis states an overview of the different cooling systems of nuclear power plants. The thesis is focused on passive safety system especially on passive cooling system, so there was done an overview of currently used passive safety system. In the work is discussed nuclear safety and the maximum projected accident of VVER-1000, which is called LOCA accident. In the design part of the thesis was done thermal calculation of heat exchangers. Exchangers are designed as condensers with a natural flow, where cooling of system is provided by outside airflow in case an accident. The results are evaluated at the end of the thesis.

Abstract The main theme of this thesis is to discuss the specific conditions of motorcycles participation in traffic. Primarily the author of the processing of statistical data relating to road traffic accidents found the most frequent causes leading to the accident of motorcycles, set out a list of typical hazardous situations and provide an opportunity to prevent them, respectively propose the concrete steps for their reduction, while visual processing is done using by the Virtual CRASH software. Secondarily, it is then processed an overview by modern elements of active and passive safety of motorcycles and their effect on the reduction of traffic accidents, or reduce health risks as the consequences of road traffic accidents. Statistical data are then confronted with the subjective perception of participation in traffic, concretely with motorcycle riders. Their opinions are interpreted by the most frequent responses from the questionnaires, the results are included in the last part of this thesis. The objective of this work is in the comparison of both perspectives - statistical data and the opinions of motorcyclists - about the traffic situation in the Czech Republic. The result of this work is the more realistic view on the issue.

The safety performance of nuclear power reactors is a very important factor in evaluating nuclear energy sustainability. Improving the safety performance of nuclear reactors can enhance nuclear energy sustainability as it will improve the environmental indicator used to evaluate the overall sustainability of nuclear energy. Great interest is given now to advanced nuclear reactors especially those using passive safety components. Investigation of the improvement in nuclear safety using advanced reactors was done by comparing the safety performance of a conventional reactor which uses active safety systems, such as Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), with an advanced reactor which uses passive safety systems, such as AP1000, during a design basis accident, such as Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA), using the PCTran as a simulation code. To assess the safety performance of PWR and AP1000, the “Global Safety Index” GSI model was developed by introducing three indicators: probability of accident occurrence, performance of safety system in case of an accident occurrence, and the consequences of the accident. Only the second indicator was considered in this work. A more detailed model for studying the performance of passive safety systems in AP1000 was developed. That was done using SCDAPSIM/RELAP5 code as it is capable of modelling design basis accidents (DBAs) in advanced nuclear reactors.

On-the-job injuries that occur even after implementing safety interventions highlight the need for identifying the limitations in them and for making future safety interventions and technological advances more effective. One possible reason for this lower-than-expected-safety returns is the latent side-effect of safety interventions, known as risk compensation. This dissertation aimed to provide empirical evidence and theoretical considerations of risk compensation effect in the construction industry. Accordingly, a multi-sensor immersive mixed-reality environment consists of a virtual projection of the environment and passive haptics of a roof was developed to study risk compensation among residential roofers. Simulating height, environmental factors (wind and sound), passive haptic, and virtual falls stimulated sufficient Sense of Presence to trigger subjects' behavioral changes while installing shingles on a 27-degree sloped roof under three levels of safety interventions (i.e., with no fall-safety intervention, with an injury-reducing fall-safety intervention—i.e., fall-arrest system—and with an injury-preventing fall-safety intervention— i.e., a fall-arrest system and a guardrail). The baseline demographic, psychographic, and cognitive measures combined with real-time tracking and wearable sensors provided an opportunity to track the worker's motions, localize his/her position, obtain real-time musculoskeletal data, and monitor the his/her behavioral and physiological responses. The collected data is then translated into information about the risk perception and risk-taking behavior of the worker. The results yielded unequivocal evidence of risk compensation—the lower perceived risk associated with the situation (lower levels of stress) and the false sense of security among roofers when they were provided with safety interventions apparently encouraged them to be less cautious by leaning over the edge, stepping closer to the roof edge, spending more time exposing themselves to fall risk, over-relying on the safety equipment through different facing directions and choices of posture stability. As a result, they also experienced more near-misses (close calls). This behavioral adaptation was more pronounced when they were provided with an injury-preventing safety intervention (e.g., guardrail). The findings also suggested that the productivity and safety benefits of safety interventions can be negated due to risk compensation, which identifies vital information for the construction-safety community to consider during the design and implementation of more effective safety interventions and technological advances. Roofers with high risk tolerance and sensation seekers were identified as high-risk groups who are more likely to be involved in risk-compensatory behaviors; various behavioral interventions are suggested in this dissertation to counteract excessive risk-taking and to reduce risk compensation. The findings of this study shed light on the question of why injury rates have remained at worrisome levels despite advances in protective measures and interventions. In the long-term, a better understanding of risk compensation will translate into fundamental knowledge about how the construction industry should approach and maintain controls after safety interventions.
Doctor of Philosophy
While researchers have dispensed considerable efforts to reduce the risk of occupational injuries by implementing safety interventions, the large number of safety incidents occurring each year in the construction industry. It is hypothesized that the latent effect of safety interventions, known as risk compensation, might be a possible reason why many of the safety interventions and technological advances have not fully achieved their safety objectives. This dissertation aimed to empirically examine the changes in workers' productivity, risk perception, risk-taking behaviors as a function of different safety interventions in place. To study this within a risk-free setting, an immersive mixed-reality environment simulating roofing task was developed. Then, the reactionary behavioral responses of participants were monitored using real-time tracking sensors and qualitative sources of data while they were completing a roofing task under three counterbalanced levels of safety interventions (i.e., with no fall-safety intervention, with an injury-reducing fall-safety intervention—i.e., fall-arrest system—and with an injury-preventing fall-safety intervention— i.e., a fall-arrest system and a guardrail). The findings indicated that the reduced perceived risk and the desire for increased productivity may skew risk analysis and strongly bias workers toward presuming invulnerability when safety interventions are in place. According to risk compensation theory, workers' risk tolerance and perceptions of risk influence their risk-taking behavior—as the perceived risk associated with the situation decreases, individuals take more risks to achieve a level of risk they can comfortably tolerate. Therefore, the workers might become less cautious by leaning over the edge, stepping closer to the roof edge, spending more time exposing themselves to fall risk, over-relying on the safety equipment through different facing directions and choices of posture stability. This result does not necessarily imply the safety innovations are completely ineffective, but rather demonstrates dangers users face when they misperceive the effectiveness of a safety intervention. Furthermore, roofers with high risk tolerance and a high sensation-seeking disposition were identified as high-risk groups who are more likely to be involved in risk-compensatory behaviors. This research represented a substantive departure from the status quo by proposing novel pathways for proactive incident prevention due to risk compensation in the construction industry. The contribution of this study is especially significant because a better understanding of risk compensation will translate into fundamental knowledge about how the construction industry should approach and maintain controls after safety interventions.

This master thesis deals with the strain, stress and reliability analysis of the safety frame of racing car. The safety frame is a part of passive safety, which it becomes active in a case of impact. The safety frame makes a reinforcement of the car body and provides its sufficient stiffness. The first part of the master thesis is focused on determination of stress and strain states during the static loading tests and their analysis. The loading conditions are prescribed by homologation regulations of Fédération Internationale de l´Automobile (FIA). The problem is solved, making use of computational modeling utilizing the Finite Element Method (FEM). The first part of thesis is used for the stiffness and safety analysis under the static loading test. The second part deals with the effect of loading velocity on the stress and strain states using the computational modeling and solver LS-DYNA.

La sécurité routière est un enjeu majeur de santé publique et de protection des personnes. D'après l'organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), près de 1,2 millions de personnes meurent chaque année dans le monde suite à des accidents de la route (2015). D’après des données accidentologiques, 36,7% des blessures graves ont pour origine des lésions au thorax (Page et collab., 2012). La biomécanique en sécurité passive a pour rôle d'améliorer notre compréhension du corps humain dans le but de construire de meilleurs outils pour évaluer le risque de blessure.Les modèles numériques d'être humain sont employés pour simuler virtuellement les conditions d'un accident. Aujourd'hui, ils sont de plus en plus utilisés par les constructeurs automobiles et équipementiers pour mieux comprendre les mécanismes lésionnels. Cependant, ils n’existent que dans certaines tailles et ne prennent alors pas en compte les variations morphologiques observées dans la population.L'imagerie médicale 3D donne accès aux géométries des différentes structures anatomiques composant le corps humain. Les hôpitaux regorgent aujourd'hui de quantités d'images 3D couvrant une très large partie de la population en termes d'âge, de corpulence et de sexe.L’objectif global de cette thèse est de modéliser statistiquement la géométrie 3D de la cage thoracique à partir d'images médicales afin de personnaliser un modèle numérique de corps humain pour simuler par éléments finis des conditions de choc automobile. Le premier objectif est d’élaborer un protocole de segmentation une base de CT-scans de manière à obtenir des données géométriques adaptées à la construction d’un modèle statistique de forme de la cage thoracique.Le deuxième objectif est de construire un modèle statistique de forme de la cage thoracique, en prenant en compte sa structure articulée.Le troisième objectif est d’utiliser le modèle statistique de la cage thoracique pour déformer un modèle numérique d’être humain, de manière à étudier l’influence de certains paramètres sur le risque de blessure
Road safety is a major issue of public health and personal safety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 1.2 million people die each year worldwide due to road accidents (2015). According to accident data, 36.7% of serious injuries are caused by thoracic injuries (Page et al., 2012). The aim of biomechanics in passive safety is to improve our understanding of the human body in order to build better tools for assessing the risk of injury.Numerical human body models are used to virtually simulate the conditions of an accident. Today, they are increasingly used by car manufacturers and equipment manufacturers to better understand injury mechanisms. However, they exist only in few sizes and do not take into account the morphological variations observed in the population.3D medical imaging gives access to the geometries of the different anatomical structures that make up the human body. Today, hospitals are full of 3D images covering a very large part of the population in terms of age, body size and sex.The overall objective of this thesis is to statistically model the 3D geometry of the rib cage from medical images in order to personalize a numerical human body model to simulate car crash conditions.The first objective is to develop a segmentation process based on CT-scans in order to obtain geometric data adapted to the construction of a statistical model of shape of the rib cage.The second objective is to build a statistical model of the shape of the rib cage, taking into account its articulated structure.The third objective is to use the statistical model of the rib cage to deform a numerical human body model, in order to study the influence of certain parameters on the risk of injury

The thesis describes the problems of a complex system for analysis of road accidents, specifically the methodology for solving the collision between vehicle and motorcycle. There are statistics described motorcycle accidents, motorcycle safety features, the basic types of collision positions between vehicles and motorcycles, design methodology for solving with traffic accidents between vehicles and motorcycles. The work is performed a set of different measurements used to supplement and refine the input data for the analysis of road accidents involving motorcycles. The work contains data obtained from measurements.

Thesis in the field of passive safety problems, traffic accidents and health outcomes of participants in road traffic accidents is aimed, inter alia, to create an overview of modern passive safety elements especially cars. The work deals with elements of the passive safety system and the impact on the crew vehicle. It describes the principle of operation, especially airbags, safety belts, belt pretensioner and it includes solution of limiters tensioning force in the safety belt and other elements that have the task of reducing the consequences of a traffic accident. The use of modern elements of passive safety provides increased protection for the crew and eliminates the formation injuries crew. The technical issue is therefore closely related to the healthcare industry and in particular the Court of medicine in the field of personal injury in relation to the types and characters of incidents, or by applying of the safety elements. There are also shown the actual road accidents in which were killed or injured members of crew with an analysis of the mechanism of injury with the use or non-use of safety elements.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe tiriamos lengvojo automobilio kėbulo elementų stiprumo charakteristikos. Išanalizuoti literatūros šaltiniai, automobilių kėbulų konstrukcijos, dinaminis modeliavimas, kompiuterinė technika, naudojama saugumo elementų tobulinimui. Sija, daugiausiai kinetinės energijos sugeriantis automobilio elementas, projektuota priekinio susidūrimo atvejui. Atlikus teorinius skaičiavimus, rezultatai palyginti su modeliavimo. Pateikta išsami išilginės priekinės sijos tobulinimo metodika, modeliavimo rezultatų analizė ir apibendrinimas. Sumodeliavus priekinę išilginę siją, jos geometrinius parametrus, pateikiamos baigiamojo darbo išvados, literatūros šaltiniai. Darbą sudaro 9 dalys: įvadas, mokslinės literatūros apžvalga, automobilių kėbulų konstrukciniai ypatumai saugumui užtikrinti, dinaminiai automobilio modeliavimo bandymai, kompiuterinė technika, naudojama tobulinant saugumo komponentus, priekinės išilginės sijos konstrukcijos modeliavimas, taikant skaitinį metodą, išvados ir pasiūlymai, literatūros sąrašas, priedai.
The stiffness behaviour of the passenger vehicle body elements is investigated in the Master thesis. The analyzed literature, automotive body design, dynamic simulations, computer equipment used for safety development is investigated too. This beam absorbs majority of kinetic energy, it is designed for the frontal impact. Theoretical calculations are compared with simulation results. The deep development methodology of the beam are described, the analysis of the simulation results and discussion are described also. The thesis conclusion, literature is presented after the simulation of the front longitudinal beam geometrical specifications. The thesis is divided to 9 sections: an introduction, review of a scientific literature, automotive body design safety features, dynamic simulation tests of a vehicle, a computer equipment, used for the development of safety components, design simulation of the front longitudinal beam by numerical method, conclusion and suggestions, literature, appendix.

This diploma thesis deal with safety components of trailer and semitrailer technology, especially the elements for underrun protection. The first part deals with the legislative requirements on which safety elements are based. In another part are mentioned the construction solutions of underrun protection devices from the portfolio of company SVAN Chrudim s.r.o. Finally, the computational part is processed to verify sufficient strength of underpass protections.

The automotive industry is repeatedly tasked with improving vehicles structural strength, optimizing active and passive safety features, reducing occupant injury potential, and hitting lean manufacturing goals. The challenge is to find solutions to reduce production and research costs, and to maximize the vehicle's capability in protecting its occupants in the event of an accident. The influence of impact loading on the dynamic responses of vehicle structures and occupants require special consideration in the field of vehicle crashworthiness. The main goal of this study is to address the fundamental aspect on the impact injury biomechanics of vehicle occupants and safety performance of vehicle structures, and the development of various new technologies aimed at enhancing the passive safety of road vehicles in side-impact accidents. Four case studies related to the dissipation of crash energy, impact injury biomechanics, injury prediction model and pre-crash sensing algorithm form the basis of this thesis. The application examples include the investigation of pre-deploying airbags as a potential solution in reducing occupants' injuries at higher speed side-impact crashes; examination of the vehicle structural responses with the inclusion of high-energy absorbing cellular materials within the door panels in side-impact accidents; development of injury prediction model to out-of-position occupants from frontal- and side- airbags using Design-of-Experiment methodologies; and the estimation of the relative driver fatality risks of two colliding vehicles using some quantitative measurements. A detailed methodology is developed for each application, and the results present several new technologies that can be implemented to enhance the safety performance of road vehicles. These goals are achieved through the use of finite element approaches, multi-body dynamic analyses and Design-of-Experiment statistical methods.
Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

The need for sustainability and smaller ecological footprint leads to the construction of more airtight building envelopes with better thermal insulation, like passive houses, in order to increase the energy efficiency. But this type of structures has specific risks when a fire occurs inside due to the high level of airtightness. These risks are related to the pressure increase due to the thermal expansion of fumes. This was confirmed in February 2013 when a fire occurred in a passive apartment in Cologne. The occupant was blocked for 2 minutes inside his apartment due to the thermal expansion of fumes. Consequently, passive houses are an object of study in order to find a better configuration that minimizes all the risks for the occupants if a fire occurs. Before of this thesis work, eleven full-scale firetests had been carried out in Bauffe (BE) between summer 2016 and summer 2019. These tests were done in different configurations of passive house and with different fire loads. The experimental data were used to validate two software as CFAST and FDS, commonly employed in this field in order to simulate fires inside this kind of buildings. Unfortunately CFAST doesn’t take into account the leakages area and the time of calculation is very high with FDS. During this thesis work a new zone model code has been devoleped for the calculation of the fire induced pressure in a multiple rooms airtight building, taking into account the effects of the fire induced pressure on both the effective leakages area and the characteristic curve of the fans. This new code has been validated thanks to the novel experimental results obtained at large scale and satisfactory results were obtained for the main parameters of interest during the fire. Moreover, three new tests were performed in this Master thesis, in order to have a better understanding of HVAC modelling and to find a way to decrease the pressure inside the building when a fire is occuring.

La sécurité automobile est l’une des principales considérations lors de l’achat d’un véhicule. Avant d’ être commercialisée, une voiture doit répondre aux normes de sécurité du pays, ce qui conduit au développement de systèmes de retenue tels que les airbags et ceintures de sécurité. De plus, des ratings comme EURO NCAP et US NCAP permettent d’évaluer de manière indépendante la sécurité de la voiture. Des essais catapultes sont entre autres effectués pour confirmer le niveau de protection du véhicule et les résultats sont généralement basés sur des valeurs de référence des dommages corporels dérivés de paramètres physiques mesurés dans les mannequins.Cette thèse doctorale présente une approche pour le traitement des données d’entrée (c’est-à-dire des paramètres des systèmes de retenue définis par des experts) suivie d’une classification des essais catapultes frontaux selon ces mêmes paramètres. L’étude est uniquement basée sur les données du passager, les données collectées pour le conducteur n’ étant pas assez complètes pour produire des résultats satisfaisants. L’objectif principal est de créer un modèle qui définit l’influence des paramètres d’entrées sur la sévérité des dommages et qui aide les ingénieurs à avoir un ordre de grandeur des résultats des essais catapultes selon la législation ou le rating choisi. Les valeurs biomécaniques du mannequin (outputs du modèle) ont été regroupées en clusters dans le but de définir des niveaux de dommages corporels. Le modèle ainsi que les différents algorithmes ont été implémentés dans un programme pour une meilleur utilisation quotidienne
Safety is one of the most important considerations when buying a new car. The car has to achievecrash tests defined by the legislation before being selling in a country, what drives to the developmentof safety systems such as airbags and seat belts. Additionally, ratings like EURO NCAP and US NCAPenable to provide an independent evaluation of the car safety. Frontal sled tests are thus carried outto confirm the protection level of the vehicle and the results are mainly based on injury assessmentreference values derived from physical parameters measured in dummies.This doctoral thesis presents an approach for the treatment of the input data (i.e. parameters ofthe restraint systems defined by experts) followed by a classification of frontal sled tests accordingto those parameters. The study is only based on data from the passenger side, the collected datafor the driver were not enough completed to produce satisfying results. The main objective is tocreate a model that evaluates the input parameters’ influence on the injury severity and helps theengineers having a prediction of the sled tests results according to the chosen legislation or rating.The dummy biomechanical values (outputs of the model) have been regrouped into clusters in orderto define injuries groups. The model and various algorithms have been implemented in a GraphicalUser Interface for a better practical daily use

The main target of the master´s thesis is reviewing the generation III nuclear reactors in term of the nuclear safety. At first we have to learn some theory of the nuclear safety in order to understand safety systems of the generation III nuclear reactors. Therefore the thesis is divided into two parts. Legislative and technical approaches to nuclear safety are mentioned in the first part. Regulatory bodies, whose task is to supervise nuclear safety in the nuclear power plants, belongs to the legislative approaches. There are defined terms such as defence in depth, redundancy, diversity, etc. There are mentioned methods to assessing nuclear safety – deterministic and probabilistic methods, especially probabilistic methods, for which a simple example is provided. There are also mentioned active and passive safety systems and their significance for nuclear safety and inherent safety too. There is an example of the function of the active and passive safety systems of the EDU nuclear power plant in conclusion of this issue. The second part deals with description of the selected nuclear reactors in context of the construction of the new units of nuclear power plant in Temelín. The nuclear reactors from companies, which applied for the public tender opened by ČEZ, a. s., for the construction of the ETE 3+4. Thus, the nuclear reactor MIR-1200 by ATOMSTROYEXPORT (Russian Federation), the nuclear reactor AP1000 by WESTINGHOUSE (USA) and the nuclear reactor EPR by AREVA (France) are taken into account . Comparison of the generation II and these generation III+ nuclear reactors necessarily belongs to this master´s thesis. These the generation III+ nuclear reactors are compared with the nuclear reactor VVER 440 (EDU) and in particular with the nuclear reactor VVER 1000, which is operated in the nuclear power plant Temelín. The final chapter contains generally appraisal of the whole problem.

Passive safety is a well-known term. This term can be further categorized into different topics of the car passive safety, restraint systems, safety assistants (ABS, ESP, ASR, etc.). One of these topics is passive safety of the fuel system. Safety and tightness of the fuel system must be guaranteed even under non-standard conditions, for example a collision against a fixed obstacle. This issue is not often mentioned in the field of car safety. It is considered a standard. Passive safety of the fuel system is often ensured using various interesting technical solutions and devices, usually patented ones. The development of these solutions is supported by numerical simulations in different stages of development process. The doctoral thesis deals with impact loading of the plastic components of the fuel system, in particular Fuel Supply Module (FSM), which is mounted inside the fuel tank. The flange is the most important part of the fuel supply module from the car safety point of view. The flange closes FSM on the external side of the fuel tank. The thesis focuses on the finite element analysis of the complete or partial FSM, and the flange itself during impact loading. The main objective of this thesis are numerical material models, taking into account important aspects of the mechanical behavior of polymer materials during impact loading. There are a lot of ad hoc invented or standardized experiments described in this thesis. These experiments are used for estimation of the material parameters or comparison of numerical analysis vs real conditions, or tests. The solver LS-DYNA was mainly used for numerical simulations. The final results of this thesis brings new quantified knowledge about behavior of the Typical Semi-Crystal Polymer (TSCP), not only for impact loading. The practical part of this thesis defines new methodology for the numerical simulation approach of impact loading for FSM. This methodology is directly usable for new product development. A lot of numerical material models were developed and tested. The best results were achieved using numerical material model *MAT_24 with combination of *MAT_ADD_EROSION card. The limits and parameters for this numerical material model was estimated empirically during conducting experiments. The numerical material model SAMP-1 was partly solved in this doctoral thesis, but more detail study will be given in future works.

Doutoramento em Engenharia Mecânica
A cortiça é um material celular natural capaz de suster quantidades consideráveis de energia. Estas características tornam este material ideal para determinadas aplicações como a proteção de impactos. Considerando equipamentos de segurança passiva pessoal, os materiais sintéticos são hoje em dia os mais utilizados, em particular o poliestireno expandido. Este também é capaz de absorver razoáveis quantidades de energia via deformação permanentemente. Por outro lado, a cortiça além de ser um material natural, é capaz de recuperar grande parte da sua forma após deformada, uma característica desejada em aplicações com multi-impacto. Neste trabalho é efetuada uma avaliação da aplicabilidade da cortiça em equipamentos de segurança pessoal, especificamente capacetes. Vários tipos de cortiça aglomerada foram caracterizados experimentalmente. Impactos foram simulados numericamente para avaliar a validade dos modelos constitutivos e as propriedades utilizadas para simular o comportamento da cortiça. Capacetes foram selecionados como caso de estudo, dado as energias de impacto e repetibilidade de impactos a que estes podem ser sujeitos. Para avaliar os capacetes de um ponto de vista biomecânico, um modelo de cabeça humana em elementos finitos foi desenvolvido. Este foi validado de acordo com testes em cadáveres existentes na literatura. Dois modelos de capacete foram modelados. Um modelo de um capacete rodoviário feito de materiais sintéticos, o qual se encontra disponível no mercado e aprovado pelas principais normas de segurança de capacetes, que serve de referência. Este foi validado de acordo com os impactos da norma. Após validado, este foi avaliado com o modelo de cabeça humana em elementos finitos e uma análise ao risco de existência de lesões foi efetuado. Com este mesmo capacete, foi concluído que para incorporar cortiça aglomerada, a espessura teria de ser reduzida. Então um novo modelo de capacete foi desenvolvido, sendo este uma espécie de modelo genérico com espessuras constantes. Um estudo paramétrico foi realizado, variando a espessura do capacete e submetendo o mesmo a duplos impactos. Os resultados destes impactos e da análise com o modelo de cabeça indicaram uma espessura ótima de 40 mm de cortiça aglomerada, com a qual o capacete tem uma melhor resposta a vários impactos do que se feito de poliestireno expandido.
Cork is a natural cellular material capable of withstanding considerable amounts of energy. These features make it an ideal material for some applications, such as impact protection. Regarding personal safety gear, synthetic materials, particularly expanded polystyrene, are typically used. These are also able to absorb reasonable amounts of energy by deforming permanently. On the other hand, in addition to cork being a natural material, it recovers almost entirely after deformation, which is a desired characteristic in multi-impact applications. In this work, the applicability of agglomerated cork in personal safety gear, specifically helmets, is analysed. Different types of agglomerated cork were experimentally characterized. These experiments were simulated in order to assess the validity of the constitutive models used to replicate cork's mechanical behaviour. In order to assess the helmets from a biomechanical point of view, a finite element human head model was developed. This head model was validated by simulating the experiments performed on cadavers available in the literature. Two helmet models were developed. One of a motorcycle helmet made of synthetic materials, which is available on the market and certified by the main motorcycle helmets safety standards, being used as reference. This helmet model was validated against the impacts performed by the European standard. After validated, this helmet model was analysed with the human head model, by assessing its head injury risk. With this helmet, it was concluded that a thinner helmet made of agglomerated cork might perform better. Thus, a new helmet model with a generic geometry and a constant thickness was developed. Several versions of it were created by varying the thickness and subjecting them to double impacts. The results from these impacts and the analyses carried out with the finite element head model indicated an optimal thickness of 40 mm, with which the agglomerated cork helmet performed better than the one made of expanded polystyrene.

Daggkåpan är en förskola som projekterats i passivhusteknik. Förskolan är en naturförskola, vilket främst innebär att i stort sett all verksamhet bedrivs utomhus. Byggnaden är i två plan vilket gör att tomtarean kan utnyttjas till mer utomhusvistelse. Förutsättningar för att bedriva verksamheten inomhus finns även. Utomhusmiljön och inomhusmiljön hos Daggkåpan smälter samman och barnen kan lätt ta ett steg ut till naturen från sina hemvister. Detta innebär att antalet utgångar ökar. En solcellsanläggning genererar all elektricitet och gör byggnaden självförsörjande. Byggnadens varmvatten och värme står solfångare för. I takt med bostadsutvecklingen blir även behovet av förskolor större. Att skaffa kunskap och erfarenheter om energieffektivt byggande är idag en god idé eftersom alla byggnader på sikt måste vara så energieffektiva som möjligt. En av hörnpelarna med att bygga passivhus är att låta ett genomtänkt och energieffektivt byggnadsskal ersätta ett konventionellt värmeförsörjningssystem. Genom att förbättra konstruktioner och hålla koll på byggprocessen kan andra delar av byggnaden förenklas och i vissa fall helt ersättas. Det som fördyrar i ena änden kan leda till en god investering i den andra. Utmaningen med passivhus är att systematisera, se helheter och sammanhang och framför allt eftersträva det enkla. Enkla system ger låga drift- och underhållningskostnader och risken för driftstörningar minskar. Den största delen av värmen är gratis. Den kommer från instrålande sol, värme från människor och spillvärme från apparater och matlagning. Grundkravet är att byggnaden har ett värmeeffektbehov under 10 W per kvadratmeter vid +20ºC inomhus på årets kallaste dag, definierat av dimensionerande utetemperatur. Byggnaden får max läcka 0,3 l/s, m² oms vid +/- 50 Pa tryckskillnad. För att uppnå god komfort krävs välisolerade väggar, solavskärmningar, energieffektiva fönster och dörrar, små köldbryggor och ett bra ventilationssystem där värmen från insidan av huset återvinns. Antalet passivhus i Sverige ökar snabbt, men det är fortfarande småhusen som dominerar. Att bygga en förskola som passivhus är en god idé ur flera synvinklar; Bland annat för att de täta och välisolerade väggarna stänger ute buller och oljud. Även mellanväggar isoleras och bidrar till en extra tyst byggnad. Dessutom blir barnen miljömedvetna eftersom de får vara delaktiga i energieffektivisering. -En viktig aspekt för framtiden. Barnen bidrar själva till uppvärmning av lokalerna genom kroppsvärmen. Undersökningar har bland annat visat att barn som får vistas utomhus är friskare, mer självgående, mer kreativa och klokare. Det ultimata är att använda sig av utemiljöer som ett extra rum för förskolan. Detta leder till minskad byggnadsarea och mindre byggmaterial krävs. Pedagogiken Reggio Emilia använder sig just utav detta begreppet "Uterummet som ett extra rum för verksamheten". Barnen får därmed röra sig fritt i utemiljö, utveckla sina sinnen i en rik fantasivärld, inspireras och samverka med natur och hållbarhet.
Daggkåpan is a preschool projected in passive house technology. The preschool is a nature preschool, which means the activity is mainly out door. It is a two floor building which gives conditions to use the area for more outdoor activities. Conditions for drive the preschool indoors is possible as well. The garden and the inside rooms are connected to each other by the exterior rooms and it is easy for the children just to take a step out to the garden from their residences. A solar cell system generates electricity to the building and makes it self-supplied. The residential development leads to the need of preschools. To obtain knowledge of energy effective constructions is a good idea as the buildings in the future have to be as energy effective as possible. One of the most important things by use the passive house technology is letting a well measured and energy- effective building shell replace a conventional heat supply. By improvement of the construction and focus on the process other parts of the building can be simplified and some can be replaced. What is expensive in one end can lead to a good investment in the other. The challenges with passive house are to systematize, see whole parts and contexts and especially to seek after the simple. Easy systems give low operations- and service-costs and reduce fear of disruptions. Most of the heat is for free. It comes from insulation, human heat and heat from cooking and technologies. Basic requirements for this type of building is a need of heat-output under 10 W per square-meter at an indoor temperature of 20 degrees on the coldest day of the year, defined of the dimensioned outdoor- temperature. The maximum of leak is 0,3 liters per second and square meter at +/- 50 Pa. To receive high comfort it claims well-isolated walls, shadings, energy-effective windows and doors, small thermal bridges and a good ventilation-system where the indoor heat recycles. The number of Passive houses increases, dominated of small houses. Building a preschool as a passive house is a good idea from several perspective; the well-isolated walls leaves out the noise, even the intermediate walls isolates and contributes to a silent building. The children get environmentally conscious as well and take notes of the energy- effectively. - A very important aspect for the future. The children contributes them self of heat to the building by their body heat. Investigations has been shown that outdoor playing children is more healthy, self-propelled, more creative and more clever. The most ultimate is so use patios as an extra room for the preschool activities. The pedagogy Reggio Emilia uses this concept. The children can consequently feel free staying outside, developing their minds in an imaginative environment, inspired of the interaction of the nature and sustainability.

En aquesta tesi doctoral es proposa utilitzar la tècnica LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) per estudiar la deriva de pesticides. A diferència dels col·lectors in situ, aquesta tècnica permet mesurar els aerosols de forma remota, amb elevada resolució temporal i en distància. Els objectius d’aquesta tesi són (1) dissenyar un sistema lidar específic per la mesura de la deriva i (2) avaluar la capacitat d’aquesta tècnica per quantificar la concentració en els núvols de pesticides. Per la consecució de l’objectiu (1) s’ha elaborat una metodologia de disseny, validada mitjançant la construcció d’un prototipus de ceilòmetre lidar biaxial. Partint d’aquesta metodologia s’han establert els paràmetres de disseny del sistema específic per mesurar la deriva: longitud d’ona de 1550 nm, energia per pols igual a 25 μJ, etc. Respecte a l’objectiu (2), es proposa un model teòric que relaciona les mesures lidar de la deriva amb les obtingudes utilitzant col·lectors passius. La relació entre els dos tipus de sensors també s’ha estudiat experimentalment. Les mesures van mostrar que per a cada assaig existeix una elevada correlació lineal (R2≈0.9) entre el senyal lidar i els col·lectors.
En esta tesis doctoral se propone utilizar la técnica LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) para monitorizar la deriva de pesticidas. A diferencia de los colectores in situ, esta técnica permite medir los aerosoles de forma remota, con elevada resolución temporal y en distancia. Los objetivos de esta tesis son (1) diseñar un sistema lidar específico para la medida de la deriva y (2) evaluar la capacidad de esta técnica para cuantificar la concentración en las plumas de pesticidas. Para la consecución del objetivo (1) se ha elaborado una metodología de diseño, validada mediante la construcción de un prototipo de ceilómetro lidar biaxial. Partiendo de esta metodología se han establecido los parámetros de diseño del sistema lidar específico para medir la deriva: longitud de onda de 1550 nm, energía por pulso igual a 25 μJ, etc. Respecto al objetivo (2), se propone un modelo teórico que relaciona las medidas lidar de la deriva con las obtenidas utilizando colectores pasivos. La relación entre ambos tipos de sensores también ha sido estudiada experimentalmente. Las medidas mostraron que para cada ensayo existe una elevada correlación lineal (R2≈0.9) entre la señal lidar y los colectores.
This doctoral thesis proposes the use of the LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) technique for spray drift monitoring. Unlike in situ collectors, this technique enables remote measurement of aerosols with high temporal and range resolution. The objectives of this thesis are as follows: (1) the design of a lidar system specifically for the remote sensing of pesticide spray drift and (2) assessment of the capacity of lidar technology to quantify droplet concentration in drift clouds. For the purposes of objective (1), a design methodology was elaborated. This methodology was validated with the construction of a biaxial lidar ceilometer prototype. Taking this methodology as a starting point the design parameters of a lidar system specifically for spray drift measurement were established: 1550 nm wavelength, 25 μJ de pulse energy, etc. As for objective (2), it is proposed a quantitative analytical model which relates the lidar spray drift measurements with those obtained using passive collectors. The relationship between the two sensor types was also studied experimentally. The measurements showed that for each test there is a high linear correlation (R2≈0.9) between the lidar signal and the collectors

It is illegal to pass a stopped school bus when the vehicleâ s stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing. Public opinion on this issue is very clear. A random phone survey of the public conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that more than 90 percent of respondents rated â passing a school bus that has its red lights flashing and the stop arm in full viewâ as a somewhat or extremely dangerous driving behavior (Boyle, Dienstfrey, and Sothoron, 1998). Despite this public opinion, there is evidence that the number of vehicles that illegally pass school buses each day is substantial. Based on data collected throughout the state of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Transportation (1996) estimated that more than 10,000 vehicles illegally pass school buses every day. Similar findings were reported in Florida (Center for Urban Transportation Research, 1996). To address this problem, NHTSA sponsored a research effort aimed at developing an automated system for detecting and recording the license plates of vehicles as well as their drivers who illegally pass school buses. The overall objective of this research was to develop a prototype system that would automatically detect and record vehicles that illegally pass school buses (i.e., busâ stop-arm is extended and lights are flashing). Based on the results of technical, administrative, and legal feasibility analyses, system specifications were developed and a prototype unit was built. The prototype system was then field-tested in a variety of real-world conditions in both a controlled setting and on an actual school bus route. The results of the field test proved the prototype system to be comparable with other automated enforcement systems. Testing showed that recorded images were more identifiable when the violation occurred in the lane next to the school bus. In addition, frontal facial recordings were found to be 1.5 times more useful then profile recordings. It must be stressed that the purpose of the field test was to gather data that could be used in support of design recommendations and changes for the next generation of the system.
Master of Science

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Tese (Doutoramento)
IPEN/T
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Loss of connectivity in riverine systems due to construction of hydropower dams has resulted in a worldwide decline of anadromous salmonid species such as Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and sea trout (Salmo trutta L.). The future of these species depend on the presence of available spawning habitat in freshwater river systems. Modern research and mitigation efforts mainly focus on ensuring a successful upstream passage past dams e.g. fish ladders. Atlantic salmon and sea trout are iteroparous, and are thus able to spawn repeatedly during their lifetime. Individuals surviving upstream migration and spawning generally face a hazardous journey back to their marine feeding grounds. In this large scale natural field study I evaluate the possibility of using a bubble barrier as a non-physical structure to guide downstream migrating kelt past the turbines at a large hydropower station in northern Sweden. Results from this study clearly show that kelt effectively can be diverted using a bubble barrier in daylight conditions with a mean water velocity of 1.1 m s-1 (p=0,01). From a fishway managers perspective, increasing survival of salmonid kelt is a substantial step towards achieving a viable population with increased numbers of repeat spawners and large individuals. This study presents new results in a sparsely explored subject; the diversion of post-spawn salmonid migrants using non-physical barriers.

Parmi les nombreuses applications des sources laser, certaines nécessitent une propagation du faisceau dans l'atmosphère sur plusieurs kilomètres : télémétrie, désignation, ou encore imagerie active. Pour éviter tout risque oculaire tout en proposant de plus grandes portées, ces applications doivent faire appel à des sources laser émettant une longueur d'onde dans la gamme à sécurité oculaire autour d'un minimum local d'absorption de l'atmosphère (1550-1650 nm). De telles sources existent déjà commercialement, mais ne répondent pas aux exigences militaires de compacité, de consommation électrique, de performance et de fonctionnement sur une large gamme de température (-40°C/+60°C).Mes travaux de thèse tentent d'apporter une réponse à l'ensemble de ces exigences. Avec l'aide des partenaires industriels Fibercryst et Cilas, ils portent sur la réalisation de sources laser compactes et efficaces à fibre cristalline Er3+:YAG directement pompée par une diode laser pour des applications militaires.A l'aide d'un algorithme de simulation d'un laser Er3+:YAG déclenché passivement élaboré et affiné durant la thèse, plusieurs sources sont réalisées expérimentalement. L'étude autour des absorbants saturables pour le déclenchement passif a permis une amélioration notable des caractéristiques du faisceau.Ces recherches, dont les résultats peuvent déjà présenter un certain intérêt commercial, ouvrent la voie vers de nouvelles techniques et architectures autour des sources laser à cristaux dopés aux ions erbium pour la conception de futurs prototypes plus performants
Among the several applications of laser sources, some requires kilometers range propagation in the atmosphere : telemetry, guidance system or active imagery. High pulse energy improves the range of the system, but may cause permanent blindness to an observer's eyes. Hence, these applications must use laser beam which wavelength are located in the eye-safe region, ideally at the local minimum of the atmosphere absorption (1550-1650 nm). Such laser sources are already commercially available, but are not suited for the demanding military needs : compacity, electrical consumption, performance and large operating temperature range (-40°C/+60°C).My work aims to develop a laser source filling these specifications. Thanks to the collaboration with the industrial partners Fibercryst and Cilas, it focuses on the design of a compact, efficient, directly diode-pumped Er3+:YAG single cristal fiber laser for military applications.With a homemade numerical simulation of a passively Q-switched Er3+:YAG laser source, many laser emitters are experimentally designed and compared. Further studies around saturable absorbers allowed sensible improvements of the output pulse energy.This work, whose results may already be commercially interesting, may lead to new technics and architectures of erbium doped solid-state laser for better prototypes

Current design methods in transportation engineering do not simultaneously address the levels of risk and service associated with the design and use of various highway geometric elements. Passing sight distance (PSD) is an example of a geometric element designed with no risk measures. PSD is provided to ensure the safety of passing maneuvers on two-lane roads. Many variables decide the minimum length required for a safe passing maneuver. These are random variables and represent a wide range of human and vehicle characteristics. Also, current PSD design practices replace these random variables by single-value means in the calculation process, disregarding their inherent variations. The research focuses on three main objectives. The first goal is to derive a PSD distribution that accounts for the variations in the contributing parameters. Two models are devised for this purpose, a Monte-Carlo simulation model and a closed form analytical estimation model. The results of both models verify each other and differ by less than 5 percent. Using the PSD distribution, the reliability index of the current PSD criteria are assessed. The second goal is to attach risk indices to the various PSD lengths of the obtained distribution. A unique microscopic simulation is devised to replicate passing maneuvers on two-lane roads. Using the simulation results, the author is able to assess the risk of various PSD lengths for a specific design speed. The risk index of the AASHTO Green Book and the MUTCD PSD standards are also obtained using simulation. With risk measures attached to the PSD lengths, a trade-off analysis between the level of service and risk is feasible to accomplish. The last task is concerned with applying the Highway Capacity Manual concepts to assessing the service measures of the different PSD lengths. The results of the final trade-off analysis show that for a design speed of 50 mph, the AASHTO Green Book and the MUTCD standards overestimate the PSD requirements. The criteria can be reduced to 725 ft and still be within an acceptable risk level.
Ph. D.

In this master thesis a small modular sodium-cooled metal-fuelled pool-type fast reactor design, called SPARC - Safe and Passive with Autonomous Reactivity control, has been designed. The long term reactivity changes in the SPARC are managed by implementation of the the Autonomous Reactivity Control (ARC) system, which is the novelty of the design. The overall design is mainly based on the Integral Fast Reactor project (IFR), which experimentally demonstrated the passive safety characteristics of a metal fuelled, sodium-cooled, pool-type reactor system. Whilst mimicking the passive safety features of the IFR, the vision of the SPARC design is a battery type reactor, which can operate with minimum interference from human actors. In this thesis, two reactor examples have been developed which operate using different fuel compositions. One reactor operates on recycled nuclear waste from today's nuclear power plants, and the other reactor operates on enriched uranium. Both reactors have a thermal power of 150 MW, and are meant to operate for 30 years without refuelling. The design was developed using the ADOPT software, and was simulated in Serpent. Using Serpent, criticality analyses were carried out which show that the ARC system is able to control the long term reactivity changes of the reactors.

An einbahnige Außerortsstraßen (Landstraßen) werden sehr hohe Anforderungen gestellt. Einerseits sollen sie eine hohe Verkehrssicherheit aufweisen und andererseits gemäß ihrer Verkehrsbedeutung eine angemessene Verkehrsqualität und Leistungsfähigkeit bereitstellen. Im Landstraßennetz liegt die Erfüllung dieser Anforderungen jedoch vielerorts deutlich unter den Erwartungen. Unfälle auf Landstraßen sind im Vergleich zu Autobahnen oder Innerortsstraßen durch eine besonders hohe Schwere gekennzeichnet. Sehr hohe und oft an den Streckenverlauf nicht hinreichend angepasste Geschwindigkeiten, Fehleinschätzungen von Geschwindigkeiten bzw. Geschwindigkeitsdifferenzen entgegenkommender und vorausfahrender Fahrzeuge sowie die im Standardfall für Überholvorgänge notwendige Nutzung des Gegenfahrstreifens sind die Hauptursachen für die schweren Unfälle auf Landstraßen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Untersuchung der Wirksamkeit von kurz- und mittelfristig umsetzbaren Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit auf unfallauffälligen einbahnigen Außerortsstraßen. Die Untersuchungen dafür erfolgten im Rahmen des Großversuches „Außerortsstraßensicherheit“ (AOSI). Im Ergebnis sollten Einsatzempfehlungen für die Planungs- und Entwurfspraxis und für zukünftige Regelwerke für den Landstraßenentwurf abgeleitet werden. Für die Durchsetzung der zulässigen Höchstgeschwindigkeit wurden auf fünf ausgewählten Bundesstraßenabschnitten linienhaft angeordnete ortsfeste Geschwindigkeitsüberwachungsanlagen (OGÜ) eingerichtet. Auf fünf weiteren Bundesstraßenabschnitten wurde das Überholen nur auf den dafür angelegten Überholfahrstreifen (ÜFS) zugelassen. Auf den verbliebenen zweistreifigen Zwischenabschnitten wurden Überholverbote (ÜV) erlassen. Nach dem von der AOSI-Projektgruppe vorgegebenen Messregime und den so ermittelten Rohdaten wurde eine eigene Untersuchungsmethodik entwickelt und die vorliegende Datenlage entsprechend aufbereitet. Darauf gestützt erfolgte die Auswertung und Interpretation sowie die Ableitung der Empfehlungen. Durch die linienhafte ortsfeste Geschwindigkeitsüberwachung konnte eine deutliche Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit erzielt werden und damit das Unfallrisiko auf den Untersuchungsstrecken teils erheblich reduziert werden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Grundlage dieser Entwicklung die Durchsetzung der zulässigen Höchstgeschwindigkeit war, die vor der Überwachung um bis zu 20 km/h überschritten wurde. Diese Entwicklung war nicht nur auf eine Reduktion der Fahrunfälle zurückzuführen. Durch die Verringerung der Geschwindigkeitsunterschiede zwischen den Fahrzeugen sank der Überholdruck, was besonders auf den Untersuchungsstrecken mit einer gestreckten Linienführung auch einen Rückgang der Unfälle im Längsverkehr bewirkte. Nach der Eingewöhnungszeit stellte sich das erwartete Fahrverhalten entlang der Untersuchungsstrecken ein, das nicht mehr durch deutliche Verzögerungs- und Beschleunigungsvorgänge im Bereich der Geschwindigkeitsüberwachungsanlagen geprägt war. Förderlich für diese Entwicklung war trotz anfänglicher Skepsis die breite Akzeptanz der Kraftfahrer zu den OGÜ-Anlagen als sinnvolle Maßnahme zur Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit. Erreicht wurde dies mit einer verständlichen Öffentlichkeitsarbeit zu den Hintergründen und Zielen der Maßnahme. Die Kombination von abschnittsweisen sicheren Überholmöglichkeiten (ÜFS) und Überholverboten in den einbahnig zweistreifigen Zwischenabschnitten (ÜV) ist eine geeignete, mittelfristig umsetzbare Maßnahme zur Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit. Die Wirkung der Maßnahme ist vorrangig auf die Unfälle im Längsverkehr gerichtet und sollte daher auf Strecken erwogen werden, bei denen das Unfallgeschehen vor allem durch einen hohen Anteil von Überholunfällen gekennzeichnet ist. Der Vorteil liegt im Abbau des Überholdrucks unabhängig von den verfügbaren Zeitlücken im Gegenverkehr. Dafür haben sich auch kurze Überholfahrstreifen (l ≥ 600 m) bewährt, die im Bestandsnetz eher realisierbar sind. Die untersuchte Maßnahmenkombination aus einem sicheren Überholangebot und einem Überholverbot in den einbahnig zweistreifigen Abschnitten erfährt zudem eine hohe Akzeptanz bei den Verkehrsteilnehmern. Durch die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit liegen Empfehlungen vor, um die Verkehrssicherheit auf unfallauffälligen Abschnitten einbahniger Außerortsstraßen kurz- und mittelfristig zu verbessern. Dies gilt vor allem dann, wenn das Unfallgeschehen vorrangig auf eine zu hohe und unangepasste Geschwindigkeit oder auf Fehler bei Überholvorgängen zurückzuführen ist. Die Ergebnisse liefern darüber hinaus belastbare Grundlagen für das neue Regelwerk für den Landstraßenentwurf.

This thesis consists of the evaluation of sensor-based risk management against oil spills using an underwater distributed sensor network. The work starts by highlighting the importance of having a performing leak detection system both from an environmental, safety and economic point of view. The case study is the Goliat FPSO in the Barents Sea which has to meet requirements dictated by Norwegian authorities to prevent oil spills. The modeled network is made of passive acoustic sensors monitoring the subsea manifolds. These sensors send their local 1-bit decision to a Fusion Center which takes a global decision on whether the leakage is occurring. This work evaluates how the choice of adapted Fusion Rules (Counting Rule and Weighted Fusion Rule) can affect the performances of the leak detection system in its current geometry. It will also be discussed how different thresholds, selected for a specific FR or sensor test, can change the system performance. The detection methods are based on statistical signal processing adapted to fit this application within the Oil&Gas field. The work also proposes some new leak localization methods developed so they can be coupled with the proposed leak detection methods, giving a coherent set of operations that the sensors and the FC must perform. Performances of detection techniques are assessed balancing the need for high values of True Positive Rate and Precision and low values of False Positive Rate using indexes based both on the ROC curve (like the Youden's Index) and on the PR curve (the F-scores). Whereas, performances of localization techniques will be assessed on their ability to localize the spill in the shortest time; if this is not possible, parameters like the difference between the estimated and the real leak position will be considered. Finally, some tests are carried out applying the different sets of proposed methods.

Thesis (MEng) -- Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This project investigates aspects of a novel inherently safe nuclear power steam supply system as safety is of paramount importance. The system envisaged has unique features namely: a) a two-phase flow flash-tube type natural circulating primary loop (also the secondary radioactive particle containment); b) a twophase flow thermosyphon heat pipe type heat exchanger secondary loop is used to transfer heat from the primary loop to the steam generators, thereby physically separating the two flow streams from one another; c) a natural convection air cooled condenser for the removal of the reactor’s residual heat; d) a unique core using TRISO type fuel (acting as the primary radioactive particle containment) with life of at least 8.9 years; e) a steel containment vessel acting as a tertiary radioactive product containment; f) a concrete containing structure with air vents to allow air to pass over the main steel containment vessel for cooling purposes in the case of an emergency, and for the removal of parasitic heat during operation. In particular the primary and secondary loops of the proposed system are investigated. This is done by design, construction and testing of a small scale experimental set-up of the primary and secondary loops as well as the development of theoretical models for the two loops. A literature survey focusing on nuclear technology, thermosyphon loops, natural circulating loop instabilities, heat pipes, and two-phase flow modelling is presented to give a brief overview of the technologies as well as tools used in the work undertaken. Observations of the inside flow behaviour of the primary loop experimental set-up were made possible by windows providing many insights into the inner workings, such as plume formation and geysering. The transient response of the secondary heat pipe loop start-up is also investigated. A thermal resistance theoretical model was developed for the secondary loop using heat transfer formulae from theory as well as experimentally semiempirical correlated formula. Different states of operation of the secondary loop were observed during testing with the theoretical model of the condensing regime correlating well, two-phase regime correlating acceptably and liquid regime correlating poorly to experimental results and thus were modelled using an experimentally determined overall heat transfer coefficient. The secondary loop model of the liquid regime is coupled with the primary loop theoretical model to predict the system’s performance. A homogeneous, one-dimensional, simple theoretical model for the primary loop was derived and computer simulated. The results did not compare well with experimental results for single phase flow and failed to capture the onset of two-phase flow. The assumptions of one dimensional model with a unidirectional flow, a hydrostatic pressure problem, a constant volumetric flow rate and the inability of the implementation of the code to handle expansion are noted as some of the flaws in the theoretical model. The following recommendations are made: a more advanced design of the pressuriser should be incorporated into the experiment; the secondary loop’s theoretical model should be characterised under a broader set of operating conditions; the computer program can be used as the basis for further research and implementation of alternative solution algorithms and models.
AFRIKKANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie projek ondersoek aspekte van ’n ongewone, essensieel veilige kernkrag stoomtoevoer-stelsel, omdat veiligheid van kardinale belang is. Die stelsel wat voorgestel is, het unieke eienskappe, naamlik: a) ’n twee-fasevloei flits-buistipe natuurlik sirkulerende primêre lus (wat ook die sekondêre inperking van radioaktiewe materiaal bevat); b) ’n twee-fasevloei termo-heweleffek sekondêre lus hitte-pyp hitte-uitruiler word gebruik om die hitte vanaf die primêre lus oor te dra na die stoomkragopwekkers en daardeur word die twee strome se vloei fisies geskei van mekaar; c) ’n natuurlike konveksie lugverkoelde kondensor word gebruik vir die verwydering van die reaktors se oortollige hitte; d) ’n unieke kern gebruik TRISO-tipe brandstof (wat as die primêre inperking van radioaktiewe materiaal optree) met ’n lewe van minstens 8.9 jaar; e) ’n inperkingshouer van staal wat optree as ’n tersiêre radioaktiewe produkhouer; f) ’n betonstruktuur met lugventilasie om toe te laat dat lug oor die hoof staalhouer vloei vir verkoeling in ’n noodgeval, en vir die verwydering van parasitiese hitte tydens werking. Hoofsaaklik word die primêre en sekondêre lusse van die voorgestelde stelsel ondersoek. Dit word gedoen deur die ontwerp, konstruksie en die toets van ’n eksperimentele opstelling van die primêre en sekondêre lusse op klein skaal, sowel as die ontwikkeling van teoretiese modelle vir die twee lusse. ’n Literatuurstudie wat fokus op kerntegnologie, termo-heweleffeklusse, natuurlik sirkulerende lus instabiliteit, hitte-pype, en twee-fase vloeimodellering word aangebied om ’n kort oorsig te gee van die tegnologie, sowel as gereedskap gebruik in die werk wat onderneem is. Om die interne vloeigedrag van die primêre lus se eksperimentele opstelling waar te neem, word daar gebruik gemaak van vensters wat dien as ’n manier om die innerlike werking van die proses soos pluimvorming en die kook van die water in die warmwaterkolom te toon. Die oorgangsreaksie van die sekondêre hittepyplus aanvangs is ook ondersoek. ’n Teoretiese termiese weerstandmodel is ontwikkel vir die sekondêre lus met behulp van hitte-oordragformules waarvoor hitte-oordragteorie gebruik is, wat met eksperimentele semi-empiriese formules gekorreleer is. Verskillende toestande van die sekondêre lus se werking is waargeneem gedurende die toetse. Die teoretiese model het goed met die kondensasiestaat gekorreleer, terwyl by die twee-fasewerkswyse aanvaarbare korrellasies aangetref is en die uiteindelike vloeitoestand swakker gekorrelleer het met eksperimentele resultate en dus gemodelleer is met behulp van die NTU-effektiwiteitsmetode. Die sekondêre lusmodel van die vloeistoftoestand is gekoppel met die primêre lus teoretiese model om die werking van die stelsels te voorspel. ’n Homogene een-dimensionele eenvoudige teoretiese model van die primêre lus is afgelei en ’n rekenaar simulasie is uitgevoer. Die resultate vergelyk nie goed met die eksperimentele resultate vir enkelfasevloei en kon nie die aanvang van twee-fasevloei beskryf nie. Die aannemings van ’n een-dimensionele model met eenrigting vloei, ’n hidrostatiese druk probleem, ’n konstant volumetries vloeitempo en die onvermoë van die implementering van die kode om uitbreiding te hanteer is bekend as ’n paar van die foute in die teoretiese model. Die volgende aanbevelings word gemaak: ’n meer gevorderde ontwerp van drukreëlaar moet in die eksperiment ingesluit word; die sekondêre lus se teoretiese model moet gekenmerk word onder ’n wyer stel bedryfsomstandighede, en die rekenaar program kan gebruik word as die basis vir verdere navorsing en die implementering van alternatiewe algoritmes en modelle.

The purpose of the essay is to discuss the power narration has over our gender roles. John Fiske and Pierre Bourdieu´s theoretical texts have been used to discuss the connection between power and culture in A.S. Byatt’s novel Possession: A Romance. Possession demonstrates how male academics take part in shaping knowledge about the past and the present from their perspective. Byatt uses allusions to myth and folktales to emphasise both the romance theme of the novel and how the past has formed us and continues to affect us in our relationships and social roles. The novel reveals how women are trapped by cultural myths about women’s roles in society. The female characters’ fates demonstrate the complexity of heterosexual relationships for independent women in a society where women are supposed to be taken care of by men. The roles imposed on women in romance stories in particular can be seen as a reductionist patriarchal view of women. Byatt emphasizes how women who at varying levels do not collaborate with men are punished for their chosen lifestyles and how some, like homosexual women, have been removed or have chosen to remove themselves from society in different ways. Byatt attempts to demythologize social myths concerning women and men by rewriting traditional myths and fairy tales. Still, Possession does not ultimately challenge the importance of the heterosexual relationship or the male and female characters’ gender roles.

Fiskars passager genom vattenkraftverk är förenat med hög dödlighet. För att minska vattenkraftens påverkan på fiskbestånd har olika fiskledare utvecklats. I denna laboratoriestudie utvärderades tre typer av icke-fysiska fiskledare och deras effektivitet i att leda odlade smolt av Atlantlax (Salmo salar L.) till en önskad passage. Målet med denna studie var att undersöka om det var möjligt att leda odlade laxsmolt till en önskad passage med hjälp av bubblor, strobeljus eller en kombination av bubblor och strobeljus. Med relativt enkla medel och låg kostnad konstruerades fiskledare som bestod av en perforerad slang driven av en luftkompressor samt en ljusramp med fyra LED-lampor vilka blinkade simultant med 480 bpm. Fem replikat genomfördes för vardera behandling, bubblor, strobeljus och bubblor/strobeljus, samt sex replikat i kontrollen. Under en timmes behandling fick tio laxsmolt, märkta med PIT-tag, passera en av två antenner, varav den ena var utrustad med en fiskledare, under vandring i nedströms riktning i ett strömakvarium. Denna studie visade att fiskledare av samtliga tre metoder ledde smolt till en önskad passage under behandlingens första femton minuter. Vidare visade fiskledaren bestående av bubblor en fortsatt ledande förmåga över hela behandlingsperioden (60 minuter), medan fiskledarna av strobeljus- och bubbel/strobeljus inte visade en sådan effekt.
Passages by fish through hydropower plants are associated with high mortality. In order to reduce the impact of hydropower plants on fish stocks, a variety of fish guiding systems have evolved. In this laboratory study, three types of non-physical fish guiding systems were evaluated by their efficiency in leading cultivated smolt of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) to a desired passage. This study aimed to answer if it is possible to guide salmon smolt to a desired safe passage by using bubbles, strobe light or a combination of bubbles and strobe light. With relatively simple means and low cost, fish-guides were constructed consisting of a perforated tube driven by an air compressor and a light ramp with four LED lights, which simultaneously flashed at 480 bpm. Five replicates were performed for each treatment; bubbles, strobe light and bubbles / strobe light, as well as six replicates for the controls. During one hour of treatment, ten salmon smolt, marked with PIT tag, could pass one of two antennas, where one had a fish-guide in front of the antenna, while migrating downstream in a stream aquarium. This study showed that fish-guides of all three methods led smolt to a desired passage during the first fifteen minutes of treatment. Furthermore, the bubble method showed a continuous guiding capacity throughout the treatment period (60 minutes), while the strobe light and bubble/strobe light did not show such an effect.