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Volpe Center Highlights - July/August 2002

Safety

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment | Organizational Excellence | Homeland Security
Papers and Presentations

Helping to Keep the Mail Safe (USPS)

Lapel pins remind USPS customers to avoid shipping potentially hazardous materials and "Keep the Mail Safe."

The Volpe Center provides technical support to the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Program of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). As part of its educational outreach program, the USPS conducts biannual national forums with its major customers to provide information about new USPS activities and demonstrate improved mailing operations. The spring forum was held in San Diego, California from April 22 through 24, 2002. Mr. Glenn Goulet of Volpe's Environmental Engineering Division assisted in the presentation of "Hazardous Materials -- What a Mailer Needs to Know."

Volpe staff also support the HAZMAT Program by developing training and awareness materials for USPS employees and customers. Recent materials that promote the theme "Keep the Mail Safe" include lapel pins and a HAZMAT poster now displayed in all post office lobbies nationwide.

Improving Rail Structural Integrity (FRA)

Improving railway safety by reducing rail failures and the associated risks of train derailments is an objective of many railroad organizations throughout the world. In 1997, the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC, or International Union of Railways) began an international research project on Rail Defect Management with the goal of developing and implementing strategies to control the risk of rail failures. The UIC, with headquarters in Paris, France, promotes cooperation among railways at the global level.

The Volpe Center's role in a joint research project on rail defect management involves modeling the growth of internal rail defects observed in project testing.

The primary method for controlling the risk of rail failures is rail testing. Determining how often rail tests should be performed requires knowledge of the nature of rail defect growth. The UIC project includes studies examining the growth of rail defects under both laboratory and revenue service conditions. The Volpe Center is conducting engineering analyses to model the growth behavior observed in the laboratory and in field tests. The Center is performing this work in support of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is a member of the UIC.

Broken rail from laboratory testing that studied the growth rate of internal rail defects. These experiments were performed by one of the several organizations participating in the UIC joint research project. (Photo courtesy of UIC)

The Volpe Center hosted an ad-hoc project meeting in May 2002, to discuss specific technical details of the Center's project work and how it can be used in risk analysis. Volpe participants included Dr. David Jeong, Dr. Oscar Orringer, and Ms. Yim Tang of the Vehicle Crashworthiness Division, and Mr. Jeffrey Gordon and Mr. Andrew Sluz of the Structures and Dynamics Division. Other participants included the Project Manager and representatives from the Railway Technical Research Institute in Japan and the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado.

During the week of June 24, 2002, Dr. Jeong attended a working group meeting in Paris where all participating organizations presented status reports on their research. Dr. Jeong is preparing a series of reports describing Volpe's analyses and results that will be submitted to the UIC at the conclusion of the project, which is scheduled for December 2002.

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