Volpe Center | Information Resources | Highlights

Information Resources

Volpe Center Highlights

Safety

Promote public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage.

Briefing Law Officers on Alcohol Countermeasures (NHTSA)

The Volpe Center is supporting NHTSA in meeting legislatively mandated responsibilities by conducting studies of techniques for measuring alcohol on breath and in blood. The studies include evaluation of breath-alcohol testing procedures and practices of state law-enforcement agencies. As part of this effort, Dr. Arthur Flores, of the Safety and Environmental Technology Division, was recently in Jacksonville, FL, at the request and sponsorship of the Institute of Police Technology and Management. The purpose of the visit was for Dr. Flores to present the Center's program for evaluation of breath testers to participants of a police training course held at the University of North Florida.

Use of Rail Restraint System (FRA)

The Gauge Restraint Measurement System (GRMS) was developed by the Volpe Center to measure the ability of railroad track to maintain track gage under heavy loads. The success of GRMS has been noted by FRA and the railroad industry at demonstrations of the system at different locations around the nation. Recently, Mr. Gary Carr, of the Structures and Dynamics Division, traveled to Memphis, TN to conduct the first in a series of informal briefings on the GRMS to introduce regional and local track safety inspectors to the GRMS technology since, during the next several months, the GRMS test car will be in operation throughout their inspection territories. In Memphis, Mr. Carr presented briefings on "Basic Understanding of GRMS Technology," "What the GRMS Paints and Why," and "The Future of Inspection Technology." He will attend future briefings and will present information on GRMS technology and the interpretation of data provided by the system.

Participation in Aircraft Expert Panel Meeting (FAA)

The third meeting of the Safety Performance Analysis System (SPAS) Aircraft Expert Panel was recently held in San Diego, CA. The panel, which was chartered by the Director of the FAA s Flight Standards Service to determine useful performance measures for assessing the safety condition of aircraft, is comprised of approximately 20 FAA safety inspectors and engineers from around the country whose specialties cover all aircraft types. The Volpe Center, which developed SPAS, is providing analytical support to the panel. The meeting focused on reviewing "mock-ups" of several proposed aircraft performance measures, in addition to continuing the process of identifying and analyzing new ones.

Track Systems Research in Rail Integrity (FRA)

The Volpe Center recently assisted FRA's Office of Safety in evaluating a Union Pacific Railroad waiver request to evaluate the application of new rail flaw detection equipment having a higher sensitivity than current equipment. The waiver was needed to permit the railroad to delay action on small, "non-critical" internal defects that would not have been detected by the equipment in current use. The Center developed criteria and an experiment protocol. Volpe Center staff programmed a simulation of the inspection process based on estimates of defect occurrence rates, defect growth rates, and inspection equipment reliability determined from earlier research. The resulting report, "Simulation Model for Risk/Benefit Evaluation of Rail Inspection Programs," prepared by Dr. Oscar Orringer and Ms. Yim Tang, of the Center's Structures and Dynamics Division, has been sent to FRA for publication. It describes the simulation model and documents the study of the potential for delayed action to improve inspection vehicle utilization. The major findings are that adoption of the delayed action concept has the potential to improve the efficiency of inspections without affecting the percentage of undetected defects, that the benefit is greater for the larger specified defect size, and the percentage of undetected defects can be reduced by increasing inspection frequency or by improving equipment performance.

Taking Extra Steps to Ensure Transit Fire Safety (FTA)

At the FTA Chief Counsel's request, Mr. William T. Hathaway, of the Volpe Center's Safety and Security Systems Division, with Ms. Helen M. Knoll, of FTA Region VIII, participated in the Technical Committee Report Session #2 at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1995 Annual Meeting, which was recently held in Denver, CO. Their attendance was necessary to urge the NFPA not to incorporate in its new standard (88B) a provision allowing for the use of open flame heaters in facilities where compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles are repaired. The transit industry has experienced over 100 accidental releases of CNG and at least one related fire. The specific involvement of FTA and the Center was necessary as the public comment period had closed and the committee had taken final action. In order for FTA's concerns to be addressed and accepted, a motion was made on the floor of the annual meeting by Ms. Knoll and Mr. Hathaway that the NFPA return its 88B standard to committee for review in light of FTA comments and recent information obtained during transit safety assessments. After consideration and discussion, the members in attendance voted unanimously to accept the motion.

Conference on NonDestructive Evaluation of Aging Infrastructure (FRA)

The Volpe Center's Structures and Dynamics Division recently provided leadership in sessions organized by FRA's Office of Research and Development regarding the nondestructive inspection of railroad vehicles and track. The sessions were held at the Conference on Nondestructive Evaluation of Infrastructure, in Oakland, CA. At the conference, which was sponsored by the International Society of Optical Engineers, Drs. Oscar Orringer and Andrew Kish served as chairpersons of sessions dealing with techniques currently being applied by FRA and the railroad industry for inspection of track and vehicle structures. Mr. Gary Carr presented the paper, "Performance Based/Tie Fastener Inspection Technique using the Gage Restraint Measurement System." The "Aging Railroads" part of the conference achieved FRA and Volpe Center objectives, which were to identify active and up-to-date nondestructive evaluation programs in the railroad industry, and to provide an opportunity for specialists from different sectors of the industry to acquaint themselves with the content of the research.

Cooperative Research with Polish Technology Institute (FRA)

Staff of the Volpe Center's Structures and Dynamics Division have been working with researchers from Poland's Cracow Institute of Technology to develop improved techniques for evaluating and improving the structural integrity of railroad track and equipment structures. Particular attention is being paid to the evaluation of the behavior of residual stress changes in railroad wheels and rail which can, if not controlled, result in catastrophic failure. As part of this work, Prof. Janusz Orkisz, Dr. Michael Pazdanowski, and Mr. Andrzej Skrzat, who are representatives from Cracow University, are currently visiting the Volpe Center as "Summer 1995 Visiting Research Scientists." While at the Center, they will perform research related to rail quality and safety, and railroad vehicle wheel performance.

In a related effort, as part of the studies of structural integrity of railroad wheels being conducted in support of FRA, Mr. Jeffrey Gordon, also of the Structures and Dynamics Division, is conducting a study to develop analytical models describing development of residual stresses in railroad wheels starting with the manufacturing process and continuing through application in commuter operations with rapid starts and stops. A Volpe Center report documenting part of this study, entitled "Investigation of the Effects of Braking System Configurations on Thermal Input to Commuter Car Wheels," is currently under review by FRA.