Volpe Center Highlights
Safety
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment |
Economic Growth and Trade |
National Security |
Published and Presented
Promote public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage. |
Wake Vortex Papers Presented in Norway and Russia (FAA)
Mr. Robert Rudis, of the Volpe Center's Airport Surface Projects Office, recently presented two technical papers at international conferences in Europe. The first of these, entitled "Wake Vortex Decay Near the Ground Under Conditions of Strong Stratification and Wind Shear," was authored by Mr. Rudis and Messrs. D.C. Burnham and P. Janota. It was presented on May 21 at the AGARD Fluid Dynamics Panel Session of the Spring 1996 Symposium on "The Characteristics and Modification of Wakes From Lifting Vehicles in Fluids," held in Trondheim, Norway. The second paper, entitled "Comparison of Sodar and Lidar Measurements of Aircraft Wake Vortices," co-authored with Mr. Burnham, was presented on May 30 at the 8th International Symposium on Acoustic Remote Sensing and Associated Techniques of the Atmospheres and Oceans, held in Moscow, Russia.
Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (NHTSA)
Mr. George Neat, chief of the Center's Vehicle Crashworthiness Division, recently participated in the 15th Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles in Melbourne, Australia. He presented a paper co-authored by Dr. Thomas Trella entitled "The Use of Advance Analytical Tools for Side Impact Crashworthiness Research." Another Volpe Center-authored technical paper was published in the conference proceedings, entitled "An Upgraded System for Crash Test Data Acquisition System Evaluation," co-authored by Mr. John Nickles, of the Center, and Ms. Randa Samaha, of NHTSA's Office of Research and Development. The paper describes the Center-development of a new signal waveform generator (SWG) that uses commercial equipment as much as possible for its implementation. SWGs are used for the evaluation of crash and sled test data acquisition systems. Separately, Mr. Neat also participated in meetings of two of the working groups of the European Experimental Vehicle Committee, on occupant protection in frontal impacts and on development of an advanced crash dummy.
High-Speed Ground Transportation Safety (FRA)
Mr. Robert Dorer, of the Center's High-Speed Ground Transportation Special Projects Office, recently chaired a session, entitled "The Safety Factor," as part of the High-Speed Rail/Maglev International Convention, in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Topics addressed in this session included the federal role in safety, safety issues related to the Amtrak high-speed trainset, performance and test plans for the Amtrak high-speed trainset, and a labor perspective on high-speed rail safety. In conjunction with the conference, Mr. Dorer also participated in meetings of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Guided Intercity Passenger Transportation and the American Railway Engineering Association's High-Speed Rail Committee.