bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Abscission Spray Application Practices for Mechanical Harvesting of Oranges
Authors: Farooq M , Salyani M , Whitney JD 
Published: April 2008

Two air-carrier sprayers were used to investigate the feasibility of applying abscission materials from one side of the tree in a two-row bedded orange grove. One-sided (bed side) and two-sided (both bed and ditch side) applications at 2.4 and 4.8 km/h were compared using each sprayer. Tank mixture contained active ingredient (a.i.) 5-chloro-3-methyl-4-nitro-l-H-pyrazole (CMN-P) at about 350 mg/L a.i., a surfactant, a drift retardant, and a fluorescent tracer. Leaf samples were collected from different locations on the bed and ditch sides, and deposition was determined by fluorometry. The efficacy of abscission application was assessed in terms of fruit detachment force (FDF) and percent fruit removal (PFR) by trunk shakers.
With both sprayers, one-sided applications resulted in comparable depositions to two-sided applications at the far side of the lower canopy level. This result implies that one-sided applications might provide acceptable spray coverage in lightly foliated canopies. Abscission sprays at one-half or full a.i. (526 or 1052 g/ha) rate reduced fruit detachment force significantly. The best results were obtained with two-sided applications at lower ground speed (highest volume/a.i. rate). The air-curtain sprayer at full a.i. rate and the air-blast sprayer at one-half or full a.i. rate resulted in a significant increase in percent fruit removal.
Mercury Measurements in Fossil Fuels, Particularly Petrochemicals
Authors: Stockwell PB , Corns WT , Bryce DW 
Published: April 2008

The dangers of mercury and its derivatives, especially organomercury compounds have been well documented for almost half a century. Concerns remain regarding mercury contamination in aqueous ecosystems. Significant quantities of mercury are present in fossil fuels, particularly petrochemicals.
We still manage to pollute the atmosphere and environment by the use of coal and petrochemicals. The impact of mercury in natural gas has been such that there have been at least six experiences of plant failure which have been traced to corrosion due to mercury attacks on aluminium rotors in the plant fabric. Very little attention is being given to mercury removal strategies, and in order for these to be successful there is an urgent requirement to determine the speciation profile of the natural gas or liquid hydrocarbon condensates. Atomic fluorescence spectrometry is an ideal analytical technique to determine the levels of mercury both before and after removal systems. The authors will outline achievements of both laboratory and online measurement systems for this important area of research. These systems have been operating at the required levels of performance and in the case of some of the online systems, have been in place operating 24 hours per day 7 days per week for more than 2 years. This has encouraged other companies to install similar systems.
An Assessment of Current GCL Manufacturing Quality Control and On-Site Acceptance Testing Standard of Practice
Authors: Erickson RB , Jesionek KS 
Published: April 2008

The intent of establishing an ASTM standard practice for geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) manufacturing quality control (MQC) (ASTM D 5889) and a guide for construction quality assurance (CQA) (ASTM D 6495) acceptance testing requirements is to lead the industry toward a common standpoint with regard to GCL material requirements and testing. Although these methods provide the design practitioner a baseline for specifying GCL material properties and testing, the acceptance of these methods by the design community is dependent upon the intent of each design, the differences in GCL materials and the designer's exposure to GCLs.
An assessment of GCL material properties and testing outlined in the ASTM methods for MQC and CQA testing is presented. To gage the extent to which the methods have standardized the North American GCL market, the authors compare the ASTM methods to 160 GCL specifications from projects they were involved over the past year. Although approximately 70 % of the actual GCL project specifications conform to the current industry standard of practice, additional progress in promoting the ASTM methods and test designations will further standardize MQC and CQA testing whereby reducing exceptions and clarifications between GCL manufacturers and designers. From this comparison, the authors present recommended changes to the current ASTM MQC and CQA standards to bring the ASTM standards in line with current state of the practice GCL testing.
Supplementary Surveillance Program for Reactor Pressure Vessels of VVER-440/V-213C Type Reactors in NPP Dukovany
Authors: Brumovsky M , Erben O , Novosad P 
Published: April 2008

Standard surveillance specimen programs for materials in the reactor pressure vessels of VVER-440/V-213 type reactors were designed with a high lead factor (approx. equal to 12 for base metal and 18 for weld metal). Thus, end-of-life neutron fluence levels are obtained within the first three years of operation. The maximum irradiation time is five years after which there is no active monitoring of neutron fluence inside reactor pressure vessels. Also, the distribution of neutron flux along surveillance specimen chains creates a large difficulty in grouping of specimens for static fracture toughness testing.
A reevaluation of the standard surveillance program for NPP Dukovany has been performed. This reevaluation includes additional irradiations and a very detailed analysis of all results, and provides a basis for a design of a Supplementary Surveillance Program. Its realization started in 1997 by loading the first chains with specimens.
The principles of this Program are explained in this paper. This program will provide: 1) new results under a realistically low lead factor, 2) new data on cladding properties under irradiation as well as after annealing and re-irradiation, and 3) data on the re-irradiation rate of vessel materials. Also the fourth part of the Program will provide a permanent neutron monitoring through the real vessel end-of-life. Within the whole program, the IAEA reference material JRQ will be also used, and this material will serve as a correlation monitor with other irradiation experiments.
Irradiation Behavior of Submerged Arc Welding Materials with Different Copper Content
Authors: Langer R , Bartsch R , Nagel G 
Published: April 2008

In Germany there are two first generation commercial nuclear power plants in operation, Obrigheim NPP (KWO) and Stade NPP (KKS). The reactor pressure vessels of both plants were fabricated of forged rings, joined with submerged arc welds. These welds were performed with a flux of the first generation, produced in license of Linde, and with copper-coated wires. When the first results of the irradiation surveillance programs were available, it became obvious that the neutron-induced embrittlement of the welding materials would be higher than expected at design of the power stations in the late sixties.
To evaluate the neutron irradiation response, additional irradiation programs were performed. In the scope of these programs, submerged arc test welds were produced, corresponding in chemical composition, mechanical properties and Charpy toughness in the unirradiated condition of the core-welds of the two NPPs concerned. It was intended to assess also KIc, T-curves of the welding material established on fracture toughness tests of large specimens.
This report presents some results of unirradiated and irradiated tensile, Cv, KIc specimens and E208 drop weight specimens according to ASTM E208 taken from submerged arc welds with different copper content up to 0.42 wt.%. Irradiation was performed in the RPVs concerned and in the VAK RPV with different fluxes and fluences up to about 3.3E19 cm-2 (E &gt; 1MeV).
The irradiation behavior of the welding material in general is shown, especially the influence of the copper content. At a copper content of about 0.30 wt. %. saturation in in the T41 shift was found. The results show no influence of the irradiation facilities and of the different fluxes. With results on irradiated Cv, E208 drop weight, and WOLX specimens the conservatism of the use of the T41 shift according to the RTNDT concept could be confirmed.
Effects of Irradiation and Thermal Annealing on Fracture Toughness of the Midland Reactor Weld WF-70
Authors: McCabe DE , Nanstad RK , Sokolov MA 
Published: April 2008

The influence of irradiation damage and recovery of properties by thermal annealing for low upper-shelf WF-70 weld metal has been evaluated. The test material was obtained from the beltline and nozzle course girth welds of the Midland Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel. The two welds, ostensibly made with the same heat of weld wire and the same lot of submerged-arc flux, were determined to be separable for evaluations by virtue of differing copper contents. Conventional transition temperature methods of drop-weight nil-ductility transition and Charpy V-notch (CVN) transition curves could not distinguish a difference in transition temperature. However, a recently developed master curve method of data evaluation revealed the difference by virtue of achieving better sensitivity using only fracture mechanics-based test data.
Irradiation embrittlement after a fluence of 1.0 × 1019 n/cm2 was evaluated by both the conventional American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code method and by the more recent American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) master curve method. Again, the Code method rated the postirradiation transition temperatures of the two materials the same. The master curve method indicated that the postirradiated properties of the two materials differed significantly. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Regulatory Guide 1.99, Rev. 2, reasonably predicted the experimentally obtained CVN transition temperature shift at the 41 J reference level for the beltline weld.
Postirradiation annealing at 454°C (850° F) for 168 h almost completely restored the as-received transition temperature properties. The recovery of the transition temperature compared to unirradiated values after 343°C (650°F) for 168-h recovery anneal was 52% by the 41 J CVN temperature, which conflicts with the theoretical recovery of 17% calculated by NRC Regulatory Guide 1.162. The ΔTo from the master curve method indicated 21% recovery of transition temperature.
Annealing of a Low Copper Steel: Hardness, SANS, Atom Probe, and Thermoelectric Power Investigations
Authors: Pareige P , Auger P , Welzel S , Van Duysen J-C , Miloudi S 
Published: April 2008

The evolution of the microstructure of the French Chooz A pressure vessel steel (characterized by a low copper content (&lt;0.1 at.% Cu)) has been studied during annealing at 450°C. The irradiated material (fluence: 0.5 to 16×1023 n.m-2, flux : 2×1015 n.m-2.s-1, temperature : 275°C) shows a quick recovery of hardness after 20 h of aging. The intensity of the SANS scattered signal as well, as the thermoelectric power one, decreases with annealing time. In addition, 3D images, at the atomic scale, given by the Tomographic Atom Probe show that during the first hours of annealing, the neutron-induced Cu-Ni-Mn-Si clusters formed during the in-service irradiation are “dissolved” while copper precipitates are formed. Their low number density is in agreement with the full recovery of the hardness.
These results are of primary importance for prediction of recovery of an irradiation embrittled steel and also for prediction of its behavior during reirradiation. This work also shows that the nondestructive technique, thermoelectric power, may be used to “follow” the microstructural evolution of materials during annealing treatments.
Interaction of Void-Induced Phase Instability and Subsequent Void Growth in AISI 304 Stainless Steel
Authors: Porter DL , Garner FA , Bond GM 
Published: April 2008

There are two types of radiation-induced phase instabilities that AISI 304 is prone to develop at temperatures in the 400–550°C range at dpa rates typical of fast reactors, and there is some concern that these instabilities may shift to lower temperatures (≥400°C) at lower dpa rates typical of pressurized water reactors.
One of these instabilities, the void-induced γ→α transformation, is investigated in this study at dpa rates typical of both types of reactors. The mode of nickel segregation shifts somewhat at PWR-relevant conditions, but the γ→α transformation has not yet been observed in the range 380–400°C for swelling levels less than 2%.
Helium/Hydrogen Measurements in High-Energy Proton-Irradiated Tungsten
Authors: Oliver BM , Hamilton ML , Garner FA , Sommer WF , Maloy SA , Ferguson PD 
Published: April 2008

To provide structural material design data for the Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) project, a 1 mA, 800 MeV proton beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) was used to irradiate a large number of metal samples, including a tungsten target similar to that being considered as the neutron source for the tritium production. The maximum proton fluence to the tungsten target was ∼1021 protons/cm2. An unavoidable byproduct of spallation reactions is the formation of large amounts of hydrogen and helium. Postulated off normal conditions for APT would result in target temperatures approaching 1200°C. The use of tungsten target rods clad with Alloy 718 raises concerns as to the amount and rate of release of these gases under such off normal conditions, with the major concern being pressurization and possible failure of the cladding. To address these issues, portions of the LANSCE tungsten rods were heated to temperatures up to 1200°C, and the time-dependent evolution of helium and hydrogen gas was measured.
Stepped-anneal and total helium/hydrogen measurements were conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on multiple samples of the tungsten material. Helium measurements were conducted using a high-sensitivity magnetic-sector isotope-dilution helium analysis system. Stepped-anneal measurements were conducted at temperatures from 25°C to 1600°C in ∼100°C steps. Total helium measurements were conducted by rapid vaporization after completion of the stepped-anneal process, and are compared with Monte Carlo calculations performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) using the LAHET code system.
Hydrogen measurements were conducted between 750°C and 1200°C using a high-temperature furnace that had been extensively modified for the application. Hydrogen detection was accomplished by periodic sampling of the furnace gas using a separate quadrupole analyzer. Hydrogen measurements are also compared with LANL calculations.
Irradiation Aging of Aluminum Alloys
Authors: Gillemot F , Gillemot L , Uri G 
Published: April 2008

In Hungary the VVRSZM-5 research reactor went into operation in 1959 and was operated continuously until 1986 without any failure. In 1986 the reactor was shut down for reconstruction. Since then the primary and secondary cooling circuits were dismantled and replaced. Many of these components were made from precipitation hardened aluminum alloy SZAV-1 similar in composition to AA6005 alloy. To increase knowledge about the aging of the mechanically loaded components few dismantled parts of the reactor were tested or samples were cut and stored for testing.
In the meantime a new aluminum alloy for production of the main components of the reconstructed reactor has been developed and tested. This alloy, R-AlMg2.5 was produced on a clean aluminum base, and its weldment was carefully tested before usage. Sample heats of the SZAV-1 alloy (material of the dismantled reactor) and its weldments were irradiated together with the new R-AlMg2.5 (similar to AA5252) alloy and the properties of the materials compared. The results of the laboratory test series show a good correlation with the data obtained on the out-of-service material and weldments.
The results shows that high dose irradiation (∼1024-1026 n/m2) fast neutron fluence, (E&gt;1MeV) does not decrease the mechanical properties of the R-AlMg2.5 alloy and its weldments, while the toughness of the SZAV-1 weldments is reduced.
The reconstructed reactor (called VVRSZM-10) had also a surveillance testing program, and surveillance results are verify the application of the irradiation resistant R-AlMg2.5 alloy.
Repeatability of the Resilient Modulus Test Procedure
Authors: Boudreau RL 
Published: April 2008

Through the work of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP, 1987–1992) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, 1992-present), the government has provided financial and technical assistance to develop and improve a laboratory test method to determine the resilient modulus properties of unbound materials. Although the work — part of the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) study — has led towards the adoption of test procedure T307-99 in the current release of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Tests, many skeptics insist that the method does not lend itself towards repeatable, reproducible test results.
This paper acknowledges that the work conducted by SHRP and FHWA focused rimarily upon developing a test method that would be relatively simple and highly productive with less variability inherent in the previous, existing test procedure. Variables not investigated included compaction methodology, instrumentation location and sensitivities to other influencing factors such as precision of confining pressure, waveform control, membrane thickness and porous stone properties. Additionally, the testing program did not successfully establish a precision and bias statement for the test method utilized.
The repeatability of the test is examined by utilizing eight replicated test specimen ub sampled from a homogenous Alabama soil and nineteen replicated test specimen sub sampled from a homogenous Georgia soil. Each test specimen was prepared using the five-lift static compaction method. All specimens were tested within the range of ±1 pound per cubic foot density and ±0.4 percent moisture content, thus minimizing variations of results due to material variation. Averages, standard deviations, and coefficients of variation (c.v.) were determined for resilient modulus values calculated at each load sequence, resulting in c.v.s of below 4.5%. The resilient modulus values were calculated using the constitutive model: Mr = K1(Sc)K2 (S3)K5 in order to normalize the data for comparative purposes.
The test method can promote repeatable test results, although much more testing is recommended to produce precision and bias statements within and between laboratories.
A Low-Cost High-Performance Alternative for Controlling a Servo-Hydraulic System for Triaxial Resilient Modulus Apparatus
Authors: Bejarano MO , Heath AC , Harvey JT 
Published: April 2008

A triaxial test apparatus for the characterization of pavement materials was designed and built at the Pavement Research Center (PRC) at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). The system was designed for high quality testing of unbound, stabilized, and asphaltic materials. The design process included the design of the hardware and the servo-controlling systems. An important step in the design of the system was the design of the controller for the servo-hydraulic system. Alternatives for controllers of servo-hydraulic systems for waveform generation included the use of the data acquisition system along with proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) algorithms for setting the minimum and maximum loads/displacement. Software programming for these solutions was very complex with limited satisfactory consistency. Commercial ready-to-use controllers are expensive and limited to the specifications of the manufacturer. Therefore, a commercially available programmable motion controller PIC card was implemented for controlling the servo-hydraulic system. The motion controller required only one PID controller to generate repeated waveforms or monotonic loading. An available commercial test solution software compatible with the motion controller card was used to program the motion controller and data acquisition system. This capability was preferable to provide flexibility in modifying the system based on research needs. Software programming was simple. In addition, the cost of the new system was reduced by about 80 percent with respect to the ready-to-use motion controllers.
The paper describes the implementation of the motion controller, the philosophy of the software program, and the success obtained with the new system. The system meets all the quality control provision of the LTTP Protocol P-46. Currently the triaxial apparatus is being use to investigate the resilient response and permanent deformation performance of typical California aggregate base and subbases.
The Effect of Polish Maintenance on Static Coefficient of Friction
Authors: Owens JM 
Published: April 2008

The static coefficient of friction (μs) of polishes, measured by the James machine and ASTM D2047, provides a measure of the inherent slip resistance of the polish film. When in use, polish films are invariably modified by traffic and routine maintenance procedures that could, theoretically, change the inherent slip resistance of the film. Portable tribometers are not appropriate for measuring μs of polishes in traffic because they have not yet demonstrated a correlation with the James machine, so they provide no criterion for determining whether the surface is slip resistant.
A protocol was developed using the James machine and a modification of ASTM D2047 to measure μs of polish films after pedestrian traffic and routine maintenance had been performed. The maintenance procedures included high speed burnishing, high speed spray buffing, low speed spray buffing, damp mopping, autoscrubbing, deep cleaning (partial stripping), dust mopping, and dry sweeping.
The protocol was extended to test the effect of traffic and maintenance on μs. This paper also reports the μs changes observed with three compositionally different but commercially typical floor finishes and two widely used commercial polishes of unknown composition.
Managing Slips and Falls: A Legal Perspective
Authors: Balek WC 
Published: April 2008

Annually, slip and fall incidents exact a substantial toll in terms of death, personal injury, personal suffering, workers compensation, loss in productivity and civil liability. The cause of slip and fall incidents and resultant damages are multiple and include unclean/unsafe floors, physiological characteristics of individuals, lack of training, inappropriate footwear and even fraud. A clear understanding of the underlying causes of slip and falls provides us with the framework for identifying those factors we can control and thus minimize and otherwise reduce one's potential liability.
Numerous parties may be responsible and therefore potentially liable for a slip and fall incident depending on the particular circumstances of a given situation. Parties that may be liable in a slip and fall incident include owners or operators of retail and other commercial facilities, and distributors and manufacturers of floor care products, flooring and footwear.
This paper outlines various proactive measures that individuals and companies can implement and which will help to eliminate or substantially reduce the incidence of slip and fall injuries, and any potential liability.