Acoustic emission testing of paper

Using Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) to determine the onset of paper damage will be demonstrated on tensile coupons made from mechanical pulp. This technique is part of an EU funded project named the Fifth Frame Program. Its aim is to develop methods for determining specific damage mechanisms through AET. Various such techniques of damage detection will be demonstrated in the coming work.

An analysis of the changes to the mechanical and acoustical properties of paper caused by the damage mechanisms present in the fibre structure

This paper will analyse two of the likely damage mechanisms present in a paper fibre matrix when placed under controlled stress conditions: fibre/fibre bond failure and fibre failure. The failure process associated with each damage mechanism will be presented in detail focusing on the change in mechanical and acoustic properties of the surrounding fibre structure before and after failure. To present this complex process mathematically, geometrically simple fibre arrangements will be chosen based on certain assumptions regarding the structure and strength of paper, to model the damage mechanisms. The fibre structures are then formulated in terms of a hybrid vibro-acoustic model based on a coupled mass/spring system and the pressure wave equation. The model will be presented in detail in the paper. The simulation of the simple fibre structures serves two purposes; it highlights the physical and acoustic differences of each damage mechanism before and after failure, and also shows the differences in the two damage mechanisms when compared with one another. The results of the simulations are given in the form of pressure wave contours, time-frequency graphs and the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) diagrams. The analysis of the results leads to criteria by which the two damage mechanisms can be identified. Using these criteria it was possible to verify the results of the simulations against experimental acoustic data. The models developed in this study are of specific practical interest in the paper-making industry, where acoustic sensors may be used to monitor continuous paper production. The same techniques may be adopted more generally to correlate acoustic signals to damage mechanisms in other fibre-based structures.

CAA paper 2006/01: a database to record human experience of evacuation in aviation accidents: the aircraft accident statistics and knowledge database (AASK)

This report concerns the development of the AASK V4.0 database (CAA Project 560/SRG/R+AD). AASK is the Aircraft Accident Statistics and Knowledge database, which is a repository of survivor accounts from aviation accidents. Its main purpose is to store observational and anecdotal data from interviews of the occupants involved in aircraft accidents. The AASK database has wide application to aviation safety analysis, being a source of factual data regarding the evacuation process. It is also key to the development of aircraft evacuation models such as airEXODUS, where insight into how people actually behave during evacuation from survivable aircraft crashes is required. With support from the UK CAA (Project 277/SRG/R&AD), AASK V3.0 was developed. This was an on-line prototype system available over the internet to selected users and included a significantly increased number of passenger accounts compared with earlier versions, the introduction of cabin crew accounts, the introduction of fatality information and improved functionality through the seat plan viewer utility. The most recently completed AASK project (Project 560/SRG/R+AD) involved four main components: a) analysis of the data collected in V3.0; b) continued collection and entry of data into AASK; c) maintenance and functional development of the AASK database; and d) user feedback survey. All four components have been pursued and completed in this two-year project. The current version developed in the last year of the project is referred to as AASK V4.0. This report provides summaries of the work done and the results obtained in relation to the project deliverables.

Review paper: role of aluminum in glass-ionomer dental cements and its biological effects

The role of aluminum in glass-ionomers and resin-modified glass-ionomers for dentistry is reviewed. Aluminum is included in the glass component of these materials in the form of Al(2)O(3) to confer basicity on the glass and enable the glass to take part in the acid-base setting reactions. Results of studies of these reactions by FTIR and magic-angle spinning (MAS)-NMR spectroscopy are reported and the role of aluminum is discussed in detail. Aluminum has been shown to be present in the glasses in predominantly 4-coordination, as well as 5- and 6-coordination, and during setting a proportion of this is converted to 6-coordinate species within the matrix of the cement. Despite this, mature cements may contain detectable amounts of both 4- and 5-coordinate aluminum. Aluminum has been found to be leached from glass-ionomer cements, with greater amounts being released under acidic conditions. It may be associated with fluoride, with which it is known to complex strongly. Aluminum that enters the body via the gastro-intestinal tract is mainly excreted, and only about 1% ingested aluminum crosses the gut wall. Calculation shows that, if a glass-ionomer filling dissolved completely over 5 years, it would add only an extra 0.5% of the recommended maximum intake of aluminum to an adult patient. This leads to the conclusion that the release of aluminum from either type of glass-ionomer cement in the mouth poses a negligible health hazard.