• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.237-243
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• 2016

Background: This study examined the relationship between interhandle distances and upper limb exertion during simply pushing and pulling of a cart with four swivel wheels, defined by a roll box pallet (RBP) in a Japanese industrial standard. Methods: Six healthy young male participants were asked to push and pull an RBP at a distance of 5.2 m under six conditions corresponding to different interhandle distances (40 cm, 60 cm, and 80 cm) and weights (130 kg and 250 kg). The upper limb exertion was studied by shoulder abduction and flexion, and elbow flexion, as well as surface electromyogram (EMG) in shoulder extensor, and elbow flexor and extensor. Participants were required to provide subjective evaluations on operability after each trial. Results: Subjective operability indicated that a narrower interhandle distance had a better operability for pushing. Interhandle distance was also related to upper limb exertion especially for pushing. A narrow interhandle distance caused smaller shoulder adduction but larger elbow flexion. The normalized EMG data revealed that muscular activity became smaller with a narrow interhandle distance in shoulder extensor. During the pulling task, elbow flexion was smaller at a narrow interhandle distance, although subjective operability and normalized EMG were not significantly varied. Conclusion: A wider interhandle distance, such as 80 cm, was not suitable in the forwardbackward movement of the RBP. Therefore, this study concluded that an interhandle distance of 40 cm would be suitable for pushing and pulling an RBP to protect the workers' hands against the risk of injury by installing inner handles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.209-214
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• 2011

Objectives: To assess the risk of pushing or pulling the yarn-carrying cart, the survey was performed in some fiber manufacturing factories. Methods: We selected 6 fiber-twisting factories which agreed to in-site survey of their workplace. To measure both initial and sustained forces of the push-pull tasks, Chatillon CSD500 dynamometer(2004, Ametek, USA) was used. The mean of 3 tests for the same cart was adopted as the measured forces. Height and width of cart, weight of spooled yarns, and distance of movement were also measured. Inspection of cart wheel, moving path, and the actual hand position while moving was done. Results: More than one pushing or pulling task exceeded the push-pull force limits of design goal in 5 factories. Though the cart was not loaded the heaviest weight in the factory, the measured push or pull force exceeded the limits several times. A few cart wheels were worn out and tangled with pieces of yarn. It was also observed some holes in the moving path. Conclusions: While the push-pull task is not included in the 11 scopes of over-burdened work notified by Korean government, it should be recognized as risk factor of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The maintenance work such as regular change and frequent cleaning of cart wheel, the use of fitting wheel, and flattening of bumpy floor through the moving path should be advised importantly in the worksite management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2006

PFC(Perfluorocarbon) decontamination process is one of best methods to remove hot particulate adhered on the inner surface of hot cell and surface of equipment in hot cell. It was necessary to develop a filtration equipment to reuse the PFC waste solution generated on PFC decontamination due to the high cost of PFC solution and for minimization of the volume of second waste solution. The filtration equipment was developed to remove hot particulate in PFC waste solution. It was made suitable size and weight in consideration of hot cell gate and crane. And it has wheels for easy movement. Flux of the filtration equipment decreased with particulate concentration increase. It consists of pre-filter($1.4{\mu}m$) and final-filter($0.2{\mu}m$) for protection of the flux decrease along filtration time. It treatment capacity of waste solution is 0.2 L/min.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.175-181
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• 2016

This occurs when the unbalanced rotating body is inconsistent with the mass center line axis geometric center line. Wheelsets are assembled by a single axle with two wheels and a rotating body of a running railway vehicle. Owing to non-uniformity of the wheel material, the wear, and error of the wheel and axle assembly may cause an imbalance. Wheelsets will suffer the effects of vibrations due to the unbalanced mass, which becomes more pronounced due to the thin and high-speed rotation compared to the shaft diameter This can affect the driving safety and the running behavior of a rail car during high-speed running. Therefore, this study examined this unbalanced wheel using a railway vehicle multibody dynamics analysis tool to assess the impact of the dynamic VI-Rail movement of high-speed railway vehicles. Increasing the extent of wheel imbalance on the analysis confirmed that the critical speed of a railway vehicle bogie is reduced and the high-speed traveling dropped below the vehicle dynamic behaviour. Therefore, the adverse effects of the amount of a wheel imbalance on travel highlight the need for management of wheel imbalances. In addition, the static and dynamic management needs of a wheel imbalance need to be presented to the national rail vehicles operating agency.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.306-311
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• 2017

This paper deals with the design optimization of the kinematic characteristics of an automotive suspension system. The kinematic characteristics of the suspension determine the attitude of the wheels, such as the toe and camber, which not only relates to tire wear during driving, but also greatly affects the control of the vehicle and its stability, which corresponds to the motion performance of the vehicle. Therefore, it is very important to determine the characteristics of the suspension mechanism at the initial stage of the design. In this study, a displacement analysis is performed to determine the kinematic properties of the suspension for the McPherson strut suspension. For this purpose, a set of constraint equations for the joints constituting the suspension mechanism was established and a program was developed to solve them. We also used ADS, a design optimization program, to obtain the desired kinematic characteristics of the suspension. As the design variables for optimization, we used the coordinates of the hard points, which are the points of attachment of the suspension to the vehicle body, and are defined as the summation of the toe-in for the up and down movement of the wheel as the objective function. As the constraint functions, the maximum camber angle and minimum roll center height, which are design requirements, are considered. As a result of this study, it was possible to determine the optimal locations of the hard points that satisfy both constraint functions and minimize the change of the toe-in.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.549-562
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• 2017

The US railroad network carries 40% of the nation's total freight. Railroad bridges are the most critical part of the network infrastructure and, therefore, must be properly maintained for the operational safety. Railroad managers inspect bridges by measuring displacements under train crossing events to assess their structural condition and prioritize bridge management and safety decisions accordingly. The displacement of a railroad bridge under train crossings is one parameter of interest to railroad bridge owners, as it quantifies a bridge's ability to perform safely and addresses its serviceability. Railroad bridges with poor track conditions will have amplified displacements under heavy loads due to impacts between the wheels and rail joints. Under these circumstances, vehicle-track-bridge interactions could cause excessive bridge displacements, and hence, unsafe train crossings. If displacements during train crossings could be measured objectively, owners could repair or replace less safe bridges first. However, data on bridge displacements is difficult to collect in the field as a fixed point of reference is required for measurement. Accelerations can be used to estimate dynamic displacements, but to date, the pseudo-static displacements cannot be measured using reference-free sensors. This study proposes a method to estimate total transverse displacements of a railroad bridge under live train loads using acceleration and tilt data at the top of the exterior pile bent of a standard timber trestle, where train derailment due to excessive lateral movement is the main concern. Researchers used real bridge transverse displacement data under train traffic from varying bridge serviceability levels. This study explores the design of a new bridge deck-pier experimental model that simulates the vibrations of railroad bridges under traffic using a shake table for the input of train crossing data collected from the field into a laboratory model of a standard timber railroad pile bent. Reference-free sensors measured both the inclination angle and accelerations of the pile cap. Various readings are used to estimate the total displacements of the bridge using data filtering. The estimated displacements are then compared to the true responses of the model measured with displacement sensors. An average peak error of 10% and a root mean square error average of 5% resulted, concluding that this method can cost-effectively measure the total displacement of railroad bridges without a fixed reference.