Mass casualty attacks in recent years have demonstrated the need to include "evil intent" as a design consideration. Three recent actual or potential weapons of mass destruction (WMD) attacks did not involve nuclear bombs or other devices designed as weapons, but rather benign objects used with evil intent. Just as unplanned events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and user misuse have been codified into design requirements based on the likelihood and potential impact of the event, "evil intent" has to become part of the design process for buildings, vehicles, equipment, and other items. The endstate should be reasonable additions to existing codes and standards such that it is clear what is and is not designed for. In the absence of specific design guidance, professionals with appropriate expertise can assess potential for "evil intent" and provide recommendations to design out or warn against this potential harm to public safety, particularly when codified requirements are not present.
Transportation and traffic managers have had to deal with increased liability issues regarding containing vehicles during impact with protective barriers. Today’s security environment has a heightened need for means of stopping vehicles in controlled manner for security and liability purposes. Using strain energy absorption via annealed steel cables has proven to be a commercial success. Gated vehicle barrier applications using this mechanism range from safely stopping runaway vehicles at railroad crossing in compliance with National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 to stopping a potential attacker at an industrial plant in compliance with Nuclear Regulation (NUREG) CR-6190. This paper will examine different applications of this mechanism for controlling vehicle impact, analyze the nonlinear interactions at work, and develop operating parameters for using annealed steel wire rope for these applications.
The Code of Federal Regulations specifically adopts the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code as the standards for diving systems in US waters. Not all hyperbaric systems are made to ASME standards. This paper presents methods used successfully to obtain US Coast Guard and other jurisdictional approval of non-ASME pressure vessels for human occupancy.
Paper published with permission.
Acrylics (Poly Methyl Methalcrylate, or PMMA) are a proven, reliable material for Pressure Vessel for Human Occupancy (PVHO) windows. The current codes and standards reflect a first-generation development of defining a nonmetallic for pressure vessel application. Subsequent investigations in material science as well as decades of operational experience indicates the code-specified 10,000 cycle limit for some flat disc acrylic ASME PVHO windows may be eliminated using criteria consistent with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
Paper published with permission.
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