Search results for "Structural engineering"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
Conceptualization of aggressive driving behaviors through a Perception of aggressive driving scale (PAD)
2019
Abstract Research on traffic safety has highlighted the importance of studying and intervening in aggressive driving in order to reduce crashes and accidents. The main objective of this work is to describe the perception of what people consider an aggressive behavior, and their perception of which are the most aggressive acts performed when driving. The sample was composed of 1079 Spanish drivers aged over 14. They participated in a national telephone survey, completing a questionnaire which gathered socio-demographic data and information on the drivers’ profiles, containing a “Perception of aggressive driving Scale (PAD)”. The unifactorial ANOVA test for repeated measures of the General Li…
Abiding by the law when it does not exist: The case of the helmet bicycle law
2020
To improve the safety of bicycle users, some countries have enacted, or considered enacting, mandatory helmet legislation. Of course, the enactment of such legislation in a country assumes that its citizens will be well-informed of it, and consequently, will use the helmet more frequently than before. However, in the survey described in this paper we found that many people are not aware of the legislation in force in their own country, or, even if they know, they may not necessarily behave as dictated by the law. Thus, the effects of mandatory helmet legislation may be somewhat different than desired or expected. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to ascertain the role of cyclists' knowle…
Unsafety on two wheels, or social prejudice? Proxying behavioral reports on bicycle and e-scooter riding safety - A mixed-methods study
2022
The use of non-motorized transportation and micro-mobility is increasing in many cities. Bicycle riding and e-scooter use are now more common and affordable than ever. However, users of these devices face certain key issues. These include their own risky behaviors as well as involvement in conflicts with other road users. Self-report data may not adequately capture these behaviors and interactions. Despite this, more objective data (i.e., how third parties perceive these users’ road behaviors) is scarce. Aims: This study aimed to understand whether e-scooter riders have comparable or different riding behaviors than cyclists. This was investigated using a mixed-method study. Methods: This pa…
Cross-culturally approaching the cycling behaviour questionnaire (CBQ) : Evidence from 19 countries
2022
Given different advances in applied literature, risky and positive behaviours keep gaining ground as key contributors for riding safety outcomes. In this regard, the Cycling Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) represents one of the tools available to assess the core dimensions of cycling behaviour and their relationship with road safety outcomes from a behavioural perspective. Nevertheless, it has never been psychometrically approached through a cross-cultural perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to perform the cross-cultural validation of the CBQ, examining its psychometric properties, reliability indexes, validity insights and descriptive scores in 19 countries distributed across five regio…
Analytical solution of kinematic wave time of concentration for overland flow under green-ampt infiltration
2015
In this paper the well-known kinematic wave equation for computing the time of concentration for impervious surfaces has been extended to the case of pervious hillslopes, accounting for infiltration. An analytical solution for the time of concentration for overland flow on a rectangular plane surface is derived using the kinematic wave equation under the Green-Ampt infiltration. The relative time of concentration is defined as the ratio between the time of concentration of an infiltrating plane and the soil sorptivity time scale, depending on the normalized rainfall intensity and a parameter synthesizing the soil and hillslope characteristics. It is shown that for a more complex case (corre…
2D size, position and shape definition of defects by B-scan image analysis
2015
The non-destructive evaluation of defects by automatic procedures is of great importance for structural components. Thanks to the developments of the non-contact ultrasonic techniques, the automation of the inspections is gaining a progressively important role. In this work, an automatic inspection technique for the evaluation of defects by the analysis of B-scan images obtained by a laser ultrasonic system is presented. The data are extracted directly from a B-scan map obtained for a panel with internal defects, and are used to build an image of the cross section of the panel. The proposed automatic procedure allows the definition of size, position and shape of defects in panels of known t…
Exploiting Low-Cost 3D Imagery for the Purposes of Detecting and Analyzing Pavement Distresses
2020
Road pavement conditions have significant impacts on safety, travel times, costs, and environmental effects. It is the responsibility of road agencies to ensure these conditions are kept in an acceptable state. To this end, agencies are tasked with implementing pavement management systems (PMSs) which effectively allocate resources towards maintenance and rehabilitation. These systems, however, require accurate data. Currently, most agencies rely on manual distress surveys and as a result, there is significant research into quick and low-cost pavement distress identification methods. Recent proposals have included the use of structure-from-motion techniques based on datasets from unmanned a…
A Multilayered Plate Theory with Transverse Shear and Normal Warping Functions
2016
A multilayered plate theory which takes into account transverse shear and normal stretching is presented. The theory is based on a seven-unknowns kinematic field with five warping functions. Four warping functions are related to the transverse shear behaviour, the fifth is related to the normal stretching. The warping functions are issued from exact three-dimensional solutions. They are related to the variations of transverse shear and normal stresses computed at specific points for a simply supported bending problem. Reddy, Cho-Parmerter and (a modified version of) Beakou-Touratier theories have been retained for comparisons. Extended versions of these theories, able to manage the normal s…
Audiovisual time-to-collision estimation for accelerating vehicles: The acoustic signature of electric vehicles impairs pedestrians' judgments
2022
To avoid collisions, pedestrians intending to cross a road need to accurately estimate the time-to-collision (TTC) of an approaching vehicle. For TTC estimation, auditory information can be considered particularly relevant when the approaching vehicle accelerates. The sound of vehicles with internal combustion engine (ICEVs) provides characteristic auditory information about the acceleration state (increasing speed and engine load). However, for electric vehicles (EVs), the acoustic signature during acceleration is less salient. Although the auditory detection of EVs has been studied extensively, there is no research on potential effects of the altered acoustic signature of EVs on TTC estim…
Feasibility of using more polishable aggregates in dense-graded asphalt surface mixture: Case study of dolomite
2022
This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using more dolomite aggregates in asphalt surface mixtures that are typically used by West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH). The laboratory test results indicated that increasing dolomite content in asphalt surface mixtures resulted in a faster deterioration rate at the early polishing stage. In addition, asphalt surface mixtures containing more than 50% dolomite coarse aggregates would significantly reduce roadway safety. The field test results validated that dolomite shall not exceed 50% of coarse aggregate in asphalt surface mixture if the projected traffic volume is greater than 3.0 million equivalent single axle loads (ESALs).