126 research outputs found
The disaster of Costa Concordia cruise ship: An accurate reconstruction based on Black Box and automation system data
No full textIn this paper, an accurate reconstruction of the events preceding the January 13th, 2012 impact of the Costa Concordia cruise ship with the rocks of Isola del Giglio is presented, along with the emergency countermeasures activated by the ship automation system after the impact. The reconstruction is entirely based on data recorded by the information systems of the ship and demonstrates the importance of this kind of data from a scientific and forensics point of view. First the authors, three of whom have served as consultants in the
trial in Grosseto, Italy, show how information stored in the Voyage Data Recorder, the so called “Black Box”, has been used to calculate the exact time and coordinates of the impact point. An accurate evaluation of these data represents a “conditio sinequa non” to ascertain the effects of the helmsman’s error, who allegedly misunderstood the Master’s orders just 20 seconds before the impact. Then, these effects were studied by means of a purposely developed short term manoeuvring simulator, whose results are also briefly summarized in the paper. Moreover, information stored in the hard disk of the automation system of the ship, concerning the activation of emergency source of energy, have been examined and some results are briefly reported in the paper. The most important data are those concerning the watertight doors, the passenger elevators and the Emergency Diesel Generator. According to the results of our investigations, i) the helmsman’s error appears to have been determinant in the accident; ii) the emergency procedure, which started automatically after blackout of the main power source, does not appear to have performed correctly. In our opinion, both these facts could have influenced the outcome of the last phase of the ship evacuation, during which most of the victims lost their lives
Metrological analysis of a virtual flowmeter-based transducer for cryogenic helium
No full textThe metrological performance of a virtual flowmeter-based transducer for monitoring helium under
cryogenic conditions is assessed. At this aim, an uncertainty model of the transducer, mainly based
on a valve model, exploiting finite-element approach, and a virtual flowmeter model, based on the
Sereg-Schlumberger method, are presented. The models are validated experimentally on a case study
for helium monitoring in cryogenic systems at the European Organization for Nuclear Research
(CERN). The impact of uncertainty sources on the transducer metrological performance is assessed
by a sensitivity analysis, based on statistical experiment design and analysis of variance. In this way,
the uncertainty sources most influencing metrological performance of the transducer are singled out
over the input range as a whole, at varying operating and setting conditions. This analysis turns out
to be important for CERN cryogenics operation because the metrological design of the transducer
is validated, and its components and working conditions with critical specifications for future
improvements are identified
A Ship Motion Short-Term Time Domain Simulator and Its Application to Costa Concordia Emergency Manoeuvres Just Before the January 2012 Accident
No full textIn this paper we will present a simple but reliable methodology for short term prediction of a cruise ship behaviour during manoeuvres. The methodology is quite general and could be applied to any kind of ship, because it does not require the prior knowledge of any structural or mechanical parameter of the ship. It is based only on the results of manoeuvrability data contained in the Manoeuvring Booklet, which in turn is filled out after sea trials of the ship performed before his delivery to the owner.
We developed this method to support the investigations around the Costa Concordia shipwreck, which happened near the shores of Italy in January 2012. It was then validated against the data recorded in the “black box” of the ship, from which we have been able to extract an entire week of voyage data before the shipwreck. The aim was investigating the possibility of avoiding the impact by performing an evasive manoeuvre (as ordered by the Captain some seconds before the impact, but allegedly misunderstood by the helmsman). The preliminary validation step showed a good matching between simulated and real values (course and heading of the ship) for a time interval of a few minutes.
The fact that the method requires only the results registered in the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) during sea trial tests, makes it very useful for several applications. Among them, we can cite forensic investigation, the development of components for autopilots, the prediction of the effects of a given manoeuvre in shallow water, the “a posteriori” verification of the correctness of a given manoeuvre and the use in training simulators for ship pilots and masters
Proof-of-principle demonstration of a virtual flow meter-based transducer for gaseous helium monitoring in particle accelerator cryogenics
No full textA transducer based on a virtual flow meter is proposed for monitoring helium distribution and consumption in cryogenic systems for particle accelerators. The virtual flow meter allows technical and economical constraints, preventing installation of physical instruments in all the needed measurement points, to be overcome. Virtual flow meter performance for the alternative models of Samson [ http://www.samson.de (2015)] and Sereg-Schlumberger [ http://www.slb.com/ (2015)] is compared with the standard IEC 60534-2-1 [Industrial-process control valves—Part 2-1: Flow capacity—sizing equations for fluid flow under installed conditions (2011), https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/2461], for a large temperature range, for both gaseous and liquid helium phases, and for different pressure drops. Then, the calibration function of the transducer is derived. Finally, the experimental validation for the helium gaseous state on the test station for superconducting magnets in the laboratory SM18 [Pirotte et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 1573, 187 (2014)] at CERN is reported
Evaluation of Bluetooth Hands-Free profile for sensors applications in smartphone platforms
No full textRECENSIONE A F. CASTRO, IL MODELLO ISLAMICO, A CURA DI GIAN MARIA PICCINELLI, GIAPPICHELLI, TORINO, 2007, PP. XVI-222
No full textSynthesis of Enantiopure Isosteres of Amino Acids Containing a Quaternary Stereocenter: Experimental and Computational Evaluation of a Novel Class of Atropisomers
No full textElectrophilic amination of diastereomeric 4-methoxycarbonyl pyrrolidin-2-ones allowed to prepare both diastereomers of an amino acid bearing a quaternary chiral center, a key intermediate to antibiotic 8-methoxyquinolone carboxylic acid. Within this synthesis, novel atropisomers, exceedingly stable at room temperature, were isolated and characterized, which were subsequently converted into the desired products by a novel reductive N–N bond cleavage reaction
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