Towards design rules for rectangular silo filling pressures

An experimentally validated finite element model of filling pressures in rectangular silos with flexible walls is used to predict the stress regime in the stored solid in squat and intermediate aspect ratio silos. The model predicts the state of stress in the stored solid and the pressures imposed on the flexible walls of the silo. The non-uniform horizontal pressure distributions at each depth at the end of filling are explored. It is known that an empirical relation for the horizontal pressure variation on each straight wall derived from experimental observations in an earlier study closely matches the computational predictions. The coefficients of this relation are found to vary with depth below the stored solid surface, and depend on the relative stiffness of stored solid and the silo wall. Following many calculations involving different solids, an empirical relationship is derived that is suitable for practical design for a range of different stored solids for which relevant properties are known. The resulting expression is well suited to the practical determination of filling pressures in rectangular silos, and provides a silo design pressure proposal that is based on theoretical, rather than empirical findings

Autism in Special and Inclusive Schools: 'there has to be a point to their being there'

What kind of schools are most suitable for pupils affected by autism? This article reviews meanings of autism and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). We report evidence from observations in schools and interviews with pupils and adults, drawing on a qualitative study of special education in two contrasting education authorities one with special autistic schools, the other with inclusive schools. Current theory, policy and practice in the education of pupils with autistic tendencies are discussed in relation to the data

Service user suicides and coroner's inquests

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Criminal Justice Matters on 22nd May 2013, available online: DOI:10.1080/09627251.2013.805375The expansion of victimology in the 1980s produced a more nuanced understanding of victims and victimisation. Yet responses of government, criminal justice agencies, media and general public to victims are predictably and predominantly focused on victims of ‘conventional crime’. We challenge this perspective, thus widening the victimological lens. We discuss the impact of self-inflicted deaths and subsequent coronial inquests on practitioners working on behalf of the state

Centrifuge Modelling of Long-term Tunnelling Ground Movements

The increasing demand for public transport provision in cities has resulted in a requirement for enlarged public transport infrastructure. Where underground railways represent an important component of these systems, tunnel construction will inevitably lead to some degree of ground movement that can cause damage to surface structures and buried structures and services. It is important, therefore, that in the design of tunnels in urban environments these ground movements are predicted reliably. Predicting short-term ground movements resulting from tunnelling is standard when assessing the potential for damage to adjacent infrastructure. However, long-term tunnelling-induced ground movements and how these develop are understood less well and a research programme, based on geotechnical centrifuge modelling, is being conducted to improve our fundamental scientific understanding of this. The first stage of the programme has been to develop an apparatus that simulates the construction of a tunnel with a lining of known stiffness and permeability and allows construction ground loss to be replicated correctly. This paper describes the initial development of the apparatus along with results and analysis that demonstrates the suitability of the technique for the proposed study. The results obtained were observed to represent the short-term settlements that might be expected above a tunnel excavated in clay. The results also prove the modelling technique suitable for application in a full parametric study in which the geometry and boundary conditions of the model will be varied together with the permeability of the tunnel liner

A different head? Parental agency and early intervention

This paper considers the agency and identity of parents of children with Down syndrome within early intervention. It draws upon semi-structured, conversational interviews with nine parents and the reflections of one of the authors upon their experiences within early intervention programmes. It considers how representations of the deficit model permeate the participation of the parent in this process. It explores the multiple identities of the parents and links these to notions of parental participation within the current policy context of early intervention in England. The notion of parental agency is an implicit driver within the current early intervention programmes, yet it appears to be compromised by the nature of those programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR