Book reviews

LOW POROSITY BUILDING CERAMICS PRODUCED FROM LOCAL TECHNOGENIC RAW MATERIALS (R. Mačiulaitis, R. Žurauskiene. Mažo poringumo statybine keramika iš vietiniu ir technogeniniu žaliavu. Vilnius: Technika, 2007. 220 p. ISBN 978–9955–28–203–7) MEHRZIELSELEKTION FÜR ENTSCHEIDUNGEN IM BAUWESEN (E. K. Zavadskas, A. Kaklauskas. Multiple objective selection for decisions in civil engineering) Fraunhofer IBR Verlag 2007, Schriftenreihe Planung, Technologie, Management und Automatisierung im Bauwesen, ISBN 978–3‐8167–7203–3. First Published Online: 14 Oct 201

System społeczno-ekonomiczny: szkoła profesora Romualdasa Gineviciusa

The management of complicated systems, including socio-economic systems (SES), is aimed at achieving their sustainable development. This process can be controlled only if the state of such systems can be quantitatively evaluated. Prof. R. Ginevičius was the first in Lithuania to undertake the research into the problems associated with quantitative evaluation of various types of SES, based on the long-term experience of comprehensive quantitative evaluation of various engineering systems. He investigated and quantitatively evaluated socio-economic development of various states and their regions, the effectiveness of the performance of higher and professional training schools, and determined the strategic potential of enterprises and other institutions.Zarządzanie złożonymi systemami, w tym systemami społeczno-ekonomicznymi (SES) ma na celu osiągnięcie zrównoważonego rozwoju. Proces ten może być osiągnięty, gdy stany systemów mogą być określone ilościowo. Prof R. Ginevicius był pierwszym na Litwie, który podjął się badań nad problemami ilościowej oceny różnych typów SES. Ocenę przeprowadzano w ujęciu kompleksowym. Prowadził badania i dokonywał oceny jakościowej rozwoju społecznogospodarczego poszczególnych państw i ich regionów. Badał skuteczność organizacji szkół wyższych oraz określał strategie adaptacji przedsiębiorstw budowlanych i innych instytucji w gospodarce rynkowej. Wykorzystał między innymi metody wielokryterialnego wspomagania decyzji. W referacie przedstawiono główne założenia i osiągnięcia szkoły naukowej z zakresu systemów SES

Multi-objective decision-making for road design

Multi-objective analysis is a popular tool to solve many economic, managerial and construction problems. The objective of this research is to develop and implement a methodology for multi-objective optimization of multi-alternative decisions in road construction. After a rough overview of the articles dealing with the multi-objective decision and assessment of road design alternatives described by discrete values, Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of the Ratio Analysis (MOORA) method was selected. This method focuses on a matrix of alternative responses on the objectives. A case study demonstrates the concept of multi-objective optimization of road design alternatives and the best road design alternative is determined

Development of a motorcycle rider model with focus on head and neck biofidelity, recurring to line element muscle models and feedback control

Despite continuing improvements in vehicle safety, motorcyclist casualties are estimated between 13% and 17% of road fatalities. Looking at the last two ESV conferences for a tentative measure of the research effort that is geared towards motorcycle safety, oral/written papers referring to two-wheelers averaged 6%/3% of each group. This tendency is also identifiable in the clearly lagging development of experimental techniques and computational models for the study of crash scenarios involving PTWs. This status quo prompts further developments of PTW-specific design tools to stem from existing occupant (and pedestrian) tools, rather than already available motorcycle-specific solutions. This paper aims at filling some of that gap by proposing developments in computational models for motorcyclists alongside real-world trials. The paper concludes that a MADYMO human body model, equipped with PID-controlled neck muscles, reasonably maintains its biofidelic erect posture in sample scenarios, under the assumption that riders attempt to maintain their head upright. Preliminary results yield activation levels of up to 50 and 55% during severe (± 1,7G and 0,8G) longitudinal and lateral loading scenarios, respectively. Preliminary volunteer trials (N=8) were conducted to provide initial validation in the event of braking. Although not yet complete, the analysis suggests that the resulting head kinematics for an average aware volunteer is compatible with the simulated response. This development focuses R&D efforts on preventing injuries to the head-neck-complex, the body’s most vulnerable region, by providing biofidelic postures and reactions to developers of personal protective equipment and advanced occupant/rider restraint systems. It also allows the evaluation of a motorcycle active safety system’s impact on human response, which directly influences the consequences of the potential subsequent pre-crash or crash event. Finally, it represents a first step towards fully active human models, which will provide life-like pre-crash behaviour to e.g. OEMs, equipment and barrier manufacturers, and policy makers