modern vehicle bodies make intensive use of high strength steel grades to meet the contradicting demand of lighter weight and simultaneously better mechanical performance. for many steel grades microalloying by niobium is the key to achieve their characteristic property profile. in hsla steels niobium enhances the strength primarily by grain refinement. in interstitial free high strength steels...

Micro-alloyed High Strength Low Alloy steels (HSLA-steels) are widely used in civil construction, automobile and line pipe applications. They contain small quantities of alloying elements between 0,01 – 0,1 wt%, such as Niobium, Titanium, Vanadium, Aluminium and Nitrogen. These steels rely on thermo-mechanical rolling, a technique that simultaneously provides high strength, excellent toughness ...

With the occurrence of higher and more frequent axle loads, bridges are more solicited by fatigue loading. Bridge elements like deck slabs are subjected to a high number of stress cycles at relatively small stress magnitudes. The application of Fracture Mechanics as a useful tool for the analysis of fatigue crack growth in steel elements was demonstrated by Paris et al. in the early 1960s. With...

16 This paper presents a novel large-area strain sensing technology for monitoring fatigue cracks in 17 steel bridges. The technology is based on a soft elastomeric capacitor (SEC), which serves as a 18 flexible and large-area strain gauge. Previous experiments have verified the SEC’s capability to 19 monitor low-cycle fatigue cracks experiencing large plastic deformation and large crack openin...

BACKGROUND The lumbar spine may experience significant shear forces during occupational tasks due to the force of gravity acting on the upper body when bending the trunk forward, or when performing tasks involving pushing or pulling. Shear force limits of 1000 N and 500 N have been recommended by previous authors for maximum permissible limit and action limit, respectively. METHODS The presen...