Muscular capabilities and workload of flight attendants for pushing and pulling trolleys aboard aircraft

Increasingly in the recent years, passengers’ services are extended into the ascent and descent flight phases on short distance flights. Trolleys containing the required meal and beverage items are used for these service operations and pushed or pulled along the aisles of the aircraft. Flight attendants reported about increased musculo-skeletal disorders and had been complaining about high physical workload from handling trolleys. In order to ensure acceptable load levels for pushing or pulling operations of trolleys, the physical capabilities of the collective “flight attendants” had been investigated by means of force measurements at maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) level and associated relevant anthropometrical and biometrical data. CEN and ISO standards as well as international and national German methods were used to derive recommended force limits for pushing/pulling operations with respect to the physical capabilities of the target group “flight attendants”. Comparing these recommended limits with the force requirements per shift under various conditions of trolley handlings (inclination of the floor, type and weight of trolley, mode of handling, frequency of operation) showed that especially for higher floor inclinations and trolley weights, flight attendants work (substantially) above recommended limits. It became also apparent that the handling of half-size trolleys is unexpectedly high demanding due to high vertical force components, caused by the unfavorable location of their center of gravity.

Relevance to industry

On short-distance flights, passengers’ services are performed by means of trolleys from the ascent to the descent flight phases. Flight attendants had been complaining about high physical workload. This study offers recommendations on maximum force limits for the handling of trolleys with respect to the muscular capacities and work situations of flight attendants on short-distance flights.     

Physical workload of flight attendants when pushing and pulling trolleys aboard aircraft

The musculoskeletal loads from moving trolleys aboard aircraft were assessed by observation of trolley handling on planes and by physical workload analyses of pushing and pulling of trolleys in a laboratory set up. Trolley handling by a total of 15 female flight attendants was observed on 10 short- and medium-distance flights in different types of aircraft. About 25 selected flight attendants (22 females; 3 males) of five German airlines took part in the laboratory study, which comprised three-dimensional (3D) measurements of posture and hand forces during pushing and pulling of trolleys in a variety of configurations. From the on-flight observations performed, between 150 and 250 trolley movements can be projected for a work shift. The greatest physical workload is to be expected at the beginning of service: The trolleys are fully laden then, and the cabin floor can still be inclined up to 8°, as the aircraft is still climbing, particularly on short-distance flights. The laboratory investigation revealed that the musculoskeletal workload from pushing and pulling depends essentially on the trolley load and on the gradient of the cabin floor. In addition, the degree of stressing depends significantly on the trolley type, mode of handling and personal dexterity. The up/down force component perpendicular to the direction of motion often achieved considerable amplitudes-in some cases equal to or exceeding the force in the direction of movement. The posture analysis demonstrated that pulling forced the flight attendants to adopt ergonomically unfavourable postures such as pronounced flexion of the back, particularly among female subjects. The highest values for flexion of the back occurred while pulling the half-size trolley. The results demonstrate that female flight attendants are likely to overload themselves if they frequently have to move heavily laden trolleys unaided on an inclined cabin floor.

Relevance to industry

On short distance flights, flight attendants have been complaining increasingly of high physical workload from manoeuvring trolleys. On the basis of the presented data airline companies may improve the trolley handling skills of their flight attendances by practical trainings and may ergonomically optimize the general service procedures aboard aircrafts.     

PowerBuilder用户对象在开发分布式应用程序中的应用

论述了PowerBuilder分布式应用程序的原理,并着重介绍了用户对象在开发PowerBuilder分布式应用程序中的应用。     

Analytical treatment of counterflow pulse-tube refrigerators

In our laboratory we work an a new type of pulse-tube refrigerator. A complete set of relations is derived for the operation of counterflow pulse-tube refrigerators. The input parameters depend on the working fluid, the geometries of the pulse tube and the counterflow heat exchanger, and the compressor characteristics. The calculated molar flow in the heat exchanger agree within 5% with the measured value. The calculated and experimental lowest temperature and the temperature difference between the hot and cold gas in the heat exchanger agree within 10%. This larger difference is caused by difference between the modelled and real heat exchanger.     

轴向进给速度对内高压成形三通管影响的有限元分析

利用有限元法证实了内高压成形三通管的可行性,给出了不同轴向进给速度下零件的壁厚及应变分布,并就轴向进给速度对成形的影响进行了分析.结果表明,轴向进给速度的选取对内高压成形三通管具有重要影响.     

永宏PLC在自动三维弯管机系统中的应用

本文着重介绍了利用永宏FBs系列可编程控制器实现自动三维弯管机控制系统的设计。重点阐述了该系统的工作原理、硬件结构和软件设计，实践证明该弯管机系统实用性强、使用方便。     

Pool boiling heat transfer of carbon dioxide on a horizontal tube

Carbon dioxide is again becoming an important refrigerant. While the thermophysical properties are well known there is a lack of data on its heat transfer characteristics.

In this study, heat transfer coefficients for nucleate boiling of carbon dioxide are determined using a standard apparatus for the investigation of pool boiling based on a set-up from Karlsruhe [D. Gorenflo, J. Goetz, K. Bier. Vorschlag für eine Standard-Apparatur zur Messung des Wärmeübergangs beim Blasensieden. Wärme-und Stoffübertragung 16 (1982), 69–78; J. Goetz, Entwicklung und Erprobung einer Normapparatur zur Messung des Wärmeübergangs beim Blasensieden. Dissertation Universität Karlsruhe (1980).] and built at our institute. Electrically heated horizontal cylinders with an outer diameter of 16 mm and a length of 100 mm are used as heating elements. Measurements with constant heat flux are performed for different wall materials and surface roughnesses. The heat transfer is investigated within the pressure range of 0.53≤ p ≤1.43 MPa (0.072≤ p/p_c ≤0.190) and a temperature range of −56≤ t ≤−30 °C, respectively. Heat fluxes of up to 80,000 W m⁻² are applied.

The influences of wall material and roughness on the heat transfer coefficient are evaluated separately. The obtained coefficients are compared to generally accepted correlations and to experimental results of other authors, who used similar configurations with copper tubes and carbon dioxide. These are the only previous experimental data, which could be found. Results for copper, stainless steel and aluminium as wall materials are presented.     

Heat transfer characteristics of flat plate finned-tube heat exchangers with large fin pitch

The objective of this study is to provide experimental data that can be used in the optimal design of flat plate finned-tube heat exchangers with large fin pitch. In this study, 22 heat exchangers were tested with a variation of fin pitch, number of tube row, and tube alignment. The air-side heat transfer coefficient decreased with a reduction of the fin pitch and an increase of the number of tube row. The reduction in the heat transfer coefficient of the four-row heat exchanger coil was approximately 10% as the fin pitch decreased from 15.0 to 7.5 mm over the Reynolds number range of 500–900 that was calculated based on the tube diameter. For all fin pitches, the heat transfer coefficient decreased as the number of tube row increased from 1 to 4. The staggered tube alignment improved heat transfer performance more than 10% compared to the inline tube alignment. A heat transfer correlation was developed from the measured data for flat plate finned-tubes with large fin pitch. The correlation yielded good predictions of the measured data with mean deviations of 3.8 and 6.2% for the inline and staggered tube alignment, respectively.     

多功能、宽量程GM计数管个人剂量仪的研制

本文报道了一种宽量程、多功能的GM计数管电子个人剂量仪的主要设计特点和基本性能。该仪器可以显示剂量率、累积剂量和最大剂量率，记录累积剂是、最大剂量率及其出现时间和8h内的160个剂量历史值，可将全部记录数据以红外通讯方式直接输入微机。     

尾水管高度和宽度对水轮机水力性能的影响

针对不同高度和宽度的尾水管,通过分析其内部水流的流动情况,论述了高度和宽度对尾水管设计的重要性,同时采用CFD分析和模型试验的方法来确定尾水管高度和宽度对水轮机水力性能的影响。