 United
States Department of Agriculture -
Forest Service |
 Southern Research Station200 W.T. Weaver Boulevard Asheville, NC 28804 |
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SRS Forest Operations Unit Develops New Test Facility For Thrown Objects
Asheville,NC -- Timber harvesting remains one of the most dangerous occupations in the US, according to statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mechanization, while reducing the incidence of some injuries, has introduced new hazards, including injury or death from thrown objects.
A new test facility at the SRS Forest Operations unit in Auburn, Alabama, uses an air cannon to simulate the damage thrown objects can inflict on the structures designed to protect forest machinery operators.
Thrown objects can be machine parts-such as saw teeth from a chainsaw or a saw blade-or pieces of wood or rock debris. Theoretically, thrown objects can travel as fast as 200 meters (656 feet) per second: at that speed, they are fully capable of piercing the materials used to protect machine operators.
Currently, there are several standards covering the design of operator protective structures (OPS) on forest machines, but the methods to test OPS materials are not themselves standardized. Recognizing a need for more research, the Forestry Machinery Standards committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has started gathering information on thrown object hazards in forest operations.
As the basis for a new test facility, researchers at the SRS Forest Operations unit and students from Auburn University's Biosystems Engineering department designed an air cannon that can launch a variety of objects under controlled conditions. Named THOR (Thrown Object Research), the cannon can throw objects at velocities near 200 meters per second. The first phase of tests at the facility are focused on the glazing materials used for the protective windows of forest machine cabs.
The test facility will be used to investigate thrown object impact under a variety of circumstances, experimenting with variables such as velocity, type of object thrown, impact orientation, temperature at time of impact, and glazing material type and thickness.
For a demonstration of THOR, see:
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