Inspection Options Research Articles

Seamless public transport ticket inspection: Exploring users’ reaction to next-generation ticket inspection

Ticket payment and inspection are the two main dimensions of public transport (PT) ticketing for users. Both research and technological advances have focused mainly on improving the former. In contrast, this study explored users' preferences for ticket inspection options and identified some factors that influenced their likelihood of accepting “seamless ticket inspection”. The dataset is part of a two-wave survey that was collected along the Stockholm – Uppsala corridor to evaluate the Movingo integrated ticketing scheme, a smartcard and mobile phone-based multiple-county commuting ticket that applies to both intercity and intracity bus and train services across the six Mälardalen regions of Sweden. McNemar's test, one-way chi-squared goodness of fit test, multinomial and nested logit models were used to analyse the samples. The findings suggest that given five ticket inspection options, many of the respondents chose “seamless ticket inspection”. Major PT user groups such as females and young people are more likely to accept “seamless ticket inspection”. Further research is recommended on particular aspects of the envisaged “seamless ticket inspection”.

Remote virtual regulatory inspections of facilities and practices utilising ionising radiation and MRI installations during the Covid-19 pandemic

Covid-19 pandemic imposes crucial social distancing rules and restriction measures; therefore, the access to facilities and sites, in order to perform on-site inspections, became difficult or not feasible. Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE) adopted remote virtual inspections (RVIs) of facilities and practices applying ionising radiation and magnetic resonance imaging installations, in order to continue discharging its regulatory duty of inspection, effectively. This study presents the experience gained and lessons learnt from the implementation of the RVIs and explores the RVIs perception by the stakeholders. Moreover, the effectiveness and the capability of RVIs to identify ‘findings’, is assessed by comparing the on-site and the remote inspections outcomes. The presented study showed that RVIs could not replace the on-site inspections, entirely; however, they could support and contribute to the inspection activities and program, in certain circumstances. RVIs were proven to be a valuable tool for the inspection of procedures, documents and records as well as the design and operational conditions of the facilities. The performance of remote verification tests and measurements, although feasible, was challenging, due to the technical issues needed to be resolved in advance. The comparison between remote and on-site inspections outcomes showed that both inspection options had similar capability to identify ‘findings’, indicating the validity of the RVIs as an inspection methodology in certain inspection thematic areas. The perception of the RVIs was positive and the added value and usefulness was acknowledged by the inspected facilities’ personnel and the EEAE’s inspectors, although the latter mainly considered RVIs as complementary and supportive to the on-site inspections.

Novel strategy for food safety risk management and communication: Risk identification for benzoic acid residues in pickled vegetables.

Benzoic acid (BA) is widely used as an antimicrobial preservative to prolong the shelf‐life of pickled vegetables. A method for rapidly determining the BA content in forty pickled vegetable samples was developed by coupling ultrasonic extraction with surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and an adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least‐squares (AirPLS) algorithm. The results obtained with this method were compared and correlated with those from high‐performance liquid chromatography measurements. Amplification of the Raman scattering via the SERS effect was induced by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) when BA was irradiated with a 785 nm laser. The AirPLS algorithm was used to reduce the background interference signal, which was also amplified. The amplified Raman scattering effect of BA in the pickled vegetables displayed a positive and significant correlation with the HPLC concentration of BA, with high reproducibility. For HPLC determination of the concentration of BA in the range of 0–820 ppm, the BA monomer's intensity of the 944–1,005 cm−1 and 1,366–1,373 cm−1 peaks, and BA dimer's intensity of the 1,025 cm−1 and 1,465–1,482 cm−1 peaks in the SERS spectrum were respectively converted to the Z‐ratio BA monomer and Z‐ratio BA dimer standard scores by Z‐Score conversion. The sum's (Z‐ratio BA monomer + Z‐ratio BA dimer) sensitivity was 100%, and specificity was 90.9% by receiver operating characteristic curve. This study found that a Raman spectroscopy‐based monitoring method can be one of the fastest screening inspection options that can complete an analysis within a short period of time and produce reliable results. This approach is particularly cost‐effective, which makes it suitable for the initial screening of raw materials and provides an effective management strategy easy to communicate with food safety officials.

A two-stage optimization method for unmanned aerial vehicle inspection of an oil and gas pipeline network

Oil and gas pipeline networks are a key link in the coordinated development of oil and gas both upstream and downstream. To improve the reliability and safety of the oil and gas pipeline network, inspections are implemented to minimize the risk of leakage, spill and theft, as well as documenting actual incidents. In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles have been recognized as a promising option for inspection due to their high efficiency. However, the integrated optimization of unmanned aerial vehicle inspection for oil and gas pipeline networks, including physical feasibility, the performance of mission, cooperation, real-time implementation and three-dimensional (3-D) space, is a strategic problem due to its large-scale, complexity as well as the need for efficiency. In this work, a novel mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is proposed that takes into account the constraints of the mission scenario and the safety performance of unmanned aerial vehicles. To minimize the total length of the inspection path, the model is solved by a two-stage solution method. Finally, a virtual pipeline network and a practical pipeline network are set as two examples to demonstrate the performance of the optimization schemes. Moreover, compared with the traditional genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm, the self-adaptive genetic simulated annealing algorithm proposed in this paper provides strong stability.

STRATEGIES FOR INSERVICE INSPECTION OF COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGERS IN HIGH TEMPERATURE REACTORS

The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring research to support the development of the compact heat exchanger (CHX) for use in high temperature advanced reactors. The project is being executed by an Integrated Research Project (IRP) and includes team members from the University of Wisconsin– Madison, University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Idaho, North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, Electric Power Research Institute, MPR Associates, and heat exchanger manufacturers CompRex and Vacuum Process Engineering (References 1& 2). The objective of the research is to enable the use of compact heat exchanger designs in high temperature advanced reactor service in order to improve plant efficiency and economics. A necessary step for achieving this objective is to ensure that the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III (Reference 3) has rules for the construction of CHXs for nuclear service. However, construction rules alone are not sufficient to deploy a compact heat exchanger in an advanced reactor. ASME Section XI (Reference 4) Rules for the Inservice Inspection (ISI) of a heat exchanger in an operating nuclear reactor will be required as well. The failure mechanisms for compact heat exchanger are unique and are not well understood since they have limited operating experience. The IRP will develop an inservice inspection roadmap to guide IRP research that will enable an owner/operator of an advanced nuclear reactor to implement an appropriate inservice inspection program for a compact heat exchanger. Failure mechanisms and their associated probabilities are the key inputs to a successful inspection program. The inspection roadmap will make use of the soon to be published ASME Section XI, Division 2, Reliability and Integrity Management (RIM) methodology. RIM is a non-deterministic, technology neutral, approach to inservice inspection. A RIM based ISI program is developed by an owner considering the entire reactor technology safety case rather than on the specific component technology. Therefore, owners will need specific information regarding the performance, failure modes, reliability, and inspection options for compact heat exchangers in order to incorporate such a heat exchanger into the plant design. This paper outlines the IRP research as it relates to inputs needed by an owner for the eventual development of an ISI program that includes compact heat exchangers.

Towards Lean and Resilient Production

This paper presents issues and tradeoffs in attempting to achieve lean production by increasing productivity and reducing costs and waste while at the same time operating with resilience in the face of disruptions. A simple mathematical model of the operation of a production system is proposed, which incorporates two types of disruptive events: resource breakdowns and quality loss. The model is used to evaluate different inventory and inspection options for managing disruptions. It is expected that the outputs from this work will lead to industrial guidelines for planning a production system configuration, such as number and location of inspection stations, and size and location of buffers.

Interview

Dr Dingyou Zhang of GLOBALFOUNDRIES talks about her research interests and the paper ‘BMD Impact on Silicon Fin Defect at TSV Bottom’, page 954. Dr Dingyou Zhang As the semiconductor industry strived to scale according to Moore's Law, the conventional planar ICs encountered many physical, technological and economic bottlenecks. 3D integration technology, by stacking and connecting function blocks in a vertical fashion, promises to alleviate such bottlenecks and has been widely investigated in recent years. The potential benefits of 3D integration include multi-functionality, increased performance, increased data bandwidth, reduced power, small form factor, reduced packaging, increased yield and reliability, flexible heterogeneous integration, and reduced overall costs. Performance improvement in 3D ICs is mainly due to reduction of interconnect length reducing interconnect delay and power consumption. Small form factor is achieved by stacking active device layers on top of one another. During my M.S. and Ph.D. I was working on several research topics related to 3D integration, including TSV thermal-mechanical reliability and a novel chip-to-wafer 3D integration approach. I joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES in 2013 and I am currently working on advanced packaging technologies in the office of the CTO, focusing on through-silicon via (TSV) technology. The TSV is an important enabling component in 3D integration; electrically connecting multiple strata of ICs using short vertical vias that pass through a thinned silicon wafer substrate in order to establish a connection between the active side and backside of the die. Compared to conventional wirebonding and flipchip stacking, TSVs enable high-performance, high functionality, compact heterogeneous systems with high data bandwidth and speed, and low power requirements by providing the shortest interconnect path and higher interconnect density, compactly. However, it is challenging to fabricate reliable TSVs and substantial research is being conducted on aspects including their design, processing materials, metrology development and thermal-mechanical reliability. We report a recently found silicon fin defect at TSV bottom which was identified as a killer defect. To examine the root cause of this defect, we explored different inspection options and finally developed an effective method to catch the defect post TSV deep reactive ion etch. This is compatible with inline inspection and can be easily verified by cross-sectioning the via. With this well-established inspection approach, we were able to further investigate various potential root causes of the defect, such as TSV density microloading, TSV location and photoresist residue impacts. After ruling out other effects, bulk micro defect (BMD) turned out to be a key root cause; based on both BMD simulation and experimental results. Thus a low BMD or non-BMD silicon substrate is recommended to reduce or eliminate this defect. The work provides a viable way to clear this roadblock for TSV manufacturability. This is a killer defect which is hard to detect due to its deep location at the bottom of high aspect ratio vias, it can cause yield loss and requires elimination. We have seen mechanical failures caused by this defect after assembling TSV chips. One example we show is a silicon fin defect at TSV bottom causing copper diffusion into silicon cracks in TSV vicinity, after wafer thinning and TSV backside reveal process. A desirable inspection point for using our SEM automatic process inspection is right after TSV etch. Post etch is the first step in which we found this silicon fin defect and it saves downstream manufacturing resources from processing defective TSVs. Post etch inspection results can be easily verified physically and correlated to silicon fin defects, since TSVs are not filled with metal yet. This inspection approach can be adopted after TSV etch and before photoresist ashing and clean, which has less Q time concerns than between TSV post etch clean and dielectric liner deposition. 3D integration is predicted to be a key technology to solve performance and cost problems of conventional IC fabrication in the ITRS roadmap, which will probably be based on TSV technology. Full 3D process flows have already been demonstrated with no major showstoppers from a design or process point of view. While cost reduction is still on the to-do list for high volume production, multiple equipment and material suppliers are focusing on optimising processes to lower costs. With a positive outlook for commercialisation, a strong demand for such future 3D IC applications including memories and processors is expected in the next few years.

Active Interrogation of Nuclear Materials Using LaBr3: Ce Detectors

Active interrogation in 235U was demonstrated with LaBr3:Ce scintillation detectors using the nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) technique. An NRF experiment was performed at the High Intensity y-ray Source (HlyS) facility using quasi-monochromatic circularly or linearly polarized y-ray beams. Photons scattered at 90o relative to the incident beam were detected with two different sizes of cylindrical LaBr3:Ce detectors. Clear NRF peaks at 1733 and 1815 keV corresponding to de-excitations to the ground state and/or low-lying levels in 235U were observed within 77minutes of beam time even under the high background due to the self-activity of LaBr3:Ce and the radioactive decay of 214Bi nuclei existing in the 235U target. The present study shows a possibility of using LaBr3:Ce detector to perform NRF experiments, promoting many options for inspection of special nuclear materials.

Inventory models for imperfect production and inspection processes with various inspection options under one-time and continuous improvement investment

This study investigates both internal and external effects of defective production and delivery from imperfect production and inspection processes in a stable production and inventory system, and subsequent defective returns and dispositions. We first develop profit-maximizing imperfect-quality inventory models for various inspection options (sampling inspection, entire lot screening, and no inspection) under one-time improvement investment in production and inspection reliability. We then present the models under continuous improvement (CI) investments over multiple periods, which have not been explored before. In a CI environment, we further propose an inspection alternative of changing an inspection option from entire lot screening to no inspection and vice versa. We develop an algorithm for finding the optimal inspection policy yielding a superior profit, among inspection option change between entire lot screening and no inspection and those without option change. Based on the analytical models along with numerical and simulation analyses, we provide important managerial implications to practicing managers and future research directions.

The Wet Tissue SEM - A New Technology with Applications in Drug Development and Safety

Scanning electron microscopy of wet tissue, wet SEM (WETSEMTM), is a new technology that permits ultrastructural examination of fully hydrated biological samples. This review provides a description of this innovative achievement in relation to its reported and potential applications in pathology and toxicology. Possessing LM, SEM and TEM functionality, wet SEM provides a resolution that enables visualizing common ultrastructural targets of disease and toxicity, such as mitochondria and the cytoskeleton. Additionally, this confluence of multiple microscopic modalities allows for a continuous spectrum of inspection options for all structural aspects of cells and tissues. Broad overviews of the sample surface smoothly interdigitate with a detailed scrutiny of the cell interior. Elemental microanalysis and immuno-gold labeling are also possible with the wet SEM, which facilitates diagnostic applications and structural-functional correlations. Importantly, all these options are possible on the same sample during a single scoping session using one instrument. Since hydrated material is being directly examined, there is no need for embedment and microtome sectioning, so that preparation time is minimal. With such a rapid preparation phase and multifaceted inspection options, wet SEM appears particularly advantageous for the multi-arm design of drug development and safety studies. Naturally, as in any new form of microscopy, limitations exist that should be appreciated, and the image repertoire will need to be defined so that the most suitable and practical applications can be identified. Within its niche, wet SEM is likely to serve as a uniquely useful tool in pathological investigation.

The Westerschelde Tunnel – using a sensor-based system for durability monitoring of the tunnel lining

The Westerschelde tunnel in The Netherlands has recently opened for road traffic. The construction of the longest (in The Netherlands) and deepest shield tunnel was finished in March 2003. Two slurry-shield TBMs have drilled the two tunnel tubes with a length of 6.6 km at a maximum of 60 m below the Westerschelde river. The tunnel has a 100 year design lifetime. The probabilistic design of the lining has been based on the Duracrete model. During construction a number of the concrete segments and rubber seals were damaged. Where possible, these damages have been repaired using the latest technology, but the durability of the repaired spots cannot be assessed easily. It is not likely that all repairs will be as durable as the undamaged concrete and seals. On the tunnel wall a fireproofing has been sprayed, thus limiting the possibilities for visual inspection. Although the probability of any major defect occurring in relation to a repaired spot is very small, the consequences could be enormous. Therefore the tunnel owner decided to start a research program into: (1) the most possible and likely deterioration mechanisms that could lead to structural damage; (2) the options for inspection and monitoring of the initiation and propagation of these possible mechanisms, in order to get an early warning; this research is focussed on a sensor based monitoring system; (3) if possible, a demonstration with a trial system, to prove the technical feasibility; (4) a proposal for a system spread that will cover both tunnel tubes sufficiently. The three most likely deterioration mechanisms that have been identified are: (1) Reinforcement corrosion may occur in relation to the damaged and repaired concrete spots; (2) The damaged and repaired concrete spots and rubber seals may in time lead to leakage of water; (3) And the concrete repairs above the road may disbond and eventually fall down. In advance of the installation of the demonstration system, measurements have been performed to assess a baseline and to get insight into the variation of the electrochemical potential of the reinforcement steel. This information is also used in the selection of the locations for sensor installation. The trial system consisted of (1) wireless strain gauges, placed at the inner concrete surface on the interface between original concrete and repair spot, to detect differential movement, (2) leakage detectors, to detect the presence of water in the joints between segments, (3) multi-ring electrodes, to assess the water content of the inner cover of the concrete and (4) reference electrodes, for electrochemical potential measurements. After installation all instrumentation was covered with the fireproofing material. The system was completed with a recording of the discharge of the drainage pumps, to know any significant change in the overall leakage of the tunnels. The trial system is operational since December 2002 and the performance is satisfactorily. The system is producing sensible and credible results, all in line with the expected absence of any deterioration at this moment. Should any of the deterioration mechanisms indeed start to develop, it is still expected that the first significant activity will not be recorded for several years. As a result of the satisfactorily performance of the trial system, an extended system is now in preparation. (A). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. For the covering abstract see ITRD E124500.

Inspection of PCBs by laser‐induced fluorescence

Examines the use of laser‐induced fluorescence for the inspection of printed circuit boards. Discusses how it works, how it compares with other inspection options and what advantages it offers, particularly for the inspection of low‐contrast materials. Concludes that laser‐based automated optical inspection (AOI) has major potential advantages compared with white‐light AOI equipment.

Applying quality assurance principles to food control: Andrew Green describes the Australian experience

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is the major food control body in Australia. AQIS has been promoting an alternative to traditional inspection of food products for export since 1987, whereby client companies document and implement quality assurance systems which are approved by AQIS. Instead of inspecting each consignment, AQIS periodically audits the company quality systems to provide a basis for issuing certification and meeting its regulatory obligations. AQIS has recently developed additional quality-assurance-based inspection options tailored to meet specific needs in the food industry, or to satisfy certain quarantine requirements. These options are briefly outlined and some of the difficulties faced and experience gained in fostering a quality assurance approach to food and quarantine inspection in Australia are explored.

The Mejelle

THE MEJELLE BOOK II HIRE INTRODUCTION TERMS OF MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE RELATING TO HIRE Article 404. Rent is hire, that is to say, the price paid for the use of a thing; letting is giving on hire, and hiring is taking on hire. Article 405. Has no meaning for the English reader. Article 406. An irrevocable contract of hire is any valid contact of hire which is not burdened by a contractual option, or by an option for defect or by an option for inspection, and which neither of the parties may cancel without some lawful excuse. Article 407. An immediate