Rollover Protective Structures Research Articles

Enhancing Tractor Stability and Safety through Individual Actuators in Active Suspension

Tractor overturning accidents are a prominent safety concern in the field of agriculture. Many studies have been conducted to prevent tractor overturning accidents. Rollover protective structures and seat belts currently installed on tractors cannot prevent them from overturning. The posture of a tractor was controlled by installing individual actuators. The overturning angles of the tractor equipped with an actuator were compared with those of a tractor with no actuator. For the overturning angles in all directions of the tractor, it rotated 15° from 0° to 345°, and the actuator height suitable for the tractor posture was controlled by establishing an equation according to the tractor posture. Consequently, posture control using actuators was noticeably improved. This study proposes that tractors operating on irregular and sloping terrain be equipped with individual actuators. These results prevent tractor rollover accidents and improve safety and driving stability.

Safety and Injury of US-Certified Organic Crop Producers in the Southwest Region

ABSTRACT Objectives Literature on occupational risks among organic farmers is scarce. This study explored safety practices and non-fatal injuries among organic producers, and the role of sociodemographic, work, and farm characteristics on safety and injury. Methods Cross sectional survey of certified organic crop producers in the Southwest (SW) region of the United States (US). The Organic Integrity Database was used for recruitment. Data were collected through an electronic and paper survey. Results Analyses were conducted on 115 cases; response rate was estimated at 25%. A high majority of respondents owned their operation and were younger than 65 years, male, educated beyond high-school, and non-Hispanic whites. Less than half had more than 10 years of experience in organic farming; one-third worked off the farm year-round. Safety practices were very basic despite the widespread use of equipment and machinery, and limited to wearing normal clothing and apparel such hats and glasses. About half of respondents (52.6%) reported non-fatal injuries in the past year; and one-third (32.7%) time lost due to injuries. The overall cumulative incidence rate was estimated at 5.3 injuries per 10 workers within the last year. The injury rate decreased with hours worked. Significant differences were found on gender and education level and safety practices, with female respondents and the more educated being more proactive in practicing safety. Those working less than 40 h/week, in farms smaller than 50 acres, using light machinery or compact utility tractors, and tractors without roll-over protection reported significantly higher injury frequency compared to their counterparts. Conclusion This study contributes unique data on an essential workforce not captured by current occupational injury and illness surveillance systems. It identifies important personal and contextual factors that may contribute to safety and injury in this population. The findings indicate the need to promote safety and prevent injuries that result in work time lost. This study may also inform future occupational safety and health research and practice, including surveillance, injury prevention programs that target certain workers and production practices, and policies that support and protect the organic farmer.

Severity of Agricultural Injuries and Its Economic Consequences in Border Belt of Gurdaspur District of Punjab, India.

This study collected data related to agricultural injuries, analyzed their causes, and suggested possible remedial actions. Few studies from developing countries have investigated this important topic. Such investigations are extremely important and are required to frame national policies. A well-designed structured form was developed to collect and evaluate data on agricultural incidents, their causes, the severity of injuries, and possible prevention methods. The authors followed a door-to-door survey methodology to collect data with the help of local village leaders. Less educated and older adults in the age group 31 to 45 years were more prone to agricultural incidents (p < .05). The mean age of the victims was 35.02 years (95% CI 32.7 to 37.3); 124 (91.18%) of the victims were men; and 21 (15.4%) of the cases were fatal. Tractor rollovers caused most of the deaths. Chaff cutters were responsible for most of the incidents that required amputation. Eighteen (45%) of the chaff-cutter incidents occurred in the evening between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM, and 12 (30%) of these incidents occurred due to fatigue. The authors strongly recommend that rollover protective structures (ROPS) for tractors and seat belts should be made mandatory in India. Public guidelines emphasizing mandatory higher education for farmers and a model curriculum for both schools and colleges that focuses on the safety of rural populations should be developed. Special training should be provided on the safe operation of machinery and a definitive work - rest schedule should be followed to prevent fatigue and protect agricultural workers from incidents.

Performance Evaluation of a Virtual Test Model of the Frame-Type ROPS for Agricultural Tractors Using FEA

In this study, a model of the frame-type ROPS (rollover protective structure) for an agricultural tractor was developed using FEA (finite-element analysis). Various boundary conditions were applied as input variables to replace the actual test of the ROPS with a virtual test. An optimization study was carried out based on the boundary conditions of the bolt, considering the ROPS part directly mounted on the tractor and the folding connection to the ROPS. The results of the virtual test were compared with those of the actual test, and the error was determined. The maximum error of the evaluation model was 7.0% for the force applied on the load and 9.6% for the corresponding ROPS deformation. All mounting bolts of the ROPS required modeling. In particular, we had to establish free boundary conditions for axial rotation to implement the folding connection. In addition, a simulation of the frame-type ROPS was conducted according to the mesh size. A convenient simulation time was obtained for a mesh size of 8~10 mm. Compared with the actual test, the accuracy was the highest with a mesh size of 6~8 mm.

Articulated vehicle rollover detection and active control based on center of gravity position metric

In this study, the adaptive adjustment technology, based on an Attitude and Heading Reference System, is applied to loaders, aiming to improve the rollover protection performance of articulated engineering vehicles. A dynamic rollover stability index for loaders is developed, coupling the roll angular velocity and the slope and height of the center of gravity. A nonlinear predictive model of the material weight is built, in order to attain the height of the center of gravity. An adaptive attitude adjustment system is proposed, totally based on electro-hydraulic proportional control technology, to adjust the attitude of the working system, so as to achieve a higher threshold value of the vehicle’s anti-tip performance. Finally, the rollover stability index and control methods, as proposed in this article, are validated using experiments. The boundary values that trigger the system’s operation are reduced to ensure safety, while the validation results prove that the proposed method is effective.

Analysis of Injuries and Cause of Death in Fatal Accidents with Farm Tractors

Abstract Farm tractor accidents are a frequent cause of death for people in agricultural field of work. The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of the fatal farm tractor accidents, as well as the most significant types of injuries and causes of death. Research is based on epidemiological criteria of subjects, traffic participation, cause of death, distribution of injury, outliving period and toxicological details. The study included 22 (4.2%) farm tractor related fatalities out of all 525 subjects who died from sustained injuries or complications of the injuries sustained in road traffic accidents. The highest number of deaths was reported in men in 95.5%. The highest percentage died of bleeding out (41%), while in 18% of cases, complications that occurred during the outliving period were the cause of death. Analyzing injuries through organ systems, it is observed that the highest number of farm tractor drivers had a chest injury (90%), and the most common chest injury was a rib fracture (82%). When determining the outliving period, the highest number of fatal farm tractor drivers died at the scene of accidents (68.2%). Of all of the subjects, 32% were under the influence of alcohol, while 23% had blood alcohol concentration level greater than 0.5 ‰. The high mortality of farm tractor drivers can be reduced by introducing a mandatory rollover protective structures system and the use of a seat belt in farm tractors with cabs, which would reduce the possibility of the driver falling out of the farm tractor seat and additional injuries due to rollover.

The news about rollover protective structures: Findings from an analysis of news from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

Rollover protective structures (ROPS) can prevent fatal tractor overturns, a leading cause of death among farmers. This content analysis aims to understand how this life-saving strategy appears in news about farm safety. As part of a larger study of farm safety news coverage from four agricultural states, we conducted a content analysis of articles that mentioned ROPS. Few (10%) articles about farm safety explicitly mentioned ROPS. When ROPS were mentioned, they were described in terms of their potential to save lives or prevent injury. Despite proven success, ROPS-and programs to make ROPS more widely available to farmers-are all but absent from news coverage in key agricultural states. This represents a missed opportunity not only to motivate farmers to install ROPS, but also to demonstrate to policymakers the importance of establishing and maintaining funding to prevent the most frequent cause of death on farms. Farmers face barriers to installing life-saving equipment. Without an increase in ROPS utilization and improved access to prevention programs, farmers, especially low-income farmers, will remain at disproportionate risk for death and injury.

Analysis of Front Roof Header of Vehicle for Rollover Protection by using Ansys Software

Abstract: Inadequate roof strength in vehicles is a major concern as it greatly increases the risk of head and neck injuries for passengers involved in even minor rollover accidents. Despite this, many manufacturers continue to produce cars with inadequate roof strength. Rollover accidents are unfortunately quite common and often result in serious injuries, such as spinal and neck trauma. Even when wearing a seatbelt, front seat passengers can still be at risk of injury as they may be thrown from the vehicle or experience significant forces during the rollover. The key to reducing these risks lies in ensuring that the roof of the vehicle is strong enough to withstand the compressive forces of a rollover and provide enough living space for the occupants. While airbags and seat belts are important safety features, a strong roof is equally essential to protecting passengers. For this reason, we have undertaken a project to improve the strength of the front roof header in order to enhance the safety of vehicle occupants.

ROPS commentary-Addressing our fatal blind spot: Applying evidence-based solutions to reduce the most frequent cause of death on U.S. farms.

Tractor overturns are the most prominent contributing factor to death on U.S. farms and have been for decades. While public health researchers hypothesized years ago that overturn fatalities would largely disappear as older tractors were replaced by newer ones, this has not happened. In the meantime, farmers continue to die in these easily preventable and tragic events. Not only are tractor rollover protective structures (ROPS) 99% effective in preventing death in the event of an overturn, a national program exists to connect farmers with ROPS. While this program has been popular with farmers, and the cost-effectiveness of providing farmers with technical support and cost-sharing rebates has been demonstrated, many states lack access to ROPS rebates, even those states with the highest number of overturn fatalities. Given the evidence, it is difficult to reconcile the lack of policy or public investment in a solution that decisively addresses the most pernicious contributor to death in the agricultural industry. In this commentary, we highlight the science behind this proven solution to tractor overturns and the essential role that the media and implementation science can play in encouraging policy-makers to save lives.

Study of residual stress-strain behavior of a load-bearing system of a skid-steer loader under multiple loads according to the ROPS safety standard

Introduction (problem statement and relevance). Ensuring safety of road vehicles is a relevant problem. It is particularly applicable to the road construction machinery. The paper presents an algorithm that allows obtaining the most accurate results of calculations according to the procedure described in GOST R ISO 3471 (ROPS): Earth-moving machinery. Roll-over protective structures. Technical requirements and laboratory tests.The purpose of the study is to investigate the stress-strain behavior (SSB) of a structure of a utility platform taking into account residual stresses, strains and relaxation of the structure under multiple loads according to the roll-over safety requirements for earth-moving machinery.Methodology and research methods. The paper presents a skid-steer loader cabin model created in a fi nite element analysis program to perform the strength calculations. The comparative assessment was performed based on the results of a full-scale experiment carried out on a real structure and of virtual simulations. The research object is a skid-steer loader cabin. The research subject is the design methods for vehicle load-bearing structures and their use taking into account operating conditions.Scientific novelty and results. An algorithm has been created which takes into account residual stresses, strains and relaxation of the structure for further loading and allowing reduction of a displacement calculation error for a utility platform from 84.5 to 4.5%. The internal energy reached under vertical load is 426% higher, while for the longitudinal load case it is 14.6% higher, than for the option not taking into account residual stresses and strains.Practical signifi cance. The proposed algorithm allows considering the requirements of GOST R ISO 3471 regarding prevention of structure readjustment or repair between loadings, which is an actual operating mode.

A Full Assistance System (FAS) for the Safe Use of the Tractor’s Foldable Rollover Protective Structure (FROPS)

The use of agricultural tractors is a major concern in agriculture safety due to the high level of risk of loss of stability combined with the frequent absence of passive safety devices such as rollover protective structures (ROPSs). Indeed, although in most cases the ROPS is installed, when working in vineyards, orchards, or in other cases of limited crop height, the tractor is usually equipped with a foldable ROPS (FROPS), which is often misused because the effort needed for raising/lowering is excessive and the locking procedure is time-consuming. Thus, the goal of this research is to investigate the problem from the ergonomics point of view, developing a support system capable of facilitating FROPS operations. The research outcome consists of the development of a retrofitted full assistance system (FAS) for lowering/raising the FROPS by means of electric actuators. Additionally, an automatic locking device (ALD) was also developed to safely and automatically lock the FROPS. Both the FAS and ALD systems were implemented following a reverse-engineering approach, while their final validation was performed by means of a real prototype tested in a laboratory. The results achieved can contribute to expanding knowledge on human-centered research to improve safety in agriculture and thus social issues of sustainable agricultural systems.

Multi-objective crashworthiness design optimization of a rollover protective structure by an improved constraint-handling technique

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;This study proposes a multi-objective optimization (MOO) strategy with an improved constraint-handling technique to improve the crashworthiness of an excavator rollover protective structure (ROPS). First, the experimental test under the ISO 12117 criteria is conducted and the developed numerical model is verified. Then, the amounts of energy absorption and the cross-sectional forces of components in the ROPS are analyzed. The main energy absorbing and load carrying components are identified. Finally, the thicknesses of the identified components are considered as the design variables. A multi-objective crashworthiness optimization process aims at improving the safety distance and reducing the total mass is designed by the finite element analysis-based surrogate model technique and a modified MOO algorithm. The proposed algorithm modifies the objective function values of an individual with its constraint violations and the true objective function values, of which adaptive penalty weights fed back from the constraint violations are used to keep the balance. Compared with the existing methods, it is found that the optimal solutions obtained by the proposed algorithm show superiority on convergence rate and diversity of distribution. The optimal results show that the safety distance is 27.42% higher while the total mass is 7.06% lower than those of the baseline design when it meets the requirements of ISO 12117. This study provides an alternative crashworthiness design route for the ROPS of the construction machines.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Tractor Rollover Accidents: A Review of Factors and Safety Measures

This paper focuses on tractor rollovers because they account for more than half of all the tractor-related deaths. As per international Labour organization more than 1247 deaths happen annually and more than 60,000 people get seriously injured due to tractor rollover. In addition, farm tractor operational safety principles are also highlighted. It has been observed through this study that the tractor rollovers occur when a tractor tips over, potentially crushing the operator. Furthermore, rollovers can happen on any terrain, but they are more likely to occur on sloping ground or when making sharp turns at high speed. Other factors that can contribute to rollovers include hitting obstacles, improper use of implements, and not using a rollover protective structure (ROPS) or seat belt.

Warning and active steering rollover prevention control for agricultural wheeled tractor.

Tractor rollover is regarded as the most fatal incident in agricultural production, but some of which can be avoided by timely anti-rollover warning and active control. There have been a lot of researches on the tractor rollover model building and rollover protective structure designing but few on the anti-rollover control. The purpose of this study is to develop a cheaper and practical anti-rollover control system based on active steering technique and to prove the efficiency of the proposed scheme for the wheeled tractors. A three-degree-of-freedom rollover dynamics model including automatic steering system is established. A control scheme by adjusting the roll angle to keep the stability based on the adaptive sliding mode control is proposed with the estimated lateral velocity according to the feedback correction principle. Front wheel angle tracking controller is designed adopting internal model control (IMC) theory. Simulation results exhibit that the active anti-rollover control can calculate the stability index in real time and can keep it within the stable range by adjusting the front steering wheel angle. It is prospective for the proposed scheme to provide a valuable reference to reduce tractor rollover accidents.

Traktör İlişkili Ölümler (Devrilme, Düşme, Kaza, Yıldırım Çarpması)

Objective: Tractor-related accidents are more common than other agricultural vehicles. Tractor overturning is one of the major risk factors for farmers. In this study, it was aimed to discuss the sociodemographic characteristics, autopsy findings, the cause of death and measures to be taken of the tractor-related deaths with literatüre.Material and Methods: In this study, reports of tractor-related deaths were investigated retrospectively in cases where an autopsy was performed in the Morgue Department of Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine between 2008 and 2012.Results: It was determined that 42 (0.2%) of 20,559 cases who were autopsied in Istanbul between 2008-2012 were tractor-related deaths. Thirty-eight (90.5%) of the cases were male and four cases (9.5%) were female. The average age was 44.54 ± 20.66 (min: 2, max: 80) with the most common death occurring at 60 years and above. Twenty-six (61.9%) of the cases were drivers. The most common death occurred in July and November (n: 7, 16.6%). The death occurred due to tractor overturns in 50% of the cases (n: 21), whereas the reason for death was falling from the tractor in 31% (n=13), traffic accident in 7.1% (n=3), run-over in 7.1% (n=3) and lightning strikes in 4.8% (n=2).Conclusion: In the prevention of tractor-related deaths, is necessary to prohibit the use of tractors as a means of transport and increase the use of seat belts and roll-over protective structures (ROPS) in all tractors.

Improving Tractor Safety: A Comparison between the Usability of a Conventional and Enhanced Rear-Mounted Foldable ROPS (FROPS)

Tractor rollover is the main cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in agriculture. The foldable rollover protective structure (FROPS) can help to prevent these injuries. However, in many cases, the FROPS is left in a folded-down position. Human factor and rear-mounted FROPS technical characteristics influence operators’ behavior in roll-bar handling. To improve the FROPS’s comfortable use, the prototype of an enhanced handling system was developed, and its usability was tested and compared with a conventional FROPS. Usability was assessed with 93 novice tractor users through an ad hoc questionnaire (investigating perceived effort, time demand, the posture adopted and satisfaction) and observations (investigating effectiveness and efficiency) during lowering and raising tasks. For both tasks, the participants perceived significantly less effort, less physical discomfort, a higher level of satisfaction and less time demand while operating the enhanced FROPS. Observations showed that the critical issues that emerged for the conventional FROPS were eliminated by adopting the developed and implemented handling system. The developed handling system showed itself to be usable and effective in making the FROPS easier and safer to be operated.

A Study of High Refinement Simulation Prediction on the CAB Development for FMVSS226 Ejection Mitigation Performance

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;NHTSA released the FMVSS226 Standard in 2011, and defined the requirements for ejection mitigation systems, which limit the linear travel of headform by 100mm. In China regulations, there are similar requirements starting in 2021. Therefore, on the basis of the existing airbag design, adding the rollover protection function becomes a challenge for the airbag development. During the development of the curtain airbag, the cushion design, inflator type, and the fold pattern, all have an important influence on the airbag unfolding direction, the airbag positioning time and the airbag internal pressure, and then significantly affect the occupant protection performance afterwards. In order to reduce the cost and shorten the development time, it is necessary to predict the process of cushion deployment kinematics and the internal pressure of the airbag with high refinement, and based on it to predict and evaluate the FMVSS226 ejection mitigation performance. In this paper, a set of complete simulation development process is proposed and developed with FEA simulation method. Based on the step-by-step simulation and test validation of the tank test, fabric material mechanical properties test, airbag folding test, airbag static deployment test, drop tower validation test, the high accuracy curtain airbag simulation model could be established. With this model, the airbag internal pressure and deployment shape at 1.5s and 6s were calculated. Based on the test validation at the specified target point of A4, the proper friction coefficients were obtained and validated. Then, the delicate FMVSS226 ejection mitigation simulation model was generated, afterwards the remained target points simulations were performed. According to the comparison between the calculated results and test results, the total discrepancy of the distance between head form and window glass was within 4.4%, which has high accuracy.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Tarım Arabaları ile Güvenli İşçi Taşınması Amacıyla Tasarlanan Yuvarlanmaya Karşı Koruyucu Yapının Bilgisayar Ortamında Analizi

It is crucial to transport agricultural workers safely to the field or orchard to carry out agricultural activities. In our country, although it is not recommended in terms of security, transporting agricultural workers to field, vineyard-orchard is usually carried out with agricultural trailers. There are traffic regulations about transporting agricultural workers with agricultural trailers. However, both non-compliance with the regulations and the accidents that occur during the transport of workers with agricultural trailers that do not have a safe transport arrangement can result in severe injuries and loss of life. In this research, two different roll-over protection structure (ROPS) of the demountable-mountable seating arrangement models are designed for the safe transportation of agricultural workers. Developed models are analyzed using ANSYS software in terms of total deformation and stress parameters in the computer environment.

Influence of Geometry in the Behavior of Disc-Shaped Mechanical Energy Absorbers for Agricultural Tractors

Disc-shaped mechanical energy absorbers (MEAs), in combination with rollover protection structures (ROPSs), may contribute to the prevention of the infringement of the safety zone and the collapse of the ROPS in case of the overturn of an agricultural tractor. An MEA can absorb a significant amount of potential energy of an overturning tractor and its deformation produces a rotation of the ROPS around the safety zone. In this research, MEAs with two different geometries have been developed. Both geometries present common features, such as disc dimensions, number of rings, and number of arms, but the distribution of the arms differs. Additionally, these MEA were manufactured in steel discs of four different thicknesses, ranging from 2 to 6 mm. The manufactured MEAs were tested in a universal testing machine, and their behavior characterized. From this data, linear models of the MEAs were developed. As a consequence, a number of characteristic parameters were selected and calculated, such as the activation load and the strain energy absorbed in a safe range of applied loads. Some patterns and trends were analyzed from the tested MEAs, which enables a better description of their behavior and the extrapolation of this behavior to other non-tested thicknesses and geometries.

Machinery Safety and Ergonomics: A Case Study Research to Augment Agricultural Tracklaying Tractors' Safety and Usability.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in agricultural activities is an issue of major concern worldwide notwithstanding the ever stricter regulations issued in this sector. In particular, most accidents are related to the use of tractors and the main causes of this phenomenon are due to the lack of rollover protective structures (ROPSs). This happens especially when tractors are used in particular in-field operations that are characterized by limited clearances between tractor and crop rows so that farmers usually use tractors without ROPS (e.g., dismounting it). To solve such a problem, foldable protective structures (FROPSs) have been proposed, which should augment the operator’s protection. However, FROPS’s conventional solutions underestimate the operators’ risk-taking behavior and the widespread misuse of FROPS due to the efforts needed to operate it. The current study aims at contributing to the improvement of the latter issue proposing the development of a novel approach for the implementation of partial assistance systems (PASs) that can reduce the physical effort of the operator when raising/lowering the FROPS. The proposed methodology, which is based on a reverse engineering approach, was verified by means of a practical case study on a tracklaying tractor. Results achieved can contribute to expanding knowledge on technical solutions aimed at improving the human-machinery interaction in the agricultural sector.