A curing oven for curing a mineral wool web includes an air permeable conveyor for advancing the mineral wool web through a substantially closed cabinet from a mineral wool web inlet provided at one end of the cabinet to a mineral wool web outlet provided at another end of the cabinet. The curing oven also includes a heated air inlet arranged for directing a flow of heated air through the conveyor. The curing oven includes at least one wool deformation detector.

A diagnostic gage (12) that can be implemented into a tissue-simulating headform (17) or other anthropomorphic surrogate test device (11) as a means of determining the internal strain within the test surrogate. One embodiment of the gage consists of a matrix or substrate embedded with x-ray contrast agents (14) and a series of holes within the substrate (15) that provide contrasting markers in an x-ray image and a means of closely coupling the gage to the test specimen. The relative motion of these contrasting markers can be monitored using x-ray fluoroscopy equipment (e.g., source (10) and detector (13)). This gage provides a means of determining the internal strain within a headform surrogate model for the purpose of evaluating the performance of helmets in terms of reducing the occurrence of concussion among other biomechanical injuries from trauma.

Systems and methods for assessing strain in structural components are disclosed. Structural components may have geometric patterns of diffraction cavities within the structural component, with the diffraction cavities in the geometric pattern each having a cavity width and being spaced from each other by a cavity spacing distance. The method may include projecting beams of electromagnetic (EM) energy through the structural component to the geometric pattern of diffraction cavities to create diffracted beams of EM energy that are reflected from or transmitted through the geometric pattern of diffraction cavities and have diffracted wavelengths indicating changes in the cavity spacing distances due to strain caused when the structural component is exposed to environmental conditions, detecting the diffracted wavelength of the diffracted beams, and correlating the diffracted wavelengths of the diffracted beams to the strain in the structural components.

A method for analysing at least one fuel rod comprising a stack of nuclear fuel, a rod comprising packed zones completely filled with fuel and intermediate zones partially full of fuel, comprises: acquiring a count profile associated with a non-migrating isotope, a profile being made up of spectrometry measurements taken along the rod for this isotope; determining a set of at least one indicator K_i that makes it possible to quantify the reduction in material at an intermediate zone of index i, the said indicator being deduced from the count profile; detecting the change in geometry by comparing the set of at least one indicator K_i against a set of at least one reference value RK indicative of the initial geometry of the nuclear fuel stack.

A method for analysing at least one fuel rod comprising a stack of nuclear fuel, a rod comprising packed zones completely filled with fuel and intermediate zones partially full of fuel, comprises: acquiring a count profile associated with a non-migrating isotope, a profile being made up of spectrometry measurements taken along the rod for this isotope; determining a set of at least one indicator K_i that makes it possible to quantify the reduction in material at an intermediate zone of index i, the said indicator being deduced from the count profile; detecting the change in geometry by comparing the set of at least one indicator K_i against a set of at least one reference value RK indicative of the initial geometry of the nuclear fuel stack.

A slope stability monitoring apparatus which produces slope deformation maps that preserve measurements from fast moving small areas, slow moving small areas, slow moving large areas and fast moving large areas while minimising the effect of non-wall movement contamination, such as atmosphere and artefacts. Also a method of producing slope deformation maps by deriving a correction factor and applying the correction factor to correct for non-wall movement contamination.

A slope stability monitoring apparatus which produces slope deformation maps that preserve measurements from fast moving small areas, slow moving small areas, slow moving large areas and fast moving large areas while minimising the effect of non-wall movement contamination, such as atmosphere and artefacts. Also a method of producing slope deformation maps by deriving a correction factor and applying the correction factor to correct for non-wall movement contamination.

An example of a method for time-resolved calculation of a deformation of a body comprises calculating (110) a model of the body during the deformation. The method further comprises calculating (120) a predicted X-ray image for the body for a plurality of time points during the deformation based on the model. The method further comprises obtaining (130) one measured X-ray image of the body each for the time points during the deformation. The method further comprises modifying (140) the model based on the predicted X-ray images and the measured X-ray images.

An example of a method for time-resolved calculation of a deformation of a body comprises calculating (110) a model of the body during the deformation. The method further comprises calculating (120) a predicted X-ray image for the body for a plurality of time points during the deformation based on the model. The method further comprises obtaining (130) one measured X-ray image of the body each for the time points during the deformation. The method further comprises modifying (140) the model based on the predicted X-ray images and the measured X-ray images.

A wind turbine including a tower and a tower deflection detection device is provided. The tower deflection detection device includes a transmitter configured to transmit a first electromagnetic signal; a leaky feeder having a plurality of apertures; a receiver connected to the first leaky feeder and configured to receive a second electromagnetic signal from the first leaky feeder, the second electromagnetic signal is a signal reflected from a reflection portion of the tower, when the first electromagnetic signal impinges the reflection portion of the tower, and entered into the leaky feeder through at least one of the plurality of apertures; and a processing unit connected to the receiver and configured to receive the second electromagnetic signal from the receiver, to analyse the received second electromagnetic signal and to determine a deflection amount of the tower based on the analysed second electromagnetic signal.