The American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI) Task Force on Automotive Corrosion is making significant progress in its continuing efforts towards development of an accelerated laboratory test for ranking the cosmetic corrosion resistance of automotive steel sheet products. This paper provides an overview of this work and reviews major accomplishments to date. Accelerated tests conducted by the AISI and by the SAE's Automotive Corrosion and Prevention Committee (ACAP) Division 3 are compared to long-term on vehicle exposure tests now in progress for four years in Montreal, Quebec and St. John's, Newfoundland. A license-plate exposure test has also been initiated to broaden the basis for real-world performance. Statistical methods for comparing the results of the various tests are described. A designed experiment (Plackett-Burman L8) is under way to evaluate the effects of seven key cycle test parameters on the rankings of the test materials in a laboratory cyclic corrosion test.

Statistical Control Charts developed over 60 years ago have seen many applications in process analysis and control in the past decade. To some users, the control charts are a recent invention of the Japanese, to many there is a confusion about the underlying assumptions and where and how this analytical tool may be applied. The effect of some of these assumed assumptions for control charts is discussed followed by suggested areas of application.

Executive SummaryA recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report estimated that annually 1.7 million patients acquire an infection while in a hospital (known as healthcare-associated infections, or HAIs), and the annual medical costs of healthcare associated with HAIs in U.S. hospitals are estimated to be between $5 billion and $11 billion. In other words, the patients contracted the infection while in the hospital, and the infection was not a result of their medical condition when admitted to the hospital. It is estimated that about 90,000 individuals die every year from HAIs. The list of HAIs is extensive; some are relatively easy to treat and some, like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are life-threatening to both patients and staff. At least one third of HAIs are considered preventable and can be directly related to a standard of practice in infection control cleaning techniques. Although important in reducing surface contamination, manual cleaning methods have limited efficacy in reducing the bioburden on the surfaces beyond "high touch" areas, and they are completely ineffective in disinfecting airborne pathogens disseminated via aerosols in healthcare environments. Therefore new, more effective methods are needed to enhance the decontamination of various hospital facilities where diseases can rapidly and easily spread.Alternative disinfection technologies such as gaseous decontaminations are being marketed to the healthcare sector. Gaseous decontamination offers a complementary technology to manual cleaning that increases the probability of an effective reduction in pathogens by providing a comparatively uniform distribution of disinfectant in an entire confined environment. Three commercially available gaseous decontamination technologies have been extensively examined and reported as effective in reducing HAIs: gaseous hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, and ozone. While there is a role to play for these new technologies in the decontamination of healthcare settings, the requirement for both a thorough preclean of surfaces and safety measures to ensure no gases and vapors penetrate beyond the space being decontaminated calls into question the safety and cost-effectiveness of these methods in healthcare facilities.The goal of this study was to validate the previously observed high biological kill performance of the PAEROSOL decontamination technology against common HAIs in a non-human subject trial within a hospital setting of Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. PAEROSOL-a semi-dry micro-aerosol atomized from a 0.5-0.25% aqueous solution of table salt that has been electrochemically activated-was previously shown to be non-toxic, environmentally safe, and requiring no precautions for its application. As compared to gaseous hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, and ozone, PAEROSOL application requires neither thorough pre-cleaning of the surfaces, nor special safety measures. In addition to validating the disinfecting efficacy...

This paper presents a method of analysis of the variation, relative to a standard or reference test, in the mechanical properties of carbon steel plates and shapes. Specific data from American Iron and Steel Institute Product Surveys are used to illustrate the procedure.