This article presents the results of a numerical analysis of the road acoustic screen deterioration. Due to the fact that road noise barriers are located in an environment of very high corrosivity, the problem is the rusting of the metal cladding of component panels. The presented case study was, therefore, verified to fulfill the requirements presented in the Eurocode EN 1794-1. Static analysis for wind load and dynamic analysis for the load induced from vehicles was carried out. The analysis presented in the article proved the design errors and their contribution to the formation of severe corrosion, as well as demonstrating the importance of dynamic analysis in the design of acoustic screens.

Heavy metal ions (e.g. cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, arsenic, lead, zinc) have significantly serious side effects on the human health. They can bind with proteins and enzymes, altering their activity, increasing neurotoxicity, generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), promote cellular stress and resulting in their damage. Furthermore, the size, shape and type of metal are important for considering nano- or microtoxicity. It then becomes clear that the levels of these metals in drinking water are an important issue. Herein, a new micro-mechanical sensor is proposed to detect and measure these hazardous metals. The sensor consists of a micro-beam inside a micro-container. The surface of the beam is coated with a specific protein that may bind heavy metals. The mass adsorbed is measured using the resonant frequency shift of the micro-beam. This frequency shift due to the admissible mass (which is considered acceptable for drinking water based on the World Health Organization (WHO) standard) of manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) is investigated for the first, second and third mode, respectively. Additionally, the effects of micro-beam off-center positions inside the micro-container and the mass location are investigated.