Eddies around Madagascar — The retroflection re-considered

The Agulhas Current with its retroflection and attendant eddy-shedding is the cause of some of the greatest mesoscale variability in the ocean. This paper considers the area to the south and east of Madagascar, which provides some of the source waters of the Agulhas Current, and examines the propagating sea surface height signals in altimetry and output from a numerical model, OCCAM. Both show bands of variability along the axis of the East Madagascar Current (EMC) and along a zonal band near 25°S. Sequences of images plus associated temperature data suggest that a number of westward-propagating eddies are present in this zonal band. The paper then focuses on the region to the south of the island, where ocean colour and infra-red imagery are evocative of an East Madagascar Retroflection. The synthesis of data analysed in this paper, however, shows that remotely observed features in this area can be explained by anticyclonic eddies moving westward through the region, and this explanation is consistent with numerical model output and the trajectories of drifting buoys.     

The design of bus route systems — An interactive location-allocation approach

An interactive modelling approach is developed to solve the practical problem of bus route network design. Possible bus routes are identified with facilities which can be located. Zones or pairs of zones in the urban area are identified with customers who will be allocated to the established facilities. It is shown that the classical Set Covering Problem is useful under the assumption of fixed demand; the Simple Plant Location Problem is effective under the assumption of demand which is sensitive to the level of bus service provided.     

铁路隔震连续梁桥地震碰撞响应研究

在地震作用下隔震桥梁的梁体位移比非隔震桥梁明显增加,使得相邻梁发生碰撞的概率增大。以1联3跨铁路隔震连续梁桥为例,选用3条人工地震波,采用非线性时程分析方法进行该桥的碰撞响应分析,研究梁间伸缩缝宽度和隔震支座刚度对梁间碰撞响应的影响。结果表明:随着伸缩缝宽度的增大和隔震支座刚度的增大,相邻梁碰撞的发生次数和碰撞力均有明显减小;地震作用下隔震固定墩墩底最大弯矩和最大剪力均随着隔震支座刚度的增加而增加。因此,在进行隔震桥梁设计时,应综合考虑隔震支座的隔震效果和碰撞响应,从而得到既经济又安全的隔震桥梁设计参数。     

基于混合通信顺序进程的高速铁路列控系统形式化建模与验证方法

针对高速铁路列控系统的混杂特性,提出一种基于混合通信顺序进程(HCSP)的列控系统形式化建模与验证方法。引入了HCSP的假设条件,建立列控系统的行为模型;定义了HCSP到混合自动机(HA)的转换规则,将HCSP模型转换成HA模型;利用模型检验工具PHAVer对HA模型进行自动验证。以高速铁路列控系统典型的行车许可运营场景为例,建立区间闭塞分区行车许可场景的HCSP模型;根据转换规则将行车许可场景的HCSP模型转换成HA模型;用PHAVer验证了所建立的区间闭塞分区行车许可场景模型的正确性,从而证明了基于HCSP的高速铁路列控系统建模及验证方法的有效性。     

富水砂层盾构始发井防涌水检测与加固

基于广州地铁6号线大坦沙站盾构始发井的实践,研究富水砂层中破除盾构井端头门时防涌水的施工监测和工程检测方法,根据检测和监测结果,基于朗金土压力理论进行计算分析,提出相应的加固措施和方法。介绍了具体的防水加固措施和效果。     

Performance Benefits in Passive Vehicle Suspensions Employing Inerters

A new ideal mechanical one-port network element named the inerter was recently introduced, and shown to be realisable, with the property that the applied force is proportional to the relative acceleration across the element. This paper makes a comparative study of several simple passive suspension struts, each containing at most one damper and inerter as a preliminary investigation into the potential performance advantages of the element. Improved performance for several different measures in a quarter-car model is demonstrated here in comparison with a conventional passive suspension strut. A study of a full-car model is also undertaken where performance improvements are also shown in comparison to conventional passive suspension struts. A prototype inerter has been built and tested. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate a characteristic phase advance property which cannot be achieved with conventional passive struts consisting of springs and dampers only.     

Hub location with flow economies of scale

A characteristic feature of hub and spoke networks is the bundling of flows on the interhub links. This agglomeration of flows leads to reduced travel costs across the interhub links. Current models of hub location do not adequately model the scale economies of flow that accrue due to the agglomeration of flows. This paper shows that current hub location models, by assuming flow-independent costs, not only miscalculate total network cost, but may also erroneously select optimal hub locations and allocations. The model presented in this paper more explicitly models the scale economies that are generated on the interhub links and in doing so provides a more reliable model representation of the reality of hub and spoke networks.     

Spatial Dynamics of Multibody Tracked Vehicles Part II: Contact Forces and Simulation Results

In this part of the paper, three dimensional computational capabilities, that includes significant details, are developed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of large scale spatial tracked vehicles. Three dimensional nonlinear contact force models that describe the interaction between the track links and the vehicle components such as the rollers, sprockets, and idlers as well as the interaction between the track links and the ground are developed and used to define the generalized contact forces associated with the vehicle generalized coordinates. Tangential friction and contact forces are developed in order to maintain the stability of the track motion and avoid the slippage of the track or its rotation as a rigid body. Body and surface coordinate systems are introduced in order to define the spatial contact conditions. The nonlinear equations of motion of the tracked vehicle are solved using the velocity transformation procedure developed in the first part of this paper. This procedure is used in order to obtain a minimum set of differential equations, and avoid the use of the iterative Newton-Raphson algorithm. A computer simulation of a tracked vehicle that consists of one hundred and six bodies and has one hundred and sixteen degrees of freedom is presented in order to demonstrate the use of the formulations presented in this study.     

Spatial Dynamics of Multibody Tracked Vehicles Part I: Spatial Equations of Motion

In this paper, the nonlinear dynamic equations of motion of the three dimensional multibody tracked vehicle systems are developed, taking into consideration the degrees of freedom of the track chains. To avoid the solution of a system of differential and algebraic equations, the recursive kinematic equations of the vehicle are expressed in terms of the independent joint coordinates. In order to take advantage of sparse matrix algorithms, the independent differential equations of the three dimensional tracked vehicles are obtained using the velocity transformation method. The Newton-Euler equations of the vehicle components are defined and used to obtain a sparse matrix structure for the system dynamic equations which are represented in terms of a set of redundant coordinates and the joint forces. The acceleration solution obtained by solving this system of equations is used to define the independent joint accelerations. The use of the recursive equations eliminates the need of using the iterative Newton-Raphson algorithm currently used in the augmented multibody formulations. The numerical difficulties that result from the use of such augmented formulations in the dynamic simulations of complex tracked vehicles are demonstrated. In this investigation, the tracked vehicle system is assumed to consist of three kinematically decoupled subsystems. The first subsystem consists of the chassis, the rollers, the sprockets, and the idlers, while the second and third subsystems consist of the tracks which are modeled as closed kinematic chains that consist of rigid links connected by revolute joints. The singular configurations of the closed kinematic chains of the tracks are also avoided by using a penalty function approach that defines the constraint forces at selected secondary joints of the tracks. The kinematic relationships of the rollers, idlers, and sprockets are expressed in terms of the coordinates of the chassis and the independent joint degrees of freedom, while the kinematic equations of the track links of a track chain are expressed in terms of the coordinates of a selected base link on the chain as well as the independent joint degrees of freedom. Singularities of the transformations of the base bodies are avoided by using Euler parameters. The nonlinear three dimensional contact forces that describe the interaction between the vehicle components as well as the results of the numerical simulations are presented in the second part of this paper.