Performance estimation model of a torque converter part I: Correlation between the internal flow field and energy loss coefficient

The objective of this paper is to improve the performance estimation model of the internal flow field of a torque converter. Compared with performance experiment results, the converter based on the one-dimensional model does not satisfy the performance requirements demanded in practice. Therefore, we need to develop more predictable and reliable performance estimation models. In order to obtain shape information on three-dimensional blade geometry, a process of reverse engineering conducts a torque converter assembly, impeller, turbine and stator. In addition, a CFD simulation including mesh generation and post-processing was carried out to extract equivalent parameters from the internal flow field. The internal flow field can be explained by analyze the correlation between a performance estimation model and CFD analysis. The equivalent performance model adopts the variation of energy loss coefficients for a given operating condition according to the application of a changing energy loss coefficient by the least mean squares method. The estimated equivalent model improves the agreement in performance between experiments and the theoretical model. This model can reduce the error to within about 3 percent. Furthermore, this procedure for predicted performance achieves eminence in the estimation of the capacity factor.     

Simulation of city bus performance based on actual urban driving cycle in China

This paper establishes the simulation model of a city bus on the basis of the EQ6110 bus prototype and its experimental data. According to the actual urban driving cycle, the fuel economy and the traction performance of the EQ6110 city bus have been simulated, and factors such as the driving cycle, the loss of power to engine accessories, the gear-shifting strategy, the fuel shut-off strategy of the engine, etc., which influence on the bus’s fuel economy, are also quantitatively analyzed. Some conclusions are drawn as follows: (1) driving cycles have a great influence on the fuel economy of a city bus; (2) under the typical urban driving cycle of the public bus in China, the engine fuel shut-off strategy can save about 1 to 1.5 percent of the fuel consumption; and (3) the optimized gear-shifting rules can save 6.7 percent of the fuel consumption. Experimental results verify that the fuel economy for the EQ6110 public bus is improved by 7.2 pecent over the actual Wuhan urban driving cycle of the current public bus in China.     

软土刀具的磨损预测——一种研究刀具磨损系统中主要影响因素的新方法

硬岩隧道掘进机的性能很大程度上取决于其切削刀具的磨损情况。刀具的磨损会降低掘进速度,进而导致掘进时间延长、项目成本增加。通常在隧道项目的规划阶段使用预测模型来进行磨损预测,而常规的磨损试验对磨损系统的考虑还不够准确,并没有考虑到刀具/土体的相互作用、周围介质（水、膨润土）以及掘进过程中的荷载等因素。针对该问题,专门设计了一个水平放置的磨损试验设备。本文介绍了该试验方法,研究并讨论了磨损系统相关因素对磨损率的影响。结果表明,该设备可模拟真实的掘进过程,很好地解决了上述问题,达到了高效、准确预测磨损的效果。     

The influence of the Agulhas Current on the adjacent coastal ocean: possible impacts of climate change

The dynamics of the coastal ocean along the southeastern coast of Africa is dominated by a strong and intense western boundary current, the Agulhas Current. With a near-uniform, narrow continental shelf and a steep shelf slope that stabilizes this current, the trajectory of the Agulhas exhibits great stability. The only substantial perturbation occurs with the irregular passage of a Natal Pulse, a soliton meander. The initiation of this meander at the Natal Bight is due to a barotropic instability when the intensity of the landward border of the current exceeds a certain threshold value. This may come about with natural fluctuations in the current or with the adsorption of deep-sea eddies onto the current. Under a climate change scenario of altered wind stress curl over the South Indian Ocean it is conceivable that the threshold for the triggering of a Natal Pulse will occur more frequently. This will lead to a situation where the current axis on average lies further offshore. The possible consequences of such a situation on the rainfall of the coast, on the ecology of estuaries and the coastal ocean, and on the socio-economics of the region is discussed.     

美国铁路车钩缓冲装置的发展（续完）

3　关节式连接器和牵引杆3.1　关节式连接器 　　关节式连接器在客车上已有多年的使用历史，主要用于20世纪30年代一些轻型流线型客车上，但很少在货车上运用。1968年为切萨皮克*俄亥俄铁路制造的活顶漏斗车，其车体间的连接采用由美国铸钢公司研制的关节式连接器，不过并没有收到此类车的订单。20世纪70年代后期，开始使用长途拖车，这时使用单节具有足够长度的车体运载2个拖车已不再合理。虽然可以制造用于运载单节拖车的较短的普通车辆，但这种车辆不能有效利用2个四轮转向架的承载能力。1977年制造出了采用关节式连接器、6节编组的列车，每个车体都运载1个拖车。关节式连接器以切萨皮克*俄亥俄漏斗车连接器为设计原型，相邻车体共同支承在1台四轮转向架上，允许相互间在水平和垂直方向上有一定转角。位于端部2节车的外端以常规方式支撑在独立的转向架上。这样，6节车体（1个车组）仅由7台转向架支承，如按普通结构则需要12台转向架。这种车每辆有10个车体，取得了很大成功。     

Analysis of single pipeline pull-in procedure using small scale models

The structural elastic behaviour of steel pipelines during on-bottom pull-in procedure is investigated experimentally by using small scale models. Despite the lack of a sea-bed soil pipeline interaction effect in the model, it is possible to show that the unevenness of the sea-bed surface and the non-uniform distribution of friction forces can lead to large deflection bending stresses, higher than the numerical results yielded by standard software packages commonly used for design calculations. Due to foreseen difficulties in overcoming the drawbacks in practical and numerical procedures, the off-bottom pull-in operation arises as an attractive alternative even for shallow waters.     

Using a random displacement model to simulate turbulent particle motion in a baroclinic frontal zone: A new implementation scheme and model performance tests

Numerical artifacts can limit accurate simulation of turbulent particle motion when Lagrangian particle-tracking models are implemented in hydrodynamic models with stratified conditions like fronts. Yet, modeling of individual particle motion in frontal regions is critical for understanding sediment dynamics as well as the transport and retention of planktonic organisms. The objective of this research was to develop a numerical technique to accurately simulate turbulent particle motions in a particle-tracking model embedded within a hydrodynamic model of a frontal zone. A new interpolation scheme, the ‘water column profile’ scheme, was developed and used to implement a random displacement model for turbulent particle motions. A new interpolation scheme was necessary because linear interpolation schemes caused artificial aggregation of particles where abrupt changes in vertical diffusivity occurred. The new ‘water column profile’ scheme was used to fit a continuous function (a tension spline) to a smoothed profile of vertical diffusivities at the x–y particle location. The new implementation scheme was checked for artifacts and compared with a standard random walk model using (1) Well Mixed Condition tests, and (2) dye-release experiments. The Well Mixed Condition tests confirmed that the use of the ‘water column profile’ interpolation scheme for implementing the random displacement model significantly reduced numerical artifacts. In dye-release experiments, high concentrations of Eulerian tracer and Lagrangian particles were released at the same location up-estuary of the salt front and tracked for 4 days. After small differences in initial dispersal rates, tracer and particle distributions remained highly correlated (r = 0.84 to 0.99) when a random displacement model was implemented in the particle-tracking model. In contrast, correlation coefficients were substantially lower (r = 0.07 to 0.58) when a random walk model was implemented. In general, model performance tests indicated that the ‘water column interpolation’ scheme was an effective technique for implementing a random displacement model within a hydrodynamic model, and both could be used to accurately simulate diffusion in a highly baroclinic frontal region. The new implementation scheme has the potential to be a useful tool for investigating the influence of hydrodynamic variability on the transport of sediment particles and planktonic organisms in frontal zones.     

Biochemical composition of marine sediment from the eastern Weddell Sea (Antarctica): High nutritive value in a high benthic-biomass environment

Within the SCAR's international EASIZ programme, as part of the benthic–pelagic coupling experiment, grain size and organic matter contents in marine surface sediment were measured. Samples were taken during the austral autumn of 2000 from 3 regions in the eastern Weddell Sea: Kapp Norvegia, Four Seasons Bank, and Austasen.In general, sediments were fine sand with a grain size fraction < 200 μm representing more than 40% of the total weight. The sediments from Four Seasons Bank (64 to 107 m depth) were coarser than those from Austasen and Kapp Norvegia (209 to 480 m depth), presumably due to winnowing of fine sediment at shallow depths. Organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 0.25% to 1.2% and constituted 10% to 97% of the total carbon. The samples from Kapp Norvegia presented the highest OC values. Overall, protein (PRT), lipid (LPD), and carbohydrate (CHO) contents were similar to those in sediment from cold regions (e.g., the North Atlantic and the Ross Sea) but higher than those in sediment from other Antarctic and more septentrional regions (e.g., the Ross Sea and the Mediterranean). The difference within the Antarctic is explained through the local conditions in Terra Nova Bay and Kapp Norvegia. In the Antarctic, PRT and LPD carbon were the main contributors to the biopolymeric carbon (BPC). In the eastern Weddell Sea shelf, the BPC accounted for more than 90% of the OC in most of the samples. More than 82% of the total PRT, LPD, and CHO were present in the fraction < 200 μm. This work remarks the existence of sediments with a high nutritional value persistent several weeks after the spring–summer pulse of fresh organic matter. It is also highlighted the high potential availability of these sediments (due to its grain size) for the benthic communities inhabiting this high-latitude continental shelf.     

机车轴悬式电机悬挂齿轮副变形的三维有限元分析

本文用三维有限元方法对东风_4型内燃机车的整个牵引电机传动系统进行了计算。其计算模型利用假想的二力杆连接齿轮副的啮合点,人为地造成了均匀传递啮合力的力学条件,从而计算出了合理的齿轮修形量。