Modelling the hydrodynamics and ecosystem of the North-West European continental shelf for operational oceanography

This paper outlines an approach to complex spatio-temporal marine ecosystem modelling as applied to the North Western European Continental Shelf. The model presented here combines an eddy-permitting (approximately 6 km horizontal resolution) baroclinic model, the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal Ocean Modelling System (POLCOMS), with the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM). This has been run within an operational framework using operationally available high resolution atmospheric and lateral boundary forcing, allowing hindcast and near-real time nowcast simulations to be performed. The modelled surface temperature and chlorophyll distributions are presented, and interannual variations discussed. Validation of both the physical and ecosystem submodels show the system to be effective, whilst highlighting areas where improvements in the system can be made. Distinct regional differences in predictive skill are shown. The system presented is ready for operational implementation to provide products and services for use both scientifically and in coastal zone and shelf seas management activities. A programme of work to update the system is already in place.     

Shipbuilding trends in response to environmental issues

This paper offers an overview about how societal issues and environmental challenges will influence shipbuilding in the near future. It begins with an evaluation of societal developments and refers to globalization and climate change. The paper then continues to assess the impact of these developments on ship design and operation, and considers how the adverse effects of shipping in this context can be reduced. In this respect, topics like emission control and scrapping of ships are considered.     

Some Design Aspects of Anti-Lock Brake Systems for Commercial Vehicles

In this paper a simulation model of tractor-semitrailers suitable for design and performance analysis of anti-lock systems is presented. The model is used to evaluate the effects of various methods of prediction and reselection of the anti-lock system on the braking performance of tractor-semitrailers. The characteristics and the equivalent control logic of a commercially available anti-lock system are examined and its deficiencies are identified. To rectify these deficiencies, improved methods of prediction and reselection are proposed. A comparison of the slip characteristics and braking effectiveness between the proposed and the commercially available systems is made. The effects of various types of control logic on the steerability and directional stability of tractor-semitrailers and on the air consumption of the brake systems will be examined in a separate paper.     

Asymptotic analysis of mode I propagating crack-tip field in a creeping material

Adopting an elastic-viscoplastic, the asymptotic problem of mode I propagating crack-tip field is investigated. Various asymptotic solutions resulting from the analysis of crack growing programs are presented. The analysis results show that the quasistatically growing crack solutions are the special case of the dynamic propagating solutions. Therefore these two asymptotic solutions can be unified.     

Recent Development in Active Steering of Railway Vehicles

Summary This paper presents the recent development on active steering for railway vehicles, and carries out a technical appraisal of different actuation schemes and control approaches. It brings together the latest research activities and findings for the full active steering techniques for rail vehicles with the solid-axle wheelsets, independently-rotating wheelsets and wheel-pairs without axles, but relevant work on passive and semi-active solutions is also briefly described. Potential benefits of the use of a combination of modern control technology and mechatronic approach are evaluated, and in particular solutions for the difficult design trade-off between the stability and the curving performance are presented. Various actuation configurations are discussed, and advantages and drawbacks of those schemes are investigated. The outline design using a number of control methods is analysed, and measurement requirement and state estimation techniques essential for implementation of the active steering schemes are also explored. In addition the issue of safety criticality is highlighted and a possible approach for developing fault-tolerant systems is proposed. Overall the paper provides an authoritative assessment of the major advances in actively-steered wheels and addresses outstanding critical issues.     

变频调速电机绝缘的初步评估

变频调速电机产生冲击电压或电压尖峰,这与开关冲击电压等效。尽管加在每一单元上的冲击电压幅值比开关冲击电压的低,但是它们是连续发生的,因此能加速电机绝缘系统的老化。为了降低冲击电压的长期影响,必须采用能耐受局部放电(PD)或电晕的绝缘材料,已知的对局部放电敏感的材料必须尽量减少用或不采用。     

A Method to Analyse the Dynamic Behavior of a Motorcycle Front Suspension Equipped with Sequential Dampers

This work analyses the dynamic behavior of a motorcycle front suspension equipped with passive sequential hydraulic dampers, in some operative situations. The dampers, with non-linear and asymmetric characteristics, may be regulated in six different ways. Using experimental elasticity and damping data as reference parameters, and a simplified two-degrees-of-freedom model, some dynamic simulations were carried out in order to define damping parameters for optimal comfort and safety.     

Tyre-force estimation by Kalman inverse filtering: applications to off-highway mining trucks

Kalman inverse filtering is used to develop a methodology for real-time estimation of forces acting at the interface between tyre and road on large off-highway mining trucks. The system model formulated is capable of estimating the three components of tyre-force at each wheel of the truck using a practical set of measurements and inputs. Good tracking is obtained by the estimated tyre-forces when compared with those simulated by an ADAMS virtual-truck model. A sensitivity analysis determines the susceptibility of the tyre-force estimates to uncertainties in the truck's parameters.     

Ability of a “minimum” microbial food web model to reproduce response patterns observed in mesocosms manipulated with N and P, glucose, and Si

We compared an idealised mathematical model of the lower part of the pelagic food web to experimental data from a mesocosm experiment in which the supplies of mineral nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), bioavailable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC, as glucose), and silicate were manipulated. The central hypothesis of the experiment was that bacterial consumption of BDOC depends on whether the growth rate of heterotrophic bacteria is limited by organic-C or by mineral nutrients. In previous work, this hypothesis was examined qualitatively using a conceptual food web model. Here we explore the extent to which a “simplest possible” mathematical version of this conceptual model can reproduce the observed dynamics. The model combines algal–bacterial competition for mineral nutrients (phosphorous) and accounts for alternative limitation of bacterial and diatom growth rates by organic carbon and by silicate, respectively. Due to a slower succession in the diatom–copepod, compared to the flagellate–ciliate link, silicate availability increases the magnitude and extends the duration of phytoplankton blooms induced by mineral nutrient addition. As a result, Si interferes negatively with bacterial consumption of BDOC consumption by increasing and prolonging algal–bacterial competition for mineral nutrients. In order to reproduce the difference in primary production between Si and non-Si amended treatments, we had to assume a carbon overflow mechanism in diatom C-fixation. This model satisfactorily reproduced central features observed in the mesocosm experiment, including the dynamics of glucose consumption, algal, bacterial, and mesozooplankton biomass. While the parameter set chosen allows the model to reproduce the pattern seen in bacterial production, we were not able to find a single set of parameters that simultaneously reproduces both the level and the pattern observed for bacterial production. Profound changes in bacterial morphology and stoichiometry were reported in glucose-amended mesocosms. Our “simplest possible” model with one bacterial population with fixed stoichiometry cannot reproduce this, and we suggest that a more elaborate representation of the bacterial community is required for more accurate reproduction of bacterial production.