Employment status and commute distance of Canadians with disabilities

Alleviating the disability challenges experienced by people with impairments is increasingly seen as an important step towards building more inclusive societies. The very definition of disability has evolved to shift the burden from people with impairments to perform at “normal” competency levels and towards a fuller recognition of the ways that society can either build or tear down barriers that hinder their full participation in society. The objective of this paper is to investigate the factors that act as facilitators or barriers to participation by people with impairments. Specifically, the study is conducted within the context of employment status and commute distance, two outcomes indicative of the ability of individuals with impairments to engage society. Analysis is based on Canada’s 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, a post-censal survey that collects information on various aspects of disabilities for a representative sample of Canadian society. The results, based on a probit model for employment status and a regression model for commute distance, provide insights into the personal, economic, and living space factors that affect the probability of being employed and traveling longer distances.     

Evaluation of travel demand strategies: a microscopic traffic simulation approach

This research investigates the design and impact of a new travel demand management approach, namely the Downtown Space Reservation System (DSRS), using a microscopic traffic simulation approach executed in VISSIM. The DSRS is part of a Travel Demand Management strategy that is designed to mitigate traffic congestion in a downtown urban setting. The simulation is conducted according to an experimental design procedure for a revised road network representing downtown Boise, Idaho. The issues that are tested in the simulation include: (1) whether the DSRS improves traffic performance when compared with the case without the DSRS; (2) how the DSRS performs compared with a reservation system that uses a First Come First Serve principle; and (3) how the specific DSRS parameters (such as, the relative importance of throughput versus revenue generation) influence network system performance. Conclusions and future research recommendations are provided based on the insights from the simulation modeling work.     

Cross-boundary container truck congestion: the case of the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta region

Ever since the Open Policy in 1979, there has been increasing socio-economic integration between Hong Kong and mainland China. The subsequent rapid export-oriented industrialization in the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta (HK-PRD) region has given rise to rapidly growing cross-boundary container truck traffic (XBCT). From 1992 to 2003, the volume of XBCT rose from 1.5 to 4.7 million vehicles per annum. Hence, a new customs check-point, the Shenzhen Western Corridor (SWC), was built. With the development of SWC, how would XBCT drivers change their route-cum-customs (RCC) choice? What were their major considerations? How would the route choice among goods vehicle drivers differ from private car drivers? To what extent would the opening of new customs check-points change the RCC choice of goods vehicle drivers and resolve the uneven distribution problem of freight traffic? The current paper seeks to address these questions.     

Response of carbon fiber trapezoidal corrugated sandwich structure under air explosion loading北大核心CSCD

The effects of the thickness of the face plate, angle of the wall plate and height of the core layer on the anti-explosion performance of carbon fiber reinforced composite trapezoidal corrugated sandwich structures were investigated. [Methods]First, based on the 3D Hashin failure criterion, a subroutine module of the damage evolution of fiber reinforced composites is developed using the VUMAT user subroutine interface in ABAQUS. Second, through comparison with experiments in the public literature, the effectiveness of the dynamic response simulation method of carbon fiber reinforced composites based on a development subroutine under explosion impact loading is verified. Finally, a parametric study on the explosion resistance of carbon fiber reinforced composite trapezoidal corrugated plates is carried out based on the numerical method. [Results]The results show that, compared with increasing the thickness of the blast face panel, increasing the thickness of the back blast face panel can improve the explosion resistance of the sandwich plate more obviously; when the folding angle of the core wall plate decreases from 45° to 30°, the explosion resistance increases by 1.3%; when it decreases from 60° to 45°, the explosion resistance increases by 6.3%; and whenthecoreheightincreasesfrom8mmto20mm, theexplosionresistanceincreasesby27.7%.[Conclusions]The results of this study can provide references for the explosion-proof design of carbon fiber reinforced composite sandwich structures. © 2023 Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University. All rights reserved.     

Ballistic performance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene laminates against fragment-simulating projectiles北大核心CSCD

[目的]旨在探究破片侵彻作用下高强聚乙烯(UHMWPE)纤维增强层合板的毁伤响应过程、失效模式转变和能量吸收特性。[方法]采用有限元软件ANSYS/AUTODYN,建立UHMWPE层合板抗破片侵彻数值模型,分析UHMWPE层合板的失效模式转变和能量吸收特性。[结果]破片侵彻作用下UHMWPE层合板的动态响应过程大致可以分为剪切冲塞阶段和拉伸变形阶段。破片入射速度和靶板厚度会直接影响靶板的能量吸收特性。靶板厚度越大,剪切冲塞模式占比越大。在靶板厚度不变的情况下,随着破片侵彻速度的提高,剪切冲塞模式占比越来越大,最终趋于稳定。在破片弹道极限速度以上初始小范围内,靶板吸能随破片入射速度增大有所减小,随后破片速度继续增加会扩大靶板剪切冲塞破坏范围,导致靶板整体吸能量增加。[结论]基于所建立的数值模型能够较好地模拟破片侵彻作用下UHMWPE层合板的动态响应过程,可以为UHMWPE材料在弹道防护领域的应用提供参考。