Experimental ivnestigation on flow fields of viscous fluid around two-dimensional wings and comparison with computational results

To examine the flow field of a viscous fluid around the trailing edge of a wing with respect to the Kutta condition or the Joukowski hypothesis, an experimental investigation into the velocity fields around two-dimensional (2D) wings NACA0012 and NACA4412 was carried out using an X-type hot-wire anemometer in a wind tunnel and the method of colored milk injection in a circulating water channel. The results of these investigations revealed that the flow of a viscous fluid at the trailing edge of a 2D wing is tangential to the face on the pressure side, and that the flow is very slow or reversed on the suction side due to separation when the angle of attack is greater than 7.5°. By flow visualization, a Kármán vortex street was found in the wake of both wings (NACA0012 and NACA4412) when the angle of attack was 5°. These results show that the ordinary Kutta condition with respect to the direction of outflow at the trailing edge is not necessarily satisfied in a viscous fluid, but the Kutta condition with respect to the pressure at the trailing edge is satisfied as usual. Numerical results, which have been obtained as the solution of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, show good agreement with above-mentioned experimental results. Therefore, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation has proved to be very effective for studying steady viscous flow around the trailing edge of a 2D wing.     

Solution of an unstable inverse problem: wave source evaluation from observation of velocity distribution

This paper illustrates how to estimate a wave source generating a wave system, including local waves, with the assumption of linear dispersive waves of two dimensions. The estimation of wave source is realized by using an inverse problem. Unfortunately, the inverse problem is ill-posed in the sense of stability, since the wave source information included in local waves diminishes as the distance from the wave source increases. In the area of applied mathematics, there are well-developed methods to tackle ill-posed problems, which are called regularizations. In this paper, three different regularizations which are well known in applied mathematics are introduced and investigated to learn whether they are applicable to the present problem of the estimation of wave source. From the numerical experiments, it is shown that the estimation is realized by the regularizations introduced in this study, so that they can be applied to the determination of a wave source generating a wave system including local waves. Received: June 6, 2000 / Accepted: February 7, 2001     

A new functional optimization method applied to the pitch distribution of a marine propeller

Based on Hilbert space theory, an infinite-dimensional optimization method to find the optimal pitch distribution of marine propellers was developed. Thereby, the three-dimensional effect of induced velocity could effectively be controlled in an optimal way; i.e., an investigation was carried out to learn whether the present method is applicable to the design of marine propellers, especially pitch distributions, by maximizing the propeller efficiency functional. In addition, with the help of Hilbert space theory, it was successfully shown that the optimization method developed has a unique mathematical solution. In this work, only the pitch distribution was optimized, while other parameters such as the camber and thickness of the trial propeller remained as in the original. With a numerical study, it is shown that the present optimization method gives an optimal pitch distribution, the open-water characteristic curve being superior to the original curve. Received: August 24, 2000 / Accepted: July 16, 2001     

Optimum routing of a sailing wind farm

To acquire the wind energy of the oceans, a sailing wind farm has been proposed. The wind farm considered is composed of a semisubmersible floating structure, 11 windmills, four sails, six thrusters, and storage for hydrogen. To maximize the acquired energy, an effective algorithm to search for optimum routes was developed. The algorithm is based on the fact that beam winds yield a maximum of acquired energy. This feature reduces the computation time, and, consequently, efficient route optimization becomes possible in a reasonable time. After setting an operational area for the wind farm, navigation simulations for a 1-year period were carried out. A numerical weather forecast was used as well as the responses of the floating structure, such as the speed of the structure, the output power of the windmills, and the time of course changes. In the simulation, the wind farm evades rough seas to avoid structural damage, and an optimum route is searched for. The capacity factor of the system was used to evaluate the efficiency of the optimized routes. From the simulations, the maximum capacity factor achieved was 42.6%. The dependency of the capacity factor on the initial position of the wind farm was also examined. It was shown that offshore from Sanriku in northeastern Japan is an area suited to the operation of the wind farm. The effect of the initial position on consecutive periods of operation is discussed.     

Freakish sea index and sea states during ship accidents

Sea states during seven marine accidents near Japan reported in the media were analyzed using a third-generation wave model. Based on the estimated evolution of the directional wave spectrum, a narrowing of the directional spectrum was suggested for five cases. Based on earlier studies in laboratory tanks, the narrowing of the directional spectrum may be associated with increased probability of freak waves at the time of the accident. A diagram mapping the frequency bandwidth and directional spread proved useful as a diagnostic tool. This freakish sea index was compared against recently conducted ocean wave observations. The accident causes are discussed in the context of slamming, green sea loading, loss of stability, broaching and other possibilities.     

Development of an Active Control Engine Mount System

In an attempt to reduce idling vibration and booming noise in automobile engines, the authors have developed an engine mounting system we call the ACM(Active Control engine Mount) system. Comprising a pair of electromagnetic actuators and hydraulic mounts, the system incorporates an adaptive control strategy based on the synchronized filtered-X LMS (SFX) algorithm. The crank angle pulse signal is detected as the synchronization signal and the force transmitted to the car body through the engine mounts is detected as a residual signal. Application of the ACM system to a vehicle with a transversally mounted four-cylinder engine resulted in significantly reduced idling vibration and booming noise.     

东京地铁的安全对策

从铁道事业法的部分修订等方面介绍日本有关铁路安全的对策,重点对东京地铁的安全对策以及采取的各种措施进行说明.东京地铁以确保安全运输为最大使命,通过落实安全措施、员工的培养、紧急时的应对训练、安全活动、安全研究等各项安全工作,努力防患于未然.     

On the realization of nonlinear wave profiles using the Banach fixed-point theorem: Stokes wave in a finite depth

A new mathematical formulation for the realization of nonlinear wave profiles and its nonlinear solution procedure, based on the Banach fixed-point theorem, is proposed. To apply the formulation, a nonlinear equation for the Stokes wave in a finite depth was derived, and some numerical solutions are given. A numerical study showed that the proposed iteration method, based on linear progressive wave potential only, enabled us to realize the Stokes nonlinear wave profiles in a finite depth. The nonlinear strategy of iteration has a very fast convergence rate, i.e., only about 6–10 iterations are required to obtain a numerically converged solution.     

Using Electronic Toll Collection Data to Understand Traffic Demand

In this study, we explored the potential of using electronic toll collection (ETC)-derived data that are a part of intelligent transport systems (ITS). Dynamic origin–destination (OD) traffic volumes were estimated using ETC data on the Hanshin Expressway. A dynamic OD estimation model that was suggested in a previous study was used, and abundant ETC data were input to improve the estimation accuracy. The results of OD estimation were analyzed to understand traffic demand and its variation. External factors were clarified that have an influence on variances in the OD flows, and statistical analysis methods for the variations were proposed depending on the factors. Moreover, the improvements in traffic simulation accuracy and performance as a result of using ETC data as input variables in the simulation models were discussed. According to the results of this study, ETC data have potential to assist in understaningd traffic demand and its variation, and the results can be applied to network management.