Relationship between quality and attributes of elliptical spot welds of high strength steel

More high strength steel(HSS) sheets are being applied in the automobile industry to improve safety and fuel efficiency.When HSS is spot welded, the strength of the welded-joint is usually determined by the attributes of the weld nugget.However, it is diffcult to obtain the circular nugget and to establish the relationship between the weld attributes and welding quality because of a large number of variables and experimental uncertainty.In the paper, the numerical analysis model of tensile-shear strength test for HSS spot welds was established.And the critical ellipticity of the elliptical spot weld was determined through finite element analysis.Quantitative relationship between elliptical weld attributes and weld strength was investigated statistically using the Latin hypercube and regression analysis method.The sheet thickness, nugget ellipticity, hardness radio and yield strength have the most influential attributes in affecting welding quality.The research results can be used as a guideline for HSS resistance spot welding design.     

Simulation of Chaos in Asymmetric Nonlinear Chua＇s Circuit

In order to describe practical chaotic systems exactly, we presented a simple modified Chua's circuit,which contains an asymmetric nonlinear resistive element. Mathematical analysis was made, and simulation study was performed by MATLAB. By varying the value of linear resistor in the circuit, rich variety dynamical behaviors were observed, such as DC equilibrium point, Hopf bifurcation, period-doubling bifurcation,single-scroll strange attractor, periodic windows, and asymmetric double-scroll strange attractor. The extreme sensitivity in the state trajectory with respect to the initial conditions was exhibited; the special characteristic of asymmetric nonlinear Chua's circuit was found also.     

Distribution system optimization planning based on plant growth simulation algorithm

An approach for the integrated optimization of the construction/expansion capacity of high-voltage/medium-voltage (HV/MV) substations and the configuration of MV radial distribution network was presented using plant growth simulation algorithm (PGSA). In the optimization process, fixed costs correspondent to the investment in lines and substations and the variable costs associated to the operation of the system were considered under the constraints of branch capacity, substation capacity and bus voltage. The optimization variables considerably reduce the dimension of variables and speed up the process of optimizing. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was tested by a distribution system planning.     

A modified genetic algorithm for product family optimization with platform specified by information theoretical approach

Many existing product family design methods assume a given platform, However, it is not an in-tuitive task to select the platform and unique variable within a product family. Meanwhile, most approachesare single-platform methods, in which design variables are either shared across all product variants or not atall. While in multiple-platform design, platform variables can have special value with regard to a subset ofproduct variants within the product family, and offer opportunities for superior overall design. An informationtheoretical approach incorporating fuzzy clustering and Shannon's entropy was proposed for platform variablesselection in multiple-platform product family. A 2-level chromosome genetic algorithm (2LCGA) was proposedand developed for optimizing the corresponding product family in a single stage, simultaneously determiningthe optimal settings for the product platform and unique variables. The single-stage approach can yield im-provements in the overall performance of the product family compared with two-stage approaches, in which thefirst stage involves determining the best settings for the platform and values of unique variables are found foreach product in the second stage. An example of design of a family of universal motors was used to verify theproposed method.     

An analysis on long term emission benefits of a government vehicle fleet replacement plan in northern illinois

There have been a number of studies of the effectiveness of vehicle scrappage programs, which offer incentives to accelerated scrappage of older vehicles often thought to be high emitters. These programs are voluntary and aimed at replacement of household vehicles. In contrast, there is a gap in knowledge related to the emissions benefits of government fleet replacement (retirement) programs. In this study, the efficacy of a fleet replacement program for a local government agency in Northern Illinois, the Forest Preserve of DuPage County (FPDC), is examined using a probabilistic vehicle survival model that accounts for time-varying covariates such as vehicle age and gasoline price. The vehicle lifetime operating emissions are calculated based on the estimated vehicle survival probabilities from the survival model and compared with those derived using the EPA default fleet used in MOBILE6 and the fleet represented by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) survival curve. The results suggest that while there may be short term emission benefits of the FPDC fleet replacement plan, the long-term emission benefits are highly sensitive to economic factors (e.g., future gasoline price) and exhibit a decreasing trend. This indicates that an adaptive multi-stage replacement strategy as opposed to a fixed one is preferable to achieve optimal cost effectiveness.

Short-term prediction of vehicle waiting queue at ferry terminal based on machine learning method

Ferry service plays an important role in several cities with waterfront areas. Transportation authorities often need to forecast volumes of vehicular traffic in queues waiting to board ships at ferry terminals to ensure sufficient capacity and establish schedules that meet demand. Several previous studies have developed models for long-term vehicle queue length prediction at ferry terminals using terminal operation data. Few studies, however, have been undertaken for short-term vehicular queue length prediction. In this study, machine learning methods including the artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM) are applied to predict vehicle waiting queue lengths at ferry terminals. Through time series analysis, the existence of a periodic queue-length pattern is established. Hence, methodologies used in this study take into account periodic features of vehicle queue data at terminals for prediction. To further consider the cyclical characteristics of vehicle queue data at ferry terminals, a prediction approach is proposed to decompose vehicle waiting queue length into two components: a periodic part and a dynamic part. A trigonometric regression function is introduced to capture the periodic component, and the dynamic part is modeled by SVM and ANN models. Moreover, an assembly technique for combining SVM and ANN models is proposed to aggregate multiple prediction models and in turn achieve better results than could be attained from a lone predictive method. The prediction results suggest that for multi-step ahead vehicle queue length prediction at ferry terminals, the ensemble model outperforms the separate prediction models and the hybrid models, especially as prediction step size increases. This research has important practical significance to both traffic service management interests and the travelers in cities along waterfront areas.     

Panama Canal expansion: fuel economy and logistical risk

Since cargo capacity increases faster than fuel consumption, the significantly larger capacity fleets which will accompany expansion of the Panama Canal will introduce additional fuel economies and cost savings. Enabling larger, more fuel-efficient vessels to carry cargo the entire distance from Asia to US east-coast ports allows vessel operators to realize significant and meaningful savings compared with the alternatives of using smaller Panamax vessels for the whole distance, or sending the cargo over the US land bridge by train or truck. Fuel savings are quantified along with the monetary savings based on various assumptions for the price of fuel. These savings are dramatic and will increase directly with the price of crude petroleum. Finally, microeconomic theory is deployed to determine how cost savings will be distributed between shipping customers and vessel operators.     

Do China Mainland and SARs Constitute an Optimal Currency Area?Evidence from Nonlinearity and Stationarity Behavior Testing on Real Exchange Rates

In this article, we use the unrestricted two-regime autoregressive threshold model to test both nonlinearity and stationarity of China’s real exchange rate against its Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions (SARs). Our main finding is that China’s real exchange rate is neither linear nor stationary, indicating that the purchasing power parity does not hold between China Mainland and its two SARs, which implies, to certain extent, the three economies may not meet the condition of constituting an optimal currency area.     

Numerical investigation of characteristics of water-exit ventilated cavity collapse

The collapse of the ventilated cavitation occurring on a cylindrical vehicle during the water-exit is numerically researched. The numerical model employs the finite volume method to solve the multiphase Reynoldsaveraged Navier-Stokes (RNNS) equations and uses the volume of fluid (VOF) method to capture the free surface. A practical water wave environment that the vehicle usually encounters is reproduced in a numerical wave flume, so that the water wave’s effect on the cavity collapse flow regime is investigated. The main feature of the waterexit collapse of a ventilated cavity is studied under the wave-free condition. The result indicates that a collapsing ventilated cavity experiences two stages, in which the pattern of cavity evolution is different. In the early stage, the cavity undergoes a rapid shrinkage as a closed body. In the late stage, the cavity releases gas from the front due to the increase of the cavity pressure. The water wave effect is investigated at three typical wave phases: the wave crest, the wave trough and the wave node. Results show that when the vehicle is launched under the wave node, the cavity collapse regime remains fairly axisymmetric and is similar to the wave-free case. However, when the vehicle is launched under the wave crest and trough, the cavity evolution presents highly three-dimensional (3D) features. The results of predicted cavity size, pressure distributions and hydrodynamic forces at different wave phases show that the wave effect is relatively weak at the wave node but becomes apparent at the wave crest and trough.     

The implications of piracy on marine insurance: some considerations for the shipowner

A prominent feature of modern day piracy is the ransom that is demanded for the safe release of the ship, cargo and crew. The recent upsurge of this type of piracy, in areas of the world that are of strategic importance to the shipping industry, has created many challenges for shipowners, underwriters and the law relating to marine insurance. The aim of this paper is to examine how the marine insurance market is being affected by the threat of modern day piracy, and seeks to identify the options that are available for the recovery of a ransom payment by the shipowner. Moreover, this study aims to identify the legal issues that might prevent a shipowner from recovering a ransom payment under an insurance policy or from the other interests in a common adventure. The study establishes that a reasonably made ransom payment by the shipowner will amount to an extraordinary expense that is taken to minimise or avert a loss. Such an act can generally be recovered under the insurance policy as a sue and labour expense or from other interests in the common adventure as a general average expense. However, illegality, unseaworthiness and exemption clauses in a marine policy are identified as being legal issues that may prevent a shipowner from recovering the ransom payment. Some of these problems may be overcome if clauses are carefully drafted to specifically cater for modern day piracy in a marine insurance policy. Several inconsistencies may also be resolved by transferring the piracy peril to war risks cover. The shipowner’s duty is to respond to the changing circumstances, by ensuring that his vessel is sufficiently equipped and the crew is properly trained to resist a hijacking.