Determinants of the property damage costs of bulk barge accidents

This study investigates determinants of the vessel, cargo, and other-property damage costs of bulk barge accidents in US inland waterways. Tobit estimation of a three-equation recursive model suggests that, in bulk barge accidents: (1) vessel damage cost is greater for collision, fire/explosion, and material/equipment failure accidents than for groundings; (2) cargo damage cost is greater at night and when the weather is foggy and increases with barge age; and (3) otherproperty damage cost is greater for multi-vessel accidents, but decreases with barge size. A dollar of vessel damage cost increases other-property damage cost by $1.38, while a dollar of cargo damage cost increases this cost by $6.90. An important result for formulating bulk barge accident cost-reduction policies is that a given determinant might have a negative effect on one type of damage cost but a positive effect on another.     

Institutional reform in ports of developing countries: the case of Lebanon—part I: the plan

Upon the expiry of the concession contract signed between Lebanon and a private company for the Port of Beirut operation (in December 1990), the Government appointed a temporary commission to operate the port under the rules of the expiring concession. The legality of this measure has since always been questioned, while the temporary commission underwent three major personnel changes which clearly prevented any long-term thinking or planning. In 1998, the temporary commission entered into a 20-year joint venture for the establishment of a container terminal. Meanwhile, Lebanon's two main ports were facing major regional competition, while competing against each other to some degree. Thus, the need became urgent to end the temporary status and propose reforms to the entire sector. To that end, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport was commissed by the Government to propose a permanent institutional framework for the port of Beirut while assessing the need for a national maritime sector regulator. This paper presents the recommendations for the institutional reform of the Lebanese maritime transport sector.     

Lagrangian flow in the California Undercurrent, an observation and model comparison

During the period 1992–1998, 38 isobaric RAFOS floats were deployed to sample the subsurface flow of the California Undercurrent. The deployments, released over the California continental slope west of San Francisco, have sampled robust year-round poleward subsurface flow associated with the Undercurrent most seasons and the combined inshore current and Undercurrent in winter. Two other types of flow have been seen: a region of weak flow with little net displacement just west of the California Undercurrent, and an active westward propagating eddy field. This eddy field appears to be the primary mechanism for moving floats from the Undercurrent into the ocean interior. The observations and statistics from the RAFOS floats are compared with Lagrangian estimates of particles tracked in a global high resolution ocean simulation in order to evaluate the fidelity of the model along an eastern boundary. The results show that the model reproduces the general character of the flow reasonably well, but underestimates both the mean and eddy energies by a substantial amount.     

Estimation of wave-induced ship hull bending moment from ship motion measurements

A time-domain technique for estimating wave-induced ship hull bending moment from ship motion measurements is presented. This technique is developed to improve hull response monitoring systems. Artificial neural networks are used to model the time-domain relationship between the wave-induced vertical bending moment and the coupled heave and pitch motions. The application of the proposed technique is validated using experimental data.     

A new approach for improving the performance of freight train timetabling of a single-track railway system

A new approach for improving the performance of freight train timetabling for single-track railways is proposed. Using the idea of a fixed-block signaling system, we develop a matrix representation to express the occupation of inter- and intra-station tracks by trains illustrating the train blocking time diagram in its entirety. Train departure times, dwell times, and unnecessary stopping are adjusted to reduce average train travel time and single train travel time. Conflicts between successive stations and within stations are identified and solved. A fuzzy logic system is further used to adjust the range of train departure times and checks are made to determine whether dwell times and time intervals can be adjusted for passenger and freight trains at congested stations to minimize train waiting times. By combining manual scheduling expertise with the fuzzy inference method, timetable efficiency is significantly improved and becomes more flexible.     

Innovative strategies for urban car-sharing systems and a simulator to assess their performance

In this paper, three innovative car-sharing systems for urban areas are proposed, based on fleets of individual intelligent vehicles with three service characteristics: instant access, open-ended reservations and one-way trips. These features provide high flexibility but create an uneven distribution of vehicles among stations. Therefore, relocation of vehicles must be performed. Three different system procedures are proposed: in the first system, relocations are performed by users; in the other two, vehicles relocate automatically, thanks to their automation. In the first two systems, vehicles are accessible only at stations, whereas in the third they are also accessible along roads. In order to provide transport managers with a tool to test systems in different realities, an object-oriented simulator is developed. The simulation provides outputs of system performance, in terms of user waiting times and system efficiency. The proposed systems are simulated for the city of Genoa, in Italy, and a comparative analysis is presented.     

Modelling and Analysis of Turning Motion of a Subsurface Mapping AUV with Split-Hull Design

There is much need for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for inspection and mapping purposes. Most conventional AUVs use torpedo-shaped single-rigid hull, b...     

汽车空调油耗试验分析及研究

汽车空调作为整车内部主要耗能附件,对用户实际使用油耗的影响巨大,有着很大的节能潜力。文章基于WLTC循环,采用不同试验方案,对多辆轻型车进行空调油耗,考察国内多款主流车型的空调油耗水平及空调制冷效果,验证压缩机排量和车辆前端密封导流对空调油耗的影响。结果表明:1)空调能耗占比较大,不容忽视,不同车辆的空调能耗占比总体分布在22%左右。2)多数车辆无法达到10min时头部平均温度达到23℃的要求,无法获得节能效果值。3)适当降低压缩机排量和增加车辆前端密封导流都具有一定的节油效果。     

进气系统的优化设计

FSAE赛车发动机进气系统结构参数影响充气效率。文章利用软件FLUENT对进气系统模型进行流场仿真,分析进气系统流场压力、速度等参数分布规律,研究进气歧管流量分布的均匀性,到达优化进气系统的目的。     

基于三电平逆变器的永磁同步电动机直接转矩控制新方法

在永磁同步电动机数学模型和三电平空间矢量调制法的基础上,提出一种基于三电平逆变器拓扑结构的永磁同步电机直接转矩控制新方法.该方法采用bang-bang控制器对电机进行控制,通过新型合成矢量开关表对固定合成矢量的选取,有效地抑制了三电平逆变器直流侧支撑电容中点电位波动、限制了输出电压变化率dv/dt并降低了开关损耗,同时...