Examining Local Coastal Zone Management Capacity in U.S. Pacific Coastal Counties

The coastal zone has critical natural, commercial, recreational, ecological, industrial, and esthetic values for current and future generations. Thus, there are increasing pressures from population growth and coastal land development. Local coastal land use planning plays an important role in implementing the U.S. Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) by establishing goals and performance policies for addressing critical coastal issues. This study extends the CZMA Performance Measurement System from the national level to the local land use level by measuring coastal zone land use plan quality and political context in fifty-three Pacific coastal counties. Plan quality is measured using an evaluation protocol defined by five components and sixty-eight indicators. The results indicate a reasonable correspondence between national goals and local coastal zone land use planning goals, but a slight gap might exist between the national/state versus local levels in the overall effectiveness of coastal zone management (CZM) efforts. The results show many U.S. Pacific coastal counties lack strong coastal zone land use plans because the average plan quality score was only 22.7 out of 50 points. Although these plans set relatively clear goals and objectives, they are somewhat weaker in their factual basis, identify a limited range of the available planning tools and techniques, and establish few coordination and implementation mechanisms. The regression analysis results indicate that CZM plan quality was not significantly related to any of the jurisdictional characteristics.     

Effect of steady airflow field on drag and downforce

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the steady airflow field of a rear spoiler on the coefficients of drag (C_D) and downforce (C_DF). The type of spoiler is suggested as a two-jointed arm model that mimics the flapping flight mechanism of the Canada goose. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was used for the steady airflow analysis of a vehicle implemented with various spoiler topologies. We evaluated C_D and C_DF due to the three types of airfoils and the five phases of each airfoil. We obtained the following conclusions from the results: (1) We found that the best cases for C_D and C_DF were the case of Phase 5 and symmetry airfoil, and the case of Phase 1 and reverse airfoil, respectively. (2) It is clear that C_D becomes the largest at Phase 1 of the reverse airfoil, since the eddy magnitude at the rear of the vehicle is the largest, and C_DF also becomes the largest during that phase, since the pressure distribution on the upper surface of the spoiler is very large. (3) As Phase 1 moves to Phase 5 in the same type of airfoil, it is advantageous for C_D and disadvantageous for C_DF, respectively.     

Cooperative control of the motor and the electric booster brake to improve the stability of an in-wheel electric vehicle

A cooperative control algorithm for an in-wheel motor and an electric booster brake is proposed to improve the stability of an in-wheel electric vehicle. The in-wheel system was modeled by dividing it into motor and mechanical parts, and the electric booster brake was modeled through tests. In addition, the response characteristics of the in-wheel system and the electric booster brake were compared through a frequency response analysis. In the cooperative control, the road friction coefficient was estimated using the wheel speed, motor torque, and braking torque of each wheel, and the torque limit of the wheel to the road was determined using the estimated road friction coefficient. Based on the estimated road friction coefficient and torque limit, a cooperative algorithm to control the motor and the electric booster brake was proposed to improve the stability of the in-wheel electric vehicle. The performance of the proposed cooperative control algorithm was evaluated through a hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS). Furthermore, to verify the performance of the proposed cooperative control algorithm, a test environment was constructed for the anti-lock braking system (ABS) hydraulic module hardware, and the performance of the cooperative control algorithm was compared with that of the ABS by means of a HILS test.     

顶湖—仙渡345 kV地下输电线路工程设计与施工

因都会区用电量增加,且为减低输电线路对市区景观及环境冲击,台电公司于台北市北投区大度路旁兴建地下电缆洞道,由顶湖超高压变电所引入345 kV二回线至仙渡超高压变电所。采用潜盾工法以降低交通及环境冲击的问题,因施工遭遇软硬不同土层及高水压影响,且穿越捷运淡水线关渡隧道下方,紧邻大度陆桥,因此在设计上采用大洞道方案、2道止水条、发进井调整位置及角度等方案,以降低施工对于附近结构物之冲击。     

Optimized energy management control for the Toyota Hybrid System using dynamic programming on a predicted route with short computation time

Among the general problematic of the HEV power trains, the most critical point is the determination of the power-split ratio between the mechanical and the electrical paths, known as the energy management strategy (EMS). Many EMS are proposed in the literature, and can be grouped in two categories: the local optimization EMS and the global optimization EMS. The local optimization category corresponds to the EMS based on human expertise and the knowledge of the power train components efficiency maps. Thus, the local optimization EMS manages the power train operations by referring to predefined rules. The drawback of such strategies is that it brings an instantaneous fuel consumption optimization, and does not fully optimize the fuel consumption over the whole trip. Therefore, additional fuel savings are still possible. This paper presents an overall optimized predictive EMS for the Toyota Hybrid System (THS-II) power train of the Prius. The proposed EMS is based on Dynamic Programming (DP), where the prior knowledge of the route is required in order to predetermine the power-split ratio and optimize the fuel consumption for the whole predicted route. The DP EMS proposed for the THS-II power train is designed with a very short computation time, intended to be implemented in real-time applications. The potential of this DP-controller in reducing fuel consumption on regulatory cycles are computed and compared to a rule-based controller and to the Prius published fuel consumption results. Finally, the fuel reduction enhancements of the DP-controller are computed for real road tests achieved on a MY06 Prius in Ile-de-France, by comparing to the associated observed consumption measurements.     

Development of probabilistic pedestrian fatality model for characterizing pedestrian-vehicle collisions

Pedestrian-related accidents are considered to be the most serious of traffic accidents due to the associated high fatality rates. In Korea, pedestrian fatalities accounted for approximately 40% of all traffic-related fatalities in 2004. Significant efforts have been made to develop effective countermeasures for pedestrian-vehicle collisions. A basis for devising such countermeasures is to understand the characteristics of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. This study develops a pedestrian fatality model capable of predicting the probability of fatality in pedestrian-vehicle collisions. Binary logistic regression and a probabilistic neural network (PNN) are employed to estimate the probability of pedestrian fatality. Pedestrian age, vehicle type and collision speed are used as independent variables of the fatality model. The models developed herein are valuable tools that can be used to direct safety policies and technologies associated with pedestrian safety.     

Computational study on the effects of volume ratio of DOC/DPF and catalyst loading on the PM and NOx emission control for heavy-duty diesel engines

The use of a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in a diesel aftertreatment system has proven to be an effective and efficient method for removing particulate matter (PM) in order to meet more stringent emission regulations without hurting engine performance. One of the favorable PM regeneration technologies is the NO₂-assisted regeneration method due to the capability of continuous regeneration of PM under a much lower temperature than that of thermal regeneration. In the present study, the thermal behavior of the monolith during regeneration and the conversion efficiency of NO₂ from NO with an integrated exhaust system of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and DPF have been predicted by one-channel numerical simulation. The simulation results of the DOC, DPF, and integrated DOC-DPF models are compared with experimental data to verify the accuracy of the present model for the integrated DOC and DPF modeling. The effects of catalyst loading inside the DOC and the volume ratio between the DOC and DPF on the pressure drop, the conversion efficiency, and the oxidation rate of PM, have been numerically investigated. The results indicate that the case of the volume ratio of ‘DOC/DPF=1.5’ within the same diameter of both monoliths produced close to the maximum conversion efficiency and oxidation rate of PM. Under the engine operating condition of 175 kW at 2200 rpm, 100% load with a displacement of 8.1, approximately 55 g/ft³ of catalyst (Pt) loading inside the DOC with the active Pt surface of 5.3 m²/g_pt was enough to maximize the conversion efficiency and oxidation rate of PM.     

Combined control of a regenerative braking and antilock braking system for hybrid electric vehicles

Most parallel hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) employ both a hydraulic braking system and a regenerative braking system to provide enhanced braking performance and energy regeneration. A new design of a combined braking control strategy (CBCS) is presented in this paper. The design is based on a new method of HEV braking torque distribution that makes the hydraulic braking system work together with the regenerative braking system. The control system meets the requirements of a vehicle longitudinal braking performance and gets more regenerative energy charge back to the battery. In the described system, a logic threshold control strategy (LTCS) is developed to adjust the hydraulic braking torque dynamically, and a fuzzy logic control strategy (FCS) is applied to adjust the regenerative braking torque dynamically. With the control strategy, the hydraulic braking system and the regenerative braking system work synchronously to assure high regenerative efficiency and good braking performance, even on roads with a low adhesion coefficient when emergency braking is required. The proposed braking control strategy is steady and effective, as demonstrated by the experiment and the simulation.     

Reaction characteristics of the diesel oxidation catalyst of particulate matters from the diffusion flame of a oiler burner

The objective of this experimental study is to investigate the characteristics of the size distribution and the number concentration of PM (particulate matters) emitted from the diffusion flame of a boiler burner, which has the same type of combustion as a diesel engine. This study is performed to investigate the emission characteristics of nanoparticles generated from diffusion combustion in diesel fuel, and it considered fuel factors and the reaction characteristics of the nanoparticles on the DOC (Diesel oxidation catalyst). The factors examined in this experiment included the sulfur content in the fuel, the blend of the diesel fuel containing biodiesel and bio-ethanol, and the concentration of engine oil (0.1% and 1.0%) blended with diesel fuel. The particle size distribution of the nanoparticles exhausted from the boiler burner was measured by an SMPS (scanning mobility particle sizer). The number concentration of PM that were smaller than 70 nm in diameter greatly increased in the rear of the DOC when fuel containing 250 ppm of sulfur was used. The experiment also suggested that the particle number concentration in both the front and rear of the DOC was lower when ULSD (ultra low sulfur diesel) fuel blended with biodiesel and bio-ethanol, which are oxygenated fuels, was used than when only ULSD fuel was used. The higher the content of engine oil in the fuel, the higher the particle number concentration was in the front and rear of the catalyst. When the first dilution air temperature is increased from 30°C to 180°C, the nanoparticle number concentration dramatically dropped in the rear of the catalyst when fuel containing 250 ppm of sulfur was used, while the particle size distribution remained almost the same when the fuel with engine oil was used.