Development of control logic for hydraulic active roll control system

Developed in this research is a control logic for the ARC (Active Roll Control) system that uses rotary-type hydraulic stabilizer actuators at the front and rear axles. The hydraulic components of the system were modeled in detail using AMESim, and a driving logic for the hydraulic circuit was constructed based upon the model. The performance of the driving logic was evaluated on a test bench, and it demonstrated good pressure tracking capability. The control logic was then designed with the target of reducing the roll motion of the vehicle during cornering. The control logic consists of two parts: a feedforward controller that generates anti-roll moments in response to the centrifugal force, and a feedback controller that generates anti-roll moments in order to make the roll angle to follow its target value. The developed ARC logic was evaluated on a test vehicle under various driving conditions including a slowly accelerated circular motion and a sinusoidal steering. Through the test, the ARC system demonstrated successful reduction of the roll motion under all conditions, and any discomfort due to the control delay was not observed even at a fast steering maneuver.     

Dynamic analysis of spiral bevel geared rotor systems applying finite elements and enhanced lumped parameters

The dynamics of spiral bevel gears like most high-speed precision gears employed in motor vehicles and off highway equipments are substantially affected by the structural characteristics of the shafts and bearings. The lumped parameter model is one of the common tools applied to perform gear dynamic analysis. Even though the lumped parameter approach is computationally fast and conveniently efficient, it typically uses limited number of coordinates and may not fully account for the shaft-bearing structural characteristics accurately. In this analysis, the finite element formulation, that can generally represent more complete characteristics of the shaft-bearing assembly, is employed to enhance the current lumped parameter synthesis theory using the concept of effective mass and inertia elements. Computational output shows that the enhanced lumped parameter synthesis model is capable of predicting sufficiently accurate dynamic response when compared to the direct dynamic finite element calculations, and much more precise response than previous lumped parameter results, especially when the gear dynamics are associated with the pinion or gear bending modes. Even though this analysis focuses primarily on the spiral bevel geared rotor systems, the proposed methodology and analysis results can be easily extended to other types of gears.     

Investigation of particle emission characteristics from a diesel engine with a diesel particulate filter for alternative fuels

Particle number measurement is a new approach to determine emission, which may be more accurate at very low emission levels than when using gravimetric measurements. An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of fuel properties on the performance, combustion process, regulated gaseous emissions and particle number emissions of a diesel engine with an uncatalyzed diesel particulate filter (DPF). The effect of the filter on the particle size distribution was reported. The DPF number-based filtration efficiency in terms of number efficiency and fractional efficiency for petroleum diesel fuel and two alternative fuels, BTL and GTL, were analyzed. For nearly all test modes, the filter had a higher number efficiency for diesel than for BTL and GTL. The DPF fractional efficiency showed it was highly dependent on fuel type and varied widely at each size range. For diesel, the filter fractional efficiency was sufficiently high and behaved as predicted by filtration theory. For BTL and GTL, the fractional performance of the filter decreased when unexpectedly low efficiencies within the nuclei mode were exhibited. This research will be helpful in understanding DPF number-based filtration performance for alternative fuels and will provide information for the development of particulate emission control technology.     

Technology analysis and low-cost design of automotive radar for adaptive cruise control system

Recently, the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), which helps mitigate car accidents, has been developed using environmental detection sensors, such as long and short range radar, lidar, wide dynamic range cameras, ultrasonic sensors and laser scanners. Among these detection sensors, radars can quickly provide drivers with reliable information about the velocity, distance and direction of a target obstacle, as well as information about the vehicle in changing weather conditions. In the adaptive cruise control system (ACCS), three radar sensors are usually needed because two short range radars are used to detect objects in the adjacent lane and one long range radar is used to detect objects in-path. In this paper, low-cost radar based on a single sensor, which can detect objects in both the adjacent lane and in-path, is proposed for use in the ACCS. Before designing the proposed radar, we analyzed the world-wide radar technology and market trends for ACCS. Based on this analysis, we designed a novel radar sensor for the ACCS using radar components, such as an antenna, transceiver module, transceiver control module and signal processing algorithm. Finally, target detection experiments were conducted. In the experimental results, the proposed single radar can successfully complete the detection required for the ACCS. In the conclusion, the perspective and issues in the future development of the ACCS radar are described.     

Influence of the weather on mode choice in corridors with time-varying congestion: a mixed data study

Studies that link human behaviour to the influence of weather have historically been conducted in such fields as tourism, marketing and leisure. In most studies that jointly examine weather and the mode of transport, only open-air transportation has been considered (for example, bicycle, motorcycle or walking). This focus, together with the habitual use of data collected with automatic devices and a lack of studies that analyse this issue using stated preference data, are the main reasons motivating this paper. This paper aims to analyse the influence of weather and the density of traffic on the choice of transport mode. A case study is conducted in an access/egress corridor located in the city of Barcelona (Spain). Two data sources were used: revealed preference and stated preference data. Modelling techniques using mixed data enabled the stronger features from both data sources to be captured. Finally, we discuss how the selection of different alternative specific constants in models estimated using mixed data could generate unrealistic forecasting results if environmental changes are expected in the actual market.     

Potential economic benefits of using a weather ship routing system at Short Sea Shipping

This contribution investigates the economic benefits of using weather ship routing on Short Sea Shipping (SSS) activities. The investigation is supported with the development of a ship routing system based on pathfinding algorithm, the parametrization of the wave effect on navigation, and the use of high-resolution meteo-oceanographic predictions. The optimal ship routing analysis is investigated in a European SSS system: the link between Spanish and Italian ports. The results show the economic benefits using ship routing in SSS during energetic wave episodes. The rate of cost savings may reach 18% of the total costs under particular bad weather conditions in the navigation area. The work establishes the basis of further developments in optimal route applied in relatively short distances and its systematic use in the SSS maritime industry.     

The overall motion induced interruptions as operability criterion for fishing vessels

A new index, namely the overall motion induced interruptions (OMII), is proposed as a seakeeping criterion for fishing vessels, to compare ships having different hull forms and dimensions by means of an only parameter, in a human centred approach, mainly related to the onboard risk level. Therefore, the first aim of the paper is to investigate the factors affecting fishing vessels’ seakeeping performances to improve them to reduce the high number of injuries occurring during fishing operations, mainly related to both risk perception and harsh weather conditions. Despite the classical approach, where motion induced interruption is determined for a certain sea state with regard to several location points, the new index accounts for all crew members’ positions on the working deck, all heading angles the vessel may experience during fishing operations, based on relevant operating scenario, and all sea states the ship may encounter in the fishing area. The influence of position, heading angles and sea states on the attained risk level is fully investigated, analysing seakeeping performances of four fishing vessels with different hull forms and dimensions. Finally, a new operability criterion is proposed, based on OMII, to investigate the influence of ship size and operating scenario on the risk of injuries during fishing operations. Main factors affecting fishing vessels’ seakeeping performances are fully discussed, paying attention to relevant correlation with ship roll natural period.     

A decomposition method for surrogate models of large scale structures

Analysis is computationally the most expensive part of optimization. Surrogate models, which are approximate but faster statistical models, can be used in place of more precise but more computer-intensive methods like finite element method to improve efficiency. Unfortunately, the surrogate models are limited by the number of model parameters. So large-scale problems cannot be fully defined by a single surrogate model. Furthermore, current domain decomposition methods cannot be used with black-box models. This study presents a novel approach to design thin-walled structures using surrogate models that overcome the curse of dimensionality by a special decomposition method. A parametric panel structure is defined as a building block. An interface is developed to maintain compatibility across the blocks. Finally, an iterative algorithm finds the displaced state using only local information. Three test structures are used to show the convergence of the algorithm for static analysis. In these sample cases, number of steps required for convergence of the error did not change with the number of panels. This approach offers many benefits including automatic design creation and optimization, effective usage of stream processors and model reuse.     

Station keeping control of underwater robots using disturbance force measurements

Station keeping control of remotely operated vehicles is crucial in the successful completion of underwater missions of work class robotic vehicles. The conventional method of station keeping using the vehicle pose/velocity measurement introduces delay in vehicle control and often leads to instability. In this paper, we present a novel method for measuring the underwater disturbances and controlling the robot for station keeping using a feed-forward control strategy. A strain-gauge based disturbance force measurement is proposed here with suitable algorithms to measure the forces acting on the vehicle due to external disturbances. Using the dynamic models, the vehicle response is predicted and a feed-forward control is implemented for station keeping. The controller activates corrective control action even before the vehicle responds to the disturbances. The performance of the controller is analyzed through simulation studies as well as hardware-in-loop tests. Results show that this approach is an effective alternative for conventional station keeping control of underwater vehicles.     

Hydroelastic analysis of a rectangular plate subjected to slamming loads

A hydroelastic analysis of a rectangular plate subjected to slamming loads is presented. An analytical model based on Wagner theory is used for calculations of transient slamming load on the ship plate. A thin isotropic plate theory is considered for determining the vibration of a rectangular plate excited by an external slamming force. The forced vibration of the plate is calculated by the modal expansion method. Analytical results of the transient response of a rectangular plate induced by slamming loads are compared with numerical calculations from finite element method. The theoretical slamming pressure based on Wagner model is applied on the finite element model of a plate. Good agreement is obtained between the analytical and numerical results for the structural deflection of a rectangular plate due to slamming pressure. The effects of plate dimension and wave profile on the structural vibration are discussed as well. The results show that a low impact velocity and a small wetted radial length of wave yield negligible effects of hydroelasticity.