Fare deregulation of transit services: Winners and losers in a competitive market

Currently, the Hong Kong government imposes fare control on buses and taxi while the rail services are immune to such a control. This study examined four scenarios of fare deregulation on transit services by considering three related parties of a transit system – service providers, travelers, and society in general, with their respective objectives represented as – revenue, travel utility, and congestion. Analyzing the resultant impacts on these three parties, we found that a different regulatory environment would favor or hurt a different set of parties. There is no clear win‐win situation for all parties. Deciding a socially acceptable regulatory environment is likely to involve difficult tradeoffs among these parties.     

Discomfort of vertical whole-body shock-type vibration in the frequency range of 0.5 to 16 Hz

Shock-type vibrations are frequently experienced in vehicles excited by impulsive input, such as bumps in the road, and cause discomfort. Current national and international standard weightings were primarily developed for assessing exposure to sinusoidal or random vibrations and not impulsive excitations or shocks. In this experimental study, various shock signals were systematically produced using the response of a one degree-of-freedom vibration model to hanning-windowed half-sine force input. The fundamental frequency of the shock was varied from 0.5 to 16 Hz at a step of 1/3 of an octave. The magnitude estimation method was used for fifteen subjects to compare the discomfort of shocks with various unweighted vibration dose values between 0.35 ms^−1.75 and 2.89 ms^−1.75 at each frequency. The equivalent comfort magnitude of shock showed greater sensitivity at frequencies less than 0.63 Hz and at the resonance frequency of the human body between 5.0 Hz and 6.3 Hz. The frequency weighting constructed by using both the equivalent comfort magnitude and the growth rate of discomfort obtained in this study was compared with the current standard weightings, W_b of BS 6841 and W_k of ISO 2631. The derived weightings for shock were applied to the acceleration of the shocks, and an enhanced correlation was proved between the magnitude estimations and the weighted physical magnitude of shock.     

Study on Tire Dynamic Cornering Properties Using Experimental Modal Parameters

Based on the modeling of tire vertical characteristics and steady cornering properties, the model of tire nonsteady cornering is established in this paper using tire modal parameters extracted experimentally. In order to consider the influence of tire rolling effect on its cornering properties, the induced transfer function is introduced. The analytical formulae for calculation of transfer-function of lateral force and self-aligning torque with respect to lateral displacement and yaw angle are derived. The nonsteady cornering characteristics of tire under different loads can be calculated. The results of calculation are consistent with the experimental ones in the literature. The influence of rolling speed on tire cornering properties including the static case is analyzed. The nonsteady cornering properties in high frequency range are given by the model. The study demonstrates the consistency between steady and nonsteady tire modeling by using modal parameters.     

汽车动力学模拟中的轮胎模型述评

分别介绍了以不同建模方式构造的三种典型轮胎模型，即经验公式中的“魔术公式”、半经验公式中的“幂指数公式”以及理论模型中的Ｇ．Ｇｉｍ轮胎模型。并根据Ｓｔｅｙｒ９９１重型车Ｃ类轮胎和Ｂｅｎｚ重型车Ｍｉｃｈｅｌｉｎ ＸＺＡ轮胎的实验数据，对上述轮胎模型进行了验证和综合评述。     

Application of Optimal Control Theory to Inverse Simulation of Car Handling

The application of Optimal Control Theory to time-optimal inverse simulation of car handling was investigated. Time-optimal inverse simulation of car handling involves the calculation of driver actions required to perform specified manoeuvres, in as short a time as possible. Driver actions consist of time-histories of front wheel steer rate and longitudinal force. Optimal time-histories of these quantities were calculated using the Gradient method after formulating the problem as one of optimal control. Simulation results are presented for two different cars performing similar lane-changes. These results show significant differences in necessary driver actions for different cars and demonstrate the suitability of the approach taken.     

基于改进尾流振子模型的超长拉索涡激振动特性数值研究

为了研究大跨度斜拉桥超长拉索在不同流场特性下的高阶多模态涡激振动问题，以牛顿定律为基础，建立了考虑张力变化以及垂度效应的拉索结构振子方程，引入改进的Van Der Pol式尾流振子模型，以加速度耦合两非线性振子，提出了一种简便的拉索涡激振动流固耦合预报模型；采用二阶中心差分法，对两振子方程在空间域和时间域进行离散迭代求解，编制了拉索涡激振动的MATLAB计算程序，并验证了其可靠性。该方法为研究拉索涡激振动提供了一种新思路，可解决风洞试验和数值软件（CFD）不便模拟大长细比拉索结构的问题。基于提出的预报模型，以1根330 m超长拉索为研究对象，分析了拉索多模态涡激振动特性，探讨了不同流场特性对拉索涡激振动的影响。研究结果表明：均匀流作用下，拉索发生涡激锁定现象，以单一模态发生振动，随着风速的增加，拉索涡激锁定区间增大而最大振幅不发生改变；剪切流作用下，拉索发生多模态涡激振动，位移响应呈现"拍"的特点，振动频率分布在Strouhal涡脱频率范围内，存在2个或3个主导频率，主导频率全程参与振动，非主导频率间歇参与振动；拉索多模态涡激振动位移响应表现为行波-驻波并存的状态，随着风剖面指数的增加，涡激振动行波效应显著。     

Out-of-round railway wheels—a study of wheel polygonalization through simulation of three-dimensional wheel-rail interaction and wear

The objective of this study is to develop a tool for investigation of wheel tread polygonalization with radial irregularities including 1 to 20 wavelengths around the circumference of the wheel. Therefore, an existing multibody system model for simulation of general three-dimensional train-track interaction (accounting for frequencies up to several kHz) is extended with rolling contact mechanics according to FASTSIM. Furthermore, the model is also modified to allow for general wheel-rail profiles. The numerical model uses the concept of an iteration scheme including simulation of dynamic train-track interaction in the time domain coupled with a long-term wear model. A demonstration example including a bogie of a subway train travelling on a straight track is presented. In the example, an initial wheel out-of-roundness (OOR) is applied to the wheels. This irregularity is based on an amplitude spectrum derived from measurements on new wheels. Simulation results show that the most important wavelength-fixing mechanisms of the wheel OOR are (i) the vertical resonance of the coupled train-track system at approximately 40 Hz (the P2 resonance) and (ii) the frequency region including the lowest vertical track antiresonance at 165 Hz, where the dynamic track stiffness is high. Only a straight track is studied, but the model allows for asymmetric train motion on such a track.     

锚泊线的动力分析

本文应用频率域方法,研究波频运动引起低频慢荡阻尼力问题中锚泊线所引起的力。锚泊线所引起的阻尼,在本质上与其和运动间的初相位角有关。该相位信息需从频域分析得出。本文应用摄动理论推导了到二阶的锚泊线张力响应函数。算例以及与相应的时域的结果比较,可以看出应用频域摄动分析的结果在假设适用范围内与时域得到的结果基本相符。     

Annual uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the Weddell Sea derived from a surface layer balance, including estimations of entrainment and new production

Data from two cruises, one in April/May 1996 and one in December/January 1993, covering the same wide area in the offshore Weddell Sea, were used to derive the annual extent of entrainment and the capacity of the biological pump. The former property was obtained with the help of dissolved oxygen data, whereas the latter was approximated with nutrients. Especially the data from April/May, representing the initial state of the winter surface layer, were crucial to assess the annual extent of these processes. The results were applied to our carbon dioxide data. The annual increase of the Total CO₂ (TCO₂) concentration in the surface layer due to vertical transport amounts to 16.3 μmol kg⁻¹. An entrainment rate of deep water in the surface layer amounting to 35±10 m yr⁻¹ was deduced. The compensating, biologically mediated TCO₂ reduction was calculated to be larger than the TCO₂ increase due to vertical transport. Since the balance of these two processes determines whether the Weddell Sea is a source or a sink of CO₂, this indicates that the Weddell Sea, albeit upwelling area, is definitely a sink for atmospheric CO₂ on an annual basis. This conclusion is further supported by contemplations that the biological drawdown of CO₂ in the Weddell Sea as a whole is probably underestimated by our calculations. The new production for the Weddell Sea on a per unit area basis was found to be much higher than that for the Antarctic Ocean, when the latter value is being obtained by traditional biological methods. On the other hand, the CO₂ uptake by the Weddell Sea on a per unit area basis is somewhat smaller than the CO₂ uptake by the world ocean.     

车辆混合动力传动系统开发现状与展望

本文通过对车辆动力传动系统能量分配型式及特点的分析，提出在市区公共汽车等车辆上使用具有良好综合性能的混合动力传动系统。并对各种型式的车辆混合动力传动系统的研究现状进行了分析与总结，展望了未来的发展趋势，对以后的研究，开发具有指导意义。