Development of jacket platform tsunami risk rating system in waters offshore North Borneo

This work details the simulation of tsunami waves generated by seaquakes in the Manila Trench and their effect on fixed oil and gas jacket platforms in waters offshore North Borneo. For this study, a four-leg living quarter jacket platform located in a water depth of 63m is modelled in SACS v5.3. Malaysia has traditionally been perceived to be safe from the hazards of earthquakes and tsunamis. Local design practices tend to neglect tsunami waves and include no such provisions. In 2004, a 9.3M _w seaquake occurred off the northwest coast of Aceh, which generated tsunami waves that caused destruction in Malaysia totalling US$ 25 million and 68 deaths. This event prompted an awareness of the need to study the reliability of fixed offshore platforms scattered throughout Malaysian waters. In this paper, we present a review of research on the seismicity of the Manila Trench, which is perceived to be high risk for Southeast Asia. From the tsunami numerical model TUNA-M2, we extract computer-simulated tsunami waves at prescribed grid points in the vicinity of the platforms in the region. Using wave heights as input, we simulate the tsunami using SACS v5.3 structural analysis software of offshore platforms, which is widely accepted by the industry. We employ the nonlinear solitary wave theory in our tsunami loading calculations for the platforms, and formulate a platform-specific risk quantification system. We then perform an intensive structural sensitivity analysis and derive a corresponding platform-specific risk rating model.     

Sound scattering from rough bubbly ocean surface based on modified sea surface acoustic simulator and consideration of various incident angles and sub-surface bubbles’ radii

The aim of the present study is to improve the capabilities and precision of a recently introduced Sea Surface Acoustic Simulator (SSAS) developed based on optimization of the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff–Fresnel (HKF) method. The improved acoustic simulator, hereby known as the Modified SSAS (MSSAS), is capable of determining sound scattering from the sea surface and includes an extended Hall–Novarini model and optimized HKF method. The extended Hall–Novarini model is used for considering the effects of sub-surface bubbles over a wider range of radii of sub-surface bubbles compared to the previous SSAS version. Furthermore, MSSAS has the capability of making a three-dimensional simulation of scattered sound from the rough bubbly sea surface with less error than that of the Critical Sea Tests (CST) experiments. Also, it presents scattered pressure levels from the rough bubbly sea surface based on various incident angles of sound. Wind speed, frequency, incident angle, and pressure level of the sound source are considered as input data, and scattered pressure levels and scattering coefficients are provided. Finally, different parametric studies were conducted on wind speeds, frequencies, and incident angles to indicate that MSSAS is quite capable of simulating sound scattering from the rough bubbly sea surface, according to the scattering mechanisms determined by Ogden and Erskine. Therefore, it is concluded that MSSAS is valid for both scattering mechanisms and the transition region between them that are defined by Ogden and Erskine.     

Apron capacity at hub airports—the impact of wave‐system structure

At hub airports, dominant airlines/alliance coordinate their flights in time with the aim of increasing the number (and quality) of connections, thus producing a wave‐system in traffic schedules. This paper addresses the impact of concentrating aircraft into waves on airport apron capacity. Existing models for apron capacity estimation are based on the number of stands, stand occupancy time, and demand structure, differing between representative groups of aircraft served at an airport. Criteria for aircraft grouping are aircraft type and/or airline and/or type of service (domestic, international, etc.). Modified deterministic analytical models proposed in this paper also take into account the wave‐system parameters, as well as runway capacity. They include the impact of these parameters on the number of flights in wave, stand occupancy time, and consequently apron capacity. Numerical examples illustrate the difference between apron capacity for an origin–destination airport and a hub airport, under the same conditions; utilization of the theoretical apron capacity at a hub airport, given the wave‐system structure; and utilization of the apron capacity at a hub airport when point‐to‐point traffic is allowed to use idle stands. Furthermore, the influence of different assignment strategies for aircraft stands in the case of hub airports is also discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of vehicle ownership evolution in Montreal,Canada using pseudo panel analysis

This paper employs a pseudo-panel approach to study vehicle ownership evolution in Montreal region, Canada using cross-sectional origin–destination survey datasets of 1998, 2003 and 2008. Econometric modeling approaches that simultaneously accommodate the influence of observed and unobserved attributes on the vehicle ownership decision framework are implemented. Specifically, we estimate generalized versions of the ordered response model—including the generalized, scaled- and mixed-generalized ordered logit models. Socio-demographic variables that impact household’s decision to own multiple cars include number of full and part-time working adults, license holders, middle aged adults, retirees, male householders, and presence of children. Increased number of bus stops, longer bus and metro lengths within the household residential location buffer area decrease vehicle fleet size of households. The observed results also varied across years as manifested by the significance of the interaction terms of some of the variables with the time elapsed since 1998 variable. Moreover, variation due to unobserved factors are captured for part-time working adults, number of bus stops, and length of metro lines. In terms of the effect of location of households, we found that some neighborhoods exhibited distinct car ownership temporal dynamics over the years.     

Activity space estimation with longitudinal observations of social media data

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of an inexpensive and easy-to-collect long-term dataset to address the problems caused by basing activity space studies off short-term data. In total, we use 63,114 geo-tagged tweets from 116 unique users to create individuals’ activity spaces based on minimum bounding geometry (convex hull). By using polygon density maps of activity space, we found clear differences between weekday and weekend activity spaces, and were able to observe the growth trajectory of activity space over 17 weeks. In order to reflect the heterogeneous nature of spatial behavior and tweeting habits, we used Latent Class Analysis twice. First, to identify five unique patterns of location-based activity spaces that are different in shape and anchoring. Second, we identify three unique growth trajectories. The comparison among these latent growth trajectories shows that in order to capture the extent of activity spaces we need long time periods for some individuals and shorter periods of observation for others. We also show that past studies using a single digit number of weeks may not be sufficient to capture individuals’ activity space. The major activity locations identified using a multilevel latent class model, do not appear to be statistically related to the growth patterns of Twitter users activity spaces. The evidence here shows Twitter data can be a valuable complementary source of information for heterogeneity analysis in activity-based modeling and simulation.     

Dynamic network equilibrium for daily activity-trip chains of heterogeneous travelers: application to large-scale networks

Applications of dynamic network equilibrium models have, mostly, considered the unit of traffic demand either as one-way trip, or as multiple independent trips. However, individuals’ travel patterns typically follow a sequence of trips chained together. In this study we aim at developing a general simulation-based dynamic network equilibrium algorithm for assignment of activity-trip chain demand. The trip chain of each individual trip maker is defined by the departure time at origin, sequence of activity destination locations, including the location of their intermediate destinations and their final destination, and activity duration at each of the intermediate destinations. Spatial and temporal dependency of subsequent trips on each other necessitate time and memory consuming calculations and storage of node-to-node time-dependent least generalized cost path trees, which is not practical for very large metropolitan area networks. We first propose a reformulation of the trip-based demand gap function formulation for the variational inequality formulation of the Bi-criterion Dynamic User Equilibrium (BDUE) problem. Next, we propose a solution algorithm for solving the BDUE problem with daily chain of activity-trips. Implementation of the algorithm for very large networks circumvents the need to store memory-intensive node-to-node time-dependent shortest path trees by implementing a destination-based time-dependent least generalized cost path finding algorithm, while maintaining the spatial and temporal dependency of subsequent trips. Numerical results for a real-world large scale network suggest that recognizing the dependency of multiple trips of a chain, and maintaining the departure time consistency of subsequent trips provide sharper drops in gap values, hence, the convergence could be achieved faster (compared to when trips are considered independent of each other).     

Demonstration of vehicular visible light communication based on LED headlamp

With the emergence of LED lighting, IT convergence technology using the visible spectrum of LEDs, such as Visible Light Communication (VLC), has been highlighted. Among the many VLC applications, vehicular VLCs based on LED headlamps and transportation lighting infrastructure, such as street lamps, traffic lights, etc., are considered good alternatives for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) or Active Safety applications. This paper introduces a demonstration system of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) VLC based on LED headlamps. By applying an inverse 4-PPM modulation scheme satisfying a 75 % dimming level under the light distribution regulation of LED headlamp, the proposed system showed its capability for V2V VLC with a 10 kbps data rate for more than 30 m under day time conditions. By measuring the BER performance according to distance, outdoor V2V VLC was possible for more than 30 m even in the day time.     

Performance investigation of vehicle suspension system with nonlinear ball-screw inerter

This paper investigates the influence of ball-screw inerter nonlinearities on the vibration isolation performance of the vehicle suspension system. That is achieved by building a nonlinear mechanics model of the ball-screw inerter with friction in ball-screw assembly and elastic effect of screw. The parameters of the nonlinear mechanics model are identified using recursive least squares algorithm based on test data. Then, the nonlinear ball-screw inerter is applied to vehicle suspension analysis of the half-car model with three passive suspension layouts. The performance of the vehicle suspension system with the nonlinear ball-screw inerter is compared with that with the linear inerter. It is demonstrated from the results that the vibration isolation performance of the vehicle suspension system is slightly influenced by considering the ball-screw inerter nonlinearities in general. The influence of the ball-screw inerter nonlinearities on every performance indicator for different suspension layouts is discussed finally.     

Cooperative control for friction and regenerative braking systems considering dynamic characteristic and temperature condition

The braking system of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is composed of friction and regenerative braking system, meaning that braking torque is generated by the collaboration of the friction and regenerative braking system. With the attributes, there are two problems in the HEV braking system. First, rapid deceleration occurs due to dynamic characteristic difference when shifting the friction and regenerative braking systems. Second, the friction braking torque alters with temperature because the friction coefficient changes with the temperature. These problems cause the vehicle to be unstable. In this paper, the concurrence control and compensation control were proposed to solve these problems. And also, the concurrence control and compensation control were combined for the stability of the braking system. In order to confirm the effect of these control algorithms, the experiment and simulation were conducted. Consequently, it was confirmed that the control algorithm of this study improved the vehicle safety and stability.     

Laboratory alignment procedure for improving reproducibility of tyre wet grip measurement

Since 2012, the Korean and EU governments have been running a tyre labelling system. All tyres sold in Korea have to carry a label that displays information of two performance criteria: rolling resistance and wet grip. The rolling resistance of the tyres determines their fuel efficiency grading, and the wet grip of the tyres determines their braking safety grading. The rolling resistance and wet grip measurements must be reproducible, so the same tests on the same tyres in different laboratories must produce the same results to ensure a fair comparison between tyres from different suppliers. In addition, a good reproducibility of testing results prevents market surveillance authorities from obtaining results different from those provided by suppliers when testing the same tyres. The laboratory alignment procedure for the rolling resistance measurements was developed and published as the EU Commission Regulation No. 1235 in 2011. However, the laboratory alignment procedure for the wet grip measurements has not yet been developed. Therefore, there are many differences in the wet grip test results among test laboratories throughout the world. The new procedure that is proposed for the wet grip measurement alignment for tyre testing laboratories can improve the reproducibility of the wet grip testing results, and five laboratory alignment tests were carried out between KATECH and five other test laboratories in the world to evaluate the results of the proposed procedure.