Robust adaptive horizontal vibration isolation of towed seismic streamers

The horizontal vibration of towed seismic streamers is a main reason for efficiency reduction of the seismic survey and tail tangling. A vibration suppression scheme of towed seismic streamers is investigated in this paper. The towed seismic streamer is divided into two spans, a controlled span, i.e., the low tension span, and an uncontrolled span, i.e., the high tension span, by a bird. The system model includes a hyperbolic partial differential equation with variable coefficient describing the towed seismic streamers, and an ordinary differential equation describing the dynamic of bird. Robust based-model knowledge and adaptive controllers, based on the Lyapunov method, are designed to isolate the vibration of towed seismic streamers caused by the course deviations of towing vessel, the variations of towing vessel velocity and the variations of towed seismic streamer density. The robust based-model knowledge and adaptive controllers exponentially and asymptotically drive the span-towed seismic streamer displacement to zero, respectively. A finite difference scheme is used to validate the efficiency of the control law. The proposed controller can isolate effectively the disturbance originated from the towed vessel, and can provide the improved damping but not sacrifice the isolation performance. The adaptive scheme can tolerate the lack of knowledge of some uncertain parameters and can directly execute the online adjustment of the parameters. Meanwhile, the proposed control law is robust and can resist the model uncertainty due to parameter incertitude, model error and unknown disturbance and so on. The control law only includes velocity and slope, while it does not need the displacement which is difficult to measure in the practical operations. Thus it is easy to implement.     

A detailed analysis of how an urban trail system affects cyclists’ travel

Transportation specialists, urban planners, and public health officials have been steadfast in encouraging active modes of transportation over the past decades. Conventional thinking, however, suggests that providing infrastructure for cycling and walking in the form of off-street trails is critically important. An outstanding question in the literature is how one’s travel is affected by the use of such facilities and specifically, the role of distance to the trail in using such facilities. This research describes a highly detailed analysis of use along an off-street facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The core questions addressed in this investigation aim to understand relationships between: (1) the propensity of using the trail based on distance from the trip origin and destination, and (2) how far out of their way trail users travel for the benefit of using the trail and explanatory factors for doing so. The data used in the analysis for this research was collected as a human intercept survey along a section of an off-street facility. The analysis demonstrates that a cogent distance decay pattern exists and that the decay function varies by trip purpose. Furthermore, we find that bicyclists travel, on average, 67% longer in order to include the trail facility on their route. The paper concludes by explaining how the distance decay and shortest path versus taken path analysis can aid in the planning and analysis of new trail systems.

Component Sizing of Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Using Optimal Search Algorithm

In designing a parallel hybrid electric vehicle, it is essential to select the optimal capacity of power sources and the optimal gear ratio of the torque coupler. The capacity of the power sources and the gear ratio of the torque coupler should be optimized simultaneously. However, since this process is excessively time-consuming, previous studies have selected the gear ratio of the torque coupler and then selected the capacity of power source. However, this approach cannot guarantee global optimization. In this paper, a feasible region is defined to satisfy the required performance of vehicle such as maximum speed, hill-climbing. and feasible points are selected inside the feasible region. In the conventional technique, the global optimal solution is obtained by simulating all feasible points. In the optimization technique, optimal points are simulated within the feasible region using several optimal search algorithms, such as the golden section search algorithm and the hillclimbing search algorithm. And using these algorithms, the number of simulations is reduced and the capacity of the power source and the gear ratio of the torque coupler are optimized simultaneously. Finally, the validity of the component sizing results is verified by comparing the global optimal solution obtained by applying the conventional technique with the solution obtained by applying the proposed optimization technique.     

A dual control approach for repeated anticipatory traffic control with estimation of network flow sensitivity

This paper investigates a strategic signal control, which anticipates travelers' route choice response and determines signal timings to optimize network‐wide objectives. In general traffic assignment models are used for anticipating this route choice response. However, model‐reality mismatch usually brings suboptimal solutions to the real system. A repeated anticipatory control resolves the suboptimality and addresses the modeling error by learning from information on model bias. This paper extends the repeated control approach and focuses on the estimation of flow sensitivity as well as its influence on control, which is a crucial issue in implementation of model bias correction. The main objective of this paper is first to analyze the estimation error in the real flow derivative that is estimated from noisy measurements. A dual control method is then presented, improving both optimization objective function and derivative estimation during the control process. The proposed dual algorithm is tested on a simple network as well as on a midsize network. Numerical examples confirm the reliable performance of the new reality‐tracking control strategy and its ability to identify (local) optimal solutions on real traffic networks. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of Chinese Characters in the Design and Construction of the Badaling Great Wall Station of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway北大核心CSCD

The new Badaling tunnel is the longest tunnel on the under-construction Beijing-Zhangjiakou highspeedrailway, with the Badaling Great Wall station to be built in the tunnel. This station, which is under the Badaling Great Wall historic site, is the world’s largest underground high-speed railway station with the most complicated structure and the largest overburden and excavation area. It is therefore a representative project for China’s highspeed railway development strategy, supporting infrastructure facilities for the Beijing Horticultural Expo 2019 and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and it is important that it be of high quality and completed safely. In the de-sign and construction of the station, the glyphs of the Chinese characters of "中",”国”,”人”and”品”are used, re-spectively, along the station route, in the rescue and evacuation mode, auxiliary adit and partial excavation, which is a way to successfully integrate the art of Chinese characters into tunnel engineering. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Optimization of integrated scheduling of handling and storage operations at automated container terminals

Increasing demand for containerization compels container terminals to improve their performance. Uncoordinated scheduling of operations is one of the main factors accounting for poor performance at automated container terminals (ACTs). To increase land utilization efficiency and lower operational times, a new storage system called the split-platform automated storage/retrieval system (SP-AS/RS) has been introduced for temporary storage of containers. This paper describes a multi-objective mixed-integer programming (MIP) model that is based on a combination of multiple interacting sub-tasks. It is aimed at optimizing the integrated scheduling of handling and storage operations in ACTs. The MIP model objective function is to minimize delays in the loading/unloading tasks of the cranes and the travel time of vehicles and platforms in the SP-AS/RS. At the same time, a simulated annealing algorithm (SAA) that provides near-optimal solutions for the problem in a reasonable computation time is appraised. The results of this study show that the objective function of the MIP model is, on average, 58 % lower than that of the non-integrated scheduling method. On the other hand, the best objective function values obtained by the SAA indicate only a 3.7 % disadvantage in comparison with optimal values determined by the MIP model, demonstrating that the SAA is able to provide near-optimal solutions for the integrated scheduling of handling and storage operations.     

Maritime education factors and presenteeism: a comparative quantitative study

Presenteeism research has only recently extended from a construct capturing lost productivity due to attending work despite health issues to a construct representing students’ perceived academic performance. Aligning with presenteeism’s prevalent research paradigm, the pioneering studies used health-related issues to measure presenteeism. In contrast, this study used the Presenteeism and Perceived Academic Performance (PPAP) Scale, which the researcher developed for this study. The PPAP Scale comprises aspects of student behavior that support academic performance. This study filled gaps in the literature by investigating presenteeism as a concept associated with students’ perceived academic performance, measured with the PPAP Scale, and factors specific to maritime education. The factors investigated were self-identified by the study respondents, in sufficient numbers to support statistical analysis, as favorably (i.e., cruise and license/maritime instruction) or negatively (i.e., mandatory regimental activity, taps, morning or afternoon formations, and watch) impacting their academic performance. This study found no statistical evidence to suggest the level of presenteeism, measured with the PPAP Scale, among the study’s sample of license students is associated with factors perceived to favorably or negatively impact academic performance. Additional insight can be gained from license student participants’ responses to the study’s open-ended questions (e.g., a perceived imbalance between time available to allocate to their academics and time needed to fulfill regimental responsibilities).     

Fault tree analysis of fire and explosion accidents for dual fuel (diesel/natural gas) ship engine rooms

In recent years, China’s increased interest in environmental protection has led to a promotion of energy-efficient dual fuel (diesel/natural gas) ships in Chinese inland rivers. A natural gas as ship fuel may pose dangers of fire and explosion if a gas leak occurs. If explosions or fires occur in the engine rooms of a ship, heavy damage and losses will be incurred. In this paper, a fault tree model is presented that considers both fires and explosions in a dual fuel ship; in this model, dual fuel engine rooms are the top events. All the basic events along with the minimum cut sets are obtained through the analysis. The primary factors that affect accidents involving fires and explosions are determined by calculating the degree of structure importance of the basic events. According to these results, corresponding measures are proposed to ensure and improve the safety and reliability of Chinese inland dual fuel ships.     

Hybrid modeling of seat-cab coupled system for truck

For the complex structure and vibration characteristics of the seat and cab system of truck, there is no reliable theoretical model for the suspensions design at present, which seriously restricts the improvement of ride comfort. In this paper, a 4 degree-of-freedom seat-cab coupled system model was presented; using the mechanism modeling method, its vibration equations were built; then, by the tested cab suspensions excitations and seat acceleration response, its parameters identification mathematical model was established. Combining the tested signals and a simulation model with the parameters identification mathematical model, a new method of hybrid modeling of seat-cab coupled system was presented. With a practical example of seat and cab system, the parameters values were identified and validated by simulation and test. The results show that the model and method proposed are correct and reliable, and lay a good foundation for the optimal design of seat suspension and cab suspensions to improve ride comfort.     

Vehicle distance estimation using a mono-camera for FCW/AEB systems

For robust vision-based forward collision warning (FCW) and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems, not only reliable detection performance including high detection rate and low false positives but also accurate measurement output of a target vehicle is required. Especially, in order to reduce false alarm or activation of FCW/AEB systems, the systems require the precise measurement output of a target object, such as position, velocity, acceleration, and time-to-collision (TTC). In this study, we developed a measurement estimation algorithm of a target vehicle using a monocular camera. This method estimates two cases of vehicle widths for a target vehicle by using the detected lane information and a pin-hole camera model. After that, the position, velocity, acceleration, and TTC of a target vehicle are estimated by using a Kalman filter for the each estimated vehicle width. To improve robustness, the both estimation results using the detected lane information and the pinhole camera model are fused. This estimation algorithm was evaluated and compared with the state-of-the-art technology. As a result, the proposed measurement output estimation method can improve the performance of the FCW/AEB systems.