Vehicle interior noise model based on a power law

Identifying the components of a vehicle’s interior noise is important in many phases of the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) development process. Many test methods that have been widely used in the automobile industry to separate noise sources are based on system identification methods in the frequency domain. However, none of the frequency response function-based methods can directly estimate the wind noise component. In this article, an analytical model for the interior noise level based on a simple power law was developed. It was assumed that the mean squared acoustic pressure for the interior noise could be obtained by summing up those of the wind noise, road noise, and background noise. The wind noise and road noise were further assumed to depend only on wind speed and the vehicle’s driving speed, respectively, and to follow a simple power law. The resulting analytical model includes five parameters that can be optimized for the vehicle and the road. The validity of the model was verified by using data obtained from cruise tests performed on a proving ground for cruise speeds ranging from 40 km/h to 130 km/h. The model is applied to the overall and 1/3-octave bands of interior noise and is shown to describe the data trends fairly well. For the test vehicle used in the present work, the overall mean squared pressures for the wind and road noise components are shown to be proportional to the wind speed to the 5.8 power and to the driving speed to the 3.4 power, respectively.     

Piston-temperature measuring system using electromagnetic induction with verification by a telemetry system

The development of an inner-piston-chamber temperature measurement system is a necessary step in engine development or when solving other fundamental problems related to automotive engines. There are various pre-existing measurement methods available, e.g., the linkage method, piston telemetry, templog, and the electromagnetic induction method. In this study, we first redesigned the coil sensor used in the electromagnetic induction method using PEEK and then used Taguchi methods to reduce the number of experiments in the development process and finally utilized piston telemetry via Bluetooth to verify the precision and accuracy of the redesigned PEEK coil sensor and electromagnetic induction method. The results displayed a reproducibility within 0.5 degrees and an accuracy within 2 degrees Celsius.     

Engine performance and toxic gas analysis of biobutanol-blended gasoline as a vehicle fuel

A comprehensive study evaluating the performance of biobutanol-blended gasoline in passenger cars was conducted because biobutanol is considered a better biofuel than bioethanol as it has no water solubility and it has a higher caloric value, giving it a higher energy value. Several kinds of samples—suboctane gasoline, 8 volume percentage and 16 volume percentage biobutanol—blended gasoline, and a 10 volume percentage MTBE-blended market sample (as the oxygencontaining gasoline)-were tested to evaluate the engine performance in terms of the detergency of the intake valves and combustion chambers, power, emissions, and fuel efficiency. Additionally, the toxicity of the emissions from these biobutanolblended samples was tested in order to assess the viability of biobutanol as one of the competitive potential substitutes for MTBE as an oxygenator in the near future. The results show that biobutanol-blended gasoline samples had relatively better detergency, relatively higher power, and similar levels of emissions compared with those of MTBE-blended gasoline. Formaldehyde was emitted from all of the samples at almost the same levels and within the error range, whereas biobutanolblended gasoline samples emitted approximately three times the amount of acetaldehyde than did the suboctane gasoline. This study shows that biobutanol is one of the best alternative bioalcohol fuels for use in the near future.     

Damper modeling for dynamic simulation of a large bus with MR damper

In this study, a large bus is tested to measure its dynamic response by the single-lane change test and the rapid stop test. A full car model is established by ADAMS/Car for computer simulation. For multibody modeling of a large bus, user-defined templates are used in the simulation. Simulation results of the single-lane change test and the rapid braking test are compared to the results of the physical experiments, in which several sensors are installed to measure the vehicle’s responses. The results obtained from the simulation show good agreement with the tests’ results. A dynamic model for the MR(magnetic-rheological) damper is also developed by employing the Magic Formula model, which is widely used in the nonlinear modeling of a tire. Bump simulation of a full car with the MR damper is carried out to verify the performance of the MR damper. The comparison of the simulation results obtained with the MR damper model to the results obtained with the traditional passive damper model showed improved response of the vehicle with the MR damper.     

Competition and disruption in a dynamic urban supply chain

Rapid changes and complexities in business environments have stressed the importance of interactions between partners and competitors, leading supply chains to become the most important element of contemporary business environments. There is a concomitant need for foresight in describing supply chain performance in all operating environments, including those involving punctuated disruptions. Furthermore, the urban metropolis is now widely recognized to be an environment which is especially vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and for which integrated supply chain decisions can produce very substantial net benefits. Accordingly, this paper presents a dynamic supply chain network model formulated as a differential variational inequality; the model is fashioned to allow consideration of supply chain disruption threats to producers, freight carriers, and retail enterprises. The DVI is solved using a fixed-point algorithm, and a simple numerical example, introduced to illustrate how the impacts of supply chain disruptions may be quantified, is presented.     

Seaport research: A structured literature review on methodological issues since the 1980s

This study aims to investigate how seaport research has been conducted from the methodological perspective. To this end, this study reviews published port literature for the last three decades (1980-2000s). The investigation primarily categorises the literature according to various methodological issues such as research paradigm, research strategy, base-disciplines, research methods and analysis techniques in order to provide meaningful implications on methodological evolution in seaport research for the period. This study suggests methodological bias in port research to a positivistic paradigm, following a quantitative trajectory moving from conceptual to empirical studies. In addition, the increased use of mathematical modelling and advanced statistical analysis methods is clearly observed. The introduction of advanced analytical tools used in other academic disciplines facilitates discussions in particular research area and amplifies the literature in those areas. This paper also suggests research gaps from the methodological perspective and implications for future port research.     

Mobility, social exclusion and well-being: Exploring the links

Building on a growing research foundation, transport policy makers have begun to associate the ability to be mobile with having a role in the facilitation of social inclusion. However, the further connection to well-being is not as well understood. This paper explores the association between a person’s travel patterns, their risk of social exclusion and self-assessed well-being. Key influences on social exclusion are discussed, with trip making emerging as a significant influence. Trip making is not a significant direct influence on well-being but does exercise an indirect influence through the impact on risk of social exclusion. The modelling process enables a value for additional trips to be estimated, the value being about four times the values derived from conventional generated traffic approaches. Similar high values are found in separate metropolitan and regional case studies, confirming the significance of the results.     

车辆阻挡效应对隧道火场燃烧及烟流之影响研究

近期国际曾发生多起重大隧道火灾灾难,隧道火灾安全议题已获得全球普便之重视。目前学术界与工程界多采用缩小尺寸实验或数值模拟方法对隧道火场环境进行研究与探讨。然不论实验或计算机模拟最重要的关键为能否充分地反应出实际隧道之火场情境,方能获致合理且有意义之研究成果。检视现今之隧道火害研究,可发现几乎所有的相关研究皆仅简化地假设火场上游无车辆回堵现象,此有违火场上游应发生车辆回堵之实际隧道火灾情境,因此将无法合理地模拟火场上游车辆阻挡风机气流对火场燃烧及烟流所造成之影响。针对此项尚待厘清之议题,本研究首先执行缩小尺寸实验,以均匀风速施加于隧道横断面模拟风机作动所产生之气流,探讨隧道塞车情境对火场燃烧所造成之影响。复执行全尺寸纵流式排烟模式(轴流风机)隧道火灾情境计算机数值模拟,针对火场上游是否有车辆回堵、回堵车体尺寸、火源与回堵车体距离等变因对火场燃烧、温度及烟流所造成之影响进行探讨。研究结果发现火场环境及烟流将受有、无车辆回堵、回堵车体大小及火源与车体距离等因素而有不同程度之影响。     

中国城市道路规划方位性问题研究

文章结合中国的传统建筑文化理念和现代科学原理,从历史文化、能源节约、环境保护、房地产定价、交通安全等多方面分析研究了城市道路在规划和设计时所应遵从的定向规则。     

Time-variant ultimate longitudinal strength of corroded bulk carriers

Many bulk carrier losses have been reported of late, and one of the possible causes of such casualties is thought to be the structural failure of aging hulls in rough weather. In aging ships, corrosion and fatigue cracks are the two most important factors affecting structural safety and integrity. This paper uses a set of the time-dependent corrosion wastage models for 23 different member locations/categories of bulk carriers previously developed by the authors, based on the available corrosion measurements for existing large bulk carrier structures. Differences due to the location and corrosion severity of every member type are taken into account. The nominal design corrosion values for the primary members are suggested based on the annualized corrosion rates obtained in the present study. The effect of time-variant corrosion wastage on the ultimate hull girder strength as well as the section moduli is studied. The criteria for repair and maintenance of heavily corroded structural members so as to keep the ultimate longitudinal strength at an acceptable level are discussed. Important insights and conclusions developed are summarized.