Impacts of urban built environment on empty taxi trips using limited geolocation data

This study identifies the determinants of the empty taxi trip duration (ETTD) by combining three high-resolution databases—geolocation data in New York City, geodatabase of urban planning data, and transportation facilities data. Considering the nature of duration data, hazard-based duration model is proposed to explore the relationships between causal factors and ETTD, coupling with three variations of baseline hazard distribution, i.e., Weibull distribution with heterogeneity, Weibull distribution, and log-logistic. Furthermore, the likelihood ratio test is presented to implement comparisons of three baseline hazard distributions, as well as spatial and temporal transferability of causal factors. The results show significant complementary effects by subway system and competitive effects by city bus and bicycling system, as well as significant impacts of trip length, airport trip, average annual income, and employment rate. Urban built environment, for instance, density of road, public facilities, and recreational sites and ratio of green space, has various impacts on ETTD. The elasticity estimations confirm significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity in impacts on ETTD. In addition, the analysis on elasticity also reveals the considerable impacts of severe traffic congestion on ETTD within Manhattan. The modeling can assist stakeholders in understanding empty taxi movements and measuring taxi system efficiency in urban areas.     

Reliability Modeling and Maintenance Policy Optimization for Deteriorating System Under Random Shock

Performance degradation and random shock are commonly regarded as two dependent competing risks for system failures. One method based on effective service age is proposed to jointly model the cumulative effect of random shock and system degradation, and the reliability model of degradation system under Nonhomogeneous Poisson processes (NHPP) shocks is derived. Under the assumption that preventive maintenance (PM) is imperfective and the corrective maintenance (CM) is minimal repair, one maintenance policy which combines PM and CM is presented. Moreover, the two decision variables, PM interval and the number of PMs before replacement, are determined by a multi-objective maintenance optimization method which simultaneously maximizes the system availability and minimizes the system long-run expect cost rate. Finally, the performance of the proposed maintenance optimization policy is demonstrated via a numerical example.     

Novel experimental strategy for high resolution AFM imaging of membrane-associated bacterial toxins

Bacterial pore-forming toxins （PFTs） are essential virulence factors of many human pathogens. Knowl- edge of their structure within the membrane is critical for an understanding of their function in pathogenesis and for the development of useful therapy. Atomic force microscopy （AFM） has often been employed to structurally interrogate many membrane proteins, including PFTs, owing to its ability to produce sub-nanometer resolution images of samples under aqueous solution. However, an absolute prerequisite for AFM studies is that the samples are single-layered and closely-packed, which is frequently challenging with PFTs. Here, using the prototypical member of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin family of PFTs, perfringolysin O （PFO）, as a test sample, we have developed a simple, highly robust method that routinely produces clean, closely-packed samples across the entire specimen surface. In this approach, we first use a small Teflon well to prepare the supported lipid bilayer, remove the sample from the well, and then directly apply the proteins to the bilayer. For reasons that are not clear, bilayer preparation in the Teflon well is essential. We anticipate that this simple method will prove widely useful for the preparation of similar samples, and thereby enable AFM imaging of the greatest range of bacterial PFTs to the highest possible resolution.     

Robust traffic assignment model: Formulation,solution algorithms and empirical application

ABSTRACT

The deterministic traffic assignment problem based on Wardrop's first criterion of traffic network utilization has been widely studied in the literature. However, the assumption of deterministic travel times in these models is restrictive, given the large degree of uncertainty prevalent in urban transportation networks. In this context, this paper proposes a robust traffic assignment model that generalizes Wardrop's principle of traffic network equilibrium to networks with stochastic and correlated link travel times and incorporates the aversion of commuters to unreliable routes.

The user response to travel time uncertainty is modeled using the robust cost (RC) measure (defined as a weighted combination of the mean and standard deviation of path travel time) and the corresponding robust user equilibrium (UE) conditions are defined. The robust traffic assignment problem (RTAP) is subsequently formulated as a Variational Inequality problem. To solve the RTAP, a Gradient Projection algorithm is proposed, which involves solving a series of minimum RC path sub-problems that are theoretically and practically harder than deterministic shortest path problems. In addition, an origin-based heuristic is proposed to enhance computational performance on large networks. Numerical experiments examine the computational performance and convergence characteristics of the exact algorithm and establish the accuracy and efficiency of the origin-based heuristic on various real-world networks. Finally, the proposed RTA model is applied to the Chennai road network using empirical data, and its benefits as a normative benchmark are quantified through comparisons against the standard UE and System Optimum (SO) models.     

Effect of nozzle orifice diameter on diesel spray tip penetration according to various spray models for CFD simulation with widely varying back pressure

CFD simulations of spray tip penetration with the standard KIVA3V, ‘original gas jet’ and ‘Normal gas jet profile with breakup length formula’ (NGJBL) spray models were performed to investigate the effects of nozzle orifice size and ambient gas density combinations on the spray penetration. The accuracy of the CFD simulation results was estimated by comparing them with available experimental data. The ambient gas density was varied in 12 kg/m³ intervals from 12 to 69 kg/m³ for each nozzle orifice diameter. The nozzle orifice diameters used were 119, 140, 183 and 206 mm. A total of 20 cases in the CFD simulations were considered with combinations of the 4 nozzle orifice diameters and 5 ambient gas densities. CFD simulations with the NGJBL spray model were more accurate than those with either the standard KIVA3V or gas jet spray models as the nozzle orifice diameter and ambient gas density was increased. The NGJBL and original gas jet model is more effective in predicting the spray tip penetration near the nozzle tip region.     

Vibration reduction of H/Shaft using an electromagnetic damper with mode change

The objective of this study is to develop a damper that can reduce the amplitude of vibration in various frequency ranges. Previous H/Shaft vibration reduction methods work in a passive way. A dynamic damper reduces the amplitude of vibration at its first mode, but vibration still appears at the second mode. A mass damper or hollow shaft can shift the natural frequency to a lower or higher region. The fixed operating frequency prevents vibration from being reduced outside the operating frequency range. The proposed damper uses electromagnets as either masses or actuators to change the damper mode between dynamic damper mode and mass damper mode. The electromagnetic damper (EMD) can change its mode to respond to the vibration excitation at both low and high frequencies. The vibration reduction performance was evaluated by FRF tests in laboratory and vehicle conditions. The results were compared with those of a dynamic damper and indicate that the amplitude of vibration is reduced by 95.6 % when the EMD is implemented on an H/Shaft, whereas only 61.9 % vibration reduction is achieved by the dynamic damper.     

小直径盾构施工中管片纵向应力监测研究

为了探索小直径盾构法隧道在施工过程中管片纵向应力的变化规律,对北京槐房再生水厂污水隧道管片纵向应力进行了现场监测:将第976环、第1 054环管片分别设为第1和第2监测断面,2监测断面各预埋5个纵向应力计,各监测断面从本监测断面管片安装后即开始监测,当盾构掘进至第1 129环时停止监测。研究表明:1)在管片离开盾尾50环后,其纵向应力波动值小于管片拼装期间应力值的5%。2)在盾构掘进期间,管片距离盾构越远,其纵向压应力值越小。3)在管片拼装期间,管片距离盾构越远,其纵向压应力经历了先增大后减小的过程。4)管片距离盾构108环后,该管片纵向压应力趋近于0.2~0.3 MPa。5)随着盾构推进,管片纵向应力经历了4个阶段的变化过程,即周期性剧烈波动阶段—动态稳定阶段—逐渐衰减阶段—趋于稳定阶段。     

Insights into vehicle trajectories at the handling limits: analysing open data from race car drivers

Race car drivers can offer insights into vehicle control during extreme manoeuvres; however, little data from race teams is publicly available for analysis. The Revs Program at Stanford has built a collection of vehicle dynamics data acquired from vintage race cars during live racing events with the intent of making this database publicly available for future analysis. This paper discusses the data acquisition, post-processing, and storage methods used to generate the database. An analysis of available data quantifies the repeatability of professional race car driver performance by examining the statistical dispersion of their driven paths. Certain map features, such as sections with high path curvature, consistently corresponded to local minima in path dispersion, quantifying the qualitative concept that drivers anchor their racing lines at specific locations around the track. A case study explores how two professional drivers employ distinct driving styles to achieve similar lap times, supporting the idea that driving at the limits allows a family of solutions in terms of paths and speed that can be adapted based on specific spatial, temporal, or other constraints and objectives.     

乙醇汽油对车辆颗粒物排放的影响

在符合国Ⅰ、国Ⅲ、国Ⅴ标准的3辆试验车上,分别燃用国Ⅴ汽油、低芳烃E10、低烯烃E10 3种燃料,进行了NEDC和WLTC工况下的常温冷起动排放试验,重点对颗粒物(PM)排放量和粒子数量(PN)进行分析。结果表明:在两种工况下,燃用乙醇汽油相比普通汽油能大幅降低车辆的PM排放,低芳烃E10对国Ⅰ和国Ⅲ车辆PM降低效果最明显,分别下降19%和35%,低烯烃E10对国Ⅴ车辆PM降低效果最好,下降46%;在WLTC工况下燃用乙醇汽油能大幅降低车辆PN排放,其中低芳烃E10平均降低43%,低烯烃E10平均降低32%。     

混凝土箱梁温度作用的参数分析

根据非稳态导热偏微分方程,施加合适的边界条件,用有限元法进行了混凝土箱梁温度场的参数分析,并确定了影响混凝土箱梁温度场的主要因素。研究表明,混凝土箱梁的截面尺寸、所用混凝土的热物理性质以及气温对混凝土箱梁的竖向最大温度的影响均不大,对混凝土箱梁竖向温度梯度影响最大的是太阳辐射强度。