Application of Sensitivity Analysis to the Development of High Performance Adaptive Hydraulic Engine Mounts

Summary In this paper, the sensitivity analysis is applied to the development of high performance adaptive hydraulic mounts. The analysis allows us to select the most effective design parameters for tuning an adaptive mount to different road and engine conditions. It is shown that in the low frequency road excitation, the upper chamber compliance and inertia of the fluid column in the inertia track are the most influential properties in changing the dynamic stiffness of the hydraulic mount. These properties for the high frequency engine excitations are the upper compliance and the inertia of the fluid column of the decoupler. For tuning the adaptive mount to different road and engine excitation, a global optimization technique is used to find the magnitude of the adjusting parameters to minimize objective functions in low and high frequency excitations. The results indicate significant improvement over conventional hydraulic mounts. It is further shown that when the upper compliance is used as the adjusting parameter, a simple on-off control which is triggered by the engine revolution and vehicle speed is sufficient for tuning the adaptive mount.     

Cooperative Estimation Using Vehicle Communications

Summary Each vehicle on a section of highway is potentially a driving condition 'sensor.' For example, a vehicle's speed give can give a clue about the traffic conditions in its section of roadway. By 'cooperative estimation,' we mean a system that uses a communication network to combine the experience of many vehicles into parameter estimates that are more useful than the estimates that any individual vehicle could generate by itself. This paper demonstrates the cooperative estimation concept by showing how it can be used to estimate traffic conditions and road friction without using roadside sensors.     

A fuzzy measure based solution approach to a multimodal analysis problem

This paper discusses the factors that determine the utility of a mode and attempts to suggest and investigate a novel fuzzy measure based solution approach to the problem of multimodal analysis in a multicriteria context. The paper expands on the notions of fuzzy logic and in particular, fuzzy measures. The approach attempts to estimate the probabilities of the “overall system” from a group of eight experts who are experienced in transport planning. The data is used to ascertain the relative utility of various modes in a competitive environment. It explains the application of fuzzy measures to provide guidance information for a transport planning agency.     

Deviated state detection method in driving around curves based on naturalistic driving behavior database for driver assistance systems

The objective of this study is to propose the indices which detect the deviated state of drivers while driving by considering drivers’ judgment process and using road environment and naturalistic driving behavior database. To realize this objective, drivers’ speed choice behavior around curve situations was focused and the speed choice process was formulated. Moreover, a deviated state detection method considering the formulated speed choice process around curve situations was proposed and the validity of the method was examined.     

Mixed assembly line rebalancing: A binary integer approach applied to real world problems in the automotive industry

Industrial organizations have increasingly sought to optimize the resources needed for the manufacture of its products from the competition, in order to maintain their profit margins. The search for balance of resources and balanced distribution of tasks in various types of industrial environments is called balancing. When adjustments are made and adequacy of an assembly line that is already in operation, this process is called rebalancing. This paper presents a case study involving a problem of rebalancing of automotive assembly line in an environment of arbitrarily mixed models of products, also known as mix. The proposed procedure for solving the rebalancing in the company in question is based on Binary Integer Programming, in particular the branch and bound algorithm. For comparison, we used a heuristic method based on precedence diagrams for solving the rebalancing of lines. To evaluate the results obtained between the two procedures were used performance indicators such as number of workstations created, average load of work and level of unbalance. The proposed algorithm has resulted in significant improvements in the production line capacity.     

The international regime of compensation for oil pollution damage and the policy of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds as to the admissibility of claims

This article describes the international regime governing compensation for oil pollution damage from ships. It sets out the main features of the relevant international Conventions, the Civil Liability Conventions and the Fund Conventions, and explains the operations of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds, their structure and financing. The procedure for settlement of compensation of claims is outlined and a summary is made of the criteria for the admissibility of claims for compensation. The ongoing review of the international compensation regime is described.     

Forecasting the Suez Canal traffic: a neural network analysis

Although the Suez Canal is the most important man-made waterway in the world, rivaled perhaps only by the Panama Canal, little research has been done into forecasting its traffic flows. This paper uses both univariate ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) and Neural network models to forecast the maritime traffic flows in the Suez Canal which are expressed in tons. One of the important strengths of the ARIMA modelling approach is the ability to go beyond the basic univariate model by considering interventions, calendar variations, outliers, or other real aspects of typically observed time series. On the other hand, neural nets have received a great deal of attention over the past few years. They are being used in the areas of prediction and classification, areas where regression models and other related statistical techniques have traditionally been used. The models obtained in this paper provide useful insight into the behaviour of maritime traffic flows since the reopening of the Canal in 1975—following an 8-year closure during the Arab-Israeli wars (1967-1973)—till 1998. The paper also compares the performance of ARIMA models with that of neural networks on an example of a large monthly dataset.     

Succession of the ecosystems of the Aral Sea during its transition from oligohaline to polyhaline water body

During 22 field trips from 1990 to 2002 (mainly the western basin of the Large Aral) data on salinity, phytoplankton, zooplankton, zoobenthos and fish fauna have been collected. In 2002, the salinity of the western basin reached 75 ppt, while that in the eastern basin, 150 ppt. In 1999–2002, 159 species of planktonic algae have been recorded. This is approximately twice as low as recorded before. The diversity of Cyanophyta, Pyrrhophyta and Chlorophyta in particular has dropped in the past few years. As before, currently Bacillariophyta is the most diverse plankton. However, the composition of dominants has changed. Once previously dominant species, Actinocyclus ehrenbergii, vanished from the plankton of the Aral Sea and was replaced by such diatoms as Amphora coffeaformis, A. coffeaformis var. acutiuscula and Synedra tabulata var. parva.Since 1970s, a gradual decrease in the diversity of zooplankton has been taking place. Since 1997, the formerly dominant Calanipeda aquaedulcis vanished, which apparently was the reason for the emergence of Moina salina and Artemia parthenogenetica. Since 2000, artemia has been dominant in the plankton of the Aral Sea, constituting 99% of the zooplankton biomass.In the 1970–1980s, a rapid decrease in the biodiversity of the zoobenthos was observed. In the 1990s, most aboriginal and introduced species became extinct. Currently, the bivalve mollusk Syndosmya segmentum, the ostracod Cyprideis torosa and larvae of the dipteran Chironomus salinarius can still be recorded in the western basin. In the eastern basin no benthos is observed.By 1998, in the Large Aral, only five fish species survived: baltic herring Clupea harengus membras, flounder Platichthys flesus luscus, atherine Atherina boyeri caspia and bullheads Neogobius fluviatilis and Potamoschistus caucasicus. Since 2002, only flounder and atherina have been recorded in the western basin of the Large Aral. No fish have been recorded in the eastern part of the Aral Sea in 2002.With increasing salinity and transition of the Aral Sea from an oligohaline to a polyhaline water body, its biota is becoming drastically poorer. Almost all local species became extinct in the Aral; however, some still survive (including some endemics) in some lakes around the Aral Sea. In the near future, artemia will be the only animal in the Aral Sea.     

New technology and maritime training in the 21<Superscript>st</Superscript> century: Implications and solutions for MET institutions

This paper examines the impact of new technology on MET institutions in the 21^st century and discusses to what extent global MET institutions can enhance and enrich traditional practices through access to new technology and the use of innovative teaching and assessment methods within a sustainable and achievable framework. It notes the diverse standards and access to new technology by MET institutions across the globe and discusses the implications for them if they are to remain competitive and viable. The paper concludes that maritime institutions can benefit from the use of new technology, but only through rational planning and sustainable staged growth. A series of continua of technical development is provided to assist institutions, from the smallest to the largest, to plan for technical development and growth in a rational and feasible way.