Changing ownership structures in the Dutch fleet

The new Dutch shipping policy has given rise to high expectation and curiosity in the world of shipping. This, together with the obvious difficulties of an ex-post study of the effectiveness of such innovative policy, has prompted the authors to take an interest in attempting to investigate changes in ownership of the Dutch fleet 2 years after the new policy has been introduced. To do this, a rather new concept of ‘flagging out’ has been adopted, which is interpreted as a process leading to different degrees of ‘foreignness’ in a shipping operation. In this paper, a method to structure is presented, and ownership information, and changes in it are presented, that are essentially based on the theory of stochastic processes. The data used is the Dutch fleet data, which includes information on the nationality of the flag, parent ownership and management over the period 1994–1998. The results yield interesting insights in the shifts in the ownership and operational structure of shipping companies induced by the new policy. In particular, they allow one to establish the origin of new vessels, in which stage of ownership/operation it is most likely that shifts occur, and to determine the relationship between the different stages of the ‘flagging out’ process. These results, thus, enable an evaluation of the areas in which the policy can be expected to yield results.     

青年人胆石症发病率、胆囊容积及其排空能力的调查报告

我们在研究《脉冲排石机理及其胆囊收缩素水平、胆囊容积的关系》时,随机抽查了522名16岁～20岁青年学生的胆囊容积及其排空能力,结果:女性胆囊容积=9.74±3.96(ml);男性胆囊容积=12.89±4.86(ml),脂餐后1h女性胆囊收缩64.7%,男性收缩71.1%;胆囊容积与体表面积呈直线相关(r=0.6821);从522名被检者中共检出5例胆石症,男1例,女4例,检出率为0.94%。     

茵陈对胆石病“T”管胆汁有形成份的影响

本文报告茵陈对胆结石病“T”管胆汁有形成份影响的临床实验研究。服药期间对胆汁流量及主要成份进行动态测定,5例胆石症术后病人,连续5天,收集不同时间胆汁样品共125份,结果表明茵陈不仅是一种水生利胆剂,而且对胆汁有形成份含量亦有影响,服药后胆酸明显增加(P<0.05),胆固醇显著减少(P<0.05),从而提供了茵陈对防治胆结石的作用与理论基础。     

Off-set crack propagation analysis under mixed mode loadings

An assessment was carried out herein to study the eccentricity of cracks subjected to mixed-mode loadings. Several loading locations relative to a central line were selected to induce mixed-mode loadings, which were computed using a finite element method. An adaptive meshing technique was adopted during the simulation of crack propagation to ensure the singularity of stress at the tip of the crack. The stress intensity failure criterion was used and programmed, and the node splitting technique was used when the stress intensity factor reached the fracture toughness of the material to simulate crack propagations. It was found that large variations in the stress intensity factor were observed when off-set cracks were used, and that K _II decreased when loading distance increased, but increased when the off-set crack distance was increased. Both crack eccentricity and loading distance played important roles in producing mixed-mode loading, compared to the influence of central cracks. Correction factors were introduced to modify the calculation of stress intensity factors under mixed-mode loadings. Simulations of crack propagation were also conducted to study the effects of crack eccentricities and loading distances. It was found that the crack length, the loading distance relative to the central crack and the crack eccentricity dominated calculations of the integrity of cracked structures.     

三种特殊情况6‰下坡道电路设计

针对信号设计工作中所遇到一些具有6‰下坡道的站场,而站场布置较为特殊的情况,介绍如何进行6‰下坡道电路设计的电路处理方法。     

一种隧洞探测型AUV及其图像拼接方法研究

裂缝是输水隧洞最普遍的缺陷和潜在威胁,AUV巡检与拍摄输水隧洞中的裂缝,通过拍摄的水下图像进行处理,以确定裂缝位置。但由于水下环境极大限制了光视觉图像可视范围与分辨率,单幅水下图像所获得的视角范围有限,所以本文提出了基于SURF算法的AUV水下图像拼接方法研究。该方法首先在图像预处理阶段对水下图像进行去畸变与限制对比度自适应直方图均衡化处理,用于解决水下图像存在的畸变、对比度低、噪声严重等问题。接着将SURF特征点检测算法应用于水下图像配准当中,并与RANSAC算法相结合对特征点进行精确匹配,然后应用线性渐变融合算法实现水下图像融合,有效去除拼接缝隙,完成水下图像拼接,最终通过水池与外场实验拼接图像来验证该方法的正确性。     

乘用车制动踏板感觉的综合评价

通过对车辆制动踏板的整车道路试验、分析及踏板感觉的主观评价,提出了对车辆制动踏板感觉综合评价的方法——制动感觉指数。通过该指数全面地分析车辆在制动过程中驾驶员脚下的感受,包括踏板力、踏板行程和制动减速度等,以量化参数的方法来描述制动感觉所涉及的各项指标,给工程设计和用户实际感受之间提供了转换的桥梁。     

Development of a low-noise cooling fan for an alternator using numerical and doe methods

An alternator, which converts mechanical rotational energy into electrical energy, is an important component of a vehicle. Alternators operate over a broad range of rotational speeds, typically from 3,000 RPM to 18,000 RPM, which demands a cooling fan producing sufficient airflow, ideally with a minimum of noise. In the current study, an optimized alternator-cooling fan was developed through a linked DOE(Design OF Experiment) process and numerical analysis. The SC/Tetra and FlowNoise S/W programs were used to calculate flow rates and noise levels, respectively, for the newly developed fan. Compared with original model, the numerical results predicted a 3 dBA noise reduction; the measured reduction was 4 dBA.     

Model-based design of a variable nozzle turbocharger controller

Variable Nozzle Turbocharger (VNT) was invented to solve the problem of matching an ordinary turbocharger with an engine. VNT can harness exhaust energy more efficiently, enhance intake airflow response and reduce engine emissions, especially during transient operating conditions. The difficulty of VNT control lies in how to regulate the position of the nozzle at different engine working conditions. The control strategy designed in this study is a combination of a closed-loop feedback controller and an open-loop feed-forward controller. The gain-scheduled proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller was implemented as the feedback controller to overcome the nonlinear characteristic. As it is difficult to tune the parameters of the gain-scheduled PID controller on an engine test bench, system identification was used to identify the plant model properties at different working points for a WP10 diesel engine on the test bench. The PID controller parameters were calculated based on the identified first-order-plus-dead-time (FOPDT) plant model. The joint simulation of the controller and the plant model was performed in Matlab/Simulink. The time-domain and frequency-domain performances of the entire system were evaluated. The designed VNT control system was verified with engine tests. The results indicated that the real boosting pressure traced the target boosting pressure well at different working conditions.     

Development of a navigation algorithm with dead reckoning for unmanned ground vehicles

A navigation algorithm is indispensable for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). During driving, UGVs follow a global path. In this study, we propose a navigation algorithm using Real Time Kinematic (RTK)-Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) units and encoders to complement global path planning. Sometimes GPS systems lose their signals and receive inaccurate position data due to many factors, such as edifice and barrier obstructions. This paper shows that GPS deviations can be solved using a Dead Reckoning (DR) navigation method with encoders and that position errors can be decreased through the use of RTK-DGPS units. In addition to this method, we will introduce a new waypoint update algorithm and a steering algorithm using RTK-DGPS units.