Evasive manoeuvres with a steering robot

In the pursuit of an objective rating on vehicle stability performance, it is always desirable to reduce disturbances and inconsistencies during experimental evaluations, especially the ones introduced by human drivers. This paper presents the development of a steering robot designed for closed-loop steering tasks during evasive manoeuvres. It describes the controller structure and discusses experimental results, in addition to simulation/vehicle model verifications and theoretical control analysis.     

基于车激动力响应互相关指标的桥梁基础冲刷诊断方法

针对当前桥梁基础冲刷诊断和检测方法过程复杂、成本高且受环境影响大等问题,提出一种基于车激动力响应互相关指标的桥梁基础冲刷诊断方法。该方法通过桥墩和桥跨不同测点的纵向加速度响应自由衰减段信号的互相关分析,建立基础冲刷诊断指标体系,实现冲刷定位和均匀性诊断。首先,依据互相关函数幅值向量置信度判据指标进行基础冲刷初判;然后,通过响应互相关函数幅值向量因子变化率向量进行冲刷定位,再根据横桥向互相关函数幅值变化率向量诊断冲刷均匀性;并通过统计评估方法提高诊断精度;最后,结合1座连续梁桥算例进行多种冲刷工况的数值仿真分析,对所提方法的有效性和适用性进行验证。结果表明：该方法能够很好地实现基础冲刷的定位和均匀性诊断,指标具有较高敏感性;同时具有较好的抗噪性能,通过所提出诊断指标体系的综合使用可消除噪声对诊断结果的干扰。该方法具有诊断结果精度高、过程简便易行、无需进行复杂且误差较大的模态识别、允许试验测试参数和条件适量变化等优点,可嵌入常规桥梁荷载试验同步开展,具有很好的工程应用潜力和实用价值。     

Plate scanning tools to obtain travel times in traffic networks

The management of vehicle travel times has been shown to be fundamental to traffic network analysis. To collect travel time measurement, some methods focus solely on isolated links or highway segments, and where two measurement points, at the beginning and at the end of a section, are deemed sufficient to evaluate users' travel time. However, in many cases, transport studies involve networks in which the problem is more complex. This article takes advantage of the plate scanning technique to propose an algorithm that minimizes the required number of registering devices and their location in order to identify vehicles candidates to compute the travel times of a given set of routes (or subroutes). The merits of the proposed method are explained using simple examples and are illustrated by its application to the real network of Ciudad Real.     

Comparison of fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions between the aged and new DPF systems of Euro 5 diesel passenger car

This study was conducted to examine the impact of aged and new DPF systems of the Euro 5 diesel passenger car on fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions. Test diesel vehicle used in this study was equipped with diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) as aftertreatment systems, and satisfied the Euro-5 emissions standard. The displacement volume of engine was 1.6 L and the cumulative mileage was 167,068 km before the test. The FTP-75 test procedure was used, and the time resolved and weight based exhaust emissions of total hydrocarbon (THC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were measured. The results show that the vehicle with the new DPF system has lower emissions of THC, CO and NOx than the aged one, and fuel efficiency also increased about 5 percent. The aged DPF system had higher backpressure due to the particulate matter (mostly in the form of ash) accumulated in the DPF. As was shown in the analysis using X-CT (X-ray computer tomography), the aged DPF system had particulate matter (PM) accumulated to a length of 46.6 mm. In addition, a component analysis of PM through XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analysis found that 50 % or more of the components consisted of the P, S, Ca, and Zn.     

Vehicle response-based track geometry assessment using multi-body simulation

The assessment of the geometry of railway tracks is an indispensable requirement for safe rail traffic. Defects which represent a risk for the safety of the train have to be identified and the necessary measures taken. According to current standards, amplitude thresholds are applied to the track geometry parameters measured by recording cars. This geometry-based assessment has proved its value but suffers from the low correlation between the geometry parameters and the vehicle reactions. Experience shows that some defects leading to critical vehicle reactions are underestimated by this approach. The use of vehicle responses in the track geometry assessment process allows identifying critical defects and improving the maintenance operations. This work presents a vehicle response-based assessment method using multi-body simulation. The choice of the relevant operation conditions and the estimation of the simulation uncertainty are outlined. The defects are identified from exceedances of track geometry and vehicle response parameters. They are then classified using clustering methods and the correlation with vehicle response is analysed. The use of vehicle responses allows the detection of critical defects which are not identified from geometry parameters.     

Gasket life criteria at low temperatures adopting proportional compensation for loss of flexibility and conformability

In the automobile industry, the service life of gaskets is defined as the time until which a released gasket recovers 60 % of the original compression. It was observed that the recovery curves of gaskets were highly nonlinear at high temperatures, and relatively nonlinear at temperatures above the room temperature. However, it was also noted that the recovery curves of the gaskets at temperatures below room temperature exhibited linearity with respect to the ln(time). Automotive manufacturers demand gasket life criteria that exceed a specific time or the entire life of a car. In the case of gaskets used at lower temperatures, since materials encounter losses in its flexibility and conformability, the definition of service life specifying a 60 % recovery may not be sufficiently safe to eliminate possible leakages. In this study, new gasket life criteria that could be used at low temperatures were proposed. The new criteria were proposed based on the change in Young’s modulus of the gasket material in order to conserve the sealing capability.     

Fine Mapping of a Deafness Mutation hml on Mouse Chromosome 10

Objective To map a mouse deafness gene.identify the underlying mutation and develop a mouse model for human deafncss.Methods Genetic lindage cross and genome scan wer used to map a novel mutation named hypoplasia of the membranous labyrinth (hml),which causes hearing loss in mutant mice.Results ① hml was mapped on mouse Chr 10 (～43 cM from the centromere) suggests that the homologous human gene is on 12q22--q24, which was defined on the basis of known mouse-human homologies (OMIM,2004). ② This study has generated 25 polymorphic microsateUite markers, placed 3 known human genes in the correct order in a high-resolution mouse map and narrowed the hml candidate gene region to a 500 kb area.     

Biochemical composition of marine sediment from the eastern Weddell Sea (Antarctica): High nutritive value in a high benthic-biomass environment

Within the SCAR's international EASIZ programme, as part of the benthic–pelagic coupling experiment, grain size and organic matter contents in marine surface sediment were measured. Samples were taken during the austral autumn of 2000 from 3 regions in the eastern Weddell Sea: Kapp Norvegia, Four Seasons Bank, and Austasen.In general, sediments were fine sand with a grain size fraction < 200 μm representing more than 40% of the total weight. The sediments from Four Seasons Bank (64 to 107 m depth) were coarser than those from Austasen and Kapp Norvegia (209 to 480 m depth), presumably due to winnowing of fine sediment at shallow depths. Organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 0.25% to 1.2% and constituted 10% to 97% of the total carbon. The samples from Kapp Norvegia presented the highest OC values. Overall, protein (PRT), lipid (LPD), and carbohydrate (CHO) contents were similar to those in sediment from cold regions (e.g., the North Atlantic and the Ross Sea) but higher than those in sediment from other Antarctic and more septentrional regions (e.g., the Ross Sea and the Mediterranean). The difference within the Antarctic is explained through the local conditions in Terra Nova Bay and Kapp Norvegia. In the Antarctic, PRT and LPD carbon were the main contributors to the biopolymeric carbon (BPC). In the eastern Weddell Sea shelf, the BPC accounted for more than 90% of the OC in most of the samples. More than 82% of the total PRT, LPD, and CHO were present in the fraction < 200 μm. This work remarks the existence of sediments with a high nutritional value persistent several weeks after the spring–summer pulse of fresh organic matter. It is also highlighted the high potential availability of these sediments (due to its grain size) for the benthic communities inhabiting this high-latitude continental shelf.     

Using a random displacement model to simulate turbulent particle motion in a baroclinic frontal zone: A new implementation scheme and model performance tests

Numerical artifacts can limit accurate simulation of turbulent particle motion when Lagrangian particle-tracking models are implemented in hydrodynamic models with stratified conditions like fronts. Yet, modeling of individual particle motion in frontal regions is critical for understanding sediment dynamics as well as the transport and retention of planktonic organisms. The objective of this research was to develop a numerical technique to accurately simulate turbulent particle motions in a particle-tracking model embedded within a hydrodynamic model of a frontal zone. A new interpolation scheme, the ‘water column profile’ scheme, was developed and used to implement a random displacement model for turbulent particle motions. A new interpolation scheme was necessary because linear interpolation schemes caused artificial aggregation of particles where abrupt changes in vertical diffusivity occurred. The new ‘water column profile’ scheme was used to fit a continuous function (a tension spline) to a smoothed profile of vertical diffusivities at the x–y particle location. The new implementation scheme was checked for artifacts and compared with a standard random walk model using (1) Well Mixed Condition tests, and (2) dye-release experiments. The Well Mixed Condition tests confirmed that the use of the ‘water column profile’ interpolation scheme for implementing the random displacement model significantly reduced numerical artifacts. In dye-release experiments, high concentrations of Eulerian tracer and Lagrangian particles were released at the same location up-estuary of the salt front and tracked for 4 days. After small differences in initial dispersal rates, tracer and particle distributions remained highly correlated (r = 0.84 to 0.99) when a random displacement model was implemented in the particle-tracking model. In contrast, correlation coefficients were substantially lower (r = 0.07 to 0.58) when a random walk model was implemented. In general, model performance tests indicated that the ‘water column interpolation’ scheme was an effective technique for implementing a random displacement model within a hydrodynamic model, and both could be used to accurately simulate diffusion in a highly baroclinic frontal region. The new implementation scheme has the potential to be a useful tool for investigating the influence of hydrodynamic variability on the transport of sediment particles and planktonic organisms in frontal zones.     

On the observability of the fortnightly cycle of the Tagus estuary turbid plume using MODIS ocean colour images

Using three years (2003 to 2005) of MODIS-Aqua normalized water-leaving radiance at 551 nm this paper shows a fortnightly cycle in the Tagus estuary turbid plume. The Tagus estuary is one of the largest estuaries of the west coast of Europe and is located in the most populated area of Portugal, including the capital Lisbon. The turbid plume has been detected by the backscattering characteristics of the surface waters in the vicinity of the estuary mouth. In fortnightly scales, the turbid plume has smaller dimensions during and after neap tides and higher dimensions during and after spring tides. This is most probably associated with the fortnightly spring–neap tidal cycle and the consequent increase in turbidity inside the estuary during spring tides. During the summer weak spring tides (tidal amplitude approximately 2.5 m) no turbid plume is observed for an entire fortnightly cycle. Outside the summer months, precipitation, river discharge and winds, were found to increase the turbid area, but the fortnightly cycle appears to be superimposed on the large time-scale variability, and present throughout the year.