Alternative systems for urban transport in India

This paper is in the context of studying alternative systems of urban transport in India to determine the costs and performance not only for public transport systems but also for the total transport scenario (i.e. for all vehicles) such that the economic costs are inclusive of costs of time (conservatively), accidents and pollution. In view of inherent deficiencies and delays associated with a traditional transport planning process and its implementation, the paper develops quick response land-use transport planning models for Indian cities to enable integrated, cost-efficient strategies to be evolved, recognizing that urban transport is a function of urban size, form, structure, socio-economic base, etc. A simple statistically significant demand model identified from a basis of appropriate data represents the recommended demand model for Indian cities. This model can be then conveniently used to project trip volume for any Indian city in a future year. A simple gravity model is used to generate the trip assignment for hypothesized city sizes, forms and structures. The results provide a fairly reasonable approximation for the major corridor trip volumes and lengths in the context of the transport requirement for the metropolitan cities in India in 2001 and 2011 A.D. The GOI Study Group arising from the investigations reported in this paper and the discounted cash-flow method of analysis made clear overall recommendations in February 1987 for cities of various populations.     

FE modeling method for a headform used in pedestrian protection simulations

Finite element models of headforms are used in experimental simulations of pedestrian protection. In this study, a quick and accurate method for FE modeling of the headforms was developed. This method entailed the initial definition of the dimensional parameters for the mass, centroid, and inertial moment properties of the headform. The equations governing these properties were constructed using the dimensional parameters as design variables. The dimensional parameters meeting the requirements of the relevant regulations were obtained by solving these three equations. A design optimization model was constructed for the material parameters of the outer part of the headform. In this model, the parameters of the material used in the FE model were considered as design variables; the difference between the peak acceleration in a side-impact simulation test and the average value of the regulated acceleration range was used as the objective function; the first-order natural frequency, which was required to be greater than 5,000 Hz, was defined as one of the constraints; the peak drop acceleration, which was required to be within the regulated range of values, was defined as the second constraint. The material parameters were obtained by solving the optimization model. These material parameters meet the dynamic requirements of the regulations for headforms. Based on these three parameters, an FE model of a headform can be constructed quickly and accurately.     

Influence of vehicular traffic on urban air quality – A case study of Hyderabad,India

In the present study, impact of vehicular traffic emissions on black carbon aerosol mass concentration, trace gases and ground reaching solar radiation were analyzed during nationwide truck strike of 5–12 January, 2009 over urban environment of Hyderabad, India. A significant reduction of about 57%, 60%, 40% and 50% was observed in black carbon, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and ozone respectively during nationwide truck strike period. Results of the study are important for source apportionment of pollutants as the strike created natural laboratory for studying the impact of diesel operated trucks on urban air quality.     

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A simulation-based probabilistic design method for arctic sea transport systems

When designing an arctic cargo ship, it is necessary to consider multiple stochastic factors. This paper evaluates the merits of a simulation-based probabilistic design method specifically developed to deal with this challenge. The outcome of the paper indicates that the incorporation of simulations and probabilistic design parameters into the design process enables more informed design decisions. For instance, it enables the assessment of the stochastic transport capacity of an arctic ship, as well as of its long-term ice exposure that can be used to determine an appropriate level of ice-strengthening. The outcome of the paper also indicates that significant gains in transport system cost-efficiency can be obtained by extending the boundaries of the design task beyond the individual vessel. In the case of industrial shipping, this allows for instance the consideration of port-based cargo storage facilities allowing for temporary shortages in transport capacity and thus a reduction in the required fleet size / ship capacity.     

A GIS‐based method to identify cost‐effective routes for rural deviated fixed route transit

Deviated fixed route transit (DFRT) service connecting rural and urban areas is a growing transportation mode in the USA. Little research has been done to develop frameworks for route design. A methodology to explore the most cost‐effective DFRT route is presented in this paper. The inputs include potential DFRT demand distribution and a road network. A heuristic is used to build possible routes by starting at urban cores and extending in all network directions in certain length increments. All the DFRT routes falling in the length range desired by the users are selected. The cost effectiveness of those routes, defined by operating cost per passenger trip, is compared. The most cost‐effective route is selected and presented in a GIS map. A case study illustrates the methodology in several Tennessee metropolitan regions. The most cost‐effective route length is case specific; some routes (e.g. those out of our Nashville case) are most cost effective when short, while others (e.g. those out of Memphis) are most cost effective when long. Government agencies could use the method to identify routes with the lowest operating cost per passenger given a route length or an operating cost budget. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dual objective active suspension system based on a novel nonlinear disturbance compensator

This paper proposes an active suspension system to fulfil the dual objective of improving ride comfort while trying to keep the suspension deflection within the limits of the rattle space. The scheme is based on a novel nonlinear disturbance compensator which employs a nonlinear function of the suspension deflection. The scheme is analysed and validated by simulation and experimentation on a laboratory setup. The performance is compared with a passive suspension system for a variety of road profiles.     

Robust inspection technique for detection of flatness defects of oil pans

This paper discusses two different methods for the detection of flatness defects present on the mounting surfaces of oil pans using laser-scanned point clouds. The first method involves registration, which is a widely used method in the field of 3D data inspection: scanned point clouds are registered with CAD data and the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is used for further comparison. The second method is our proposed method, a simple yet effective method for measuring the flatness of an oil pan mounting surface. The process is based on the construction of a reference plane on the scanned surface. The oil pan mounting surface is scanned by a 3D laser scanner, obtaining point cloud data that is then further processed to reduce noise. Using this processed data, a reference plane parallel to the direction of the mounting surface is defined at the mean position of the mounting surface. The direction of the reference plane is determined by the normal vector of the mounting surface. Construction of the reference plane is carried out by the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. The deviation of the surface from the reference plane is measured by calculating the error distance between the points of the surface to the reference plane using the least-squares method.     

Design process to minimize roof surface defects using a flexural function and Finite Element analysis

The appearance and exterior precision of passenger cars aesthetics has become an important factor in the automotive industry. During vehicle assembly, the curvature of the roof can change slightly and create cosmetic defects that affect the exterior appearance. The critical factor causing curvature change on the roof is the thermally driven expansion of an elastomer-based mastic sealer which is applied between the exterior roof panel and support rail during the frame assembly process. Therefore the expansion of the mastic sealer was modeled to predict the curvature change in the roof panel. In order to evaluate the causes and predict the curvature change quantitatively, a Finite Element (FE) simulation of the oven heating and mastic curing was performed. Validation of the simulation model was performed by comparing the local deformation and amount of the curvature change on the roof obtained from the actual process. In order to minimize the curvature change, the Taguchi method was used in conjunction with the FE model where a total of eight factors were chosen to perform a sensitivity analysis. In order to exclude the deformation due to residual stress resulting from the oven process, it was selected as a noise factor. Response was taken as the maximum curvature change calculated by a flexural function which was used to distinguish absolute curvature that is not affected by the horizontal or vertical movement of roof panel. A total of 18 cases were analyzed with length of each sealer, pitch of sealer, and rail location being identified as the most influential factors affecting the curvature change. Using the optimum values, the amount of curvature change in the roof panel was reduced by 12 percent.